Mr_Random

Purchased this truck two months ago at a local used car dealer:


Working A/C, working power steering, power brakes, 4wd, 22r, 33" BFG's, and lights. Everything I need to DD and offroad.

Problems: Loose leaf in Left-Rear spring pack,
Aging brakes,
valve noise,
stock carb with more jimmy-rigging and vacuum leaks than I cared to fix,
Tiny Go-Kart style steering wheel,
Leaky power steering,
Radiator front upper seal leak,
Autozone Duracrap battery,
Gauges and LCD clock only working cab lights (clock resets with almost every key on-off cycle... it's confusing)
Can't align passenger window in track.

Fixed:


Might be able to see the misaligned leaf. For now I'm using a 5lb sledge to fix this every week or two, will be getting some spring pack clamps this week though.



Optima Blue Top Marine battery with secondary posts 225cca from my s(crap)ped Cherokee.
32/36 weber picked up for $70 with 83 block, two cranks, and two sets of pistons. All with bearing caps and connecting rods. Total ~$100 for adapter, linkage, and filter for weber... not bad right?
Replaced power steering hose... simple enough.
Roomie blew the radiator driving 65 in 3rd gear because the tard had the a/c on and didn't know it... replaced with checker's cheapie (will get nice one in future).
88 2wd pickup steering wheel (biggest toy wheel I could find in junkyard)... Now I can steer without grunting and my horn doesn't honk turning sharp corners, haha.

Still have problems with pass. Window, radio wiring, and interior lighting. PO installed a Viper alarm system, which actually works, but I think it's the source of alot of problems. I do like being able to unlock the doors from afar though...
Oh and this thing used to have electric windows (found the old switch still attached, stuffed up into dash), PO switched to manual, but I can't align the passenger window to save my life.
Luckily I'm an electrician and have the ability to figure most of this crap out, unfortunately though, I don't have the time or patience...

Planning an engine performance rebuild, got real lucky with that block, gonna have it bored .040 over, have the crank, rods, and pistons professionally balanced (possibly shot-peen and heat treat everything too). Pull a 20r head from the junkyard, get oversized valves and new double-roller timing chain, rocker set from a 22r with additional oil galleys drilled. I can get everything I need from engnbldr.com for ~$500, with additional ARP everything I can get. Don't expect more than $1500 for machine work and parts if I do the re-assembly myself.

Nerf Bars and front bumper will go as soon as I can get them gone, also considering tube doors. Probably get everything From WabFab, Brian makes some great looking (and apparently functioning) stuff.

More pictures:

Swimmerboy2112

iTrader: (2)

Looks good, good luck with the build, I really really like solid axel long bed pickups!!

Mr_Random

Thanks man, I really like the long bed too, fit a Full size mattress, box spring, head and footboards, and frame in it the first week I had it, I was surprised it all fit to say the least (ratchet straps did help though). Turning radius is terrible with the SA's closed knuckles though, luckily I learned to drive in both a suburban and longbed extracab dakota.

Oh and currently I am getting ~19mpg combined freeway, stop-'n-go, and offroad. Not too bad really...

briank

looks sharp good pickup!

Mr_Random

update from phone: found out why the ride has been horrible; the upper shock bushing front pass. side was not there at all. found a sway bar bushing from my cherokee and put it in. Amazing difference! Also, i think the shocks are near-done anyways. what should i get? i've never had a vehicle with leafs all around so i don't know what type of shocks compliment them. Found some rem. res. bilstein's on CL, might check those out, but would normal bilsteins work well too? Does OME still produce shocks for these?

Mr_Random

can't edit from my phone apparently; just realized i put "225" instead of "775" CCA for my optima, ha. been looking for some mud after all this monsoon rain we're getting, i'll post pics once i find some. had some other updates in mind, but i'll edit this post from the computer once home.

Home update: currently at exactly 20mpg, not bad for what it is right? Bought myself a 224 piece 3/8" and 1/4" drive toolset for my birthday, most important part is that it all came in a good case with slots for each one... I've lost so many tools over the last two years because i can't organize...

vwfastg60

Sweet truck! I stuck to my longbed just for the simple fact you can bob the bed a foot and still have the standard 6ft bed. Finding a soft topper was easy and i dont drag the rear on anything.


For your window issue...Look in the door at the front of the door where the track/seal comes in to the door. Some people forget to put the guide back in the door and when they roll it down the window falls out of the track and wont go up.


Good luck with the build.

844x4

Is that an aftermarket weber carb on there?

Mr_Random

sorry for no immediate reply, yes, it's a 32/36 dgav/dgev or whatever it's called. truck is still running! odo died at 278k and i've done two oil changes since, and expect it's around 285k by now. By no means does it run great, but i drive it almost 300mi a week and have NEVER broke down! avg. 16mpg, and now have a nice camper shell on the back. i'll get pics soon, but no other changes to note.

JBurt

Did you ever do the rebuild?

I noticed you said you got a lot from the junkyard. Which one do you go to? I never have any luck finding yota stuff in yards.

'85 Yota

Looks good! What leafs do you have in the front?

Mr_Random

Phew! Doozie of a question there... I've now rebuilt two different engines for it with parts from 5 different years at least.

Firstly, I got lucky on a deal for a rebuilt 20r head and a box of new and old parts. ALL NIB: Engbldr 272 cam, dual row timing kit, oil pan baffle/crank scraper, MLS head gasket, OFFY intake manifold,oem oil pump, oem water pump, and dual valve springs, all for $700.

I proceeded to port 'n polish/gasket match the 20r head and offy intake, getting it ready for bigger valves, when suddenly ANOTHER awesome deal popped up on CL.

87 22RE, all the accessories, intake manifold, injectors, wiring, computer, (blaster) coil, pacesetter header and exhaust, radiator, and maybe one or two other things, bought it all for $450. Turns out the engine was the guy's machine school final project. He TOLD me it had dual valve springs and large valves, as well as KB Hyper pistons, but there are a few things he didn't tell me...

He had hacked up the wiring bad, so I bought a super clean harness/computer/injectors/throttle cable from a 94, then spliced it in to the old harness for the older (knock sensing) computer to work. Remember how I said I'm an electrician? Thank my dad for setting me on that path, because engine wire looms are not for normal humans to deal with! haha.

Anyways, sold off the 20r head and offy intake to practically get all this for free, then installed the engine, and got her going! For like two months, that is... turns out the knock sensor wasn't working, and the computer underfueled/oversparked my engine when I redlined it, which blew the ringland on piston #4. It drove, but weirdly, then due to vibrations the cam bolt loosened up enough to strip itself out of the cam (comp cam 280 i believe), completely disengaging the timing chain.

With that catastrophic failure, I pulled the head to inspect valves, and in finding the one piston blown, ordered a new one with matching weight, but only after buying and assembling a Megasquirt in order to (hopefully) prevent any of this from happening again.

After re-assembling and running with Megasquirt (huge undertaking! I am still learning so much about Engine Management!), I learned the engine builder had done even more work than stated! Ported/gasket matched runners, (later model) intake mani, and throttle body, deburred/shot peened con rods, deburred/balanced crank, then ARP Crank Bearing studs, and ARP Con Rod Bearing studs! Even with all the additional time and energy I had to put in, just having all that was well worth it!

Then, a week later, SUPER CATASTROPHIC FAILURE!!!!!! Fuel line popped off mid-rev, underfueling/oversparking again, this time blowing the tops off the OTHER 3 pistons, breaking the skirts on two, one of which was the new #4, which then pushed its' pin out, cutting a tremendous groove in the cylinder wall! OH SO MUCH FUN! Crazily enough, it drove a couple miles home!

So, finally, two years of on-and-off sitting and engine dismantling/rebuilding later, we have the current rendition:

Whatever you take from this cautionary tale, DO NOT DO WHAT I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU I DID.

84 block (original from my truck), had it cut down 1.95 MILLIMETERS, DO NOT DO THIS, just go and get a late model block! Re-Camphered the head bolt holes, and cut down the early style timing chain cover to match. Late Model .020"/.50mm over DNJ pistons, weight matched them myself to within .10 gram, installed with the following: Crank, Con Rods, Head (did some bowl work to gain a couple cc's and un-beanify the chamber a little), and ARP studs from the 87 I just ruined, crank scraper, MLS head gasket, Engnbldr 272 cam, dual row timing chain kit, and helicoiled in some LCE exhaust studs, as well as DORMAN Ford f150 exhaust studs installed as intake studs (fit perfectly, use split lock washers/normal nuts instead of metal-lock nuts though). Turbo flywheel and clutch kit to put the power to the wheels.

Why I used the early block; it was a clean block, and my spare, apparently the PO just put a cheap HG on it, which blew a coolant seal to the outside world, but not inwards (some epoxy helped that), but the #3 exhaust valve seat had been cooked to death so it had inconsistent pressure and was burning oil. I'd estimate, based on bearing wear, that the engine was less than 20kmi from its' last rebuild, so in my genius ways I decided to just have it cut to match the late style block, allowing me to put both the NICE 87 head, AND the dual row timing chain.

Why you shouldn't do what I did; some pre 84 blocks won't have enough casting material on the top of the block to cut the full 2mm without essentially making it an "open" block, or cutting into the top mounting hole for the TC cover. Mine had enough material to prevent the "open" block, but i was weary about the top bolt hole, and since the head was .05mm under from being machined for the MLS, 1.95mm was what I had the shop take off the block. You will need to either buy LCE's late-model dual row chain, or have an early one shortened two links, and will probably need an adjustable cam gear anyways. Also, the "hidden head bolt" hole on the TC Cover will be so shallow that you will either need a shorter bolt and to be really careful, or do what I did and epoxy a stud in it after over-tightening a shorter bolt and breaking the front lip of the TC cover (lol)... Later head bolts are also shorter to compensate for deck height, so those (or ARP studs, which I will put in when I have funds again) must be used.

Interesting note; when redesigning the 22r for post 84, Toyota did not just cut the deck, they essentially made a whole new casting with 2mm cut out somewhere in the middle, both moving the deck height down, and the crank centerline up, which prevents late and early bearing caps from being interchangeable without machining, and changes the TC cover hole arrangement slightly. Accessory mounts stay essentially the same as a result. I'd be willing to bet that they did this all only because they planned on turbocharging it... I didn't check block skirt depth, but I bet it's thicker on all later blocks for a little more rigidity.

Pictures will come when I gather/upload whatever I have.

Oh, and; I was just saying I hoped to find toyotas in the JY's. AZ is actually pretty good for Toys though, you'll be hard pressed to find any with bad rust, and I've found all kinds of years. Yuma, Prescott Valley, and Flagstaff all have decent yards where you can find a handful of different years, but Phoenix has the motherload!

Also, no clue on what springs I have... they appear military-style wrapped, but they ain't no deavers, plus it still has the different height mounts on the front axle, but sits even despite that... I was thinking RUF/chevy rear for a while, but I'm sticking with what I've got until I can save up for coilovers/4-link and Land Cruiser or just super beefed stock axles.




Lost two years worth of pictures when my tablet/laptop were stolen, but I got a few here real quick with my tablet, not the best quality, but it's mostly pics of broken things anyways, haha. I'll show ya'll the scored up block tomorrow. Also forgot to mention i effed a freeze plug or two, most importantly one of them was on the back of the engine, ha! luckily I had two sets for no reason, but I pulled the tranny to clean it and get at the rear one/replace any seals I needed on the trans. Found out it is a g54/58, so marginally better than the stock g52 it came with! It will need a rebuild before long, seems like the inner input shaft bearing is a little worn, but there is minimal play, so it should last until I can afford to tear into it again.

Obviously a bunch of things are disconnected, I need to finish making a battery swap mount and clean up some wiring, but it did run before I pulled the trans, so all is well!