cdg

I thought that I would discuss here briefly the cost of restoring our Toyotas to their desired conditions. If you want to add the cost of your project I think a brief description of before and after, and the goal for the project is needed to keep the range of responses useful to other people.

My first Toyota restoration I did not track the expenses. My most recent project though is being entered into a spreadsheet ledger so as to keep track of what it costs. I will not line item each and every repair in the interest of being concise.



This truck was purchased by me, for me as a work truck and loaner to my friends so they will stop asking to borrow my cars. It is a VERY ugly 1980 Toyota pickup that had a wooden flat deck installed on it. My goal for the project is to turn it into a decent reliable truck. It will probably never look pretty and that's OK - the old girl will be hauling things for me as I need them (engines, transmissions, motorcycles, equipment etc.)

As it sits I paid $200 for the truck. I have put about $331 into it according to my ledger and it is now legally drivable although the seatbelts are iffy. My estimated additional repairs could go about $450 anticipated. My overall goal is to have a complete truck with iffy transmission at $900 total cost, with rebuilt trans for under $1200 and with full creature comforts for under $1500 total investment.

Any thoughts? Usually with an older vehicle like this you have to pend some money fixing it up, and it is not uncommon that this cost will ultimately exceed the resale value of the vehicle... Interested in what you all have put into your trucks. Especially those of you like me who bought basket cases and went from there...

refried

I bought my truck in '82 for about $4000. the first engine swap cost about $2500 in parts back then. It's had 2 sets of springs, several shock changes, 3 other engines,one tranny rebuild, one respray, fender, rocker, door skin, respray cab, several gear changes one broken ring gear), and several stereos. I guess I have less than $10,000 in the truck over 28 years.

92 TOY

although none of my vehicles are "pre 84", in rebuilding the top and front (head and timing) of my 92, a realistic grand total will be less than $400, knowing that a dealer headgasket repair cost me about $1500 several years ago and is over $2000 to do headgasket and timing cover nowadays(i'm told).

now if i was pulling the block, aditional expenses would be an engine stand and engine hoist

my biggest expense has been some tools i never had (breaker bar / 1/2'' drive sockets) but in all that amounts to less than $50....but to put it back together I will need torque wrenches.

Ilovemountains

Man, if I add up all Ive got in my 88 over the last 15 years Im sure I could have a lot newer of a truck, but I know my truck inside out, top and bottom! Ive bought a new fiberglass bed and paint job, that was about $2500, the head gasket job was almost $2000, Downey springs, $250, Bilstein shocks-$350, Borla cat back, K&N FIPK, if you add up all the other stuff like the 4runner seat / console swap and stereo junk over the years, the 5, SR5 alloy wheels, brakes, tune ups, sun roof install etc etc etc it adds up, and I wouldn't really call my 88 a "restoration", it was in good original shape when I bought it from my dad, it was a stock "dlx" 4x4 X cab V6 auto truck with rusty bed! I did strip and treat the frame from the cab back before I put the bed on and did all the work to it over the years with the exception of the head gasket job last winter and the paint job, I should have painted it myself though, for what I paid I got a pretty lousy paint job!

MaK92-4RnR

I have a 92 4runner that someday I plan to make a street queen / camping truck. my restoration attempts aren;t going to be for awhile. but I've already started my list...haha

83

I went a little crazy with my truck...I was doing it on the cheap, but once I decided to get a Marlin Crawler L52HD...the money just started flying.

Let's just say that all in all, with interior stuff, mechanical, tuneup, tires/wheels etc., I could have bought a used late 90's Tacoma for what I've put into it...

shlobeck

Well if everything is original, usually trannys and carbs need to be replaced at some point. Please buy a Weber, do not "rebuild" a stock carb.dunno how many miles you got on your rig. ..I did a complete resto on my '83 and I'm in it at least 6k..and that's with me doing everything except the paint! I dont think my truck is worth that but that's was never the point... Parts add up quick..

83

I'm getting closer and closer to getting a Weber...living here in the cold, I'm a little hesitant, but my rebuilt carb (yep, already did it) isn't working even as well as the old one...

I'm into my truck about the same amount as you.

cdg

I believe my first restoration truck cost about 1600 to restore to useful shape (even then it still had transmision issues).

By comparison, this lastest project isn't costing very much. Today I flushed the cooling system. I might put a water pump in it - there is a little moisture around pump seal but I may wait for a bit. Next priority is getting the temperature gauge to work within normal operating limits - I think it's lying to me as of now.

On the controversial topic of carburetor rebuilding, you can really save up big if you are good at it, or you can take a running vehicle and turn it into a junkpile if you do it wrong.

Most recommend against this but I have rebuilt 2 Toyota (Aisin) carburetors successfully now using the GP Sorensen brand universal rebuild kit. If you're careful about taking it apart then you can easily match the universal components from the kit (i.e. there are two different air horn gaskets and you have to choose which one is correct). My first rebuild ended in a slight vacuum leak at the intake manifold (I would have fixed it but about 3 days after the rebuild I sold the truck cheap to a buddy who needed transportation). Second rebuild was a success - on an '88 Tercell.

All that being said I have to conceed that it is common for the old Aisin to leak at its throttle shaft. I do not know enough to be sure on whether or not there is a cure for this. My current pickup is leaking there - enough that while I will be freshening the carb and resetting the float level, I do not think that I will be going to the efford of totally tearing the carb down. I hope to keep the truck about a year before doing the Weber though. I'm hoping that a lot of things hold out on that truck for a little while...

slacker

iTrader: (1)

I have done many resto's .. and resto mods .. for myself and customers and it all comes down to YOU and what you want .

~$20g into this one


~ 20g into this one


$7G into this one and just resold for $7500.00



and my current personal project , my Trekker , which will have ~$20-25G into it





.

cdg

Man those are some nice rigs. I hope to make my truck nice over the course of this next year or so but I can only hope it will someday look anything close to some of those rigs.

Right now I am consulting my spreadsheet of horrors and it isn't bad. So far I'm into the truck for $334. It needs 1 more tire, a power brake booster, and a front end allignment to be "done" for now. I estimate that the above should total about $200-$250 depending on where I source parts.

Then I intend to dig into the transmission during a week when I think it won't be snowing. I think I can do it myself in the bed of the truck. It should fall in at under $300 after consumables. Then hopefully I will be doing a Weber carb. I've been wanting to experiment...

After that the engine is going to get some attention. I plan to at least get a decent valve job. When the cylinder head is off I will evaluate if the head is coming out of the truck.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

Personally I think some people confuse the term/Money spent on basic maintanance and repairs as restoration expenses.

To me restoring means to bring a vehicle back to stock condition, not spending money on lift springs etc. That enters the realm of 'customization' If you broke a ring and pinion, that is just part of the cost of running the truck.

My build is far from a restoration and I know that I don't want to think about how much I have dumped into it...some of those dollars were sadly spent fixing my mistakes.

the two trucks that Corey showed fall in the true restoration section IMO...
both very nice trucks

cdg

I guess to me "restoration" means that you are restoring the quality of usefulness that makes a truck a truck. Restoring it to a running condition in other words. "Stock" is a term I would throw around loosely in the pickup truck world since many pickups will see upgrades throughout their service lives.

I consider my project a "restoration" in the fact that it did not run or drive when I bought it and it is now almost to the point where I could use it as my daily driver - although I fear the transmission may need attention sooner than I'd hoped.