bone collector

So I have spent the last week drooling over a lot of other build threads, so I decided to start my own. I had an 87 reg cab that I resurrected form the dead and scrap heap. I sold it and bought my 94 xcab. I bought the truck for 900 dollars knowing it needed work, from a friend who didnt want it any more. I gave up the reg cab for the xcab so i can help haul kids around if need be. With the kids getting older and in many activities we needed the ability for more then 1 people hauler. So here is the new truck:
The day i brought her home

after a tune up and a brake job she was on the road and reliable
Check out these rotors!!!


When I first got the truck I had to start it with a because the ignition lock had seized and he busted it all apart in a parking lot. In the process he busted up the dash pretty good. I finally fix the ignition so it now starts with a key but the dash bezel is still busted up


After a few months of proving reliable I decided to start playing around with the truck. So I did the EGR/PAIR delete. I HIGHLY recommend it if you dont have to pass smog. Much better throttle response, and about 1 or 2 mpg better. Cleans up the engine bay too..



I also did an ISR mod with when I did the 7mge afm swap. OOOOHHH baby it GO time. best mod I have done to date.

bone collector

Future mods include:
IFS manual hubs
Front and rear bumpers
armor
paint and rust repair
F-150 springs and 1.5"BJ spacers


My reasons for F-150 springs:

this is something i use my truck a lot for, So I need the extra capacity of the stronger springs.

My reasons for bumpers:



There is rust starting to form on the front bumper and it looks like the drivers side has been pushed in a bit. The rear bumper was so bad it was falling off.

Rust repair!!
welcome to the Midwest::







Its not as bad as many other trucks I have seen in the area. Some have pieces of the bed literally falling off.

bone collector

My workplace had 2 full size truck boxes sitting out back just rusting away. They wanted the back area cleaned up so I volunteered to help by giving the best box a new home. But since it was a full size box instead of a mid size it needed some work. But being the cheap opportunist I am I couldnt pass it up and it was a chance for me to practice my welding....



I cut 4 inches out of the middle and welding it back together...


here it is on the truck:


I painted it in spray on bedliner from Autozone.

bone collector

my 2 trucks together.



The 87 is still in the family. Weirdly enough my Mother-in-law bought it cuz she knew how much work I put into it. She loves that truck and even takes it offroad occasionally. Best news is I have first rights to buy it back if she ever sells it, which she wont. lol

willmasterflex

woo! i was searching for a build thread to see what you've done to your truck when you stumbled onto mine.

that sucks about the rust. i used to live in upstate new york, rust is a killer. i had a little ranger with a rotten frame and was amazed that it didn't just crumble into pieces every time i got in...

nice job on the isr, i've been meaning to do that for months. just haven't gotten around to it.

looking at your truck reminds me of all the things i need to take care of...

sweet truck tho!

bone collector

Thanks!! the isr was really easy and I highly recommend it to anybody. It can be as cheap or as expensive as you choose. I plan on cutting out most of the rust and repairing it or just cutting bigger wheel arches for my eventual 35's.
I also want to scrub the frame down and POR-15 it to preserve it

lil_red_yota

Good looking truck. Those rotors where toast. That tool box turned out good I thought about doing that to the one I got for Christmas when I had an f150 but just can't bring my self to cut up a brand new tool box.

bone collector

Ya i would have a hard time cutting up a brand new box as well. I figured if I screwed this box up I wasnt out any money and could probably make money in scrap. But a brand new box.... I cant blame ya for being hesitant. Maybe try to sell it and get one for a mid size truck, or trade for one. try craigslist in your area, somebody might bite. I love craigslist, lots of deals on there.

lil_red_yota

I'm get on cl every now and then looking for stuff but there's never really much on there for these trucks.

93Xtra-Cab

Is the 7mge AFM swap a direct bolt on/plug and play kind of deal? Did you really gain that much power? Any increases/decreases in fuel economy?

I don't envy all that rust...

bone collector

the rust isnt that bad and will be cut out soon enough. Probably after the winter tho. I hope to get 35's on my truck and will cut the fenders larger for them, and eliminate the rust at the same time.

the 7mge afm really did wake up the truck. It was a little doggy while it was stock but i was happy with it cuz it was MUCH better then my old 22r. I did the ISR at the same time as I did the afm swap because the outlet sizes on the 2 afm's are different, the 7mge is much larger. The door in the 3vze is much smaller so it lets in much less air as compared to the 7mge. That being said the electronics of the are plug and play (Thank God). You do have to take the cover off the 7mge afm and adjust the fuel spring inside. It sounds scarier then it is. believe it or not you have to adjust the spring to make the ecu send MORE fuel. Since there is more air you need more fuel. i did have to play with the air adjust screw on the side to make it run correctly. All in all it took me about 2 hours to remove the old afm, prep the 7mge afm, and build the ISR. the ISR took the most time. Here is the link I followed...

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...n-take-183688/

bone collector

As far as gas mileage goes, Im averaging about 18-20 mpg's with a 50/50 mix of city/highway driving. I drive with a heavy foot and routinely pass people on the highway. After I did the afm swap, I had to remind myself i was driving a 4x4 truck and not a race car. lol.
I still have stock exhaust, but the cat rusted off when I got it. So Im sure I could gain some mpg and power by upgrading the exhaust. I do wish to do the exhaust crossover elimination mod sometime soon, and then go with an upgraded exhaust and that time which should help with power and mpg's.

hope all my ramblings help ya and not confuse ya

BowhunterBen

Did you ever do anything with your exhaust crossover? I'm trying to find any info on what I can or should do to mine. I am close to putting my engine back in the truck and I saw that someone mentioned that you shouldn't put the stock crossover back on. I am still searching for info on what I should do with it.

bone collector

I have not done the exhaust crossover mod yet. i will do it when i redo my heads. here is some info i have found.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...or-diy-198561/

bone collector

Well yesterday my truck overheated on the way home. I pulled over right away and let it cool off while I went shopping for winter work gloves since it currently is 5 degrees outside. Confused and upset that my truck is letting me down. Once i was done shopping my truck was cooled off i drove the remaining 5 minutes home. I know it was a risk but I was close and it wasnt worth the tow. I pushed my truck in the garage and started to check it out. First thing i triple checked was the oil on the dipstick. fearing the dreaded head gasket.... I also did a full compression test. It passed with 155 psi across all 6 cylinders. So at that point i figured it was the thermostat. Well tonight I changed the thermostat and it fixed it!! whew..... I am really thankful!!

bone collector

I guess I should do some updating. A few weeks ago I met 94yo-toe and we worked on his xcab. We did a 7mge afm swap on his veezy. He loves it!! easy power. During that time I did some trading for some parts. I got a much needed driver door seal to help keep the cold out, I also got a radio and some 4 inch kicker speakers for the front. so this past weekend I installed that stuff on my truck because it was 45 degrees outside and it was nice out. Then the temps plummeted to negative numbers, probably what caused my faulty thermostat. Any who just been awhile since i posted so I figured i would update

bone collector

Tomorrow I am going to pick up a frame and drivetrain from a guy i talked to from craigslist. 200 bucks and some old 22r parts from my old 87 scored me a frame from a 93, the 3.0 3vze, transmission, transfer case, rear axle, rear springs and complete ifs. no body is on this set up. I plan to use the heads off the motor for when i rebuild my motor. I will send the heads to the machinist to be rebuilt and possibly ported. This was my motivation for the whole deal. Everything else i plan to sell off or scrap to fund my motor rebuild. I will post pics as soon as I can. super excited!!

bone collector

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Well here is my investment truck.. a 93 3vze 5 sp 4x4. the bottom end of the motor is toast. it turns over but very rough at some points... good news is the heads are ok which is why i bought the thing to begin with.



The frame has definitely got the midwest rot going on. I have a friend interested in the frame to use as a platform to build his rock crawler on....



I pulled the gears to see what they are. turns out they are 4.30s



Well I did get some work done to my truck today too.... I finally put on my GM tow hooks. I do like them! work good for a step and functionality too!!

toastyjosh

iTrader: (1)

Nice truck!!
Its going to look great with 35s when ever you get them.

When you get your heads re done take the intake manifold and the TB to get ported at the same time.
Its really not that much more. It will really wake this thing up.
Oh yea no cat, 3in pipint to a flowmaster or other turbo muffler will make this thing sound mean!
Good luck!

bone collector

Thanks! the current plan is to pull the top end off the parts truck have it all redone and and when i get it back switch it over to my truck. Just trying to minimize downtime. well that and make a real race truck