^^That's what I'm talking 'bout! lol There's an old Toy that's parked in my town out here in Colorado that's even worse than that.
I was so stoked to find mine last year out east with hardly any rust. The only real rust I have on mine is the driveshafts, they have barnacles on them. It looks like someone parked it in water for ten years.

 

well i guess ive just been spoiled out here on the west coast!

 

Hey Bud, welcome to YT!

Far as setting the valves, just pull the valve cover(Remove vacuum lines that run over, top, mark them, carefully pull up the back by pushing back the heater hoses out of the way, .... Then, turn the motor over till it's on TDC on the compression stroke.(TURN IT BY THE CRANK BOLT with a wrench.. After you've removed the negative terminal on the battery, just to be safe..... and, Any Haynes book or otherwise will show you which valves need to be adjusted on that stroke, and then on the next stroke, the next valves will be displayed)... All you do(and yes, it can be a LITTLE tricky, lol) is place a closed end wrench(better yet, a valve adjusting tool---keeps the adjusting screw/push pin from moving while you tighten after getting the right feeler in there -snug-but-not-too-tight) over the adjuster nut, loosen the nut, just enough to be able to tighten/loosen the screw, adjust it down/up until the proper feelers(8mm and 12mm) fit in there, then holding the screw VERY STILL, you tighten the nut... recheck the clearance with that feeler and you're golden....move on to the next one(Keep in mind, it's ok if you have to do this 2 - 3 times, ... the screw can move while you're tightening... so just loosen the nut and start over).

Take a good look that all those push pins are hitting right on top/center of the valve stem tops.......look for chipping or pitting of the cam lobes(what the rocker followers run on),.... Trust me, I LEARNED THE HARD WAY, ... you can find it in my troubleshooting thread, hahaha.

First step? Get a MANUAL! Great thing to have and TRUST ME,... if you WANT TO, there's not a THING on this rig that you can't fix/adjust/remove/replace, ...seriously!

Have fun, Brudda.... I'm in Palos Verdes... and for those who don't know... MANY rigs in San Fran develop TONS of rust..... It's a cold and salty city, lol. NOTHING LIKE PA or most of the back east 'salt road' states... but they can get out of hand out here, trust me.

 

damn, i wish my 86 was that rust free, that thing prob looks exactly the same as it did 20 years ago lol
and yes, you're losing power by running 30.5s with the stock gearing (assuming its 4.10s and not 4.56s) but even with the right gearing the truck is slow as a snail but it will go anywhere so might as well put a bigger tire on there to improve its strength cuz its weakness will never improve much lol

 

I like the power I have with my 235/75/15's. I can actually use 5th gear going up small inclines. That said, my offroad capabilities are limited. If I was to go up to 31's even I would probably regear, only cuz I live in the mountains though.

 

Yes that truck is stock height. Nice grab at the price. Oh and no more talk about rough body. lol. If your wanting to repaint it check out my truck. I have less than two hundred dollars in it and it dont scratch in the woods and it looks good going down the road. Check my build out if you want to know more.

 

im jealous, my 86 has a bench seat and your has buckets

 

You California guys have it great. I was checking out underneath and no rust. I am jealous. Nice truck and enjoy your new ride.

 

ok ok ill stop whining about rust and dents lol. ill just go out and make more! thanks for all the welcoming comments. seriously i have tried a couple other websites before this one and they were all full of douche's. this place though.....not so douchy

 

Welcome to YT. Here are some helpful links to get you started.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120...mation-121264/
Some good ideas about modifications are here to help you make some decisions before you start.

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f120...s-info-175794/
Lots of very helpful links here including...
...this one http://www.ncttora.com/fsm/ for factory service manuals (FSM) online to help with things like the valve adjustment.

This is another online FSM that I really like because the layout makes it easy to use. It's for a '93 but I haven't found anything on my '86 yet for which it didn't work.
http://personal.utulsa.edu/~nathan-buchanan/93fsm/

Good luck and have fun.

 

yeah, i feel the same...pirate4x4...thats a nono. LOL