NissanDiesel Forums

Has anyone succesfully swapped a wagon body on a 720 2 wheel drive frame? i just bought a rusty 720 diesel and would love the extra family room a wagon would give, the extra height of a truck frame would be great too.
anybody know about wheel base, length, bolt patterns, etc..? i am not much of a fabricator but have an inlaw that could help with modest mods.
any input would be greatly appreciated. i've searched and found engine swaps but no body swaps.

idahocity wrote:Has anyone succesfully swapped a wagon body on a 720 2 wheel drive frame? i just bought a rusty 720 diesel and would love the extra family room a wagon would give, SnIP.

Why did you buy the 720 in the first place?

I recall seeing on eBay a 720 that had a commercial box in place of the original bed.

The Maxima diesel Wagon is rated for 80 HP, having only 19 more than the diesel 720 at 61 HP, but it feels like a whole lot more difference. The LD28 really pulls, unlike the SD22.

Maxima diesel Wagons are plentiful and fairly cheap. But they don't have body-on-frame construction, so putting one on a frame is going to be a major amount of work. No Datsun/Nissan Wagon, going back into the 50's, has the frame separate from the body. With enough time & money one can do just about anything WRT mechanical mayhem, but if your time/money budget is limited, you might consider going another route.

Pick up a diesel Wagon (Nissan or otherwise) for your family use, and for your rusty 720, pick up a cheap gasser 720 with a blown motor or trans, and swap in your engine/trans. It's not quite a bolt-in, but it's damned close, and the wiring mods are minor -- compared to swapping a body to a dissimilar chassis.

My friend Peter and I are putting the engine/trans/fuel tank from his extremely rusty '82 720 KC into an '86 gasser non-KC, probably before the end of the year. As these things go, this looks very simple.

A low-miles SD22 engine only + wiring just sold on eBay last week for over $300.

thanks for the input. one of my stepdad's mechanics had an amc eagle that he mounted on a truck frame. i liked the look of it. i've swapped an engine out of a 68 chevy truck and did not like that one bit. it took forever to work out the bugs. i figured i would see if it might be easier to swap the body and do an unusual config. i do need a pickup for light duty. i think i will just try to arrest the rust and patch it up. the bed is pretty rusty though.
my grandfather had the same truck. he taught my brother and me how to drive in it 20 something years ago and took us camping all over the place. i still have vivid memories of the sound and smell of the engine and the feel of running through those gears nothing shifts quite like it. when i saw one listed in my area i called right away and didn't hardly dicker the price. the seller probably thought i was nuts.
a mostly sentimental purchase.