Good evening-

First post here and first Toyota. Little back story- My dad had 92 Toyota that he got from my great uncle. From what I know it’s only been out of the family once in it’s life and that was when my dad was hard up for money when he started getting sick.

After he passed away, I told my family if you ever saw that old truck running around town I’d like to buy it. Oddly enough it came up on Marketplace a week later as a “mechanics special.” Typical blown head gasket from what I’ve read on the 3.0 the last few weeks. $500 later and it was headed south from IL to NC where I’m stationed now.

So fast forward to now. The truck runs and drives, minus blown head gasket. But enough to get it off and on a trailer. I took the bed off as it was rusted real bad. I’ve got another donor bed that’s solid waiting to go on after I get the rear end squared away.

Couple of questions. Where’s the best place to buy new stock rear springs? I plan on cleaning up the rear frame and then replacing the shocks, springs, rear diff oil and vent lines first. Anyone tell me what that round cross member does that is rusted out?

From there I’ll pull the motor and see what I’ve got. I know everyone says to swap the 3.0 with the 3.4 but id like to just get the 3.0 freshened up first and drive the truck during this hunting season. If the bottom end looks okay, I plan on doing a head gasket replacement. Is the head stud option the best way forward? I plan on putting in headers to get rid of the crossover pipe. Anything else I should watch out for?

Where are most of you buying parts from? I’m a ford guy so I get most of my stuff from the classic broncos pages. I gotta learn new tricks with the yotas! Thanks for reading- I’ve got lots more to talk about and questions to ask, but one thing at a time I guess.