Island_Yota

My low budget truck ive been piecing together since March, I would have had it together alot quicker if it wasnt for money/school/work.. I was on good pace till about the end of April when I couldnt find a few parts that I desperately needed and still need. I bought the truck along with literally a ton of spare/new parts off another truck but a few parts completely missing, I worked the guy down from $1000 to $500 for all, All in all an amazing deal considering how rare these things are getting up here. So far im in $175 for a muffler, fluids, radiator, and Haynes manual. Ive been putting away money for the last couple months for some things I want so money shouldnt be a huge issue anymore.

Heres what I started with:



The frame? Dont ask, I bought it knowing what it was.. basically its an 83 front half, welded(square + true) to an 86 rear half.. Sourcing a good frame up here isnt easy, the wheel base is 112", The guy said the 22R ran before he took it apart..



The cab how it sat when I bought it, probably been sitting under a maple tree for the last 5 years aswell, Its a pretty clean cab though, very little rust.. only rust is a hole in the passenger side floor and a smaller one on the drivers side.. other than thats its good, its an SR5 cab too so thats a bonus(Gauges, buckets, chrome(I have all the chrome junk).



So I tore out the front end because it was crusty and I had some different springs to put in for now, Had to sacrifice the poly bushings that were in the stock springs, the bolts were good and stuck..



Axle cleaned up a bit, didnt spend too much time on it, came out nice though, didnt bother with the calipers/knuckles/u-bolts etc.. cause its all coming back out.





Thats what the previous owner was going to drive this thing with, booger welds and huge rust holes..

time to break out the welder.



















Didn't like the previous owners plan so we cut all that rust out and patched the frame, I know its not the right way of doing things but its better than nothing, im always keeping my eyes open for a better frame(102" wheel base would be nice), For now this is will be fine though, ugly but it works.. its all strait and true, Never got a picture of it completly finished and painted with the cab mounts and everything back on but I will soon, it looks alot nicer ground out all smooth.



Front end back in with the crappy Tuff Country 3.5" lift springs that came with the truck, its running 4" blocks in the rear right now, only temporary dont worry, its a realllly lame set up.



You can sorta see the frame all done in this pic.





And its on, Wasn't bolted down yet in these pictures though, Took a whole 10 minutes to drop it on, Im really glad my dad has a forklift and overhead hoist.



Front view..Came with a new windshield so thats no problem, just waiting for a hot day to pull the seal out. and pop the new glass in.


After finishing all of the wiring and replacing all of the fluids and some hoses I decided to drop in a battery and pour some gas down the carb, Fired right up.. only to stall and flood, got it running alot better after I dropped the gas tank in, but the crank seal is dead and it literally is spraying oil, amazingly it runs perfectly though, idles and everything, no smoke or weird noises, amazing considering its been sitting completely exposed to the elements for 5+ years, gotta love 22R's.

Now im just collecting parts for the build up, Im getting ready to order all my new steel for the flatdeck/cage, sliders, t-case cross member, bumper etc.. Gotta run down the street to the auto wreckers and grab a set of 63" Chevs for the rear, doing a modified rear up front(using the main leaf off the 3" lift springs so I can keep the stock axle location). Chopping about 7" off the back of the frame and making new cross members, In the end I want to run 35's at max, Since I have pretty much double every part and alot of nice aftermarket stuff such as rancho 5000's, crossover steering, 15 x 10" chrome rims, the rear blocks il need for the chevy swap, plus all the stuff I can sell. I wont have to worry about broken parts I even have a spare tranny + t-case so dual cases might be a future mod. Il post as progress is made, should be done by mid July.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Looks like a lot of work. admire you for tackling it, but all the work will be worth it in the end. Good job on the detail of your build so far. I also have to admire your project cost so far....$675 for your project so far is Very Nice.

Curious about the '86 frame, did it have the '86 rear end too? If so, good deal, but don't forget that you will need some 1.5" wheel spacers for the front to match the track of the wider rear end. Having the fork lift and hoist makes like easy.
Keep us posted on the build..off to a great start so far.

Island_Yota

Nah, its an 83 rear end as far as I know, came with a spare housing for the front and two spare 3rds though which is nice.

Progress for today: Found a parts truck 5 mins from my house, gonna go pick up everything I need in an hour or so.

Yota Tony

Nice work so far.
What are your plans for suspension?

slacker

iTrader: (1)

looks good ..

parts truck 56 mins from home .. dang dude .. I have been lookin' for a month for something up here in the Okanagan .. and nothing .. keep pluggin .

Island_Yota

^ Turns out the parts truck was a pile so I took a bunch of interior peices out of it and thats it, Theres a yard down near Victoria that has a HUGE stockpile of first gens but the guy is stupid, either wont sell you a part or asks a ridiculous amount for it, Im gonna try and sell him some of my junk (good gas tanks, doors, fenders, lots of 22R ☺☺☺☺ etc.. and see if I cant get a few parts that I need.

Suspension plans: 63" Chevs out back with 3" blocks? not sure yet definetly chevies though. Up front il probably just run my own version of the rear up front set up.

Island_Yota

Grr.. Anyone ever tried to put the heater controls back together? Most annoying thing ever, Im ready to pull the entire dash just to get at the damn things. Any tips would be appreciated..

Island_Yota

Sorry I havnt kept you guys posted, heres what ive been doing to the yota in my little spare time..




Crankseal was dead and the Harmonic balancer had a nasty groove worn into it so I bought a new seal and speedy sleeve, the oil was literally shooting out so this was a must fix.






I should have posted this a long time ago..finally got around to shooting some video, I tuned up the carb today..and to my suprise literally nothing on it was working, was full of nasty stuff from sitting in exposed for so long(5+ years).. amazingly it was running off the stuck open power valve somehow, it actually wasnt running that bad either! but the accelerator pump was pretty much dead, main jets were badly clogged, choke wasnt even hooked up and every little passage was blocked completly with dead gas, there was even peices missing(balls, springs and clips) So the $45 carb kit was worth it.. Once I tune this thing right il be able to run it on any angle without problems.



Heres a vid of it starting up, notice how its running really rich and was flooded on start up, thats because the power valve was stuck open again.. I went back and fixed it but havnt taken a video yet, it runs awesome now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhsI7-a6F6s

and heres another of it, just a strait pipe right now, havnt had time to weld up the new exhaust.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTT9bbhcwoo

(sorry about youtube)

More progress soon, doing the brakes tommoro, windshield seal is on order, should be here next week.. then onto the fun stuff I realize the stuff im doing now is boring.. Cant wait to get started on the deck/cage + bumper aswell as the floors, that and the suspension is going to be alot of fun too! Custom setup of course some other things to come are custom cross members including a high clearance T-case x-member and one for the rear shocks to mount nicely to. But for now I just gotta stick with the basics and make sure everything is working before I put too much money and time into it.

Island_Yota

Progress is slow lately, Pulled the windshield out, spent a good 2 hours in 35 degrees Celsius scraping the silicone that some bastard used to glue the seal to the windshield frame, worse is im already really sunburnt from being on the lake for a couple days. Even worse is I found some nasty rust and water underneath the seal so its gonna need some welding and bondo work, well that.. and I picked up the wrong bushings for my springs so im gonna have to run back out and get the right ones... But its all worth it once its done right?

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Yep, it will all be worth it when you are done...if it ever gets done
My 81 has already gone through a few evolutions in my mind, much to my wife's dismay it seems my budget needs increase all the time...

Island_Yota

It'll get done, Progress is slow for quite a few reasons lately, its annoying.. all I wanna do is work on the yota but too much going on to get at it for a good amount of time, and its hard get out and pick up all the steel I need and the parts I need, but its getting there.


Heres some more progress pics from earlier in the weekend,


Made these up because I have no idea where to get proper shackle bolts from, im assuming Toyota but this was cheap.. and kinda fun, made a total of 6 for the front end.



New rear springs, should be going in today, I need to replace the x-member that the gas tank is bolted to and im going to mount my shocks to, im gonna raise the gas tank 2.5" too. Relocating the shackle mount about 4" forward since these springs are a little shorter and the stock shackle angle blows anyway. Possibly doing a buggy leaf setup with a removable pin that holds it in place when im driving it on the street.




New springs made the front end sit 2" taller than the other lift springs I had in there, I decided to ditch the torque arm because it was binding up pretty bad and these springs are pretty heavy duty so wrap when I stomp on the brakes should be minimal.




Driveshaft at full droop, could be an issue but im gonna run it anyway, if it breaks il lengthen my spare one. You can also see that the shackles are fully extended, the springs also moved my axle forward a bit so I have plenty of fire wall clearance.





Oh, forgot to mention, its tarped up because I took out the windshield, gotta repair the seal surface in the bottom two corners. I guess moisture gets trapped in there and eventually the metal rots out, Its a minor fix. I have a brand new seal to go in and the truck came with a good windshield among the spare parts.


Not sure if I posted these either, just my $35 exhaust system

navyredneck

Nice progress. I always love to see an old toyota getting fixed up. Can you show some more pictures of how you're gonna fix that windshield corner? I'd like to store that idea away as you never know where you're gonna find rust...

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Are you going with High Steer on the front or using a Dropped draglink for steering? I am thinking your front drive shaft is going to be an issue sooner than you think. The front springs I picked up for my '81 were a good deal, but am gonna require new mounts, shackles, Hi steer, and drive shaft mods to deal with the flex...

I forgot about Flex for exhaust--Thanks for the reminder saves a trip and some money at a shop..

yoterr

heh i just got my parts truck...its a 79 with a 20r in it and 74k on it???? and it fired right up as well tried to idle but the carb needed to be rebuilt but with a rebuilt carb runs smooth!! good luck

Hoopster

Keep up the good work and thanks for posting on your progress. It's cool to see a truck like this come along.

Island_Yota

Yeah, no problem man.. I think its going to involve some small bits of metal and some bondo work.

I have a drop drag link, might run it for a little bit while I look around for a used Hi-steer set-up, if that doesn't come along soon il be buying new from trail gear. The drive shaft should be alright, I stuffed the front drivers side wheel and the shaft didn't slip as far as it is in the pic but I will have to wait till I take it on a trail to see whats really going on, if it breaks it breaks, Il carry my spare with me, Im definetly gonna give the truck a good "backyard" test before I take it out on the trails, we have 6 acres and some pretty fun little trails, nothing to serious but im sure I could flop the thing in a few spots, im gonna try and avoid doing that!

Sounds awesome, good old R series motors eh? Mine doesn't leak a drop of oil anymore, h/g seems good, no smoke, no weird noises, pretty cool!

Thanks, I try to keep it updated as much as possible.

Island_Yota

Got a little done today, Photobucket is down so il post them from my facebook album..

Back in the shop, rear end up on jack stands


Hmm.. these arent cheap are they?


They are when you have the right piece of aluminum and a CNC mill..


yadayadayada


All done, more involved than one might think!


And out with the old



Hmm.. no pic of it all out, Il snap one in the morning, Tommoro comes new shackle mount location, frame is losing 12" off the back, cross member is getting beefed up for the shocks, its rotten in one little spot but my shock mount will fix it and the Poocomps will finally be in, I had them in briefly today and the shackles were completely inverted with the springs under load, it was nasty so im relocating the mount 4.5" forward .

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Looking good. I wish I access to some of the tools you get to play with..
I too am debating about chopping a little bit off the back of my Trekker. Since the bed and canopy are all fiberglass I am thinking that I can take out 9" and have something even more unique...but not sure yet..

Island_Yota

IM taking a whole 10" off the frame now that ive figured out where my shackle mounts sit, I had plans to go to 63" Chevs one day so if I take that much off im either going to have to shorten the wheel base, lengthen the frame, or ditch the idea of chevs and go with what ive always wanted... Coils/Link suspension.

I got the shackles figured out last night, it was a learning experience for sure. 4.5" forward seemed good, then I let the truck down.. and they flattened right out, so I moved them about 2" back and they are perfect, we put about 400 pounds of weight right on the very back of the frame and they didnt double over. And the best part, the Procomps actually flex now, these springs suck with the factory shackle location, they aren't bad now! Pics to come, my batteries are on charge.. Makes me want to fix the front shackle angle now, but it seems to have enough up and down travel as it is, just gonna ride like a tank on pavement and logging roads.

Island_Yota

Tires are 33" x 13.5" Swamper TSL's on 15 x 8 rims. No rubbing, close in the rear when I flex it out but I think it will be fine, cant really tell until I get it out on a trail. The front doesn't even come close to rubbing, if they were 35's id be out there hitting the fender wells with a BFH.

But yeah, thats what it looks like with the 4" Poocomp springs and stock shackles, Il be doing a u-bolt flip all around soon, just gotta run up to Lordco(auto store chain up here) and grab some U-bolts and some other stuff for the truck.