Bandit83

I had been looking for awhile for a First Gen Pickup in original condition that I could use as a daily driver and fix up at the same time. I'm not into wheeling, I just really liked these trucks. I feel like they are a great utilitarian vehicle. Great off road, good gas miles, cool retro style.
I got in the habit of checking craiglist and ebay daily and finally one popped up that was just what I was looking for and it had a low (in my opinion) "buy it now" option

This is how the truck sat for about 6 years:

slacker

iTrader: (1)

cool .. looks clean and very complete for a build .. nice find


.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Nice find! We need to see some more pics!

Bandit83

Ok so here are some more pictures. A friend of the original owner was selling the truck on ebay and had cleaned the truck up a bit. Here are some pictures from when I went to look at the truck the first time.

The truck still didn't run. The owners friend didn't know why, said that he could get it to fire up a few times but it wouldn't stay running. He predicted carburetor issues.

Bandit83

The suspension on this truck needs some help. The front leaves sag a bit on the drivers side and it still has the original Toyota shocks all around. I don't want a lift on this truck but I can't find any stock height replacement leaf springs.
I am considering an OME system as it seams like a great all around suspension system and its a minimal lift.
Any thoughts? Also where is the best place to order OME parts? Annndd... I would love to replace all the bushings on this truck. I want black bushings, not yellow, or red. Any Ideas?
Thanks!!

83Toyota88

iTrader: (1)

4th truck I have ever seen with that bugshield. What color is it? I have seen blue and brown. Nice truck too btw.

Bandit83

The bug shield was clear.... I tossed it :/ I realized later that it was probably a dealership option. I also tossed the cracking bed liner. Found out later that they are hard to come by.
The original owner was a VW dealership mechanic and got a lot of dealership upgrades on this truck. In the first photo you can see the 8 spoke chrome off road wheels. This truck would have come from Japan with the chrome 6 spoke wheels as it is a "factory chrome option" truck it was a dealership upgrade to have them put on some wider wheels and bigger tires.

Bandit83

I found a large Dealership brochure for 1983 Toyota Trucks in the USA. It has some really great photos and information on different options that were available. Here is one of the pictures and I made a quick and dirty PDF if you are interested in seeing the entire brochure.



Here is a link to the PDF file:
https://app.box.com/s/07tl84zzpqbrioz3r4at

maistroyoda

Thank you for the link on the brochure. My truck is identical to the one pictured above.

Roark

Did those dealership but guards come in any other colors?

Nice project, btw

rustED

iTrader: (2)

Kawazx636 and a few others on here are running OME springs, you might talk to him. I'd be interested to know of a good vendor too.

Bandit83

Your truck is sweet! That is the nicest original carpet I have seen.

I know that they came in Blue, Tan, and mine might have been light grey. I'm not sure about other colors. Those happen to also be the interior color options.... Interesting.

Yea thanks I don't remember who Kawazx636 listed as his vender in his posts, but I do remember him complaining about the time it took to receive them. He seemed to have got a sweet deal on the Bilstein's. I am curious about them.

Here is my debate..
Stock height front leaf springs with Bilstein 4600 shocks
or
OME front leaf springs, add a leaf in the rear with OME shocks

The OME option would be about $200 more and it would force me to upgrade my tires ASAP, which I was hoping to put off for 6 months.

arg! I don't know what to do

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Great project. Truck has a ton of potential.
Was there a lot of rust in the floor of the cab? The rest just looks like surface rust.

toastyjosh

iTrader: (1)

these
http://www.lowrangeoffroad.com/index...s-lr-7985.html

with the billy 5100s

Bandit83

Not a spot of rust on this truck other than the exterior surface rust.

Bandit83

This truck was having all kinds of fuel delivery problems. The previous owner had removed the fuel filter. I spliced back in a fuel filter in the appropriate location and replaced the fuel pump and carb.....



I was able to drive the truck but the exhaust still smelled real funny and I would still experience some fuel delivery issues.

Come to find out this is what the inside of my fuel tank looked like.



So I got the tank restored (sand blasted followed by resealing). Now it runs great!!

Bandit83

I also had the clutch replaced. I was debating what clutch kit to get for a while. Turns out this is what the local clutch shop sold for $150.



I should mention that I met a young man selling parts on craigslist that lives in Long Beach that replaced my clutch for me and got the gas tank situation diagnosed and fixed for me.
He is in his early 20's and has an 81 Trekker and an 83 Pickup. He knows these trucks pretty well and is a backyard mechanic. He has a great attitude and great work ethic and knows these trucks better then any mechanic I could find.
It was neat having my truck worked on two miles away from where the back half was manufactured.

gillesdetrail

iTrader: (1)

That clutch is oem quality, my exedy clutches have taken a lot of abuse (several hundred 1/8th mile and 1/4 mile passes) without ever failing on me, and aisin is a suplier for oem toyota parts, nice!

kawazx636

iTrader: (3)

Soooo jealous!

Bandit83

I've been doing some cleaning up. Figured I would post some before and after pics.