Aleu - The Rebuild of a 1980 Pickup

Great build.

 

got some more progress on the cab today, really trying to get this done this weekend. I do however need to buy more primer for when I get done with the body work

thanks!

 

What's the plan about that rusty floor? Patching it or going to cut the whole area?

 

theres only like 2 spots that need fixing on the inside, side firewalls need a few patches and then the cowl needs fixing. but ill just cut out whats there and weld in new sheet metal

 

man, 2 hours today and got a good bit further on the cab. I seriously want to just sit here all day and grind away, but I just cant lol. was trying to get this cab done by the end of this long weekend, but between the heat and my energy levels...I haven't really been able to lol. I've got about 1/3 of the cab done so far.

depending how this hurricane is that's coming up this way towards me, I'm gon a see how far i can get this week by doing what i was doing with the bed and just slowly chipping away at it

 

forgot to upload this one

 

hey guys, sorry for the lack of updates. been tied up helping with Hurricane Michael relief over near Panama city (my town didnt get hit). but I got a good bit done, finally got the correct hub for the rear end, they are matching 84/85 hubs lol.

got a new shelf for the garage which helped substantially with organizing better

got my block back FINALLY but there's a bit of a snag that SHOULDNT be a factor but im not happy about it though. cylinder 3 at the top is probably a thousand or even less off at the top, so it's not true 0.040 bore. all piston heads in 1, 2, and 4 slide in and out easily, but the bottom half of every piston head at the very top of #3 I cant slide in by hand. I have to use my dead blow and tap it in, BUT once it's in, it slides freely and the spot the gets caught up, literally has to shove the piston out of the cylinder to cause anything. so I dont THINK itll be an issue, but I'm still calling the machine shop tomorrow about it.

but other than that, also got the head and crank back too, bought a new timing cover since the screws stripped in the original oil pump on the other cover, didnt feel like drilling it all out. the head got cleaned, machined and a stage 1 port and polish, crank got polished and the block got cleaned, deck machined, and an .040 bore with a hone

bought an 89 2wd 3.0 V6 dual diaphragm brake booster to upgrade from a single diaphragm that the 1st gens come with. the tabs on the booster need to be bent, I found my booster spacer (thank god) and it ALMOST clears, barely makes contact with the clutch master. I'm glad I got the 2wd aw it has longer studs to accommodate the spacer. just need to see if the steering shaft runs which I think it will

finally, bought a 1" body lift from skys offroad, I dont like body lifts...but I'm needing to do it. I need bolts mostly....lol, but I'm hoping that the 1" BL helps clear the brake booster from the intake runners on the 3rz. 1st gens are notorious for not fitting anything other than small diameter boosters. lastly, the BL should help clear the EFI long bed fuel tank that's going in the stock spot. I wanted all my body lines to match up. no way in hell i was gonna shim just the bed up and mess all the body lines up.

 

hey guys, a few updates, haven't gotten to work on the truck as much as I've wanted to the last 2 weeks. ran into an issue with my full float adapters. put one on backwards and went to pull the studs out and 2 got stuck and one snapped off. had a local buddy get it all fixed up for me, so now I'm just waiting on my new spindle stud kit to come in sometime this week, hopefully tomorrow.

but, aside from that, blasted my spindles and hubs down and got them all painted up, gotta pull one stud out and drill another out and those will be good to go.

have to fab me up a bearing pocket removal tool to remove the bearing pocket on the stock semi float axle to remove the rotor and studs to swap over to the front solid axle hubs. once that's done the rear end will fully have full float installed.

also got a bunch of brackets cut off to install my marlin crawler steering box mount. I had to wait to get a bearing preload tool so I can properly install my high steer setup

 

well its late at night for me, I just got home from work...but look at what was at home waiting for me! now I just need to pull the rotor and studs out of the semi float axles...and my rear end can be put together and I'll be one step closer

 

*sigh* its always something lol, found out today that I need new valve spring seats (shim/washer things) as I apparently forgot to remove them before I took them to the machine shop, so I ended up losing half of them. Bought new ones from LCE.....those should be in soon lol. once those go in I can start working on the rebuilding the engine. still havent done anything today about my bearing pocket puller....lol

 

so a quick update, I havent posted in here because over the holiday weekend I had a big moment of defeat and lost all will to even work on the truck. I was assembling the engine and the last thing I needed to do was drill and tap an oil jet for my balance shaft delete....aaaaaaandddddddd the tap snapped right off in the block, right as i was about to start pulling the tap back out. I went one too many times without going back and taking the tap out a bit...so it was my fault...but I took the block back to the machine shop and they said they should be able to mill it out. so i should have it back by then end of the week if not start of next. I havent touched the truck since Friday last week because of that...but im getting motivation again to work on the truck again after putting everything aside and taking a break from worrying about everything. I seriously want to try to get this thing done before the end of the year...so we'll see! still a lot to do.

BUT good news, my wiring harness should be done here by the end of this week, been a long process getting this thing made, but being the first for a custom made factory style harness that incorporates old 1st gen dash and parts with the ECU and harness from the 3rz takes time haha. I have pictures of the progress on the engine I'll post. but ill do that tomorrow. gonna try to do something tomorrow!

 

It will be worth it in the end. Your so close!

 

I think you have done pretty well for not running into any mishaps its a hurdle. You came to the root of the problem and know what you have to do to move forward. It sucks Donkey Dick but at least you will get it fixed and be one step closer to getting this beast on the road.

 

was supposed to upload a bunch of photos....but that got away from me lol. so here's some pics of the full float half way installed. its nearly impossible for me to get the old rotors and studs off the old semi float axle because now I dont have a way of pressing the axle out. whereas before I used a set of jacks to support the drum and press the axle out. I dont have the proper tool to remove the axle out of the pocket...so I'm kinda forced to get new rotors, I can prob salvage the studs by hitting em out with a 2x4 and the dead blow lol

 

more parts ordered today lol

Marlin Crawler:
- Extended Brake Line Kit
- 4x Caliper Hardlines (x2 left, x2 right)
- Crossover Steering Stabilizer
- Long Spline Drive Shaft kit (for the front)
- Tcase Flange dust shields
- Clutch alignment tool

Low Range Offroad:
- x2 more Backing Plate Eliminators with brake line holder
- Rock Ring extended button bolts
- 2 sets of brake pads
- OEM knuckle studs
- Torx 12 socket for studs



i think the last few things i need to get are Seats, seat belts, seat adapters, pay for the 2nd half of my wiring, pay for the block getting fixed, i think brake lines and fuel lines will be the last few things that I need to get done, and I should HOPEFULLY have everything bought for this thing lol. god im in such a pinch right now lol

 

good news yay, I called the machine shop and they were able to drill the broken tap out and save the threads, they ran another tap through behind what I did to clean the threads up. glad the oil jet hole is good to go and the block didnt get damaged further lol

 

literal photo dump I promised 2 days ago haha, all i can say is......I HATE valve keepers and the valvetrain on these Toyotas...lol, cab is almost done as well

 

Is that in your kitchen? If so, good on ya!

 

I was thinking the same thing