I just found out that the 1985 yota 4x4 I bought 2 years ago has a knock in the lower part of the motor. The truck has a PERFECT frame, 5 speed & transfer case works great. Only needs some suspension really & a flat bed put on it.

Now, I'm not sure if I should try to rebuild it or what. I love the truck, it has plenty of cab space because its the xtra cab model, but I'm currently attending college and don't think I would be able to get it where I want it to be....

So, should I buy a cheap $800 car to drive around for a year or two while storing my truck at my dads in the country until I have time to get the engine replaced...

or should I sell it to someone that would make something great out of it who has the time & resources now to fix it?

The bed is junk, I was going to try to find a flat bed for it, and the leaf springs need replaced, but other than that and the motor issue its a great specimen of a factory solid front axle truck, I know they are rare and I don't want to just sell it to someone that is going to destroy it, that's why I would like to rebuild, but at this time I don't have the time or resources myself so its put me in a crappy situation.

What do you think I should do about this issue?

 

being a college student, you probably wont have the money to do it the right way for a long time. you can try finding a used but good running motor and see where that takes you. but its up to you. 84/85s aren't too rare. They're just more desired, therefore, its hard to find them "stock". Plus, its easier to SAS a 86-95 than it is to convert a SFA to the same setup.

 

call around to some shops and see what they'll rebuild the 22re for. i recently called a shop to get price since i'm thinking of driving my truck a lot more - basic rebuild is around $800 and only takes a week. this is CA prices at a shop with downtown location, i can only imagine it's cheaper in a more rural state.

if you're willing to spend $800 on a puddle jumper that might die on you, might as well just invest in the truck you already own (because it's very hard to find a decent car under $1500 after the cash for clunkers took them all off the road).

 

Being in your part of the country, I can imagine that it is hard to find one without much rust damage. A few years from now is it still going to be the truck you would want and would you have the ability to work on it? If you are able to do the work and wait til school is out and since you have a place to store it, I would say yes.

If you dont have the ability I might would suggest to let it pass. Just really depends on can this be the truck for you at a later time.

 

Sorry about your dilemma triple x... I had a similar problem with the po putting an engine in my 85 that had the rod journals ground to almost .120 causing heavy pinging and missing. What I did was drive it with sae 50 while building another engine out of a core I got for 150 from the junk yard. I took my time and made sure everything was dead nuts and and did a very thou rough rebuild using an engn bldr timing set to match the street rv head that came with the og engine. Make sacrifices within your parameters but don't get an xj. Also, make friends with your local machinist and bring beer, machinists love beer!!!!best of luck