Just joined the forum. Sometime lurker but nearing retirement so I hope to have time to give my truck the attention it has deserved and not gotten over the past 38-years. I am the original owner. Wine Red 2WD long-bed 5-speed DeLuxe with Window Package. I bought it new and it recently went past 80,000 miles. It has killed two deer. My insurance tried to total it twice. And if I'd gotten a white one like I wanted, it would probably still look good. But, alas, mine is Wine Red so most of the roof is primer now and one front fender and the hood have been replaced, but never painted. Grunge look, for sure.

I hope to learn about parts availability and recommended vendors here. When I get around to it, I'm looking to replace the old carb with a Weber. Years of an old gas tank and trash in the gas has gotten me to the point where when I try to clean the carb, problems happen like no-start without starting fluid after a few days. I attribute this to removing the "ant-dieseling" valve (sadistic wiring connector) for cleaning and not replacing the tiny o-ring, but I just don't know. I also would like to find a replacement seat cover for the vinyl one on my bench seat with the recess in the middle for the stick-shift. And, of course, it would be nice to find someone with a decent replacement for the cracked dash-pad. I'll probably treat it to a new gas tank if I can figure out which one on Rock Auto is the 17-gallon version.

Today I finally replaced the original GE Halogen sealed-beam after a late-night outing in which I thought I might as well be blind. Got overwhelmed with the selection and just went with Sylvania Xtra Vision sealed beams from Amazon. Anything has to be an improvement. The original ones actually had water inside them!

Over nearly four-decades I've replaced the brake master-cylinder, clutch slave (never changed brake fluid! I know better, I'm a BMW rider and driver.) One thermostat, I think I bought new calipers and rear brakes for it years ago but don't recall installing them. Just moved so I'll find them somewhere. Replaced the fuel pump twice, but it solved nothing. Driving on VA Antique plates and take it on errands at least twice a month. Recently went on a 200-mile trip to pick up a motorcycle, and it's been 'cross country once towing a small BMW car from California (700S Convertible, so about 1,400 lbs). Always dependable, more than I deserved. It's far from my oldest vehicle but it is the lowest mileage of all of my "driver" cars, including an '85 BMW 535i stick.

So, looking forward to learning and preserving my pickup. And learning the proper etiquette here.

Thanks

 

Welcome! I’d love to see some pics under the hood etc. putting mine back together after going thru all the wiring

 

Welcome.

You certainly could replace the stock carb with a Weber if you want to, but there is a source for pro-rebuilt stock carbs that I recommend: https://nationalcarburetors.com/toyo...arburetor_1984

​​​​​​The company has been around since '98 & I've had very good experiences with them. Also, they actually flow-test & adjust every carb they sell on actual engines, so they are usually pretty good right out of the box.
Disclaimer - I do not work for National Carb nor am I sponsored by them.

Gas Tank - The 17 gallon tank is correct for the 2WD longbed. The 19 gallon versions listed are for the 4x4's. Shortbed tanks are usually 15 gallon. I do not know if they have the same bolt patterns or not so I do not know if they are interchangeable.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...fuel+tank,6268

When you do replace the gas tank, be sure to replace every piece of rubber fuel line on the truck, especially if you have ever run any of the modern Ethanol-laced gas in it.
The ethanol gas tends to degrade the insides of the old rubber fuel lines; that old rubber compound was never designed to handle ethanol. Small rubber particles can & will gather in your float bowl, idle jet, idle passages & needle valve.
Any rubber fuel line you might buy at parts stores today is formulated & made to withstand Ethanol-laced gas.
With a new Weber carb or a newly rebuilt stock carb, it will run OK on the 87 octane Ethanol gas with a little carb tuning & ignition timing adjustment. It will run better on 89 octane Ethanol-free gas, which is what I run.
My local Wawa store (convenience store) sells it at the pump as "boat fuel". You may be able to find stations that sell it in your state by looking here: https://www.pure-gas.org/

Parts - I've done OK with Rock Auto for my '78, as long as I buy good quality "name brand" parts. This includes rebuilt parts, like starters. Given the money & the choice, I'd only go with OEM parts. They are just the best quality & last longer.
One good OEM source is ToyotaPartsDeal: https://www.toyotapartsdeal.com/1984...kup-parts.html
I do see some seatcovers listed there as available, but didn't see any dashpads.

Hope this helps.