Tacomaworld.com Writing Challenge!

I've got something... Just need some time to get it down... Is there a deadline for submitting yet?

 

Rep for even mentioning that.

So there I was, balls deep in the trailer hitch store...

(trying to keep it family friendly)

 

There are two FR-Seses in this thread and a Tundra......

 

All Toyota, your argument is invalid.

 

Here I sit, broken hearted, tried to 4-wheel drive but only Forded.

You can give me the Pulitzer now. Thank you...thank you...

 

I started off the project when I received it with, what I thought to be, a blown head gasket. It was time to tear down the motor to the block and replace the gasket. Then I found out that dropping the oil pan is a REAL bitch, by that I mean the front axle has to be dropped and then the oil pan has to be maneuvered to be taken out.



When I got the pan finally removed I found the entire right side (the straight one) of the plastic timing chain guide in the oil pan.



Then I put her back together with a new gasket assuming everything was fine but then I took her for a test drive and then when i got it back to the shop I had found that someone replaced my motor oil with chocolate milk. “WTF” I said, who would do such a thing? So I poured me a glass and discovered it wasn’t chocolate milk. IT WAS OIL AND WATER MIXED!!!!!!!!!!!! “OH NO” I said, so I got around to looking and thinking and researching and found that the head could have warped when it overheated. “Well damn” I said, the head had to come off again.



I took the head, the exhaust, and intake off as one unit and began to dismember it and when I was don’t all that was left were the valves and the cam shaft and I took it to my local machining shop and had it machined and brought it home the next day. The day I brought it back to the shop I started to reassemble everything as it was suppose to be along with a new head gasket and then I thought everything was going to be fine and dandy………….so I got her cranked and off I went on another test drive and wouldn’t you know it the same guy that replaced my oil with chocolate milk did it again and I thought to myself I’m going to find this little douche bag canoe and run his ass over with the truck to make sure he doesn’t do it again. Well it turns out there is no douche bag canoe that’s doing it because its water and oil mixing again……….damn. Could this be the end of the ole 86 project? is it time to throw in the towel?????



Stay tuned kiddies and tune in next week (or the next time I feel like updating this thing) and find out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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now where was i???? oh yea. IS THIS THE END FOR THE OLD 86???????????????????????





NOPE………………. because I had an (use to be) amazing (now ex) girlfriend who (is a cold hearted bitch and) just so happened to have a 85 22R block just sitting behind her house on a engine stand on her porch and the weird thing is there wasn’t a Toyota (besides my taco) anywhere to be found and she let me have it. It only cost me some great sex, or at least 5 times of mediocre sex, so we did it 5 times and I had me a new motor to work with.



I backed up to her porch and I found out real quick a motor is a heavy son of a bitch to pick up by yourself. I got it on the back of the taco by myself but the bad news is it was lying down and I couldn’t pick it up so I said screw it till tomorrow. The next day I found a big branch in my back yard to run my winch cable over to pick it up and take it off the stand and put it on a tire.



I got the motor to the shop and began the tear down of both motors. I tore down (almost) everything, and looking back I should have known that there would be a reason that motor was sitting instead on in a truck but the new motor came with a new timing chain, guidelines, rings, a used but in amazing condition timing chain cover. i have a great grandma who brought me a snack while i was working on it




this will do as a table for now

back to the build I pulled my block and put my head on the new motor (the new head was complete crap and I also dropped it accidently in some concrete and screwed up a corner) I built the (almost) whole motor and dropped it in the truck and set the timing and everything and then it cranked and…………knocked like crazy but the good news is the water and oil weren’t mixing anymore and I found out why I kept getting water and oil mixed. The timing chain guide was broken on the old motor and the timing chain was rubbing the timing cover which rubbed a good ¼ inch out of the side where the antifreeze inlet tube goes. Sometime during the rebuild I got tired of dropping the front axle every time I had to take the oil pan off so I just took it off completely and rocked it in prerunner mode for a little while, Anyway back to the knocking issue which sounded like a rod knocking. The motor had to come out AGAIN; this would be the 4th time either the head or the whole block had to come out. I took the head back off and flipped the motor upside down and took the oil pan and pickup tube off and inspected the connecting rods and I found the culprit the person whoever built this motor did NOT put a bearing on the #3 cylinder where it connects to the crankshaft, long story short the crankshaft and the connecting rod was toast so i tore the whole block down and built up my original block with the new rings that was in the new motor (I wish swapped everything from my motor to the new block, it the pistons and the rings seemed to fit better in it). Anyway I built my old block and put my old head with the new timing chain, guidelines, tensioner, and the timing cover on and the last bolt in the timing chain cover (the one that goes in at the top through the head cracked the timing chain cover)f-it!
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I finally got around to taking the timing cover off that I cracked to replace it with another one I got at a junk yard. (Dude charged me 30 bucks for the damn thing and that’s after I talked him down from 50$.) Spent almost all night getting the old one off (tool that I used to hold the crankshaft pulley broke and couldn’t get the bolt out without the whole crankshaft spinning) and finally got it off and put the new/used one on and got it down to the last bolt (just like the last one) and what did I hear??????CRACK!!!!!!!! Just like the last one



so now im tired of breaking used Toyota timing covers so I went looking for a new one and I scored a great deal on a brand new one for 70$ (used one would have been about 120$ from this junkyard because they take it off). Got home put it on and………………..wait for it………………….wait………………….SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kinda. She runs and she has no mixing and only one leak from around the oil pan. I take this as a victory. The leak was no big deal because the axle was already removed and all that was standing between me and fixing it was draining the oil and 18 bolts holding the pan on. I dropped the pan and put a new gasket and silicone gasket on and ……….a somewhat perfectly running 22R that is not leaking in anyway

SO here’s the new problems: 1. Truck starts fine when the truck is cold but when it heats up to operating temp. it doesn’t want to start, I'm unsure why. 2. I took the carburetor off to clean all of the oil that sprayed in to it from the pipe that came from the valve cover and when I reinstalled the carburetor I adjusted the idle screw and the air mixture screw and now it won’t run unless you pour gas in the carburetor, So I took a fukitall pill and let the truck sit for a few months and then ran across this supposedly 1985 Toyota extended cab 4wd pickup on TTORA for 400$, I told the guy that had it I wanted it but itd be a few weeks before I could pick it up and he said that was fine. My buddy and I went down to Georgia on Jan 1, 2012 (250 miles there) and found out it wasn’t a 85, it was a 84. but I bought it anyway because it really didn’t matter.
This is what I got for 400$
A brand NEW (to me) 1984 Toyota 4wd



The two girls getting to know each other before going under the knife



Now the 86 doesn’t have a motor and she’s sitting and waiting patiently for the running “somewhat” perfectly 22r from the 84. I started to tear down the 84 completely but then I thought why not take her out for a spin? I live out in the country so i probably wont be seen by any cops, so I took her out for a short drive and she did pretty good and I frove her back home, then I started thinking and asked my buddy “I wonder how well the 4wd works” he said, “only one way to find out” so we took her on a lil “trail” run through some ditches, well… needless to say I would have flopped it if my buddy wasn’t there to get on the back of it. she did pretty damn well for a truck with pretty much nothing but a cab, seat and bald ass rotting tires.
After math of first and final trail run
*no motor in it, but this is what it looked like…..you know..Plus a motor




now back to the actual 86 project: I pulled the 84’s motor and didn’t plan on doing a full rebuild. I just wanted to swap over the 86’s brand new water pump, brand new timing cover and the valve cover (just to have something that was original to it). when I took off the timing cover off of the 84 I didn’t relies I broke the head gasket where it meets the head and the new timing cover wouldn’t fit exactly like it should so I started investigating and found out I broke the head gasket, well damn…. Oh I also ended up kinda breaking my engine stand because I couldn’t get that crankshaft pulley bolt out




About this time I started to lose interest in the truck a little because of all this crap so I had to do something to the actual truck to get me interested again.
Something’s different



THAT’S RIGHT….TEWB DOORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



The tube doors was just the motivation I needed to get this turd bucket back on the trails.
I couldn’t wait to get this motor built so I can drive my baby with my new doors on , so I jumped back on building the motor and get it almost ready that night…until I got ready to put the oil pan back on…..I didn’t think about the engine stand being broke (it made the motor lean forward) and I tried to turn the motor over on the stand……..and away she went……..crashing into the concrete floor…….every sentence I said for the next 5 minutes contained curse words of all kinds, most were directed toward me and some to the stand and some to the motor and some to the guy that invented concrete. Looking back now it was quite funny, after a few minutes to calm down I picked the motor up to assess the damage. It looked to only be a shattered distributor cap.



Luckily I had another, and I replaced it with the new one from the 84 (yes it was actually brand new) and threw the oil pan on and dropped the motor in its final resting place.



I got everything hooked back up and tried to start her… she said, “I'm still sick” so I called my buddy who is a “Toyota expert” and he came and looked at it and told me I wasn’t getting a spark, well I had a parts truck at my disposal so we swapped the coil pack and that wasn’t it so he said it was a wiring issue and I told him that couldn’t be because it ran before with the old motor and nothing from the donor (electrically wise) was swapped to this truck. He basically gave up, and off to the interwebz I went, the trolls of the interwebz led me to a grounding issue so I went back to the truck and sure enough I left off a grounding wire but it had nothing to do with anything and I thought just for shits and giggles id swap the distributor and sure enough when I dropped the motor I bent the distributor which caused it to lock up and not give a spark I felt like Einstein, but now she won’t idle but that’s not a big deal because it didn’t do that in the 84 and it was just a carburetor tuning problem.

 

you aint even read it

but ill take my prize now

 

Sean be like toyota essay contest!!

First entry: too long, didn't read.

 

What Dad taught you.

We begin by turning back the clock. 29 years to be exact... The year is 1985 and I'm an 11 year old. I'm pretty much your average kid - not really athletic, more prone to play a video game than football with the neighborhood kids. Certainly not in a "popular" clique of any kind and the type who is enthralled by science fiction and fantasy books.
So along comes a movie in this year. One that incorporated so many elements to capture the imagination of my 11year old self. A film that would later shape some of my thoughts and ideas for what I enjoy in life. Wrapped up in the lead character was me - an inwardly adventurous but sometimes misunderstood young man who simply wanted to get the girl, have a good time, and inadvertently be a good son to his perceived "square" parents.
This character played the guitar, was a adept skateboarder, and possessed a unique ability (with a little bit of luck) to get out of some awkward situations. The kind of guy you want to identify with!
And then there's the scene - in the center of town trying to steal a kiss from the girl - and what rolls by on a flat bed transport... "Woah... check out that four by four!"

And so it began...

After that the 11 year old me made it through the shitstorm of middle school & high school (avidly skateboarding of course). Due to my less than satisfactory experience with the Public School I did my best to escape and was able to choose a a College 360 miles away for what I hoped was a "new start". I majored in Art because that had always been my best outlet for expressing myself. Unfortunately, this led me down a few paths I should not have taken and after 2 years made my way back home with no degree but a little education in the young adult real world.
So:
You Get a job.
You work hard like Dad taught you.
And now the 20 year old me finally realizes the daydreams of his teen years:
Was it Black like Marty's - no. But it had a roll bar with kc's and was rolling on 33 BFG's

Then as a bit of time goes by that early twenty something me makes a few more bad decisions... In the process losing direction and also respect.
Self absorption and degradation take that young me to places & people I should not associate with.
Time passes and thanks to the grace of a power greater than myself I was given another opportunity.

The now 25 year old me sees the need to get real and start to grow up.

Having been raised around home improvement - specifically painting - the now serious me gets a job with the Orange Box. I got some time, training, and a desire to better myself.
You work hard like Dad taught you.

Things go well, and the time comes when you feel the need to step up your game a bit. The 87' Marty mobile has racked up the mileage and it's time to make a change.

My first brand new vehicle - and this time the mid-twentys me has some more coin in his pocket to blow. The mod bug that had its breakfast on a hilux now got to dig into a heathy lunch with a 1st gen 99' Tacoma.

Then a bit more time goes by. The late twenties me meets a girl & falls in love. I ask her to marry me & she says yes.
We marry & struggle like most newly weds do but:
You work hard like Dad taught you.

The 30 year old me becomes a father, gets a promotion, and keeps digging in to provide for my new family. Parents help, friendships grow and a bit more time passes...

The job becomes a Career, and I do my best to climb up that ladder a rung at a time.

The old faithful 1st gen that took my wife to the hospital to give birth to my daughter and carried me safely across the country goes in to finally get a new clutch at +180K
And that's when you learn again that some relationships have to end and that this one was doomed from the beginning with a cancerous flaw that would prematurely end the life of my companion.

There was a light at the end of this tunnel however. The manufacturer recognized the flaw and paid handsomely for my companions demise.

So now the 36 year old me who is now a father of two finds himself with a fat check and a Mod bug with a heavy monkey on his back...

It's now dinner time and I've got to serve up a five course meal with an 07' DCSB sport.



Enter Tacomaworld.
"Welcome to TW! Kiss your wallet and your free time goodby!"
I think the Eagles said it best in Hotel California: "you can check out anytime you like, but you can never leave."

I finally was able to do my own leather instal - it became my first contribution to the site in the form of a DIY write up.
My career was hitting a sort of plateau at the time and then something happened that would literally change everything:

I found the Satoshi.

The artist that twenty something me had yearned to be woke up.

I made one - it took forever but I loved it.

I made another - and now I had a group of fellow Taco addicts to bounce ideas off of...

I sourced materials - I developed a process and refined it.
You work hard like Dad taught you.

The Mod Bug grew fed by the proceeds of my artistic endeavor.
Something else happened too - I had inadvertently found a group of folks who were like minded in more ways that just the mutual interest in the truck. I developed friendships and was led on some fantastic adventures that are truly legendary.

Now we come to the present day. The noob who didn't want to wheel his truck is now sourcing parts for a crawlbox mod.

The wannabe artist has essentially become the largest producer of custom Tacoma grills in the world.

Doc told Marty: "if you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything..."

Through some good fortune, blessings, and website created by a guy I've never met in Southern California, I've been able to accomplish quite a bit.

Thank you TW.

~ Craig