Okay so I am going to start one of my build-up threads, currently I have two Yotas. I have a 94 Base Model 2WD I4 MT, and a 93 Extracab 4x4 V6 AT, I purchased the 94' about seven months ago when I got back from Afghanistan. The 93' I picked up three days ago. It has 232,193 miles on it. This truck has quite a few things wrong with it, this is basically starting out just like Cyberman's did, only I believe it is a little worse off to begin with. Here is a list of things that I already know off hand just from my initial look at the truck:

-It has alot of rust on the frame, not quite sure how bad yet, I will be performing a screwdriver test soon, but I know the worst spots are in the rear.
-The bedsides and fenders have a good portion of each that are rusted away.
-I believe the PO backed into a pole or something because the right side bedside it bent out very slightly, and the tailgate won't close and the bumper is bent up.
-A good portion of the rear and driver side suspension components are rusty, however as far as I can tell it is mostly just surface rust.
-The engine starts, however it sounds like crap, has no power, and dumps oil.
-There is some rust on the body on both sides...Yeah...I know...LOTS of rust...
-Cracked windshield
-and you wouldn't believe it, but the PO never changed out the stock AM/FM radio...that's right, not even a tape deck!

Now I am a mechanic for a living, so a lot of the mechanical work I will be able to do and take care of no problem, however I haven't had a chance to really look into the engine bay, as soon as I clean up my garage and workspace I am going to start my tear down, working with the engine bay first removing everything around the engine first. I want to find out exactly where the oil leak is, I am hoping the block isn't cracked so I can just rebuild it and keep using it!

I read cyberman's frame up rebuild, and given that mine is basically in the same condition, I have A LOT of hope, I am hoping that he and any others who have knowledge and experience with these things can help me as this will also be my first rebuild.

My plans for this truck is to be my trail rig and be able to go pretty much wherever I want it to, I have lots of ideas for things I would like to do or add to it, however nothing solid yet, first I want to get the frame and body in at least decently usable condition... thanks anyone for any support, help, comments, tips, or just general discussion about it...


Here are the initial pics I took of it the night I got it home and the day after:






I went in and remoived the metal that was completely rusted out and falling off to see how much was really gone...















So as you can see there is a ton of rust, my hope is to fully restore this truck to it's former glory!

Here is the only non rusty part...


thank again guys for your input, and for reading my novel...lmao!

 

Wow. I'm still amazed how bad the rust gets yall. Here in south ga we don't see any of that. My frame is so clean u can see the factory stamp and scribes on it.

Kudos for taking on such a nightmare. If it were me. I'd buy one from around here to swap parts around on.

If you don't mind telling. I assume most trucks up north are like that. Do they still hold their value or how does it diminish It?

Subn to this one 4 sure! GL with it!

 

I don't envy all that rust at all. Good luck.

 

Well you see I have absolutely NO idea...I am originally from SoCal and so we don't see any rust WHATSOEVER! At least not where I'm from up in the High Desert, but I can't wait to tackle this project, I know it is quite a bit of work, but I have plenty of time and money will be too little for too long, so I will be forced to take my time anyway, my hope is to have it trail ready before the new year to come...thanks everyone for the support...lmao

 

Looks like a good project! My 92 had the stock am/fm raido in it when I got it too! Good luck with the rust!

 

Wow, thats a lot of rust, especially for a Southern truck. I cant imagine dealing with one that bad, I swore off rust after I had my fj62 that was from MN!

I am talking to a guy about a 4runner project and he has a rebuilt 3vze drop me a pm if you are interested, I'm in Upstate, SC.

 

Thanks, but I am going to do a engine swap, I haven't quite made up my mind yet what I want to put into it, but I know I am going to. Thanks anyway. Before I really start on the truck I need to get my garage cleaned up, right now I don't have any room to work on it. I have a three day weekend this weekend so I am planning on hitting it hard and getting it done as soon as possible, I might even be able to start my tear down if I am quick enough.

 

So I just looked at the gearing code on the VIN plate...found that I have the 8 inch with 4.56 gears and a 4 pinion open diff. Now I don't know much about gears yet, so is this good or bad?

 

Depends on way you want to run for tires and engine/tranny. It's better than 4.10s but it all depends on your final combo of parts. Also are you going to SAS or stay IFS?

 

I am seriously leaning toward SAS. But for now with money being the way it is, I will probably just keep IFS for awhile.

 

So I finally got my garage "cleaned" enough to pull my truck in...this means that I can start taking stuff off...I am so excited. I can't wait to really get into this...here are some pics!

First I had to clean the garage:

The trucks together, too bad only one works...haha...

There isn't a whole lot of room but enough to work on it...

Then my wife insisted it was necessary that I have pics next to it...



So here comes the part where I start tearing down the truck. It's a tight fit now but eventually I will have both bumpers and then the bed off and that will clear up some room...I have to replace both bed sides and there is holes in the bed so I might end up just replacing the whole thing...and using the bed as scrap to patch portions of the cab...

 

Your garage is about as tight as mine, I just dont even try to use it to work on things anymore, so much easier to just be outside.

Keep your eyes on Craigslist you should be able to score a bed cheap there. Maybe even check out Pull a Part or other cheap junk yards in your area. I think an entire bed at PaP is $125.

As far as the gears, you need to decide what specifically you want to run with tire size, engine and tranny, etc. I am running 32's now with a 22re and manual, and its doable, but new gears would certainly help. Also it depends on how many hills you have to drive on etc. if its mostly flat then you should be more than fine. Also the Auto tranny will suck some serious power too.

I was considering 4.88s but now think I am goign to go ahead and get 5.29s and get some larger tires.

I still cannot say enough about you rescuing that truck, thats more rust than I would ever want to deal with.

Some other advice I wish I could stick to is to set up a plan and a budget and stick to it. Give yourself a little extra $ and misc for extras, but try your best to stick to it. I am bad about "finding" deals and buying stuff I dont really need. It also makes it fun to get creative to buy sell and trade stuff. I was amazed at the amount of things I could get for my truck, but then again I was coming from working with Land Cruisers.

 

Thanks for the advice, I am pretty sure I am gonna go up to 5.29s since I want to run at least 35's. Also when I do the engine swap I am gonna swap to a manual, I personally cant stand autos...also I will be selling off whatever on the truck I can that I don't plan on reusing that is in decent condition...and use any money I make that way to put right back into the truck...also I have an abundance of tools and such that I will be selling, basically anything in my garage that I sell will be money I can use for my truck, my goal is to use as little of my paycheck to fund this build, might take a while but will be well worth it...

 

If your gunna run 35+ then go 5.29 for sure. Sell you 4.56 and you should be able to get the other gears for just a little more if your patient. If your doing a manual swap and engine swap and running 35+ you really should go SAS $ shouldn't be that much more if you going that deep into it.

 

Thanks X88&94GT, I am definitely going with the 5.29s or bigger and I will sell my 4.56s as soon as I can get them out of the diffs. I haven't really made up my mind about wanting to do the SAS yet...although with what I would eventually like to do with the truck, it seems inevitable...

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So here is the progress I was able to make last night after finally getting the truck into the garage.


First I took off the skid plate, man was it dirty!

Took some more pictures of the front end suspension and drivetrain now that the skid plate was removed, covered in oil!


Continued with the front bumper and valance as one piece...

I broke both of the rusted studs on the L-Brackets holding the bumper at the ends...



Continued on with the corner marker lights...

And then the grill and headlights...

I removed all the hardware from the front, I.E. the clips for the grill etc...
Then I started on the fenders, removing both, also breaking some bolts. I think I broke a total of 5.



Can anyone tell me what this white pole thing is?

Finished the night by removing the battery and most of the air intake box...




So I have 24 hour duty today and won't be able to touch it again until tomorrow...which hopefully it is warmer, sunnier, and drier...that way maybe I can start removing the rear bumper and bed. Once I do that I will be able to move the truck back a foot or two and have that much more room to work on it...

 

But I've also come to realize that all that oil is probably what saved most of the front end from rusting over!

 

WOW!! Good luck with you're project.

Damn, that's some nasty ass rust.

How much did the guy pay you to take it away??

 

Hey man, .....best wishes, you got your work cut out for ya, but glad you got right at it! Love those year rigs.... amazing how some seem to just do NOTHING to maintain them until they implode/explode, eh? lol.

 

Yeah, this guy didn't take a whole lot of care with this truck, there are so many cracks and crevices that are filled with mud, dirt, grime, grass, straw, rocks, you name it! When I pulled the fenders off the lower portions that bolt onto the bottom were filled with it...nasty!

 

I hear ya... and now you can SEAL THAT ALL UP, PURDY LIKE! lol. I'll enjoy seeing you transform this'n, S!