bought this truck for $300, its a 1988 4x4, 3vz, 5spd, sittin on 35x12.50's with a custom alluminum bed. it runs and drives fairly good. i dont think im really gonna go overboard with the whole building part, but i will do a fair amount of rebuilding and all that.

Day i first got it, March 20th 2011, 12:00 pm









Future Plans

• arb air lockers front and rear
• front and rear tube bumpers
• rock sliders
• dual transfer cases
• Twin-stick
• off- road lights
• 36x12.50's
• suspension lift (dont know how much, but enough to clear 36's just enough)
• solid axle front hubs
• por-15 on the frame
  
• rattle can camoflouge (i was also just thinking flat od green, i rattlce canned camo one time, and i dont think i will ever do it again)
• black out all the exterior trim peices with flat black

Things I Gotta Do To It

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I thinks thats all for now, but i will keep the list updated regularly

 

started today on cleaning the interior, this is just the boring part of the thread untill it starts to pick up with all the building etc.

i was going to pull off the front valance, but ill save that for tomorrow LOL

pulled it onto the garage, heres a few pics of what the interior looked like since i first got it







i started off by pulling out the bench seat. the drivers side was quite rusty, so i pulled out an air ratchet to help with wrist fatigue



got the seat out



lets see what we can find!! i found some coors light advertisements, some loose change, roll of masking tape, reflective tape, energy gum, candy wrappers





while i was cleaning the interior, i figured i'd soak the rusty seat bolts in a cup of crc-336 (wd-40 equivilent)



this shift boot cover was grossing me out, so i figured id get rid of that too.



tore that nasty thing right off!!



in the meantime, i got my cab all vaccumed out, but you cant put a rusty seat back in a clean cab



i got out the old flap disc griner, with a 120 grit pad, sanded it down and painted the metal black, i wasnt too worried about primer and all that since it wasnt going to be exposed to the elements



now while i was waiting for the paint to dry, i figured i would go ahed and clean off all the misc. cab floor trim peices, and armor-all the seatbelts and shift boots.





i pulled the bolts out of the cup (what a difference!!)



and then i put the seat back in....but i somehow forgot to take pics of the finished product

 

wasnt planning on pulling out the shift boot covor, but im glad i did, there was some hidden goodies in there (a yale mortise cylinder (seems to be 5pin), some loose change, and some other nasty trash.





Here it is all finished!!

BEFORE:



AFTER:

 

tomorrow i will remove the valance and try to get it back to shape, sand down and primer the light surface rust, and either tonight or tomorrow i will cut off the spare tire and put it on my 85

 

this is always fun! i found about $4 in coins and a few fishing lures under my vinyl flooring

 

heyy was waitint for a build thread from u, good luck

 

yeah it was interesting, i found a jingle bell in there too, dont know what that guy was up to, or how it even squeezed its way under the covor?

 

its gonna be a slow build, but thanks for subscribing!!

 

i was goin to get to work on the truck again today, but i got the click but no start problem im trying to figure out, but after that ill get back to everything.



my 85' had to save the day today, so i could get it into the garage and get to work.

but anyway, my next projects are to get the front valance off, and bend it back into shape....i was thinkin of some cool looking ways to trim it so my tires dont rub on it, and i want it to look kinda cool at the same time...

but in the meantime, what should i do about this rust?? i think the best thing is to cut it out, cut some patch panels out from a donor truck, and tig weld them into place...

anybody got any ideas??







theres a few spots loaded down with like 5lbs. of bondo....i wanna knock them out with a hammer and do it the right way

 

Sub'd.

You wouldn't be interested in swapping out seats would ya? I got a standard bench same color.

 

what exactly is the difference between a standard bench compared to the bench i have?

 

yours is the split bench mine's a solid bench, no center armrest.

 

Yeeeehawwwwwwww! Great find! You'll have her CHERRY in time, just be patient.... or don't, and JUST ATTACK! lol.

Right on, Bud,...happy for ya!

 

hehe, thanks chef, i think i'll be patient for now, but when the weather breaks im goin into attack mode :p

goin out wheelin in 9 hours at a buddys farm, its gonna suck to have to be pulled around by a ford for a pop-start everytime we stop for a food break

i love the power on the 3vz its amazing, but im considering a 22r or re swap (if its possible) its so hard to learn one engine, and then learn another engine without forgetting the one you just learned

 

Can't beat that for $300. Is that Coors deal a tap handle? If so it would make a kick a$$ shifter knob!!

 

Hmmm, I'd actually like to learn the Veezee! lol. Can't be TOO much different, homie! lol. Ok, I know, there's a lot, but ......why? You now would have both classic motors, ......and you like it..... DON'T! lol. Jk, but seriously, while you're being patient... be patient on that, too, k? hahaha.

 

yeahh its a tap handle, and the funny part is i was lookin at it today and it looks like the po used it as a shifter knob lol but its a garage decoration for now, im sure ill find a use for it one day or another

 

Haha right on.

 

yeahh i know whatcha mean...im slowly gettin to know the 3vz, but i just love the simpliticty of the 22re, it would be cool to have both my rigs the same engine so i can interchange parts and stuff like that to test out broken parts and whatever....but honestly i will probably talk about swapping a 22re, but never do it unless i have major engine complications, and it would be cheaper to swap a 22re rather then rebuild the 3vz

 

thats a tuffy, i gotta see how comfortable the standard bench first lol. i wouldnt mine swapping, ive just never had a standard bench before, so i dont know if its more or less comfy than the split bench