2002 Double Cab retro build

Sup fellas,

I was cruising marketplace looking at old Toyota trucks when I stumbled across this poor 02 double cab. The guy I bought it from recently purchased it himself from a private party, only to have it cook a headgasket on him. He was in a position where a growing family forced him to sell the truck and recover what he could from the initial purchase.

A little investigation showed a radiator filled with stop leak, so it looks like he was bamboozled by some lowlife. Still runs like a Swiss watch, but it has a coolant drinking problem.

From what I can gather, the truck was purchased new in New Hampshire, and lived it's whole life here in New England. The original owner must have loved the truck, as the owners manual is filled with hand written maintenance notes with corresponding mileage starting from new, up to about 170k miles. It's currently sitting at 218k.

Looks like the frame was replaced in 2011, and surprisingly it's still in good shape. The body has a little rot above the rear wheels, but nothing crazy. Somehow it still retains all its original panels.

So, plans are to make a rad little truck to bomb around in. I'm a huge fan of 80s/90s styling and colors, and I have some pretty cool ideas on how I'll be painting it. The color palette will be be purples, blues, teals and pinks.
While I'm waiting for parts to come in for the engine, I tore the interior out to give it a deep cleaning. 23 years of dirt, mud, and dog fur really sucks. I scrubbed and power washed the rug, shampooed and scrubbed the seats and door panels, and busted out the small brushes to clean all the cracks and crevices in the console, dash, and hvac vents. I realize interior cleaning isn't the coolest part of a build, but it's not a bad way to kick it off.

 

Before tearing it apart I ran a compression test on it the other day, and it's not exactly great, but I expect a cylinder to be almost dead.


1 - 125

3 - 135

5 - 120

2 -145

4 - 120

6 - 145