JustDSM

Hello everyone! I've been a lurker for some time on this forum, and only just recently (as in yesterday) got myself back into a Toyota. I'm rather happy about it too, but who wouldn't ehh?

I got myself into a '83 Short Bed SR5 pickup that's in really good shape! I'm really stoked about the adventures to come with this truck. Back in 2000-2001 I had a similar '82 pickup while I was in the Air Force, stationed in Alaska. It was a rather base model truck that was sound, but just had a lot of hard miles on it. I sure didn't take it easy on that truck either! It never once let me down, and I don't think this one will either.

Once I left Alaska, years later I bought a '88 4Runner in great shape that I had done some extensive work too. I bought the truck with what was explained to me as timing belt slap that ended up being that, and rod knock.. So I spent a boat load of money having a shop very methodically chop the IFS/Install the SAS from All-Pro Offroad along with the 33" MTZ's, Gears, Detroit Locker, Ect, Ect.. Only to have the engine sieze 40 miles later. Money was obviously tight and I couldn't get the truck back on the road within a reasonable time frame so I ended up selling it and regretting it.. I wonder if the new owner is on here...

Not sure on the planned modifications, but I am sure I wont be going any bigger than 33x12.50's and 3-4" of lift. I'm really not sure I want to hack the truck to put on a All-Pro Kit or just do something like a OME lift.. Will some 33x12.50 MTZ's even clear with a OME lift? But I'll be keeping this thing more streetable rather than going "all out trail rig"..

Anyhow.. I guess I should show some pics of the truck I just bought.. I'll be picking it up Saturday and making our drive home from Sacramento, CA to Las Cruces, NM over the weekend. I figure this will give us some time to get aquainted













Here's a few pics of my old 4Runner:

Stock '88 4Runner SR5:


Modified '88 4Runner SR5

xxxtreme22r

33's should clear with no lift on that 83. Nice clean truck BTW. How much did it cost ya?

Gov't Mule

Wow....that truck looks awesome....congrats!!

JustDSM

Maybe the OME setup will be the route I take then.. We'll see..

I picked it up for $3200. A bit of coin, but it's a 2 owner vehicle and you don't find them in this condition (much less a SR5) very easily these days.

83

That's a very nice looking truck.

JonnyBoy

Yeah, 33x10.5 fits with no rubbing and about 3" backspacing, so an OME kit and 33x12.5's should be perfect. Man I wish mine was that nice and clean looking, but I'm just happy mine isn't rusted all to Hell.

dropzone

iTrader: (6)

33's, some 4.88 gears and that will be awesome...pretty cool as is..

if you want to get the correct stripe kit to match what you have check out:
http://www.jamesdeancreations.com/1981-83.htm
he is a member here and have heard great things about his quality..

JustDSM

So, I flew out to Sacramento, CA early Saturday morning and picked up the truck.. Had lunch and dinner with a old friend who lives out that way. About 9PM Sat. evening I took and headed home.. Made it home Sunday around 6PM. Truck ran great! It's a bit noisey inside with no carpet and with the cracked exhaust manifold. Beyond that the drive was pretty fun, especially crusing around in a old truck.

So I've looked it over a little and I found that the rear brakes were dragging quite a bit. Eating up what little HP that truck makes, not to mention eating up gas or the wear on the brakes. The little jingle/rattle I heard was just the differential dust shield seperating from the flange.

So I ordered up a header, and some other goods from LC Engineering, Marlin Crawler to get things fixed up just right. Picked up some items to rebuild the rear end (bearings and seals). Figured while I was in there I'd give the brakes a once over and see if any damage occured from the rear pads being dragged for god knows how long.

Well, now I've been itching to get the interior up to par. The dash is full of rattles and some of the back lighting isn't working. Their is no carpet or center console. The seats are in poor shape, but are good enough for now. The Speedometer isn't working. I know that sounds like a boat-load of problems, but the interior really isn't too shabby, compared to other vehicles of this vintage.

So tonight I started the interior project by making some templets for some kick pannels I'll be making. I'll be making a pod to house some 5.25" speakers fiberglassed into the pannel. I spent an hour this evening getting the rough backing plate made. This weekend I'll see if I can't find some decent speakers to use for these and I can start molding the glass and get these things underway.

If not I'll get the cracked exhaust manifold replaced with the header, and get a exhaust fab'd up along with installing the other goodies I ordered. Not many pics yet, as I've mostly just been poking and prodding at the truck to determine what I want to do with it.. But this is the first "project" for the truck so here's a pic or two of the begining of my kick pannels. Not much to see yet..





And some of the interior as is:







[/quote]

Gov't Mule

Lookin' good....keep at it!

83

Explain the dust shield and flange? You mean on the pinion seal?

And hey, when you buy a truck this old, a boat load of problems is what you get, believe me! So don't worry about that. Sounds and looks like yours is in waaay better shape than mine was.

mightymouse

iTrader: (6)

very nice! scribed this looks interesting.

JustDSM

I think the FSM calls it the "Companion Flange". Although the actual flange the driveshaft bolts too, is fine this dust shield gets banged up. Here's the part I'm referring too. I picked up 2 of these to have a spare.. http://www.marlincrawler.com/hardwar...d-differential

Yeah, I guess you can't be too picky with a old vehicle like this. It's really a solid truck. Just needs some TLC to get everything back to tip top. I'm not trying to make a show truck by any means, but just put some quality time/work into it to keep it nice. All too many of these things have just been hacked on and rather than be one of those guys I'd like to keep this thing on the road for another 20 years.

I've got some more work planned for this weekend hopefully if everything works out. I plan to keep this thread going as kind of a "diary" of work done.

83

Ok, thanks. I've been chasing down a rattle for a long time, so I'm always asking...

Pretty sure my dust shields are fine. You could tell from what? Was it warped? Mine doesn't always make the noise, it's kind of intermittant, so I guess it probably can't be something like that, as I'd guess it would always make the noise.

JustDSM

I'd be willing to bet your dust shields are probably about like mine. During my drive home I would hear it rattle/ect when I'd pull in for gas (it was a little loud in the cab at 70mph so I wasn't sure if it was doing it at speed).

It's almost like a rattle with a hint of grinding sound.. Kinda hard to describe and it had me worried for a bit but I just kept motoring on..

The following day I had the truck up on all 4 jackstands and had the truck idling in 1st gear in 4Hi and immediately I was able to locate what the sound was.. Thankfully it's a rather cheap part to replace! You should give yours a check and report back if yours was a go/no-go. Mine looked normal, but it's lose and sometimes rotates with the driveshaft and that causes it to rattle/scrape against the diff.

83

Wow...well that would be interesting. After replacing my rear diff, having the u-joints checked out, and rebuilding my transfer case!

But still, that would be cool if that's all my noise is.

Thanks!

Back on topic..

JustDSM

Wow, sounds like you've gone through the whole drivetrain almost! I sure hope it ends up being something that simple.. Sucks that you went through all that.. But at least you know you've got a rock solid drivetrain from here on out if it ends up being the dust shield..

Anyhow.. I put in a few hours of work this evening.. Also got some goodies in from LC Engineering! I'll have pics of that stuff later.. While on my lunch break I put in a order with http://www.stockinteriors.com for a Medium Beige carpet kit w/ the "massback" option to help keep the cab quiet. So that had to curb the desire to put on some performance goodies, as I have a carpet kit coming in a few days (hopefully!). So with the interior aspect of my project coming along I fought the chilly weather and put some work in on the interior... Here's some pics illustrating the process:

Just getting started:






Getting some work done...








Finishing up the rear of the cab:


And a little extra.. Autozone only had one in stock.. So maybe this project will get finished next week! LOL



I got a bit chilly working with the sound deadening, so I moved on to install my new PCV valve grommet and PCV Valve hose. The orignal ones were rock hard and cracking causing a bit of a vacuum leak which had the idle a little irratic. So I go to install this thing:



And pull the old valve cover grommet, and it just refuses to come out and starts breaking off.. Great.. So enough of it brakes off (Including the PCV valve) that I end up having to pull the valve cover and the little windage tray underneath to get the rest of the valve/grommet out.. I don't have a spare PCV Valve, so looks like tomorrow another trip to AutoZone.. Although after this incident I'm almost thinking about seeing if Toyota has a OEM metal valve in stock..

I'll also be making a trip to one or two of the local yards to see if I can't find any decent seats to put in this thing. The stock ones are just shot.. I've got my eye on a set of black '87 MR2 Seats, but I'm going to look and see if I can't find anything in tan/ect that would better match the interior. We'll see..

toyospearo

WOW!!!
That is a beautiful 1st gen!

sandigan

x2. If the exterior looks the same in reality as it does in the pictures, then I'd say it would be better to restore that truck than wheel it. Either way, nice score. I said it another thread, but LOVE the first gens.

JustDSM

Thanks guys for the kind words on this old beast..

What a long weekend..

I guess the most noteable aspect of the project was the attempted header install. But I suppose I should make it known that I've had a long standing rule that has been with me for some time now.. "Don't buy cheap junk, to save a buck or cut a corner.. Do it right the first time and spend a little more upfront to save a lot down the road.." Well, I broke that rule last weekend. I bought a cheap ass Ebay "OBX" header for my truck. Thinking this thing is a '83, and it's never going to be fast, so why get a "good" header? Well.. here's what happens when you buy cheap Chinese made junk:





And it still DOESN'T fit! I ened up just swallowing the ~$200 I spent on this POS and had to buy a legit LC Engineering header.

Next up was some LC Engineering Poly motor mounts in preperation for the dual transfer case setup. Still need to get a transfercase mount/crossmember setup.. But these are in and ready for the dual case when I put them in..



Finished up this daunting aspect of the project..



Got some work done with eliminating the tin can sound this truck is so well known for..









By now my frustration from the POS header had worn off enough for me to re-open the hood and install the LC Engineering K&N intake. Have to say the CNC'd adaptor was pretty trick!

BoredOutnJackdUp

that really sucks on the header man.
But that air cleaner looks siiiiick!