pruney81

I just painted parts of my frame with the POR with a soft brush. I also did the lower and upper control arms and areas in between that had some rust; the rear diff housing as well as the bottom of my oil pan. This was 2 years ago and it's still holding up very well.

I would recommend wearing some gloves unless you don't mind having black stuff on your hands for about a week. Since you're a painter you might already know this, I didn't and had a hell of time scrubbing the POR off my hands the first time I did it.

6th Gear

iTrader: (3)

You have a NICE frame compared to the ones around here. Holes, shoddy patch jobs and scaling rust that you can poke a screwdiver through is the norm.

THere's a lot of people parting out trucks in the rust belt though so used parts are cheap and easy to find. A clean frame or rust free bed is another story....

GuitarMike

Thanks for the replies, guys. Yup, I will wire the surface stuff off, and get the POR on there! It may clean up with oil (vegetable..if it's oil-based)..or something nastier! I'll explore that when I pick the stuff up. There was a nicely-done patch in 1 part of the frame (behind the cab, of course) - someone just beat me to it! And I'll have to replace the round frame member behind the gas tank....not a big deal. Newish brake lines, fuel lines look nice...needs a parking brake front cable, ok.

I have a rear main seal leak, and now I am thinking (wondering) if pulling the transmission and just replacing the clutch now would be a good idea??
Note: I've never pulled a transmission, but I DO build tube amps and other hands-on crap like that - I can put water pumps in and that kind of stuff....trying to get a sense of the pro's and cons here. If my buddy is too busy, I may have to do it 90% on my own here....would YOU just take it down and do the clutch, or replace the rear main and call it good until there's a problem?? Opinions? Thanks!

pruney81

If the rear main leak isn't too bad, like only about 1 quart every 1K miles or more I wouldn't worry about it really. But if you are going through a lot of oil then I would drop the transmission and replace the rear main and get a whole new clutch kit while it's out, resurface or buy a new flywheel too.

Have you driven it enough yet to know how much oil it's really even using? I would change the oil and drive it for 3K miles first, just to get an idea of how much or bad it's leaking first.

Just my 2 cents.

Resto-noob

iTrader: (3)

How bad's the leak?


If you think you can make it until spring, it may be worth a shot. If I were doing the rear main seal, I'd think long and hard about replacing the clutch, you're right there. Besides, your clutch is probably not in the best shape due to being saturated with oil.

Just saw that you're only going 10 miles or so during the winter. I'd chance it, but I have other vehicles at my disposal, so I can afford to have one not running. If you do this, don't come down to NH all angry because your clutch smoked in the driveway.

I'll keep my eyes open for a clean frame for you, I tend to run across parts I don't need, but the ones I do elude me.

GuitarMike

Thanks again, gentlemen! I drove say 100 miles when I bought it...no noticeable drop on the dipstick. But I do get beads of oil at the bottom of the tranny every day, and it's oily there...so I'm pretty sure it's getting in the housing and all. That's what I'm really worried about...decisions, decisions... Looking in the field manual, it doesn't SEEM too hard. I'll speak with my tech friend, who will then call me a wuss for being nervous about dropping it...

Hey, Resto - appreciate the thought! There are a few guys up here into the old Yotas, myself just being a noob coming in. There are a few over Rumford way. If you come across a clean frame, I'd really like to have dibs!! Guy up the road from me has a 22RE, with driveline, for $350 on Craigslist. Trust me, I was thinking about that!

First I have to get my stuff greasy on this one....like I said, my last one was an '88, and that was yrs. ago - it was new enough to need very little other than valve lash adjustment, etc. Coming at this as a noob stinks....

camdendoughty

ive run into a few clean frames down here in southern maine. what were you looking to pay?

Moonfish

Mike, Maybe you have, but I'd try real hard to find the source of the oil leak. The back of the valve cover leaks and runs down the bellhousing. If it really is between the tranny/engine, definitely do the input shaft for the transmission. It can leak and shell the tranny from running low oil. The leak seems pretty common.

Paint what you can and oil the rest. It does help quite a bit. I sprayed my hilux undercarriage with lanolin/paint thinner and it held up pretty well. Luck

GuitarMike

Thanks, Moonfish!
Since my last post I've:
- done a valve cover gasket, and degreased the tranny bellhousing. No more leak! Clean as a whistle, still. And yup, it was camshaft seal, good call!
- new plugs & wires
- a bit of exhaust work (I still think my down tube should be replaced; it's gotten 'porous' and lets gasses out. Before winter).
- My friend and I are putting in a new rear end, lol. I'm cutting the U bolts this morning, and he's coming by tomorrow with the 'new' one. My axle shafts, but new housing and drums....the old housing LEAKED at the back, below the fill plug. Good chance to clean things up back there.

That would take care of all the driveline stuff for now, I think. So it can go on the road at the end of the month. I've done a bunch of sheet metal and bondo, will be painting that up soon to get thru a yr or so, then will do the flatbed.

Frame's not as bad as I thought - after I pounded the scale off; it cleaned up nicely with a wire brush on grinder. I POR-15'd most of it, have more to do. 2 spots I'd like to see a weld on (round crossmember that holds up the gas tank, and right next to it is a small but isolated hole).

I figure I'll get a few years out of this one....only 183k :o) But now I am addicted again, so for Camdendoughty: In the spring I might be interested in a frame (or 2!). I'll talk to my friend, we may consider going in on one together, or build dual rigs or something. Not sure on a price for ya, but I'll get back to you. He has a place in Rumford to keep stuff, so that may be something to do in the future (a clean build). This one is the 'daily driver/learn Toyota in and out' for me. Starting ground-up would be awesome....

camdendoughty

i agree, mines a daily driver but i dont have anywhere to keep anything, im down in portland soo as you can imagine there isnt much space for extra trucks. ill let you know if i come across anything good.

Resto-noob

iTrader: (3)

Mike, I've got a clean frame with IFS stuff removed here in NH. It will be here in the spring unless someone makes me an offer I can't refuse.

This recent chilly weather has me putting stuff away for winter already...

GuitarMike

Thanks, Resto, I will keep that in mind! I think this frame has a few more 1,000 miles in it...I have friends that weld, too!
Not sure if I want to tackle a frame-up build, but it sure is tempting!

Put in a new used rear axle housing today...we re-did the oil pinion seal on the pig, but had to pretty much do a edumacted guess as to the preload. It will probably go bye-bye, I hope after the winter....fortunately my friend scott is taking the diff from the axle he/we just bought (it has nice lockers), and I'll end up with his old stock one! So down the road that is taken care of.

Bleeding brakes tomorrow, and this fix should be done.

Then I can put it on the road (by Halloween), and have the welding dude redo my gas tank support cross member and anything else he things might be sketchy...it'll get there....

Yeah, feels like fall already! Kind of a bummer.....I'd better clean the woodstove chimney pretty darn quick!