Rebuilding the Green93
 

There comes a time in every project when you ask yourself, "what the hell am I doing?" I'm about at that point.

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That is where I am as of tonight. This project has been put off and put off because of our need for 2 vehicles. Something would wear out and I would just drive it. I didn't replace the shocks because I wanted it lifted. And I didn't replace the tires because once it's lifted I'd want bigger tires. So on and so on.

This isn't going to be a rock crawler or a dedicated trail rig. I drive it every day and just want a capable and comfortable vehicle. It was a base model truck and I will be adding many options as well. It doesn't hurt that this was the wife's truck when we met. That being said, things are in pretty good shape. Very little rust. I think she's glad it's getting a new lease on life.

Upgrades in this phase of the build:

-old man emu lift including medium duty springs and bushings. Nitro shocks and steering stabilizer.
-ball joint spacers and drive shaft spacer from 4crawler
-all new poly bushings and mounts
-5 speed swap with marlin clutch and short shifter
-braided brake and clutch lines
-LSD rear either truetrac or supra. Haven't bought this yet.
-frame and parts will be coated with por-15 before assembly.
-33 12.5's. Most likely MTR's with a Mickey Thompson Classic II. Haven't decided 100% yet


I have a deadline of November 1st. :laugh: So I should have regular updates. Hopefully this thread helps to keep me focused.

Sounds like fun. Looks like you have a nice solid truck to start from.

Got a little more done today. Removed the control arms and torsion bars. Decided since I'm this far I might as well drop the front diff as well. I noticed my CV boots are beginning to crack. Not through yet but won't be long. Has anyone re-booted the stock ones before? Is it a huge pain? I'd prefer to keep the toyota ones on there as opposed to buying some crap from Lordco or NAPA.

All that's left is to unbolt the body and sit it on some 3-4" blocks so I can get as much access to the frame as possible. This is how she sleeps tonight:

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A month huh? hmm.

Why have you torn everything off? What are you doing?

I tend to work on one thing at a time, are you doing a frame off or something?

Dont end up with a giant pile of parts that never get back together.

Well I borrowed a vehicle to drive while this is off the road. The idea was to pull it off the road a couple of months and get everything fixed up. Good idea? I'm not sure yet. I also have plans for the interior but I'm running a little behind schedule. That might have to be split up into weekend work.

I re-booted my CVs using the kits from the Toyota dealer. Not difficult, just messy. :)

Nice project!

Looks like you have a lot going on. I also get to pick one project at a time. Your frame looks nice and solid. That's a plus.

Well I've been progressing slowly. Getting all the stuff done that nobody wants pictures of. Washing and degreasing parts. Cleaning up bags of fasteners for smooth assembly. No matter how hard I try, I just can't use rusty nuts and bolts to install all new parts. I've got a final list to order from toyota tomorrow. Aside from that all I should need is tires, rims and fluids. I think I'm going to buy a preferred customer package from Amsoil and have all my stuff delivered. I found a used detroit truetrac local and I'll be picking that up this week. Today I stripped the axle so I can get some por15 on as soon as I get the third back from having the lsd installed. The FSM isn't clear, is there a gasket used between the third and the axle housing? Or do I just use RTV? I don't really want to have to redo this because of a little leak.

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Not to many pics today. Lots later when all the goodies start getting unboxed. :rockin:

I've always used grey permatex. No leaks yet :)

The black RTV should work fine then. My engine rebuild kit came with an oil pan gasket. I heard conflicting stories so I didn't use that either. Still holding up. Power steering pump is another story though. I need to find that leak soon.

It's funny how life throws you curve balls as soon as you decide what you want to do. The truck is still sitting in pretty much the same state as it was when I took these last pics. The wife and I busy at work, and other vehicles needing repairs when I'm not busy have taken priority. I'm trying to get motivated on this rebuild again though. The wife wants her parking spot back before it starts to get cold, and I'm determined to complete this project.

The last couple days I've spent some time under the truck with a wire wheel stripping off the factory coating and half assed undercoating job. The frame is in very good shape. No rust to remove at all so far. My worst spot has been where the transmission crossmember bolts up. I admit now that stripping the frame was a bad idea, but it's too late to turn back now.

I have the whole POR-15 system ready to apply. Looking under the truck though, in my real world scenario there is no way I'll get all the factory coating off and left with bare metal. I'm doing this in my small 2 car townhouse garage so sandblasting is out of the question. I'm wondering if it is better to leave the factory coating on difficult to reach areas such as body mount locations and where the front suspension mounts. If that is what I decide, should I prep those areas the same as the bare metal and paint POR-15 over all areas? Or should I just lap the POR-15 just onto the factory coating and then cover all with the chassis black top coat? I guess I'm just worried about the POr-15's adhesion to the factory coat rather than onto bare metal. I don't want this flaking off. If anyone has experience or insight with this please let me know your thoughts.

I'll try to keep this thread updated with progress and pictures to keep me motivated.

Jason

Got a little further along today. I didn't have much time but got the body mount bolts off and came up with a game plan to lift the body enough to grind and paint the top of the frame. Shouldn't be too hard after all.

After dinner I decided to spend some time in the garage so I removed and boxed up a bunch of the interior. Pulled the carpet out and found zero rust which was nice. With everything out of the way the pedal swap will be much easier.

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I see people chipping and chiseling that factory coating off all the time. There is no way I'll be starting that job but I have "dymamat" to lay down. Can I go right over it as is?

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The only weird thing I found was a bubbled coating over where the cat is. I haven't had an issue with the cat and the factory heat shield has always been there. Is this normal?

My truck is a pretty plain model and I've already added a bunch of SR5 upgrades but I have a bunch more. I'll be adding things like lighted ashtray, power antenna, power doors, lighted key ring, ect. I have everything except for the key ring if you have one laying around. I'll be pulling most of the dash and was wondering if it would just be easier to swap in a dash harness from a fully loaded 4runner instead of hacking my harness in so many spots? As long as the donor is the same model year it should work right? I have the FSM's but adding all those power options are kind of daunting, especially the full powered doors(locks, windows and mirrors)

Thanks for any input.

You shouldn't have any trouble with leaving little bits of factory paint on the frame. With what you have, it'll have to do.

:shocked: I cant believe how long it's been since I started this thread. Life gets in the way of all the fun stuff. Lately I've started working a bit on this project. I'm not much farther along than the pics show but i do have the cab up off the frame and I've stripped the frame up to the rear control arm mount. I just picked up a couple smaller wire wheels for my air grinder to get into some tight spots. At this point i don't think I'll be stripping the frame any farther forward than I have already.

My plan is to por-15 everything I've stripped and then chassis black over the por-15 and factory frame paint in the tight areas. I'm just wondering what prep has to be done to the factory coating to get the best adhesion from the chassis black. I will be using the marine clean and prep and ready. If anyone knows of a helpful forum for this id be interested in that as well.

At this point I'm just trying to get motivated again. Reading through build threads daily is helping. My timeline is embarrassing, but I'm going to try and pick it up.

Jason

Well the big sections of the frame are all stripped with the wire wheel. Soon I'll start with my small 90* air grinder and get the tight corners as good as i possible. I also just finished up the last of my fasteners. Every nut, bolt, washer, and clip i removed from the truck was wire wheeled with my drill press and bagged in labeled zip locks. Trust me, it was a long process.

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I have been trying to find something i can do while standing up(avoiding the wire wheeling) i discovered sand blasting. There is a place called UBlast near me that offers their machines for use by the hour. They charge by a small minimum time limit and then in 5 minute increments after that. I've gone twice so far and have at least one more trip planned.

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It is very calming, and easy to get carried away. The only problem with finding this place is learning they recently added a sandblasting bay able to accommodate vehicles up to about 20' long. My truck is so close to a frame off that it kills me and I've been trying to figure out a way to get my frame out in my small garage but I don't think I can. Unless i jack the body up a bit more and support it off to the sides. I could unbolt the steering box and motor mounts and just suspend the motor while i pull the frame out the front and load it on a flat deck. Actually doesn't sound as crazy as laying under it for hours at a time. Thoughts?

Mission creep!
 

Haha. At least I know now I'm not the only one that starts something, and then life gets in between. But I got ya beat. Had my trucks in storage down in Ft W for like 4 or 5 years. Just got them close last Nov, and been working on them when I can - of course now, I get sent out of town (but hey, it's still a job!) nearly all the time.

Really just posting this, Hoping you'll reply as a reminder so I can grill you on your rebuild when I get back to CO and can access my personal pc. Really awesome looking truck by the way. Your wife had chosen wisely.

Any progess????

bump. Hows it going?