My uncle gave me this truck. It's a '96 Nissan D21 Hardbody, ext-cab, 5sp, 2wd.
Now that I have it all fixed, I've come to the conclusion it makes no sense to keep it. It only gets a little better mileage than my P71. The box is bigger than the trunk in my crown vic, but not enough to justify owning them both.
It wouldn't start. The alternator was dead. I put a lifetime-warranty NAPA reman in it. For safety sake, I also swapped out the little 34 series battery they come with for a 880cca 65 series one. Fit great. You bump the key, it MOVES.
The timing chain rattled at startup. I bought a made-in-japan kit, including gears, guides, seals, tensioner, and chain. Worst part about the job was having to remove the oil pan. The upshot is, a lot of the gaskets on this engine are now new too. It is now silent.
The transmission didn't have 5th gear and reverse was loud, the speedo and cruise did not work either. Apparently the transmission had been rebuilt, but the shop didn't stake down the retaining nut, so the whole thing clearanced itself. It took the end off the speed sensor as well. I found a low mileage transmission within about 200 miles away, and swapped it in. The clutch looked great so I left it.
I replaced the front shocks with KYB Monotube's. I bought some Monroe air shocks for the rear, but have not installed them yet.
The tires are around 60-70%.
The air conditioning works GREAT.
