'88 Nissan "850" D21 HardBody

[Ranger850]

Replaced the single piston calipers with the V6 dual piston calipers and bigger rotors.

I did change the hoses too, and was a little concerned about how the sat, but no worries, after a test drive they did not rub the tires. I also repacked the bearings with new grease, the stuff that was in there looked like old motor oil. I also cleaned and painted the brake dust covers. When I took them off to trim for the bigger brackets, I stripped out one of the aluminum screws used to hold it on, one each side lol, and had to drill off the screw head, but left the shaft as a little holding stud. I dabbed some hi-temp gasket maker on the stud to keep it from vibrating in the future, we'll see how that works. After bleeding the brakes, I took it for a test drive, and it stops,

.

 

[Ranger850]

Didn't do the tie rod ends, waiting to get more parts. BUT, I did take out the explorer console that was in there and put in an actual Nissan console. It came out of a much newer truck and the rear bracket is supposed to attach to a small airbag computer that I do not have. So i had to fab up a bracket.
I started with a 4" piece of 2x3 aluminum angle

And two 5" pieces of 1" aluminum square tube

Finished the home made bracket
And... Wha La

 

[Ranger850]

My Mirrors have always been a weak spot of the truck. The PS mirror had a huge round, convex, bubble type of thing bolted to it, and the DS mirror always tilted down when I shut the door.

Not sure what year it was, I forgot to look. But what I did notice, was that the Xterra mirrors looked like they would fit my D21.
So I snatched one off the Xterra, and dry fit it to the HB in the yard, and WHA-LA, a match.

I dry fit them on my HB, and instantly noticed I had some cutting to do.

After everything had been mocked up and fit well, It was time for some protection on the fresh cuts, so a quick tape up, some sanding and primer before a shot of Gloss Black, Thankfully the mirrors covered up most of my work. lol
Just for comparisons sake. The Xterra mirrors are definitely beefier

 

[Ranger850]

Well, With some extra time, I thought I would clean the engine up some more. I decided to remove a connection for hoses that I had previously just plugged, and make a plate from galvanized sheet metal. All thing were going well until I cross threaded a bolt and it snapped when I tried to back it out. FML

My plan was to seal the hole with a bead of gasket maker around it. So that's what I did. But with the broken bolt in the hole, I couldn't get a good tight seal. I didn't want any air seepages, so I sealed the edges of the plate too. I decided to paint my bracket white while I had it off. IDK why, but I like it.

Originally, each bolt on the right had a ground attached, so I just move the top on to the bottom. I hope that wont cause problems down the road.

 

[Jim Oaks]

My very first vehicle was a Datsun pickup my dad gave me back in the 80's. Fun little truck.

 

[Ranger850]

My very first vehicle was a Datsun pickup my dad gave me back in the 80's. Fun little truck.

This is my 2nd Nissan. I had a 720 (datsun pickup) for a few years in the 90's. Back when I was in to minitruckin'

 

[Ranger850]

This is what years of vice grips for window cranks looks like.
So I replaced them

Now I can use these

 

[Jim Oaks]

My Datsun looked like this, red with the ST stripes, but it was 2WD.

I actually looked for a Datsun 4x4 back in the early 90's, but couldn't find one. I eventually ended up with a Ranger.

 

[Ranger850]

My Datsun looked like this, red with the ST stripes, but it was 2WD.

I actually looked for a Datsun 4x4 back in the early 90's, but couldn't find one. I eventually ended up with a Ranger.

I cant see a pic, if you posted one.
Definitely a 720 if it was an "ST" Should have the smooth bed without the hooks too.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I cant see a pic, if you posted one.
Definitely a 720 if it was an "ST" Should have the smooth bed without the hooks too.

Fixed it.

 

[Ranger850]

@dvdswan may know more than I do, but I thought the ST trucks had the smooth bed sides with "no hooks"

 

[Ranger850]

My Datsun looked like this, red with the ST stripes, but it was 2WD.

I actually looked for a Datsun 4x4 back in the early 90's, but couldn't find one. I eventually ended up with a Ranger.

View attachment 60517

mine looked like this, but had wide chrome rims and was lowered. Blue interior.

 

[89Twincharge]

Nice build keep it it in the family

 

[dvdswan]

1980-1984 had the hooks on the side. 85-86 had smooth sides. 83 I think was the 1st year to have "Nissan" in big letters on the tailgate.

ST was just a package just like STX is to Ranger.

This was mine. Ignore the 80s hair style.

 

[Ranger850]

Went from this

To this