Aleu - The Rebuild of a 1980 Pickup

So here she is, my little 4 banger 80 pickup and all of her glory! lovin it so far!

Name: Aleu
Year: 1980 (1984/85 axle up front)
Motor: 20r 4 banger and all of its glory
Trans: believed to be the L43 4 speed manual (G52 5-speed manual in the bed to replace it)
Shoes: 265/75r16 Nitto Terra Grapplers on TRD OffRoad Alloys (my Tacoma's old wheels and tires)
Carb: Weber (not sure on the model)


Where did I get her name? well, if you cant tell by my username (the literal annunciation of "Alpha" since someone took it already) I am kind of obsessed with wolves. I also have just recently run into the Balto movies again, which are my most favorite films period; grew up loving them. But in the 2nd movie Balto 2: Wolf Quest, one of Batlo's daughters is named Aleu, which she is more of a wolf than Balto himself is; which he is half wolf and and Siberian husky. So with Aleu being more of a wild animal, I think it fits perfectly! this truck is gonna be an awesome trail rig and be "wild" on the trails lol. Well.......i guess that's the reason....I just like it haha












How This All Began:
Well, one of my buddies on an offroading facebook page for the local area said that they were looking at expanding, but a lot of the trails they run REQUIRE 4x4....so my prerunner was automatically out of the picture. Even though I am fairly good at wheeling my 2wd and have a winch (ive proved A LOT of people wrong, but Laylah cant go EVERYWHERE, and she doesnt even have gears and a locker yet). So I just randomly decided to check on Craigslist for cheap 4x4s and guess what....the first post I see....this 1980 pickup for $1,000, only been up for 45 minutes. So I REALLY thought hard about it and ended up bringing the truck home 4 days later

November 13th I brought home my very own 1980 Toyota Pickup 4x4, I paid $1,000 for her, I am so happy I did not pass this opportunity up for a 3rd time. Even though the truck is in a semi state of distress, it is in pretty ok condition. The frame seems pretty good and that 20r motor is running like a charm. I have a lot planned for this truck to get it back up and running to be street legal and give it a better life than she previously had with her previous owner that used her as just a woods truck and nothing else really. I want to get this thing back up and running and eventually turn it into a crawler at some point....which is so far down the road im not even thinking about it right now lol.

Im excited to get this build started, I havent been this excited about anything in a long time and im looking forward to working on this truck and slowly bringing her back to life. and just to add, that I am very inexperienced with a lot of things, so I'll be learning as I go!

Previous Specs:
- 1980 Pickup
- 2.2L 20r Motor
- Manual Transmission (L43 currently, G52/G54 to be installed)
- 4x4 Solid Axle
- mostly bald and cracking 33x15.50r15 Super Swampers on 15x10 steelies

The only major thing wrong with the truck was that the trans can't find reverse and just grinds, so the trucks price came with an either G52 or G54 transmission to swap in, but some modifications are going to need to be made to the driveshaft to get it to fit

the night I brought her home, the taco towed her very nicely, was my first time towing anything this big, not bad at all!

 

since we found out about the trans and we weren't able to bolt it up today, decided to rip the seats out and start cleaning up the mess the previous owner had in it and all the jerry rigged wiring that just looked like a hazard waiting to happen. The floor boards aren't in the best condition either from rust, so Ill have to figure out some way to patch up the holes and throw in some bucket seats. So much junk lol

Plans as of right now:
- shifter for the new trans
- modification to the driveshaft to fit the trans
- new wiring harness to start from scratch
- mount my old 265 nittos on my TRD OR wheels to replace the crappy super swampers that are on now

 

First!

 

Second!

 

Had an '83 mud truck. You are going to love that thing off road. Not fast like your 2 wheel drive, just slow and steady.

 

Found this, "To tell the difference between a G52 and a G54 you have to pull the front cover and get the bearing number."

 

Marlin has different listings for his 52 and 54 short shifters so they may not be interchangeable. Looks like you'll need to determine which you have.
Also if you wanted his short shifter he requires you to send in the handle, which you don't have, so need to find an OEM one first.

Might as well find a used setup on ebay or a junkyard and get it into the truck, then when things are good to go, possibly upgrade to the Marlin short shift kit down the road.

 

small update today, got the cab mostly cleaned up from all the crap that was in there, still need to pull the wiring since I'll be putting a new wiring harness in. Pulled the floor mats up and as I suspected, the cab needs new floor pans. Seems like the previous owner put some sheet metal in there himself half assed haha. shouldnt be too hard getting sheet metal to replace the current floors. The new trans is getting cleaned up slowly but surely lol, gotta wait to get another trans that has the shifters and bases I need to get this one installed, prob wont go into the truck for another 2 weeks

 

cleaned the undercarriage as best I could today....so much mud and shit under there lol. so it's mostly clean now, gonna go to the tax office tomorrow to get the tags for the truck then she's street "legal" lol. Also got a win for the tires that went flat the day after I brought the truck home, went to the Auto Hobby shop on Hurlburt Field and had the tire beads cleaned and reseated and they are now holding air like they should! saved me money for a little bit until Im able to get new wheels and tires for the pickup haha

 

still missing a few boxes...but...oh yeah

 

Found out today I need a new passenger side brake hardline for the caliper, went to put it back together and brake fluid started leaking out. Completely cracked on the bend of the hardline. Also need to return the studs since those are for some reason too small compared to the factory studs....gonna have to find another set that's the same size since the dorman ones that said they'd fit...dont....I love it lol. Lowrange offroad had everything I needed to replace the hardlines and the mirrors I got from another site are too small imo, lowrange has an aftermarket set of factory mirrors that should be bigger. Can't wait to get this all done! Shifters came in as well finally so the trans can get out in finally...gonna be a nice weekend next week. More to come!

 

Been enjoying following this.

 

alright....hopefully I have bought everything I need for now lol....i need to get shit paid off.....haha. Just purchased the (hopefully) correct studs since the DORMAN ones from Rock Auto were the wrong ones. All the stuff thats on order

Low Range Offroad:
- Front/Rear wheel studs
- New caliper hardlines
- Proper mirror replacements

Marlin Crawler:
- Front solid axle rebuild kit

Trail Gear:
- Trail safe knuckle ball wiper seals

Still need to get new fluids for everything, then thats about it for awhile until I get shit paid off haha, im not too happy about spending almost $1,800 on this baby lol. Im just excited to work on this truck once I get everything....this thing is going to be a beast....just...finances lol....not in the best of shapes right now

 

future plans for tires and lift and stuff

- RUF and Chevy 63 setup with most likely Bilstein 5125s front and rear
- 15x8 steelies (I want to get rid of the 15x10s that are currently on)
- 33 or 35x12.50r15 Super Swamper Boggers
- cheap racing bucket seats with sliders after the floor pans get redone

 

Sub'd

 

so an interesting thing I found out about my 80 PU...it doesnt have an 80 axle like I thought it was, turns out its an 84/85 SFA. no complaints here...just a little inconvenient having to return parts that dont fit lol. But as of right now im going to be taking the super swampers off and selling them and putting my old 265s that were on my Tacoma on with some 2" wheel spacers I just ordered until I get the money for some 35x12.50r15 Super Swamper Boggers. Cant wait to start working on the pickup next weekend!

 

No problem! You guys have almost everything I need for the pickup! I've bought a lot of parts off you guys lol, brake hardlines, studs, rotors, mirrors. I'll eventually, once I get things paid off I'll be getting one of your trans ebrakes you guys offer and a rear disk conversion.

 

Nice looking rig. I had a '79 as a work truck. The only problem was when it rusted in half.