bindergirl's 1981 Pickup Build-Up Thread "The Perkulator"
 

Hello everyone
I am new to Yota Tech and fairly new to Toyotas, and figured this is as good a place as any to introduce myself. So I found this "diamond in the rough" this last weekend, it has found a new home in my shop for now...
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1744.jpg

Welcome. Where in Washington are you? And don't say NW. :hillbill: Seems to be alot of folks on here from Washington. And you are gonna have to post up pics of the new rig.

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1746.jpgworking on the whole picture thing... I read through the whole newbie tech portion and thought I had it figured out. Apparently not.
I am up in Bellingham

hmm that worked, not sure what I did different, but I'm not complaning

now that is a nice find indeed :great:

Nice rig!

Ok so back to the the story.
So anyways I see this thing at the dealers lot and ask for the keys, it fires right up. I pop the hood and see a whole lot of shiny hoses that lead to nowhere.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1745.jpg

no the PO did not replace all of the hoses with new before trading it in. They installed a weber carb, removed most of the emmissions parts and pieces and left all the hoses going nowhere. Oh and that breather on top of the valve cover, looks like the top of a coffee pot with oil bubbling out everywhere (hence the shiny hoses). The salesman told me told me the guys on the lot had named it the "Perkulator" - So I guess I have a few kinks to work out.

time for a swap or rebuild. :wrench:

oh and welcome to yotatech :safari:

a few interior shots...
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1749.jpg

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1750.jpg

3.4 swap would make that thing a fricken beast

indeed. it would fly with the SC 3.4

and crawl up a wall with dual cases.

Needs new door panels obviously but the dash and seats are in remarkably good condition.

I pulled the seat and found 30 years worth of junk
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1751.jpg

oh and a Britney Spears pic - I laughed my a$$ of
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1753.jpg

now the carpet it gone as well as the factory sound dampener.
Very little rust - just a couple of small patches will be needed on the drivers floor board.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1757.jpg

oh wow. you should look into pulling out the carpet and laying down some bed liner or something, i have it in my 4runner and i love it. i got the hurculiner kit from kragen for $70.

oh you beat me too the idea lol.

Yeah thanks - I stoped by o'rileys on the way home from work tonight and bought some herculiner. I need a fresh bottle of C25 to make the floor patches though.

Those interior pics remind me of when I restored my interior... Lot of work, good luck

Nice find bindergirl!! Keep us updated with pics on your progress. And welcome to YotaTech!!

subscribed!

beauty!

lot's of info here on YOTATECH...and lot's of cheering-on too.

that's one of my all time favorite trucks. Looks like it will clean up nice considering you have a solid foundation to work with.

the engine...not so familiar with. lot's of trucks here from that generation so the depth of knowledge will be helpful to you.

i'll be watching this one.

when we got our 1st gen 4runner I thought ''what did I just do?" when I handed the guy the money, but with some determined hard work it turned out to be a thing of beauty.

Subscribing...

I have a '79 that has lived at least three different lives with me now. When I first bought it 10 years ago, I too quickly pulled seat, carpet, etc. The area below my seat looked exactly like yours, but with 2-3 pre-rolled joints tossed in for good measure. They looked about 20 years old...

I just finished a complete de-smog on my rig. I will be posting on that subject soon, if you would like help going that route I would be more than happy to send you a link and give you advice, etc...

Since no one else has said it.... Jealous as hell of your shop! :great:

welcome to yt. You gonna join the group nw toyotas? we're always having little events here and there and you're more than welcome to join us. Sweet truck by the way.

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. It has been a long week and I havent even been in my shop this week, excpet to push the truck out and do a little clean up. The place was a mess with all the flooring removal, and interior demo. So hopefully some progress this weekend - stay tuned.

Every waking minute not spent at work this week has been at my buddies shop helping install an Total Chaos LT kit & King Bling on his '05 Tacoma :welder:. We are alomst done with the install - last night around 10 the new axles went in. Friday will be an "all-day-er" and we should have it back on all 4's. All I have to say is TC supplies some quality parts!:bowdown2:
I know I know - no pics and it didn't happen... I'll post some pics on friday I left my camera in his shop.:bang:

THEN finally maybe some progress on the ol Perkulator this weekend:wrench:

Pumpkinyota - hey that would be fantastic, I did a quick and dirty "de-smog" when I first got it, but that was mostly because I was scared all the loose hoses were going to be flopping around and get sucked into the belt or fan on the drive home from Everett. I would love to see what you did.

Welcome to the family bindergirl... Sweet find... everyone wants you to re-power but those 2.4 I4s are bullet proof and plenty powerful for that truck just clean up the smog junk and keep what you have... if you need more juice you can go to the FI or even turbo versions from the 84-87 model very easily.
Making your own door panels is easy there are several threads on the topic here.

So I spent a couple of hours cleaning up the truck today, doesnt look like much but I got a lot done.

I spent a couple of hours pressure washing everything from the engine bay to the frame. I wish I would have gotten some before pictures. The axles, knuckles, and wheels were just one big dirty black blob. I seriously doubt I will have any grass out behind my shop now this year...ooops. I cleaned all the grime off of the hood and in the engine compartment so I can try to look for leaks.

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1780.jpg
I pulled the little breather filter dohicky off of the valve cover and fired it up and ended up with a face full of exahust? If i plug it the oil dipstick turn in to a rocket... hmmm I forsee an engine rebuild in my future. So as of now there is a hose on there re-routing all the exahust out of the engine bay so I can see.

Nice yot. Typical nasty stuff under the seats and torn up door panels lol
How much did you pay?

NICE SHOP AND RIG.
I am jealous! You have the rig and shop I want.
Keep up with the build and the pictures.

http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1779.jpg
I also got rid of most of the de-smog junk... Just a bunch of vacuum hoses the charcoal filter, and a few other misc items cluttering up the area. Next big project will be to tackle the wiring, as you can see it is atrocious. The wiring has been butchered, I keep finding random cut wires, or stock plugs with little wire stubs sticking out.:bang: I hate wiring

I also tackled the rust floor boards today
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1760.jpg
They are a lot better than a lot of rigs I have seen, but as always, the more you dig the more you find.

Here you can see where the seat bolts down is pretty well shot
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1761.jpg

The more I wire wheeled the more I found
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1763.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1764.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1765.jpg

So of course I ended up cutting it all out and replacing it.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1766.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1767.jpg
Thank goodness for tig machines, you can see where I blew threw in a couple of thin spots, but once it cooled down I was able to get a full seal weld.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1768.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1769.jpg

I laid down a little bondo to transition the weld seams. I plan on using herculiner on the floorboards, but I have the time so I would rather make it look nice. A little sanding tomorrow and a couple of coats of Herc and you wont even be able to tell the floor boards have been touched... I hope.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1772.jpg

Since I'm going to be breaking out the black tar tomorrow I decided I mine as well do the bed while Im at it. Its not in bad shape just a little rusty in spots.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1771.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1770.jpg

Its a little hard to tell from the pics but I spent an hour and a half on my hands and knees with a wire wheel and poly fan cleaning up all the rust and chipping paint.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1782.jpg
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1781.jpg

Thanks toyospearo, the shop isnt much but it keeps my projects dry and warm. The rig has a long way to go, but is a great platform to start from.

I was parusing CL this morning and found TWO sweet deals.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...l/IMG_1783.jpg
A nice little 1000lb engine stand barely used for $30
and a 2 ton Cherry picker - NEVER used for 70$ -the guy used it as part of a display at a trade show for a hood lifting device he sells. anyways it is super clean no grease no marks on the paint nothing. sweet deals - if this morning is any indication of the day it should be very productive!