Logan81Pickup

Well since my engine siezed on me and needs rebuilt, I've decided that this would be a great opportunity to build my truck up.

So far I've decided that I want to try and do a 20r head swap, with porting and a mild cam to try and make a little more power. Then, I want to clean up the engine bay as much as possible. There is all this emissions junk that has no purpose since there are no emissions tests here. I want to try and make my engine bay a little more open with more room to work on stuff. (If there are any guides etc. to this let me know)


I also want to tear out all the carpet in my cab and fix the floors in the floorboards, then get some decent seats from the junkyard since mine are not in great condition. I'm going to build some custom door panels too, probably out of some heavy carpet.

After all that's done I want to tear the bed off and fix the frame (forward rear spring hangar area is rusted, and a previous owner just welded plates over it, and didn't do a very good job. I want to grind those plates off and redo the frame there.)

After that I want to rebuild both axles and differentials and put a lift on, probably a 4 inch one max.

Here's where I'm at after a few hours worth of work:

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

In my tear down of my 81, I was using this link as a guide to removing all the Cal smog crap.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...ghlight=desmog
Good writeup with lots of pics

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

In my tear down of my 81, I was using this link as a guide to removing all the Cal smog crap.
https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f114...ghlight=desmog
Good writeup with lots of pics. Be sure to take a lot of pics for reference

Logan81Pickup

Thanks for that. It said pretty much what I was thinking as far as what was involved.

What is the best way to clean the inside of the frame? When I take the bed off to redo the rear spring hangars I want to make sure I get the frame cleaned out good, then I want to find some way to cover the holes. Probably just squares of sheet metal screwed into the frame to block the holes. That is the only spot I could find on the frame that was really rusty. I also will probably but bedliner on the frame from the cab back.

tgmaul88

nice truck keep up the work Im in the same boat, trying to rust proof the frame on the inside, I wanted to have my frame dipped in motor oil

Logan81Pickup

Floor out




Both rear cab corners are fubar'd and will need redone.



Transmission hump had a hole from idek what.



Both front foot areas will need redone as well. The cab was actually resting on the frame crossmember.

I've got the motor almost ready to pull. Can someone tell me how to get the transmission shift lever out? I need to pull the tranny out to fix some holes. I'd like to pull it with the motor but if need be I can pull the motor then the tranny. Transfer case will come out also since it needs a bearing in the rear.

tgmaul88

to get the shifter out simply pull the rubber boot up and press down on the base of the shifter and turn counter clockwise it will pop right up and out, you may use a screw drive to help turn

Logan81Pickup

Ok so HOPEFULLY I can get the motor and tranny and transfer case pulled tonight.

I've realized for the idek time that I don't really know what I'm doing on this. I have no experience with anything like this, so this is also a learning experience. Honestly it is probably alot cheaper to go to school for stuff like this lol.

Most of the stuff I'm doing on the cab and frame is going to be rust prevention. This is not going to be a full restore, as I'm going to DD this with occasional off-road use. I'm hoping I can put bedliner under the cab, inside the cab on the floorboards, and on the frame itself, after I plug the holes in it. I see alot of people on here restoring the hell out of their trucks, and bringing them to > new condition. But I won't be doing that seeing as I bought this truck to DD, and because I don't have the $6k to completely redo everything.

Now about the cab mount rust areas... I'm thinking I can just use 1/4" steel for that, and drill the holes for the mounts in it. Then I want to do the rest with 1/8" (or whatever thickness idk) sheet metal we have laying around.

I'm probably going to have to pull the cab to do that, and honestly I'm kinda running out of places to keep stuff at our shop, since it's always used for the farm. I suppose I could throw the bed onto a flatbed and take it to our house since our garage is mostly storage.

When I started this I didn't plan to be tearing this thing all the way down to the frame, but the perfectionist in me wants everything to be bulletproof, not that that's a bad thing.

83Toyota88

iTrader: (1)

Best way to be

Logan81Pickup

Got 'er yanked out tonight. Pics and info incoming.

Logan81Pickup

Getting it out was as easy as I thought it would be. However, the only bolts NAPA had that were long enough to put it on the stand were about 2" longer than they needed to be. So I ended up putting huge spacers on it, and I can't turn the engine all the way around w/o removing the stand handle and pulling the thing it rotates on out about 2".

I'm going to go see if O'Reilly's or Pioneer has the right bolts, since I need to get new flywheel bolts anyways. (see pic). I twisted the head of that cheap bolt right off, and twisted off a nut I threaded on and welded too. I ended up threading another nut on, then putting a bigger nut after it and welding it to the bolt, then to the threaded nut and to the head of the rounded off bolt. It came off easy after that. I think my head gasket and rear main seal were causing most of my leak, since there's quite a bit of oil at the back of the motor on up, and the main seal didn't look to be in too great of condition.







First engine pull ever was a success. Hopefully my first real engine rebuild will be a success too.

I didn't realize the transmission would be that light. I could easily pick it up and carry it.

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

Wow. I had same problem trying to flywheel bolts out. Left it on and also used big washers to get the engine mounts in the stand. I didn't split my tranny and transfer case, so it was heavy for one person to move around
Keep up the good work, as it looks like there are a few of us doing the same thing. We can learn from each other

Logan81Pickup

Well O'reillys didn't have the bolts I need, so I'll have to wait 'till tuesday to see if NAPA has the flywheel bolts.

I did buy some Duplicolor truck bed coating stuff I'm going to test out to see if it would be good for under the cab and inside on the floorboards. Edit: I found some scrap metal and used a flapwheel to get all the paint off it and scuff it up, then sprayed it on, and sprayed over some of the paint w/o doing anything to see how well it stays on there. I'm going to let it dry and then see how hard it is to scratch it. I'm thinking of using it for the floorboards and under the cab. Then I want to get a DIY herculiner kit and use that on the frame.

Also, it is generally a bad idea to stay away from aerosol spray cans that are designed for headers and engines and stuff? I had it in my head that it was but I've really no idea. Also, about how much herculiner would I need to coat the frame? O'reillys had it for sale but I've no idea how much I'd need to do the frame with it.

Logan81Pickup

Head and oil pan off, pics incoming.




Well, that can't be good. Doesn't look like parts of the cylinder wall though.




bores still good and coated in oil. Pistons have quite a bit of carbon on them.



That's not how valves are supposed to look. Also, two of the head bolts were seized in, and I ended up breaking off the very bottom few threads of each D:
I had to use a breaker bar and huge wrench as an extension. Not even a half inch air impact could take them out. Edit: Did not break the bolts, they were just very stuck.



Source of the problem. All of the bearings were pretty worn anyways. I'll probably need to get the crank ground, and idk what I'm going to do about the rod. It's kinda scored where the bearing sits. Do I have to get a new one, or get it machined or what?




Idk what I'm going to do about the head. I may just sell it and buy a new 20r head and do a swap.

tgmaul88

that looks like my work bench full of part needing cleaning

Logan81Pickup

Now I'm confused, the combustion chamber on that head looks like a 20r one... Maybe I have a 20r head?

Edit: I really can't tell if it's a 20r head or 22r head. Is there a way to tell besides looking at the intakes?

Edit: NVM it's a 22r head.

This engine rebuild is already going to almost break me.

Logan81Pickup

Bed off



powerwashed



transfer case out




What do you guys think of my welds? On the first one I ran 2 beads because it wasn't quite hot enough and didn't penetrate well. Granted have less than an hour of wire welding experience. I have quite a bit of arc welding though, it's a lot harder. I could not get the first bead to bend at all, it just bent the metal instead.

Lons81

iTrader: (2)

The welds are a hell of lot better than the ones I did today when wire welding my shock tower back on. Toyota welders arent much better than me.

Logan81Pickup

Alright, so here's the official plan for my truck right now.

63" Chevy springs in the rear
RUF

Complete engine rebuild 20r head swap
stock tranny
rebuild/rebuilt transfer case
rebuild both diffs 4.88 gears lockers possibly
rebuild front axle, paint hubs and axle (rattle canned prolly)
rebuild rear axle, disc brake swap, paint (again rattle can)

33" semi-aggressive tires, with black steel rims
build flatbed with headache rack and offroad lights
build storage box (for cooler lol)

paint frame (probably rattle canned. Still going to be better than nothing by a long shot)
clean dirt and sand out and plug up holes (to prevent rust)
fix cab rust, install some bigger speakers and a good head unit, fix A/C (next summer lol)
Get good seats from a junkyard (I like sitting higher up, so I'll probably put spacers under them.)

83Toyota88

iTrader: (1)

I sprayed Rustoleum Rust Reformer on the back half of my frame so far and I am pleased with it. Gonna go over it with Eastwood chassis black eventually. Anything is def better than nothing.