1981 toyota 1 ton truck

[R.I.D.E.]

Ben working steadily on the truck. Tomorrow at 9AM brother number 3 is going to weld in the rest of the frame repair sections. I stripped the doors, fenders and hood, primed them with some garage sale spray primer, then used a paint roller for a house to roll on a base coat of white paint. Wimbledon white is a FOMOCO color that has been around for decades.

I've fixed so many squeak and rattle sources, I lost count. The tailpipe he had was held on with wire ties. I just cut it off completely, leaving the muffler and 6 inches of pipe to just behind the cab. It legally only needs to be behind the passenger compartment.

Pulled the rear wheels, scotch brited all the wheels and painted them black. Marked where the inner valve stem is located and put 40 psi air in all 4 rear tires. Brother had not checked the inside tire pressure since 2007. Had to got to a truck repair shop to get the lugs off. I was twisting an X wrench up like a pretzel with a 3 foot pipe extension, probably 400 pounds feet and no go. Left side is left handed threads, but they would not budge in either direction.

It actually rides decent as long as you don't hit a big bump. The rear axle is rated for 4400 pounds so with no weight it will shake your fillings out LOL.

The bed is 8 feet X 5 foot 3 inches, sadly the wheel arches are not 4 feet between each other and they can't be changed without contacting. the tires

[R.I.D.E.]

So that's almost two weeks of about 6 hours a day working on that "free" truck.

It's worth resurrecting now that more than half (and the nastiest) of the work is done. I'm out about $200 so far for materials, not to bad.

Reason for tackling this mess.
New windshield
Seat upholstery new
All tires at least 50%
Jasper engine and transmission replaced in 2005, less than 20k miles on both.
Clutch was replaced when the engine and tranny were replaced.
5 years ago Bro spend $1221 to get the complete brake system overhauled.
The rear axle is a real truck unit, 6 lug with removeable axles like all heavy duty units.
He even installed air shocks
I ripped out the complete AC system, the cruise control and the radio. No need for those for the purpose of a truck.
The radiator is original, I can't believe it still works perfectly and doesn't leak. You can bet that no replacement will ever last that long, since May 1981.

[R.I.D.E.]

Finished the frame repair. 1@ 2"x2"x2" U channel. 2@ 2x14" and 3 smaller pieces and it's stronger than new since the patches are 3/16" thick. Finished up at 11:30AM, went to lunch and 25 miles back home.
I thought the baffles in the muffler were falling apart, but it was the upper shield on the catalyst, popped that off and eliminated rattle that sounded like the timing chain.
Adjusted the valves, with new gasket, the half moon plugs at the end and 4 grommets for the valve cover bolts. Spent some time cleaning the valve cover up and stripped the rust off the upper air cleaner and resprayed it with some aerosol gloss black.
One more sealing the repair panels session then I will reinstall the heater intake housing (used to house the ac evaporator removed earlier).
At 65 psi the rear axle is rated to 4400 pounds, it's bad enough at 40 psi. I remember one time he hauled a 55 gallon drum of used wheel weights, but they did not put it in front of the axle and when he took off the front wheels became airborne!
Got a base coat of activated acrylic enamel rolled on like house paint, saving me a ton on a respray job with no overspray.
A couple more days and I'll be down to the paint job. I think black and white will be fine.
Got some JB weld for the nipple on the air injection gulp valve and I need a radiator, the 36 year old original just can't get rid of enough heat when it's close to 80 degrees and 60+ MPH. Not overheating but right on the max safe range of the gage. When I got home I checked the top and bottom hoses and they were practically the same temperature, sure sign of a partially clogged radiator. At that point I will be into it for $500. LOL maybe I'll try to blow it out some with the leaf blower. Or the pressure washer Ha,Ha.

[R.I.D.E.]

New radiator ($114 rockauto) will be here Wednesday. Think I'll try to see if I can get this one working better. Drain the coolant and try a pressure washer with a rag sealing the rad cap orfice, blow the crud out the bottom. I'll know if it works since it's close to 80 degrees here today, versus frost on the 4th of July 1815 after Tambora blew many cubic miles of micro ash over 50k feet altitude.

[R.I.D.E.]

I had to take the key off my group of keys on the key chain to stop the last major rattle inside the cab. Now the predominate rattles are the pin locks for the tailgate and the right inside door lock knob.

Only mechanical repairs were the valve adjustment and radiator replacement. The whole powertrain basically has about 20k miles. Engine and transmission are Jasper remanufactured. Rear axle is a real truck unit with separately accessible axles, 6 lug with a two ton rating.

I'll get some pictures later.

Right at 180k miles right now, 5k a year average since new.