My 85, Roland

Meet Roland:

just finished the AlCan.


Post rattle can camo job


Suspension work in the open air Kantishna Spring shop & garage:


Built up rear springs, fronts already completed, donor springs from a 79 3/4 SR5 2wd.


Semi finished product:


Commuting to work 0500


Roland hates the first trip out


There are some benefits....


nice neighbors..


couldn’t get through here the week before...


cameo with the big boyz...

 

Another photo of Roland out at work a couple years ago, still doesn’t like trailers:


Really wants his new engine, moving that to the top of the list for next summer....

 

A few more of Roland history,
Roland luxuriating at the spa:

waking up at the cabin:

Hauling gravel, not amused:

Roland would really like some spring help:

molting:

getting a new baby air horn, and LED road lights:


for lights press here:

for moose press here:

Lights:


topless and bottomless, spring rehab:


spring rehab 1.0, notice temp spring clamps:

On call at work, almost empty for a change:

 

This thread caught my eye. My name is Roland.. very cool truck

 

Cool, thanks, it is a fun project.
Named for a Warren Zevon song- ‘Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner’

 

Great song and truck

 

Cool old rig. Dig the local even more of course

 

Roland the truck keeps on rolling to drive another day.

 

Collecting parts for the engine swap hopefully get that done early this spring, then Taco work time and of course shed/shop construction and area clean up. In my free time…..

 

Nice truck! Which engine are you going to go with?

My 85 also missed the boat on getting factory EFI

 

Roland!

 

I picked up a rebuilt long block from SunWest engine builders in Medical Lake, Washington. Ordered it with a ‘stage ll’ cam.
Well apologies for the delay, but open heart surgery on Roland is now complete with no rejection issues- waiting for a timing light to get it dialed in.
Here’s the build list so far:
LCE de smog kit, Weber 32 carb, swirl adapter and LCE-Offenhauser intake, Trail Gear Rock Ripper header, and LCE Flowmaster cat back exhaust and cat.

i should have some more pics soon as they show up in the email

 

What OME setup did you go with? I’m looking at a CS010R with an AAL and possibly an All Pros 2” lift shackle-for more clearance for the tailpipe.
I am planning to build a 7’8-10”flatbed with tip down sides,6’ top slider boxes and maybe a n aux fuel tank / tool box combo and an over the cab headache rack for moose lights and a spare tire.
so I think that will be a bit heavier than the stock 7’ bed, along with a regear and a posi or truetrac eventually. I carry a fair amount of weight, mostly hauling:water, gravel, fuel barrels, tools, building materials, and also will continue to do so towing. Right now I am still running with the built up Frankenstein spring packs front and rear with some SkyJacker shocks, it still rides like a beet truck, might go with some Timbrens to stop the sag.

 

Timbren SES sounds like exactly what you need!

 

Some day, there are quite a few items on the build list, but definitely a consideration somewhere around the middle of the list

 

So after a 3 day lag, the photos have arrived:
Roland getting ready to pull into the tarp shop

last minute prep for the installation-while figuring out how to wrestle the old one out of the way.



In with the new motor:
Started out with a different valve cover- the idea being not to have to swap parts(and clean them-Roland had a lot of oil leaks) and just swap them out. Sadly the shiny orange one was from a different Toyota application and the throttle linkage would not mount correctly

 

A few more of various stages of re assembly


Shortly before I noticed the linkage issue- I had a couple extras and couldn’t find the red/orange paint so grey it was.


Time for the head scratching to begin- lots of extra plugs and wires after the emissions removal.


Used up some of the extra silicone lines from the upgrade kit for the Tacoma

 

Some final shots of the ongoing adjustment process, mainly for the fuel pressure regulator and other angles:

Before the silicone vacuum lines- all 2 of them!


and of course the constant pain in the ass, the new clutch slave cylinder, bleeding is ongoing…


trying to sort out the wiring for the choke and the fuel cutoff solenoid, also ongoing(fuel cutoff anyway)
Carb adjustments are getting close and I think the timing is close as well, word from eBay is the timing light has arrived in the mail and we’ll see how close it is.

 

Looks like 2” lift shackles and some springs doctoring have moved to the top of the list. About a 1/4” of clearance Clarence…



Roland pulling duty as the daily driver, a couple from work this fall:


Roland doing a bit of break in work:

 

Thanks