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Hey guys, im new here. first a bit about myself then a bit about my project.
ive been a mechanic since i could walk, and i went to school for autobody customs. so i know my way around a wrench and some sandpaper. i mainly work on subarus and motorcycles, so the pickup is a new thing to me.
Onto the project!
Back in 2005 me and my dad went to get me a first car. i was looking at a 92 cavalier, and my dad saw this absolutely mint 93 pickup. he ended up buying it, and drove it for 8 years.
because my cavalier was always broken, i mainly drove the truck, so ive always considered it my first car. anyways, 8 years later, the frame is rotted out and so is the body. and theres so much oil leaking, im not sure i could tell you where it wasnt leaking.
so it sat in his backyard, and eventually, (for the nostalgic value) i decided to offer to help him fix his new truck in exchange for the yota.
ill be adding pictures tommorrow and more about how far ive made it. glad to be on here!
Well, here comes the pictures now that i have time.
basically, this truck has been my dads since 2005, and here it sat ten years later, rotting out in his backyard.
after talking to my wife, and explaining it would be a project to put it back on the road, she gave her approval for me to take it home.
there was an issue, i had no way to tow it, and it needed some work before it could even move. the rear shocks were broken off, it didnt stay in gear, and the speedometer did not work. so i ordered some parts, replaced the rear shocks, and took it for a drive.
then tragedy struck, the right hand leaf spring, snapped off the frame. bracket and all. so i took some time learning to stick weld, and two weeks later i went up and welded a piece of 2x2x3/8 steel stock into the frame and welded the leaf back on. i will add a picture of my on the fly patch a bit later.
so i loaded it up with all my bigger tools from back home, air compressor, engine hoist and stand, and i set off into the wide blue yonder for the 3 hour trip home, and the truck made it..... barely. about 30 miles away, a belt started squealing and snapped. i frantically looked at the gauges and i still had power, so it was only the powersteering belt. then about 4 miles away the altenater belt started squealing as well. when i pulled in the driveway, it was about as thick as a rubber band. i kept telling the truck if it made it home i would return it to its former glory, and she helped me out.
here she is when i pulled her in the garage.
so having her home, the next day i took the opportunity to start by cleaning all the trash and leaves out of it. and this is what i ended up with.
almost enough here to cover title and tag.
and thats where that day ended.
Last edited by Gamble_STi; 04-11-2015 at 08:09 PM.
so this will continue in the disorganized manner as i did it. basically as i got parts i started fixing little things while i waited for the bigger stuff to come.
first thing up was the horn. in ten years it never worked right. turned out the pin that rubs against the copped washer behind the steering wheel was bent. so i straightened it out the best i could, bored out the hole a little bit, and used a pen spring to macgyver it back together. worked like a charm, and the horn works just fine now.
second was the radio. i had one laying around, and the one i had put in the truck 10 years ago for my dad (i was fifteen) had long since died. when i pulled the old radio out, it was to my surpise, i have learned alot in 10 years. this was possibly the worst wiring i had seen, and worse yet i had done it. there were wires cut and taped together, some not connected at all. and they were even cut up towards the glove box (which im sure i didnt do)
so i started by repairing the truck harness.
followed that up with a proper adaptor harness to the new radio
and voila, a working radio
next was the issue with the speedometer. i had read alot of stories about the cluster being bad, because it was only my speedo that wasnt working. well, it wasnt that, i started with the sensor itself, and found the pins has rusted out in the the connector. they were unsalvageable, so i just installed new pins, and soldered my pigtail to the harness.
after i repinned it
fresh pins
some guy decided to splice the harness halfway up... twisted the wires together with some electrical tape. i fixed all that.
fixing the harness the right way.
took it up the street to make sure the speedometer was working, and moved onto the big project as some boxes had come in. and out comes the engine.
yay boxes! we all know this feeling!
heres the engine hanging on the crane... i took lots of pictures, im not sure there was a place oil wasnt leaking.
took some parts into work and cleaned them up.
and heres the dirty bitch on the stand.
ok, so at this point, im just trying to rip it down and straighten out whatever is bad or on its way out, or leaking. first thing i found was the water pump had a ton of play and was grinding into the housing, so i ordered one. later i found the same was true of the oil pump, so i replaced that as well. the timing chain and guides had been done about 10k miles or so ago, so i knew those would be in good shape.
with the head off.
new valve seals.
having everything apart, i went to change the oil pan gasket and disaster struck again.
most of you will probably not approve of this... i found a crack in the block, from the oil pan up to the oil sensor. it was hard to get a good picture of, but oil was seeping through it, and it wasnt in a structural place. so i took my newfound stick welding skills, and welded the crack with some 3/32 6011 rod to make sure it dug deep. afterwards i took the time to clean and paint the block.
crack fml
welded block
got the head back on with the cleaned up timing cover.
and then began reassembly...
most of the accessories on.
new bearing in the p/s tensioner
now heres some sidetracked, half the cluster bulbs were out, so i ordered some leds that had finally came in from china.
also, i had noticed the pacesetter header had started to rust out, so i welded it at work with the mig and ceramic coated it black.
meanwhile, the body work began. both rockers were rotted out, so i started by replacing the passenger side. another method you guys may not approve of, instead of welding i used a heavy duty construction adhesive. i had used it before for almost every panel on a vw, and ill tell you, it works just like panel bonding adhesive. i may yet add some plug welds, but im undecided right now.
also replaced the tailgate
since this point, there had been minor progess... im kindve stuck on the wiring harness to get the engine back in. theres two connectors i cant seem to figure out where they go. i plan on posting in the tech section, but if anyone can help please let me know. here are the connectors.
Last edited by Gamble_STi; 04-11-2015 at 08:13 PM.
Yeah I do live in the salt belt. It spent most of its life in northeastern PA, and my dad also lived in Maine for about a year So it saw a really harsh winter there. Wait until you see the frame man, I have my work cut out for me. But I don't have room to take the bed off until I finish the engine And get it back in.
Well, i got a little bit more accomplished tonight. just finished prepping and installing the drivers side rocker panel, also finished buttoning up the engine, so all i have to do is put in the new RMS, as soon as i get it off the stand, and reinstall the clutch, then it will be ready to put back in. heres a few pictures of tonights work...
the adhesive applied to the inner panel. its imperative you grind the surfaces to bare metal where you will be applying the glue, as it needs to adhere to the bare metal to keep the panel secure.
The new rocker panel installed. i used a couple of putty knives to hold the carpet back. and applied a seam of adheasive to all the remaining gaps, i also removed any excess with a rag.
this is the other side cured. while it doesnt look so pretty now, i assure you after paint it will look factory.
heres 210 lbs of me standing on the other side which i did about a week ago. its very sturdy
and the engine ready to return to its home.
keep in mind, there are plenty of ways to skin a cat, this is just one. is it the proper way? sure. body shops have been using panel boding adhesive for years. but most will still spot weld the panels on. im planning on adding some plug welds when the mig gets here for added durability, but im sure the rockers will be fine without them.
still alot to do, but this is one more chip into the boulder. hopefully ill have the engine running again by mid next week. i have a busy weekend ahead, so probably wont make much progress. next weekend though, the bed will be coming off, and it will be time to start repairing the frame.
Last edited by Gamble_STi; 04-11-2015 at 08:14 PM.
Is that a Toyota OEM tailgate or aftermarket? Mine is rusted out at the bottom edge and I have been thinking of replacing it. How much was it if I may ask?
Sure thing rusty, it's an aftermarket tailgate, and I paid 107$ shipped. Fitment wasn't perfect But it looks good. Also they didn't seal the edges of the gates, so for sake of it not rusting out again, I sanded the inside and undercoated it as best I could, and then used silicone sealant along the seam of the skin. For 107$ I can't complain.
I'm trying to Keep the whole cost under 1200$. All said and done. we'll see.
Last edited by Gamble_STi; 04-10-2015 at 07:43 AM.
Sure thing rusty, it's an aftermarket tailgate, and I paid 107$ shipped. Fitment wasn't perfect But it looks good. Also they didn't seal the edges of the gates, so for sake of it not rusting out again, I sanded the inside and undercoated it as best I could, and then used silicone sealant along the seam of the skin. For 107$ I can't complain.
I'm trying to Keep the whole cost under 1200$. All said and done. we'll see.
Well, picked up some secondhand leaf springs today that are in good shape. Gotta tear them down and clean them up, when I'm done I'm hoping to have as little rust as possible, so putting rusty leaf springs on just isn't going to happen. A shout out to my friend Bobby if he's on here and a thank you again for the parts. Also got an a/c tensioner. Idk if it was missing spacers, But I had to kind of Jerry it on with a new pulley so the belt would line up. Looks like it should work just fine.
Also My dad gave me a pressure washer that needed a little love since he has a much better one. He said he hopes it will help out with the truck and all the rest of the stuff I have going on.
It already got a cleaned air filter, fixed the pull start, put a fresh plug in it, and started cleaning it up. I'll see if it runs tommorrow.
Well, spent more time on the pressure washer today than I did the truck. So anyways, pressure washers fixed. And with any luck tommorrow Will be engine dropping in and I'll have her running again by Wednesday.
Then the rest of the schedule is, get bed bolts out, fix the parking brake, and get the interior repairs/reassembled. Also have to install keyless into my wife's saturn so that Will take up some truck time.
If all goes well (yeah, like that's going to happen) I'll have the bed off Saturday morning, repair the frame and back on by Sunday night. Then begins the working out of the bugs.
This should be a bountiful week of truck because my gym partner took The week off.
Well, the engine is back in. Mostly hooked back up Just need to square away the remaining vacuum lines, plug in the harness And fill it with oil and antifreeze. Should have it running again Tommorrow night assuming I have enough energy.
Here's a pic!
Feel free to post feedback, really helps to keep me motivated.
Well, I finished getting the engine in tonight for the most part, and she's running again and purrs like a kitten. Primed the oil pump and then it fired right up. Ran it For a minute or so and then noticed a fuel leak... Fuel leaks are kindve my curse. Every engine I've ever pulled, ended up having one. I'll get the bastard squared away Tommorrow, but I'm just happy its running. Here are some pictures.
Always index your plugs, doing this especially on the 22re, will increase hp output by about 2%. It also increases efficiency, which is good for something that takes 5 minutes.
All together (minus the harness that goes to the distributor and the coil)
Frontal shot.
Modified inner ring of the steering wheel. Basically, because my wheel is from an mr2, my ring that contacts for the horn was too far to the inside, so i had to expand it. First i removed any notches or pins with a dremel, i then filled all the holes and smoothed it with 2 part epoxy. After the epoxy cured, i used a conductive paint i had laying around meant to repair rear defrosters, to coat the entire surface and make a solid connection to the inner ring. because i knew the paint wouldn't hold up to the turning of the wheel, I used a layer of tin foil, and superglued it for security, then tested the setup for continuity, and lack there of between the ring and ground. All seems well, I'll post up again after I reupholster the wheel And get it reinstalled.
Last edited by Gamble_STi; 04-16-2015 at 08:35 PM.
Thanks man, a lot of time has gone into it. And I'm not sure it will ever be completely done. Today I Fixed the fuel leak, cleaned some wiring up in the engine bay. Still have plenty more to do before I'm satisfied, but so far it's coming along.
Tommorrow my buddy is coming up and we're going to start some bodywork, start getting the front end back on, and I also picked up some valspar rust armor and a valspar latex primer. Because a lot of areas of the truck are pretty pitted from corrosion, I decided to do a roll on primer to maximize thickness in hopes I can fill the imperfections with it. Tommorrow we will see.
04-03-2015, 08:19 PM
