Hi, I just purchased a 81 4x4 22r shortbox toy from Idaho. I bought it on Ebay for 500.00 dollars, seller said the engine was rebuilt. It has a Weber carb on it. Body is original paint, with bed just starting to rust on the sides. I was wondering what I should all do, to get it ready to be a daily driver. (right now I have been waiting 3 weeks for it to get here, I live in Wisconsin and you can't buy these around here, they all rusted away years ago) My first plan is to remove the bed and por 15 the frame and the underside of the bed and floorboards. The frame is fairly rust free, with the areas with rust only being surface, I figured I better do this to preserve the truck through a salty winter. Then I am going to paint the cab and bed (my garage is too small to paint both together). I then plan to change out the tranny oil, front and rear differential oil, Transfer case oil, and oil change. I will probably at this time, do a coolant flush, replace all vaccum lines, front and rear brake change, etc. What else would you recommend doing maintence wise to start off with a good daily driver? I have never owned a toyota this old, but fell in love with the style of these trucks, and while going through some financial difficulty, and having to sell my 4runner and tacoma, alowed me to pick up one of these, but I do have to use it as my daily driver, so I need it to be super reliable. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Oh, what type of fluids do you recommend in the tranny, diff, trans, oil.

 

First, double check the frame for rust.
I'm looking at buying a 1983 4X4, at first the frame appeared to have a little surface rust. Upon further inspection I found pinholes in the rear part of the frame. It's minor so they can be fixed. This is on a "California car".

 

Frame is only surface rust, I am sanding it all down to prep for por 15, if I would run into anything unexpected, I will weld a patch, or whatever is necessary. This does not worry me, what I am looking for is the dependabilty factor of a daily driver.

 

Sounds like you got it all coverd. plugs, wires, cap, rotor.....

 

Thanks for the replies, but does anybody have any reccomendations for tranny, differential, transfer case, fluids. I always run synthetics in all of my other cars, but do not know if running them in this old of a truck is going to hurt anything, or cause any problems that would not have existed if I would have used dino oil. I have a chilton's book for the truck, so I know what weights to run, just looking for reccomendations. Thanks in advance.

 

1) Double check the frame when you get it, Toy frames rust from the inside out, so by the time it's visible, it's bad. Been there.

2) I'd also clean out the inside of the frame with compressed air a few times. Start at the front and work backward, using all the little holes stanped in the frame. You'd be surprised at the pile of crap that will come out the end of the frame.

3) Then treat the inside of the frame w/rust convereter, POR15, etc.

4) Pick what ever brand of oil you like and change everything. I've read several places that synthetics are not the best for old hi-mileage engines, but don't know how true that is. You can find more on that yourself and decide. I've used nothing but Kendall in everything for years, FWIW.

 

Amsoil.... wont hurt a thing and will probally help mileage a little...

 

Watch out for your transmission. Its a cast iron case, and the guts are not as strong as the later model transmissions found in 84+ pickups and 4Runners. Swap yourself in a G-series transmission, and be done with it. Ive owned two 1st gen pickups and have been through 4 trannys in 6 years...L-series suck. I use dino oil with a quart of Lucasoil additive in my motor and I run dino oil in my trans, tcase and diffs.

Glad to hear you like you 1st gen...I wouldnt own anything else! Have fun with it...sounds like you have a good start on your tuneup.

IAN

 

What year does the g series trannys appear in, and what mods have to be done to complete install. Thanks for your input.

 

84 and up.