1986 Pickup Ute build. LS powered street driven crawler

[H0ki3]

Hi. I picked up a project truck last fall. Been working on it as time allows. I plan to make it a street drivable trail truck, that can crawl but still do 65MPH.

Trade Details: I traded a fairly rusty JDM 71 Prado for the 86 pickup. I had very little money into the LC as it sold at auction for cheap and had the 2LT/auto. I had done about half the rust repair, and put a set of used wheels and tires on it and shocks, but I just didn't love it. It didn't flex out well and the diesel sounded cool but wasn't very strong. Parts were hard to get but not impossible, I have other JDM cars and know the deal. Mostly, I love manuals and wanted my trail truck to be an manual. I enjoy using my 40 series offroad but want something to beat up to keep the 40 nice.

Truck at time of trade: The 1986 pickup was built 2 owners ago in central VA as a farm hand truck, steel flatbed, chainsaw holder and vice for sharpening chains. Good welds. Beautiful rust free frame. Next owner (after the builder) used it as a trail rig and it got kind of beat up, drank some mud, he threw new doors on it but they got beat up too. The windshield and sunroof looked rough, trans was shifting rough. LS seemed happy enough but needs checked out and tuned or replaced if not healthy. Interior is pretty trashed. I does have a 1.5 inch body lift to fit the LS.

• 03 Gen 3 5.3L, cheap intake, TB, block hugger headers. factory ECM, harness is tied in nicely, most everything works. I can grab another Gen 3 if needed.
• SM465, "rebuilt" does not work great. 2nd gear is not syncro anymore. Has a Novak hydraulic setup. Pedal pretty firm
• NP205 "rebuilt" seems to whine pretty loud, but that could be the trans? Shifts OK.
• Front Axle: 85 mini truck, came with one 6 shooter installed and one in a box, new hubs, 5.29, Detroit locker, 6 inch leafs, high steer with hydro assist
• Rear Axle: 2nd gen Tacoma offroad rear end with cable locker conversion (works but very sticky) chevy 63, disc brakes, unknown shafts
• Wheels and Tires: TSL SX 38x12/5R15 on steelies.

To do list.

1. Fix the ignition and some electrical gremlins (DONE 11/2025)
2. New drive shaft (damaged) (FIXED, had one made locally 1/2026)
3. Get it water tight. inspect and fix the cowl. -was realllly bad, lot of welding, (FIXED - 3/2026)
4. Fix the A-pillars -also bad, ton of epoxy, A-pillar and frame rotten, lots more welding and body work.. (FIXED 3-4/2026)
5. New windshield (INSTALLED 4/2026)
6. Fix and replace sunroof - It was a mess of rust and epoxy (welding done 4/2026, got a nice used unit, some drains working)
7. Replace the smashed doors and fenders (INSTALLED 3/2025)
8. Winch- I actually won a winch at SEMA so I installed it. Warrior 12.5K (INSTALLED 3/2026)
9. Get a better set of doors, I got 2 doors for $150 and swapped the smoker windows in, new handles and locks (Installed 3-4/2026)
10. Replace fenders, the aftermarket ones both showed up with some body damage unfortunately, I body-worked them $90 each. (3/2026)
11. Get the stabilizer mounted better - broken bolt, loose - Fixed u bolt. - since it has hydro assist i don't need the stabilizer really. (4/2026)
12. Check codes and get it running smoother. Maybe back to OEM intake? (In progress, got intake installed and sealed up better, new knock sensors, we're going to tune it via HP Tuners) -FIXED! got the CKP Relearn to take, see post) (4/2026)
13. Get the SM4650 and NP205 working and shifting better.. Likely needs rebuilt eventually. New fluids didn't completely fix 4/2026.
14. Get the cable locker working better (Not sure what's up, Very hard to actuate with cable or on diff, but if I jack up a tire and roll a wheel it goes right in by hand)
15. Have someone knowledgeable check the steering setup the tierods are turned down? - OK seems safe, few guys at club checked it out.. 4/2026
16. Get the other 6 shooter installed and rebuilt.
17. Get a real parking brake (It has a line lock that goes to all 4 currently as the rear was swapped to disc).
18. Fix the blower (FIXED 4/2026 it was shorted)
19. Get the Heat working (hoses are looped)
20. Body work the major dents (DONE 4/2026)
21. Paint or wrap it (WRAPPED it Gloss Sonoma Green, I love it, 4/2026)
22. Clean up and fix up the Interior, interior together, DONE used some race track play mat for carpet (4/2026)
23. Replace the window seals, wipers, etc, all the old rubber -INSTALLED (4/2026)
24. Get and mount a spare 38 (anyone in DMV have one for sale?!)
25. Recovery gear, I need a few items and need to mount everything.
26. Minimal "Exo Cage" I have a bunch of 1.75 .120 wall DOM I'm gonna tie the bumper into the sliders and make A and B pillar bars that tie into a roof rack and the bed.
27. Partial rear enclosure, just to keep recovery and camping gear dry (In Progress)
28. Bleed brakes, they work fine but your foot gets really close to he floor.

updated last on 5/5/2026

 

[H0ki3]

Beauty shot from last night

 

[H0ki3]

How i fixed the A-Pillar and frame. Not having a complete one was kind of hard to know exactly what to do. I looked at some pics online and got it close. Windshield seems to drop right in.

 

[H0ki3]

This is how I fixed the cowl. Drilled the spot welds out and remade it with sheet metal. The bottom corner of the cowl was missing. could stick your fist into the cab

 

[H0ki3]

I was able to get the LS running much better. I'm posting this so the internet gods may favor someone with the same issue and guide them to this post to resolve their issues. I have a LM7 - Gen 3 5.3 , the pins I reference are on C1 (Blue side of PCM).

I was getting a lot of DTC but they seemed to stem from a not well mounted intake (fixed), bad knock sensors, as well as the big one P1336 Crank Cam Sensor Range not learned also called CKP or Case relearn. In my experience DTC that start with a 1 are serious codes that can cause the other codes to appear.

Background: Your LS engine needs the crank and cam to know where exactly they are at any given RPM. This "learn" can be lost for various reasons, mostly if your battery slowly drains to a low voltage it can be lost.

The CKP Relearn is a process that needs the following (via a programmer that can do active tests) to run the test and follow prompts:
1. Vehicle is running
2. Place your foot on the brake (and hold)
3. The vehicle is put into "park"
4. When prompted you floor the gas pedal.
Then The engine should rev up to 4000rpm then drop to idle.

I could not get the CKP to run. My cheap $100 Amazon tester would run though the test but when I floored the gas it would run up to rev cut at 6200rpm and not learn.

I eventually made a two switch panel that:
Brake Switch- applies 12V to pi 33. This makes the PCM think the brake is NOT depressed (I read it's best to start with brake off, then hold it on for entire process).
FYI- This pin controls mostly kicking you out of cruise control it seems
Park Switch- grounds out pin 32 and pin 34. This makes the "Trans Range" think it's in Park.
FYI - you may still see the trans shows gears 2 or three in some settings, but "Trans Range" seems to be the one that needs to show Park.

Process to "trick the PCM to run CKP: I then would start the program, start the truck, flip the brake switch (thinks brakes are depressed). Flip the Trans switch to (thinks vehicle is in park). Then I floored the gas and it cut at 4000 and took the relearn.

The truck runs amazing now. it idles smooth, revs up fine. I now have no DTC. I do need a CV (Cardan) style driveshaft made as I'm getting deceleration vibration. I then disconnected the switch panel but left spades on it to attach easily if needed to re-run.