threefiftyone

Well actually I owned a 1994 corolla for about 6 months, but other than that nothing.

I just acquired a 1980 4x4 pickup. I haven't thoroughly looked at it, but I do know it has a 3.8L Chevy V-6, and a th350 trans. Stock susp/axles. It has no T-CASE, and the tranny is in the bed. Yeah, the drivetrain is completely dissasembled.

I need help. I know this is a sweet truck for wheelin', and that is the plan. Can yall direct me in the right direction for rebuilding this truck? So far, I haven't exactly found what I was looking for on the web. I thought there was an abundance of parts for these trucks like there is for jeeps.

And, is that enginge/tranny swap a common one?

Oh yeah, what am I going to spend on a replacement T-case?

Thanks all

elripster

Normally, I wouldn't suggest this, but you might check on Pirate4X4.com. They are hardcore over there and like to flame a lot. However, there is a ton of information on the BBS.

If you were to just search on some key words, you'd find enough information it would take you weeks to read it all. Sure you'll have to wade through all the wise cracks and insults, but the info is there.

Frank

Flamedx4

It is indeed common to swap a chevy engine and trans, but the 3,8 isn't the most common. There are indeed a ton of parts for that truck, but you need chevy parts... <grin> Tcase should be easy to come by, you will need an adapter though. Me, I'd get a 5speed while I was at it... You can adapt the Chevy engine to a Yota trans, or you can adapt the chevy trans to a Yota tcase. And many other posibilities too!

Order some catalogs from Downey and Northwest Offroad. Lots of good info and engine swap parts in those. THen order from Downey -avoid NWOR.

threefiftyone

well, I'm not about to drop a lot of money into it. I noticed at Downey, an adapter for a chevy V-6 is $500. That's worth more than the truck. The parts I'm looking for don't consist of Chevy. I want replacement yota parts. I'm just going to put everything back together and build it a little at a time.

elripster

If you stay all Toyota it's easier. You can get drive train parts cheap. Check out Marlin Crawler, etc... for crawler t-case gears and such.

Have fun!

Frank

11 Bravo

I bought a 1980 4x4 pick-up back in January and I am just now starting to do some work on it. I may be able to help you out a little.

The truck I have has a pretty good running 20R engine, but the L43 4 speed transmission is a pile. It leaks oil and the shifter is so worn it is really tough to find gears. Both diffs have excessive backlash and leaking pinions, the steering is so loose I have to herd it down the road and the body really isn't very good. I am a sucker for a project so I decided to keep it and build it up.

If you want a Toyota drivetrain, the first suggestion I would make is start watching e-bay motors. I see running trucks on there from time to time that go for less than you will pay for an engine and tranny. Look in the listings for parts vehicles in addition to the regular listings. It seems that most of the cheap ones are back east and have such serious rust that they have frame problems. You will just have to watch for a while and see if anything shows up in your area.

To keep it simple you can stay with a 20R or a 22R. Both those engines will bolt in to your stock mounts and run carburetors. The 22RE is a fuel injected model. I have never installed one in an older truck, but if you can deal with a little wiring I don't think it would be any problem. I am sure there are threads here about it. I think getting a complete vehicle would be the best way on a fuel injection install so you get the controller and all the sensors.

Like elripster said, check out the Marlin Crawler web page. There is a ton of information there about transmissions, diffs, transfer cases, suspension and steering mods. Really a good web page to learn from.

If you are lucky you can find a mid 80's rust bucket or rollover that you can get for cheap and use it as a donor for your project.

These trucks are a lot of fun. There are a ton of parts around and once you start figuring out all the stuff from the newer ones that you can adapt to your old one it gets even better.

Tom

Silver_Truck

I'd start lookin for T-cases etc in junkyards around you also I'd look for a 5 spd but maybe thats just my preference. Allpro, Marlin, Sky, FROR, NWOR, even Downey,and Bentup all make some pretty good stuff for Yotas. Good luck that'll be a sweet toy when it's done.