'88 Nissan "850" D21 HardBody

[Ranger850]

So this was my grandad's last vehicle he ever owned, before passing away. My Dad sold it to his buddy, about 5-6 years ago. Unfortunately, he also passed away, and my dad bought it back to help his mother offset the funeral costs. So fast forward to now, and I have it. Nothing special, I4, 4spd, 2wd 2door, just like I like'em. lol.
So here it is, the day I parked it in my yard, where it sat, for a while, until I decided to give it some love.

The interior was in shambles.

So I got a set of Buckets and some decent door panels

I will be putting the Explorer console, from my Ranger, right between those seats. Gotta have cup holders.
Also, Notice the locking mechanism on the pillar? works like a charm. lol

It starts and runs "ok", but it does need some attention under the hood and chassis.
As it sits now, there is NO A/C, but has the compressor, just no belt driving it, and the interior controls are missing. With winter coming, that should give me the time to get the A/C going and hopefully by next summer, I can roll the windows up and ride in comfort. More to come.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Not a nissan guy, but them old hardbodies ive always heard were pretty good trucks. Enjoy it!

 

[Ranger850]

Not a nissan guy, but them old hardbodies ive always heard were pretty good trucks. Enjoy it!

and the aftermarket is flooded with parts for these things. this is my first hardbody, but i had a lil' Datsun 720 back in the day.

 

[rusty ol ranger]

and the aftermarket is flooded with parts for these things. this is my first hardbody, but i had a lil' Datsun 720 back in the day.

Buddy of mine had an ol datsun...dont remember the model or year though...

Fondest memory of that thing was first winter i lived in MI getting a flat tire in a january snow storm at about 2 am. We changed the tire is shifts to avoid freezing lol.

 

[Ranger850]

so my plan is to leave the motor alone for as long as possible. it runs fine. It has a slight left pull on the brakes. I'll probly do a mild brake upgrade with v6 caliper/brackets/rotors. It's supposed to be a straight swap, so we'll see.
The dash is toast, so I'm looking for eitjer a good one from the JY, or a recover thing i saw on ebay.

ebayhttps://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F192569832516

 

[rusty ol ranger]

Good luck in the boneyard...

Around here anyways they are harder to find then 1st gen rangers.

 

[wildbill23c]

I had an 89 Nissan D21 with the 3L V6 5 speed, 4x4 extended cab (back seats just as useless as a Ranger's), and the AC still worked...poor thing had 320k miles on it....well at least that's what the odometer said, the odometer wasn't working for an unknown amount of time till I had it repaired. I should have kept it, it ran and drove great and was pretty good on backroads while hunting.

 

[Ranger850]

Snagged the Explorer Console out of my Ranger, for the cup holders and storage space. It worked out quite nice,IMO.

 

[Ranger850]

Now on the mechanical stuff. the first thing I noticed was the leaking cylinders. Since I worked at a brake shop for a few years, this was no challenge for me, and should be pretty simple for almost anybody.

 

[Ranger850]

before and after.

 

[Ranger850]

While the wheels were off, I did this

 

[Ranger850]

Emissions Deleted!

 

[Ranger850]

I guess i should add that i named it "Project850" for a couple of reasons. 1. The area code for where i live is (850). 2. When i got on InfamousNissan forum, i read the D21 history, and Nissan called the D21, Project 850. Which i thought was a pretty cool coincidence. Another cool thing i learned, Nissan called their white,"Vail white", my last name is Vail. How freakin' kool. I dont plan on goin "white", but i thought it was kool

 

[Ranger850]

So the Valve cover gasket came, but I wanted to spruce the engine bay up a little while I had things apart. So I first stripped the paint off of a few items.

I really liked the look of the bare metal, but knew I couildnt keep it like that. Just an hour after I stripped the paint, surface rust had already started. So, I painted it Gloss Black, and the rest of the Breather cap Flat Black. I also painted my Valve Cover Silver, but NOT that cheap fake aluminum Silver, I used Krylon Brushed Nickle, and I must say, It turned out pretty nice.

Also I painted the Lift point RED

 

[Ranger850]

New vs. ols Shocks.

New Leaf Spring Bushings