Hey, I'm new to this forum so thought I would Introduce myself here. My name's Lisa and I'm from Vancouver and rocking an '86/'88/'89 amalgamation of pickup.
My truck's story:
I needed a vehicle and my brother hooked me up with an '86 4x4 pickup. When we got her, the transmission was in the back, there was a nice big box of her guts in the front seat and no engine. So we got a parts truck ('89/'88, V6, not running) and pulled the engine and some other stuff outta that.
The box was from a different truck that was rolled over and a bit rusty. Very little rust on the cab, I took the seats and carpet out and painted anti-rust all over the floor. Pounded out some of the dents but needs a lot more body work. She is loud and a bit temperamental, I think she is still pissed off after being ripped from the grave and forced back to life again.
All the major work was done in Victoria where my brother lives, and in the summer I took her back to Vancouver with me and experienced the thrill of vehicular freedom that one feels after having had to transit everywhere for half a year. It was a little unnerving because if anything goes wrong on this side of the pond I'm on my own and any work has to be done on the side of the road since I don't have a garage/driveway.
Just for fun, here are some highlights of her resurrected life:
July 2014: First time 4x4ing, up towards Tricouni Peaks (Squamish area), rad hose blew off, had to fill with stagnant swamp waste.
August 2014: No pressure in the clutch, figured there was an air bubble in line so bled it out about 15 times over the course of a week which was really annoying. Ended up lengthening the rod behind the pedal and fixed the problem in <12 seconds.
October 2014: Truck gets stolen overnight from the street by my place.
Two Weeks Later: Recovered and taken to the ICBC lot in Coquitlam. Then I got rear ended in my rental car on the way out to see my truck, which was declared a write off based on the cost to replace the ignition and door locks. I passed on the $1200 offer and just took her home as is, minus my new ratchet set which had been taken. I realize something is wrong with the clutch and on my way to work the next day and I lose pressure completely. The clutch fluid reservoir is empty and looks like it's leaky. My boss helps me try to bleed more fluid in but the valve is completely stripped from all the bleeding I did in August, so I BCAA'd it home. Got new ratchets and went to take the master and slave off the next day but the truck is gone, again. She's been stolen a second time and at this point the clutch doesn't even work! It was recovered by police that afternoon, radio still on and +1 umbrella. I got a club for the steering wheel and BCAA'd it back home again.
That Weekend: My first solo repair on the side of the road - a bunch of youtube tutorials, beers, a wrong part, and six hours later the master and slave cylinders have been replaced. I had to wait a week before I had someone around who could help me bleed the line and get her moving again, but the clutch works great now!
Here's some pictures
So that is my truck, and I came to this forum to chat with others who are into 4x4ing, and maybe to find meet ups in the Vancouver area. None of my friends over here have trucks or are into 4x4ing so it would be cool to talk to some people who are. This is my first truck and I'm going to be doing a lot more work on her and I'm excited for this project/hobby and want to learn as much as I can about how she runs and what she can do!
Cheers!
- Lisa
My truck's story:
I needed a vehicle and my brother hooked me up with an '86 4x4 pickup. When we got her, the transmission was in the back, there was a nice big box of her guts in the front seat and no engine. So we got a parts truck ('89/'88, V6, not running) and pulled the engine and some other stuff outta that.
The box was from a different truck that was rolled over and a bit rusty. Very little rust on the cab, I took the seats and carpet out and painted anti-rust all over the floor. Pounded out some of the dents but needs a lot more body work. She is loud and a bit temperamental, I think she is still pissed off after being ripped from the grave and forced back to life again.
All the major work was done in Victoria where my brother lives, and in the summer I took her back to Vancouver with me and experienced the thrill of vehicular freedom that one feels after having had to transit everywhere for half a year. It was a little unnerving because if anything goes wrong on this side of the pond I'm on my own and any work has to be done on the side of the road since I don't have a garage/driveway.
Just for fun, here are some highlights of her resurrected life:
July 2014: First time 4x4ing, up towards Tricouni Peaks (Squamish area), rad hose blew off, had to fill with stagnant swamp waste.
August 2014: No pressure in the clutch, figured there was an air bubble in line so bled it out about 15 times over the course of a week which was really annoying. Ended up lengthening the rod behind the pedal and fixed the problem in <12 seconds.
October 2014: Truck gets stolen overnight from the street by my place.
Two Weeks Later: Recovered and taken to the ICBC lot in Coquitlam. Then I got rear ended in my rental car on the way out to see my truck, which was declared a write off based on the cost to replace the ignition and door locks. I passed on the $1200 offer and just took her home as is, minus my new ratchet set which had been taken. I realize something is wrong with the clutch and on my way to work the next day and I lose pressure completely. The clutch fluid reservoir is empty and looks like it's leaky. My boss helps me try to bleed more fluid in but the valve is completely stripped from all the bleeding I did in August, so I BCAA'd it home. Got new ratchets and went to take the master and slave off the next day but the truck is gone, again. She's been stolen a second time and at this point the clutch doesn't even work! It was recovered by police that afternoon, radio still on and +1 umbrella. I got a club for the steering wheel and BCAA'd it back home again.
That Weekend: My first solo repair on the side of the road - a bunch of youtube tutorials, beers, a wrong part, and six hours later the master and slave cylinders have been replaced. I had to wait a week before I had someone around who could help me bleed the line and get her moving again, but the clutch works great now!
Here's some pictures
So that is my truck, and I came to this forum to chat with others who are into 4x4ing, and maybe to find meet ups in the Vancouver area. None of my friends over here have trucks or are into 4x4ing so it would be cool to talk to some people who are. This is my first truck and I'm going to be doing a lot more work on her and I'm excited for this project/hobby and want to learn as much as I can about how she runs and what she can do!
Cheers!
- Lisa
