Mojunikey7

So I don't keep opening a new thread every time something out of the ordinary breaks, I am also turning this into a build thread. So far most of the things I have done to my truck is cosmetic, I do all of the body work and paint myself since I take it off-road about twice a month, I figure a spray-paint paint job isn't going to hurt me. Anyhow, on to what I have done and what I am doing/plan to do.

Bought the truck about 6 months ago in terrible condition. Or rather, my wife bought it as a "present" for $4500 with 260,000 miles on it. It has some random body lift kit (can't find the brand anywhere). In the first week I dropped $2800 on the suspension (just fixing the damage, no mods) and new tires, brakes, and rotors, as well as a few other things like spark plugs (which they botched) After I came back from deployment, I re-did everything except for the suspension (great quality of work out here in Guambodia )

Since then I have done a couple of small things, changing the park plugs again, stator and dist. cap, plugs, oil, fuel filter, Rear diff. fluid. transmission fluid, that kind of thing.

What I am planning on:
Yesterday I ordered about $450 worth of stuff from Rock Auto, with much more to come. I purchased a new front bumper, new bumper ends, new turn signal assemblies, new parking light assemblies, new tail light assemblies and a couple interior items. Now that that is out of the way (will post pictures of the new stuff as soon as it gets here) my truck has decided I need to spend more money on brakes. While troubleshooting the spongy brake syndrome, and bleeding the brake lines, I noticed a couple of fun things: The wiring harness from the master cylinder is screwed (both wires are cut) and the LSPV is completely rusted out. It doesn't even look like a LSPV anymore.

Other things I plan on doing once I figure out the brake issue: (not in any order)
Throttle body tear-out and cleaning
exhaust pipe / muffler / cat tear-out and replacement (all rusted beyond belief)
New Headers
Headgasket replacement
New charcoal filter for fuel line
Pull out and clean injectors (or replace if needed)
Bench seat changed to Bucket seats
floor mat tear-out (am replacing with rhino lining)

Will post pictures of the truck via edit
Sorry if my post is a little "off" i'm a bit drunk.

Scrussanation

sounds like your goin thru same as me... except i paid 2500 for mine with 155k on the 3vze engine... runs good and still has original head gasket... had to drop 900 in engine parts and maintenance but i do all the labor. thing runs great for an 3vze and will get after it... never replaced headers tho... but redid exhaust and made some cat mods but regardless it runs awesome... just recently replaced all shocks with rancho and now need replace back leaf springs but other then that shes had alot done to her in the 3 months ive had it

Mojunikey7

yeah I can see that from the profile pic. Did you put the tires on? if so, did you re-gear it? I don't think mine was geared properly after the tire switch-out.

She has a lot of problems but I love working on her. My wife drives a 2012 chevy cruze and I never get to play with it Damn new cars, where is the fun?

Scrussanation

this is how she is today but with new shocks all around as well as new steering dampner, ive also got cold air intake and straight pipe mod... everyone says bad things about k&n i seem to notice the way i have it and works great. i also upgraded injectors from straight stream to a fan stream... adjusted the air intake clicker thingy(i forget the name but it is 5 6am right) and my truck does have a head gasket leak but its so minor not worth to do head gasket job(lil oil leaks out around #6 but its not mixing with coolant or losing compression, just lil oil but dont never have to add any.. its a great truck.. as far as gearing jesus christ not a clue on any of it... guy i bought it from said he got it from a guy and it had 5.33 or something like that... it wasnt a common gearing # to me but what do i know i just fix all my own ˟˟˟˟ lol. but in 4x4 doesnt seem to be in tune with rear wheels... something aint right but i hardly use 4x4 so no biggie... at least for now...also it had 39.5x13.50x15LT irok super swampers before... i found 7 used Buckshots 35x12.50x15lt for 130 so i tookem... still had 130 worth of life in them in my opinion

Scrussanation

also avoid import direct spark plugs... i hate those things forever now... replace with the high dollar ngk plugs special ordered from oreilleys... those imports tend to like to not hold on to the plug real good... its the next step down from ngk i believe

Mojunikey7

Alright I'll keep that in mind. I used AC delco when I did my plugs and wires

I'll retry to upload the pictures as soon as I get home from work.

bone collector

good luck with the build. Im curious to see some pictures. And thank you for your service to our country

Mojunikey7

Alright, posted up some pictures, you can see a lot of the damage, anything red in those pics has been sprayed, those are about 4 months old. Later Ill post some pics of the artist formerly known as "LSPV" aka the reason why my truck is a lawn ornament.

Before I go any further, I want to get the fact that I am very new at this out there. This is my first truck, so, if something I say seems a bit weird, well, it's probably because I am still very ignorant in regards to trucks.

Edit: Here is the beautiful valve herself:




And what it is supposed to look like



So regarding this, I am thinking about going with a Wilwood manual valve, and installing it near the master cylinder. I searched around here a lot yesterday and it seems to be a decent option. The dealership out here in Guam wants $550 plus shipping for a new LSPV... Here is to hoping Wilwood ships to guam :/

Mojunikey7

I pulled the LSPV off today, splice the lines together where they should be, and plugged off the "T" by the passenger side fron wheel. Tomorrow I am going to finish pulling out the old return line, and clean up a few things underneath before I test it out.

I will be going underway again soon, for a couple weeks. As soon as I get back ill post the pictures of the new stuff and start installing everything.

Mojunikey7

Alright, back in action. I have the new bumper installed, the shop down the road is fabbing a new rear bumper and skid-plate (valance panel not ordered for this reason, plate will go from frame to bumper).

New master cylinder and Manual proportioning valve should be here tomorrow, and installed later this week. I installed all of the new lighting I put on order, and plan on picking up a new set of bucket seats this weekend.

In other news, it is time for me to start looking at new exhaust. My old exhaust system is very holy at this point . Any suggestions for exhaust? I don't know if I plan on changing the exhaust manifold yet, that all depends on price.

Mojunikey7

Update:

After tearing through my local junkyard, I found 2 bucket seats from a Dodge Neon (all black, cloth, perfect condition) So I will post some pictures of those once they are installed tomorrow.

I installed the new 1" bore master cylinder (wagner) and the manual proportioning valve. Man, I have to tell you the brakes are amazing now! once again, I will post pictures tomorrow, it is pouring outside. I had to bleed the brakes out in the rain. Monsoons in guam are nothing to mess with! Only other thing I have to fix is the damned blinker flasher of all things, and then she is road-worthy again.