Out of the frying pan... My 1984 project.
 

I saw a yota on Craigslist, but by the time I called the owner, he had already sold it to another person. He said that I might still be able to get the truck though, as the new owner was only interested in the front axle for a SAS project. I couldn't let a truck like this get torn to pieces, so I asked for the new owner's number and offered him a bit more than he paid for it. I suggested that he look for an axle at a junkyard instead, and he agreed to sell it.

The engine threw a rod threw the block, but I already sourced another running (I hope) 1984 engine for $250. The body is kinda rough, but it came with a topper as well, and I'm probably going to brush up the rust spots and hit them with Zero Rust for the time being.

My goal is to get it running well enough to make the trek down the Alaskan Highway to Tacoma. I'm going into my senior year of college, and I am going to need a vehicle to transport all of my stuff to graduate school. If I don't get it running, I'll have to convince my mom to keep it around while I'm in college, but even if I have to sell it, I'll have saved a truck from the scrap yard, and that makes me happy. Plus, I might even make enough money to fund my new homebrew system.


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I'll start posting the teardown pictures next. I did some things you guys are probably not going to like, but I have a plan, and if my plan fails, I have plenty of spare parts.

Also, I know this is a Toyota forum, but I'm more than happy to answer questions about the 1966 Series IIa ExMod rover as well.

I'll start with the happy pictures. My $250 engine came with a bunch of free parts.

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So... This is the part that you all are probably going to hate. Hope it's not a ban worthy offense :p.

I cut my perfectly decent radiator core support out with a sawzall.

Why? I dunno, it was late and I decided it sounded like a good idea.

Just kidding, it was more cold and calculated than that. I absolutely hate that radiator support, and without it in, the engine slides out super easily. I know it holds my hood latch, but I like the hood mounted latches that my land rover has, and I'm either going to rob a jeep for a pair, or going to install a pin system. I know I'll be pulling the engine again in the future, and this makes it easy to do.

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Check out that nasty hole in the block....

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More pics to follow.

More pretty new parts.

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Going to attack this with some epoxy and a plastic welder, see if I cant make something sort of decent looking.

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I was planning on using the pan and pickup tube from the 4x4 engine, because my 2wd engine didn't clear the axle, but... I guess that rod did more than punch the block.

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Decided to try and fix the bent tube using the 2wd one and the blown block as a welding support.

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I hope it works! Seemed to be leak free and had good flow.

I got the oil pan reinstalled and new engine bolted back into the truck, but then I had to take off to Anchorage for work. I ordered my desmog parts, and I'm counting down the days till I get back home to "finish" things up.

I'm going for a very utilitarian build. My land rover has lots of wingnuts and quick disconnects on it. Basically the entire truck can be taken apart and put back together with a multitool, and that's sort of what I'm envisioning for the Toyota. If something is constantly getting in my way, I'm probably going to chop it out and replace it with something I like better.

Hope you guys enjoyed the pics, and I hope you'll follow along with the build. I get back home on the 29th of July, and I have to be in Tacoma on the 22nd of August.

I re-did the paint and wiring on my Rover in two weeks last year--what I don't have in experience I make up for with coffee and the midnight sun, but this project could very easily end in an abysmal failure.

I'm also going to cut my core support out to install a motor in my 4runner. I'm looking at making brackets that will allow me to bolt it back and unbolt it as I need and still retain the hood latch.

Whats with the electrical box on the fender?

Figured a southerner was going to ask me that. It's a winterization box. My oil pan heater, block heater, battery heater, and cab heater all plug in to that box, and there is a plug that hangs out of the front grill where you connect it to an extension cord and plug it into an outlet.

It can reach -60°F in Fairbanks, and a few weeks of -25 and a few days of -40° every year is a guarantee. Most parking lots downtown have outlets that you can plug into, otherwise you have to go out and run your car for a few minutes to keep it warm. If you don't do that, your engine will freeze and you're going to need to find another ride home. Pretty much from October to April you need to plug your car in.

Cool idea ,do you get a tax break for haveing a plugin hybrid ?lol

I wish!

I'm actually considering making this truck electric, or running a medium sized electric motor tandem to the engine as a dedicated crawling setup. You could run at any angle, and you don't have to worry about torque curves at all. Plus, if you needed to do a deep water crossing, you wouldn't have to worry about your air intake.

Neat,but how would a electric motor do underwater? there's another guy on here that has a first gen yota flat bed wreaker that he was talking about making partially electric and 6wheel drive you might be able to get some ideas from himhttps://www.yotatech.com/members/22189.html.

Cool. If I actually get serious about it I'll have to check him out. I work on electric cars at school, and they are pretty simplistic. Toyota trucks are great candidates for swaps because the frame and suspension can handle battery boxes.

I think in water you'd run into problems with corrosion and stuff, but if you ran the motor in a grease sealed box with a marine output shaft, you wouldn't have trouble. At that point, you could install floats and a compressor, and have an amphibious vehicle.

Anything is possible with time and money; however I have neither.

just reading your project
you have a PM .....


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Alright! I'm home and working on the truck. Pulled the intake and am installing the LCE Block off plates and doing a complete desmog.

Still thinking about buying a weber. It would make my life a lot easier.

I have until the 25th of August to have it running. The countdown begins.

Everything is bolted back up and the fluids are in. I've cranked it over a few times, but the battery wasn't holding a good enough charge to start it. I hope that I can get it started tonight, then move on to new tires and gear oil to get the project rolling.

Also bought a welder off craigslist, looking forward to using that on some fabrication projects.

Also happened to see my old 1977 Celica driving around town. I guess it's someones daily driver now, which is scary because I got to look under the hood, and it's still exactly the way I had it set up when I sold it as "a project" to a friend. I'm glad it's still rolling, but its terrifying to think that someone is driving a car that I built in high school with no experience as a daily driver.

The truck is started. I have the Asian carb fully desmogged, and as far as I can tell it is running great. I made my own vacuum caps with 1" bits of old tubing and RTV silicon, but I'll be upgrading to real caps in a bit. I set the timing and idle speed, and it runs fabulously.

Now I'm running into different issues. The PO put some mag rims on that don't fit very well, they were actually rubbing the wheel weights against the tie rod ends. I bought some small spacers to fix that problem, but I'm still searching for a 15x8 rim with under 3.75" backspacing. I'd like to run a 265/75/15 tire, ideally a Toyo Open Country AT II, which is what I've got on my Land Rover in 16's, and I don't think they will fit on a 15x6 rim.

I get really bad wobble if I go 35 mph, which is probably because my wheels are out of balance and are really worn down. I'm hoping that the wobble will go away with new rims and tires, because I don't want to spend a lot of time messing with steering and bearings.

Well.. Good news is that I don't need to spend 300 bucks on a Weber kit. If you're doing a desmog, try your ASIAN first.

Some pics:

Welding an oil pan crack:

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Test drive to buy beer:

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Also did a 60 mile trail ride in the Land Rover on Sunday. It was pretty awesome. Didn't miss a beat.

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Well, I found rims that fit. They are ugly as sin, but with some black paint they should look much better. I like that they have easy lug nut access. Much better than the mag rims. Good tie rod clearance as well. They are 15x7, so I can fit a decent sized AT tire.

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you got the "can do" spirit, so anything you put your mind to will be ok.
keep us posted on progress.

Thanks. I've either got a "can do spirit," or a really messed up head. My ALCAN departure date is August 25th, and I don't yet have a vehicle that can safely go over 30mph.

It's an adrenaline rush to do things with a time limit and a budget. I just hope I don't flop.

Hey man just ran across your thread. Got a sort of off topic question but do you know of any 84/85 4runners for sale up there? I am located in eagle river but willing to make the drive if I find one. I check craigslist everyday with no luck