4Nmissile

So it's finally time to start a build thread on my truck. I had to wait to start this thread because my truck was in the process of getting an engine transplant. I was waiting for it to be finished for nearly five months. Everytime I turned around I needed another part to make it work.
So it begins...
I own a 1985 Toyota pickup "Frankenstein". It is an 85 pickup xtra cab on a 4Runner frame and axles. Now at this point I have to say that I am unsure of what year the frame and axles are, however, they have to be 85 or older as they are solid axles front and rear and the frame fits up to my 85 cab very well. I bought it off of a guy in Indiana who had welded the differentials front and rear. At least that is what he told me. Upon having the diffs swapped out this past week it was discovered that only the rear had been welded (but I'll get to the diffs later). The previous owner bought the truck off of a guy in Ohio. That guy had the original engine swapped out for a Toyota 4 cylinder diesel (year unknown, but I have been looking into that). When I bought it the truck still had the diesel engine. I test drove it and liked it. A perfect project. It has high steer, 36" Super Swampers (which were removed and strapped to the back on the way home), plus a second set of 31x10.5r15 tires and wheels, and a custom made "bed".

The truck stalled out at least ten times on the drive home. Plus, it would only go around 55 mph tops. After the second stall out my two friends and I pulled over and discovered that the air filter was caked with mud. One of my friends also thought that the fuel filter was clogged. I was going to give it an oil change, fuel filter change, and any other maintenance once I got it home anyway. I picked up a generic air filter at an O'Reillys on the way home, however it still kept stalling out about every ten miles or so. We figured that if the fuel filter was changed it would run better. We made it back to within 70 miles of home, but it was a sunday and there weren't any places open that had a fuel filter. It did not help that the previous owner didn't know the year of the engine either. I ended up having to have it towed the rest of the way. We did an oil change, and I kid you not, the old oil smelled like B-O. I've never smelled oil like that before. It drove very well around town with the diesel, and the mileage was great. However, there wasn't any power. Plus, where the shifters came through the floor there wasn't a console or even any shifter boots. There was just a piece of rubber with holes cut in it for the shifter sticks. So whenever I drove it diesel fumes came right in the cab. The engine seemed very loud as well, so I started looking around the rubber piece. At this point, I discovered that the floor around the transmission shifter had been cut so that the 4wd transfer case could come through. So now I realized that the original cab was a 2wd. Sadly, the lengthened hole cut in the floor wasn't done that well, but I will be getting it fixed and looking better soon. It was at this point that I decided to swap in a different engine.

4Nmissile

Upon looking over the truck when I got it home after buying it I found out that the original engine was a 22R. However, I did not want another 22R. The diesel got amazing mileage, but was horrible to start in the winter. Plus the fumes coming through the hole in the cab floor were starting to get to me. So with that I decided to swap in a 22RE from as close to 1985 as possible. I wanted everything to be from 1985 (or as close as I could get it). Engine swap here we come! I started looking for 22REs that were fairly close to me so I could go pick them up. Most were not in the best of shape or had a ton of miles. Eventually I did find one from a guy right here on Yotatech in great condition. I bought it and awaited it's arrival. While waiting I researched like mad to see what all was involved with fitting a 22RE EFI into a truck that was originally a 22R. I wanted a full engine, not a conversion kit. I found out that I would need the engine harness, the cab harness, and several other things. I don't own the tools to transplant an engine, so I had a local shop (where I used to work, and the mechanics are very good) do the work. I started out with the engine going in well, but the bell housing wouldn't line up because the diesel had the clutch fork on the opposite side. To be honest, I didn't even know what transmission I had in the truck since it was mated to a diesel. I wasn't sure if the diesels had their own transmission since it seemed like the 22REs had W56s and 22Rs had G52s. I bought a G52 bell housing hoping it would mount up, and I got lucky because it did. The clutch fork was also able to be spun around to the opposite side. I did find out that my transmission is a G52 after reading up a bit.

The fuel pump on the diesel had gone out completely. The guy who originally built the truck though had converted the rear to use a fuel tank with an external fuel pump. I finally sourced an external pump for EFI that was in a low enough psi range to work, but I will be getting a stock 22RE fuel tank and in-tank pump setup as soon as I can. Not to mention that the tank on it now has a leak. Once that was settled it was on to the wiring.
I had bought an 85 cab harness and engine harness from a guy on ebay who deals with old Toyotas all day long. They were both used obviously, but I ran into the problem where the O2 wire had been cut on the cab harness. On the engine harness the knock sensor wire had also been cut, plus at least one of the ground wires was missing. I didn't find out about all the ground wire locations until after researching on here about wiring. A friend of mine owns a junkyard around here and said that they had just gotten an old Toyota pickup in. When we went to look at it we found that it was a 22RE from 86. I got the cab harness (which is a lot of work by the way), both seats (mine is currently a bench seat), the center console, the W56 transmission, the rear harness, and several other parts. The mechanic ran the 86 cab harness, but it would not start. That was when I realized that the 86s had the starter solenoid thing. There wasn't any power going to the wires to the solenoid. I looked up ways the solenoid wiring could be fixed, but it was a lot of work, so I went back to one of my ebay sources. I got a cab harness meant for 85, EFI, 4wd that was all intact including the O2 wire. (The 86 cab harness also had the O2 wire cut. Why are people cutting the O2 wire?).

4Nmissile

The truck finally started up. I wanted to get the welded diffs out of it though. I figured I'd wait till spring and then have them switched out. My truck had other plans. About one and a half weeks ago I was driving home from work and felt a ton of vibration and noise coming from somewhere up front. After a few minutes on the highway I heard a loud snap so I pulled over to discover...the front driveshaft had snapped. so it went into a transmission shop. I got them to swap in the diffs too as the guy said that the welded diffs could cause the shaft to snap again. So it has been sitting in the transmission shop waiting for the driveshaft to arrive. He got the diffs in, and when I called to check up on it he told me a whopper. Before I say what it was though, I will say that when I first started driving the truck and had to put it in 4wd it drove well until I went over 20 mph. At 20 mph the truck would start to buck like a horse until I slowed down again. I could never figure out what would be causing it to do that. That is until the guy at the transmission shop told me about the diffs that he took out of my truck. He said that only the rear diff had been welded. Ok, no big deal. The rear diff was a welded 4.10, but the front diff was a 4.56 . Now the guy I bought the truck off of said he used it as a trail truck and never took it out of 1st gear, but he still would have used 4wd. That idiot was running two different ratio differentials. Now it has the stock 4.10s front and rear, and a brand new driveshaft on the way. I figure I've probably forgotten something, but I will remember as I go. I will also get pictures up of the truck and various other things.

kornhuskerwizard

Yea what an idiot, id say he wasnt totally honest with you about your new truck purchase. I would also keep that diesel engine and do some research on it. Maybe you could sell it along with the bellhousing and make some money towards all the money im sure youve spent to get this far. Im pretty sure youd be able to do alot of the repairs youve paid for by local shops and do it yourself. These trucks and runners are alike in alot of ways and the 22r/22re is pretty simple to understand, build, teardown, diagnose etc...

By the way wheres the pics???

4Nmissile

I hear what you are saying kornhuskerwizard. I have been doing a lot of reading up on these trucks overall since I first started looking to buy one a while ago. Now that I have one I am still reading up on them. I have a friend around here who has lots of tools and know-how on mechanicals, it's just him finding time in his schedule to help me out. I believe I've found everything that is/was wrong with the truck. Hopefully no new surprises. I've got some nice plans for the 85 once I get some bills paid down.

4Nmissile

Well, I'm currently waiting for a front driveshaft to be made for me. I was only able to find one that I could have used, but it was purchased by someone else before I could get around to looking at it. So I was left with having one made. I guess it all works out because at least now I'll have a brand new shaft as opposed to a used one that could have been on it's last leg. I'll keep everyone posted.

kodiakzuki

Hey Ive been ready up on your build. Do you still have the diesel or the bell housing if so please PM me.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Just checking in on how your build is going. Hope all is well for you.

4Nmissile

PM sent Kodiak.
The build is going so so right now Terry. I got the front driveshaft installed after about a month. They had to make one from scratch and the guy was on vacation when the shaft first snapped on me. It took two weeks just to get in contact with him. Now that is done though, and a friend of mine and I are going to be putting a brand new brake master cylinder in. Once that is done I'll have it back on the road again. I have a few interior pieces that I will get on soon enough. I have a 22RE cluster with the tachometer that I need to open up and back the mileage up to match mine. I've heard that there are two types of clusters though and that by putting the wrong one in it can damage something or blow a fuse or something. How can you tell the difference?

4Nmissile

The brake master cylinder for a 4wd (not sure if I had one for a 4wd or a 2wd on there to begin with) is on the truck. It's been braking great. Once that was in the truck started going through a fit where it wouldn't start at times. I could hear the fuel pump doing its thing, but there wasn't any clicking from the starter where it was attempting to fire. Sometimes it would fire right up and other times it would just give me the fuel pump but no firing. I bought a new starter and will hopefully get it in this weekend. I also took off the board bumpers (they were getting crazy drag from air at just 55/60 mph). Originally they stuck out just to the edge of the tires, but I cut them down quite a bit. Plus, the rear one I'm thinking of cutting holes symetrically across it for better airflow. I will mount them back up and see how it drives first, then decide on whether to cut holes. I have also bought a sending unit/in-tank fuel pump, and a new gas tank, and am currently waiting for them to arrive. My old gas tank has a leak about halfway up the side that has been killing my mileage. And the fuel pump is external since this truck was originally converted to diesel (started life as a 2wd carb truck). Hopefully, after these fixes it will run smooth (or as smooth as an 85 can run), and it will be my "old reliable" again.

4Nmissile

Here is a picture of my truck with the old board bumpers before I cut them down. It needs a bit of work. I want to redo the entire rear section that would be considered the bed. I am going to keep it tube style like it is, but the new tubing will be run different. I would like to set it up so that I have a spare wheel/tire combo mounted to the rear somehow as well. That will also allow me to redo the wiring to the rear lights. The tires on it in the picture are 36s. The tires I am going to put on are 33s though.

Black_1985_SR5

iTrader: (1)

interesting use of a 4runner roll bar

4Nmissile

You like how that 4Runner roll bar was mounted Black 1985 SR5? Sometimes I thinki it looks good, but I would like to redo the whole back section with all new tubing.

jbird-wi

I just read your truck story. I was about to undertake a rebuild, but have decided to cut bait and run. Everything on my '85 Xtra cab is good but the frame is cracked beyond repair. I think it going to the scrap yard since no one around Southeastern WI seems to be interested in it. Sad ending to a promising project. Good luck with your though.