Cedge208

Hello everyone,

My name is Chad. I live in Boise, Idaho. And I recently picked up this 83 4x4 Longbed. I'm 20 years old and this is my first truck, and attempted restoration. I do have some experience from working on my car, 1997 Integra Gsr; and from mechanical related subjects in school.

The owner said the original L52 5speed was going bad so he put a 4speed from a 2wd in it. He did include the original L52 which I will be cleaning up and rebuilding. It came with a heavy duty work winch bumper. I ended up giving it back to the seller in return for his labor to take that thing off. My friend and I will be making custom bumpers for it this summer.





It came with this awesome camper shell. It looks right off of the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story.



The front leaf springs are flat...

Cedge208

How she currently sits:





Interior is stripped


I just need to fix these two rust spots and then I can POR15 the cab and start putting it back together



They are kind of both in bad spots. Where the cab mounts to the frame. :/ Any tips on the best way to fix this?

westjohns yota

best way to do that is just sand it down and POR15 it, it looks like surface rust from here, if i care to ask how much did you pay for this thing? body looks clean, has loads on potentinal but not with a 2wd trans!

83crawler

very clean love the blue and white

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

lucky the rust is not that bad.
overall a good find.

"It came with this awesome camper shell. It looks right off of the Pizza Planet truck from Toy Story."

Pretty clost to the Lego Version:

Cedge208

That lego Yota is sweet!

Thanks for the advice. That's what I was thinking originally, but the more you sand the more you find. And on both sides there are spots that go all the way through.

I picked her up for $1800 back in December.

I'm reading up on transmissions right now. So hopefully I can rebuild it myself and not spend more to get the 5speed in then I did for the truck.


Thanks!

Cedge208

Here's the rust on the bed:

It's only in the corners by the wheel wells. The other stuff in the bed is tree droppings.


I think these spots are from stuff banging around from the inside of the bed.

Some rear end damage


Engine bay:

Fresh new Master cylinder

5 speed sitting in the garage

775Toy

I wouldn't worry about the rust if it's gonna be a wheeler , just take care of the bad spots . I've always liked late 1rst gens with square headlights. And yes those beds are soda can thin! My first truck was a 79 yota I got from my uncle. All show 3" block lift / 33s / mint black interior and brand new cherry red paint, man it was tits. Till I loaded a lawn mower in the bed to go make some money and the first turn I took the mower rolled to the side of bed and put 2 nice dents in the bed from the wheels! I was so pissed.

Cedge208

Update:

I painted the grill, headlight surrounds, side vents and a few interior pieces black. Here they are drying:

I used a cheap black spray paint at first but didn't like the results so I picked some of this up and added a few more layers:


Oh, and

Peel & Seal and POR15:

Energy bushings all around

Marlin flywheel and 1,200 lb clutch



There's a pile growing in my room:

Cedge208

I've also been working on some side projects for the truck.

I picked up a pair of EG Civic seats for $30 on Craigslist. Then I sold the stock seats from the truck for $50 and picked up a few things. They were in okay shape but were extremely dirty so I decided to go through and degrease the seat covers and wrap the bolsters for more support.
I wish I had a before photo. Here are the seats pulled apart:

The seat covers were soaking in Simple Green solution. Then I soaked them in black dye for a couple of days.
I didn't really utilize my phone as much as I should have so I didn't get any photos of the process. Here is a crappy phone pic of the finished driver seat:

I used spray adhesive and an old bed sheet to wrap the bolsters and I patched the holes on the driver side with a green bandana. The seat covers were held on with metal rings which would have been impossible for me to put back on so I used zip ties. I'm more than happy with the results.

I need to do a little work before they will bolt in. Two of the holes line up for the seat perfectly. I'll need to drill a hole in the cross rail thing that's a part of the cab. And I'll need to make a bracket for the last hole.

Oh, and here is a pic from climbing at the Black Cliffs last weekend:

775Toy

Aren't Honda seats super comfy. I used to build Hondas myself. I'm on the hunt for some dc seats for my yota.
Keep up the good work , truck will be fly in no time.

Cedge208

I love honda seats! I was looking for a pair that were as close to my DC seats as possible and that I could buy by selling the stock seats. Those turned out to be perfect! Wrapping the bolsters definitely make them a bit stiffer but it only adds to the comfort. They are sitting inside the cab right now and it makes it all feel spacier.

Update:

I picked up some sweet vinyl graphics off of Craigslist for a steal. They are like the ones in this picture but shades of grey.

They are BNIB from 1983/84!

westjohns yota

VERY nice deal on the stripes, where did you get the peel and seal? home depot didnt have it and neither did lowes hmmmmmm?

Cedge208

I picked mine up at Lowes. It took FOREVER to find it in the isles though

westjohns yota

sweet i will check lowes out tommorow then! me an your trucks are close to the same way, sr5 long bed, etc etc

Cedge208

Small Update:

Painted the front stuff all black. Once I get some more hardware I'll install the grill and headlight surrounds.

Bandit hanging out while I work

westjohns yota

looking very nice!

Rollz79

I have the same eg/ej civic seats not very comfy. I'm 6'1.The seat pans are to tall but they work.

Cedge208

I think they are quite comfortable actually. I haven't driven the truck with them in though. I've only sat in them while playing mario cart.

Update:
Trimmed up the fenders to clear some space for the front bumper that is being built for the Yota.


My fixed gear, my car, roommates CRX and the Yota

Kiroshu

Nice truck been looking for an original one like that for along time to for fixing up...

And that steering wheel is from an 85-87 4runner. ^_^