So, I found out the other week that my girlfriend's parents have an 83 Pickup 2WD that used to belong to a family member. I have approached them about it and they're going to sell it to me for 500 bucks. It's been sitting for a year so therefore it has dry rotted tires, and surface rust everywhere coming through the now powdered paint. I am looking at doing the following...

-Oil change
-Gear oil change
-Coolant flush
-Brake fluid change
-Replace tires
-Replace struts
-Replace battery & Alternator
-Replace plugs and wires (maybe distributor)
-Replace clutch
-Upgrade brakes (new pads, rotors, drums)
-Clean Carb

Aside from the basic, it also needs a head gasket. So...this is where I come to you guys. I just recently downloaded a full FSM w/ wiring diagrams for this generation of pickup. The truck has 244k miles on it and from what I could tell when looking at the block...it hasn't been touched aside from the usual maintenance. Any knocks and smoking isn't a big concern at the moment as I will eventually pull it and rebuild the bottom end. Might also put a 20R head on it to up the higher RPM power as well as do a slight port and maybe a valve job to allow it to breath better.

My questions are...

How hard is it to replace the head gasket on a 22R?

What order do the head bolts need to come off and go back on or is it in the FSM (I have yet to look at it)?

When replacing it all, what are the torque values for said bolts?


I'm still probably a month or two out from buying the truck as I need to save up a little bit for all of the extra fixes, registration, and insurance. Just looking to get a feel for what I'm up against when it comes time to fix it.

 

Hi
another thing to consider a new thermostat. i bought a dolphin motorhome built on a 1989 2wd toyota pickup. this had been laid up for a year. the coolant system had to be flushed several times before i got it back to
factory spec. would also change all oils back axle gearbox and engine. Rebuild carb as you clean it. be prepared for other probs to surface as you use it. when engine is rebuilt do whole engine in one go.

 

Good idea on thermostat.

Going to do an entire bottom end with head work. Trying to figure out if I just want to rebuild to OE spec...or if I want to stoke it and prep it to be a little mini drag truck.

I will also need to have the transmission looked at as it doesn't "lock" into reverse when placed into it. It's a 4 speed. You have to hold it in gear. It was apparently well maintained, so my hopes are high that I don't have to do a lot of work to it just to get it back up and running.

 

There is an 83 FSM on here that you can download, I downloaded it, printed it out put it in a binder in my toolbox and I use it often. Having recently done a full rebuild of a 22r engine of the same vintage, many of the details are still fresh in my mind, you may be surprised at the resilience of the little engine you have, i would give it new fluids and see if she will cough to life. i suspect you will need a mile or two of 3/16" vac hose, replace them one...at...a....time... if your egr and all that is still hooked up dont make the mistake of yanking out all the crusty vac lines and forgetting where they go.
Ill warn you now, i chose the route of getting new everything, i fixed things that weren't broken you could say, i replaced bolts because they were too ugly and components because i wanted new clean nice ones, i have over 2 grand under my hood now and it isnt a drag truck by a long shot. I easily could have bought a new engine and had it installed for the money. If i could do it over, i would limit how many "while im in there" projects and just stick to fixing what is absolutely necessary, who knows, you may have a good runner with just a 100 dollar tune up or less. Good Luck

 

That's the goal currently. Will probably pump out the old gas and put in new as well as give it new fluids. Tires and brakes are needed due to age and dry rot. As for everything else, it's in preps for the rebuild I plan on doing. But...that's a discussion for another day in another thread. Here's to hoping it doesn't need much.

 

I'm currently in my second build, very similar to yours but 22RE. Maybe I missed it but why are you doing the bottom end? Is it shot or just for insurance? They really are pretty bulletproof.

As far as everything else I usually just replace everything I can get my hands on. I do the top and front end using engnbldr parts. Headgasket and tune-up parts are all Toyota oem replacement. On my current build I'm hopping it up a bit w/ a bigger head, hot cam and Flamethrower injectors (you're carb so that doesn't apply) but I'm certainly not expecting a drag truck maybe just match 3rz performance.

As far as getting too much money wrapped up though I entirely agree. I budgeted $1000 for my '94 build and came in under (all stock replacement parts). My '88 should be right at $1,100 for the engine work. I'm going to do suspension pieces too but mostly bushings, ball joints etc. so those don't add too much really. You can definitely get crazy with it but if a grand is your ballpark you can get a lot of new goodies.

Edit: also to answer your headgasket question: yes it's easy to do. Just about the easiest engine to do a headgasket on, period. Just do the timing chain/guides while you're there.

 

I'm rebuilding it because I eventually want to push some power through it. Top end rebuild with a more aggressive cam, high strength valves and valve springs...etc. Bottom end is getting done because I plan on pushing boost through it and I don't think the stock block+internals that are in it currently could handle much of anything. My worry, currently, is that the head gasket has been blown for so long that the head might be warped. If that's the case, I'll probably just save up for a pre-built, stroked, race motor...do a full header back, super charger kit with dual side draft 350/500 cfm carbs, aggressive clutch, and up the gearing in the rear end. But...that is years away. A few weekends from now, the owner and I area going to pull the head off and we're going to take a look at the condition of the motor and see if it can be salvaged.


Budgeting about 1000 right now to get it up and running and looking better.

'twas what I figured. Didn't expect them to be too hard to work on.

 

Gonna add draining the tank and New fuel filter, pump ..

 

As far as the head goes you'll probably just have to buy new. Most I see that have overheated have cracks between the valves. At that point you don't even check for warpage, it's already shot. It may be fine though, I'm just saying that's what I've seen.

@ dropzone, new fuel filter and gas yes, new pump? If it still works why replace? Maybe a new filter sock but mine has made it almost 200k and then went to my buddy who is still using it with no problems. Or just while he's there might as well replace? I could see that, just another $100 is all.

 

Sadly, we took a look at the motor this past Saturday and it's just not worth fixing up. The damage is far more extensive that what was once thought. The motor is relatively okay, gaskets are shot, head is warped, and the block has a small crack in it...not all the way through, but it is starting to get there. After putting her on a lift, the frame is worse off that I thought. Rust spots all over the place, most of which I can easily push a screwdriver through. Motor and trans mounts are gone. I told him to just junk it...

I'll keep hunting for another good deal on a old pickup and see what I can find. But, for the time being, this project has been placed on hold... Might look for one that has a 22RE and try and go turbo...