Builds 'Ol Red - 1983 Pickup RN38L (2 Viewers)

[CreeperSleeper]

Well, I went and did it again... Did you guys miss me?!?

A fellow club member was moving across the country and was offloading a bunch of stuff. I ended up with his 1983 Toyota and flatbed trailer.

Here is a pic from when he still owned it:

Here are the details on it:

• 22R with 32/36 Weber, long tube header, and fresh tune-up (cap/rotor/plugs/wires)
• 5-Speed
• Dual cases with 4.7:1 gears in the rear case
• Front axle has 4.88's, lunchbox locker, 300M RCVs, and hydro assist
• Rear axle has 4.88's, spool (not welded), Bobby Long shafts, and disc brake conversion
• Custom flatbed with headache rack
• No-Name boy racer seats
• Badlands 12,500 winch with synthetic line
• 37x14.00x15 bias ply Iroks on DIY beadlock wheels

Known issues are:

• Exhaust needs to be replaced. It is smashed to hell and back.
• Needs coolant overflow tank
• Needs an e-brake or line lock (due to discs on the rear)
• Needs a choke (REALLY cold blooded)
• Rear driveshaft is pretty banged up and is installed backwards due to the pinion flange
• Needs a new heater control valve (currently, the heat is always on)

After some debating, I have decided to keep this and sell the Sami. I just want to get some parts swapped over first.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

A buddy of mine let me use his building, so I could park both rigs next to each other. A couple other buddies and my daughter helped swap the 3rds and tires and wheels. This truck now has 5.29 gears (ARB front / welded rear) and 37x10x17 Maxxis Roxxzilla stickies wrapped around Vision Manx beadlocks. It's amazing how the new tires and wheels changed the whole look of the truck.

And it was so much fun working on rigs with my daughter! It's been a while since we wrenched together. It's a good feeling when your 16 yo wants to hang out with you.

 

[80t0ylc]

Hello Chad, it seems like forever since Crusin' The Woods 2018, which was when I saw you last. You might remember this rig:

I sure do and thanks for the ride and the little bit of wheelin' we did!

I've been following your other thread "Snuggs the Zukyota" and your recent post about picking up the '83 Pickup just took me back to Brown's Camp, especially the pic of it, in what looks like the parking lot at Brown's camp. Great to see you and your daughter still wrenching together! I've still got my green '94 80 series, setup for overlanding. But my DD is a 2003 Ranger FX4 to help escape the cost of our overpriced fuel.

That '83 looks real capable and gets me to thinking about my '81 that I drove in CTW 2012. Are you getting your '83 setup for CTW this year? If so don't forget to post some pics!

Take care,
Tom

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Hey Tom! It's been a while... That was a fun Cruisin' the Woods. One of these years you will have to come back up and join us again.

My plan is to have the '83 at CTW. It's pretty much ready to go as it sits, other than installing a compressor for the front ARB.

It is so good to hear from you, Tom. I will try to keep the pics coming!

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I will say, it was a two week thrash fest to get Ol Red as "done" as I did for CTW... Maybe if I didn't have work and kids I could have gotten more done! LOL

My main goal was to get the ARB twin compressor I've had on the shelf for years installed. I spent an entire evening trying to figure out where I wanted to put it. Once I had that figured out, I knew that there was no way for me to fab everything I would need to fab in time... Oh well, no front locker for this trip.

I also had the grand illusion that I was going to get the Weber carb all dialed in and modified... I made it to hooking the electric choke up (which didn't work) and calling it. On to the important things... Like mounting my flashlight.

I also knew that getting a coolant overflow reservoir was also very important. The original was MIA and, according to Toyota, NLA... Which is fine because the PS reservoir was mounted where the coolant overflow should have been. I ended up buying a cheap, universal Dorman reservoir and building a bracket that picked up the PS reservoir and the fender. It has been over three years since I used my welder, but I think it turned out pretty good!

Another big thing on my list was a heater control valve. The original part is NLA... This seems to be a theme. Maybe I should rename the truck... LOL! In all of my Googling, it looks like you could use the 2nd Gen valve as long as you used a U. I will say, this worked like a charm! I will be replacing the original with a longer hose to get rid of the splice, but it worked as planned!

After that, I removed all of the boxes on the flatbed that the truck came with and started mapping out my storage system using Milwaukee Pack-Outs. I still need to get one of the bigger bases to get things off of my toolbox (and mount the rest of the crap I'm going to carry), but this was a great start.

I finally got done around 2pm the day I was supposed to head up to CTW. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

 

[CreeperSleeper]

I got to camp and was all settled before the sun went down. Man it felt good to relax around the fire! Ol Red even got to camp with my old Gray truck that my buddy now owns.

The next day we did a short run up a trail called Firebreak Five to get cell reception. This was the first time I wheeled Ol Red and I have to say I was impressed! The ol girl just chugged along with no drama. The carb never gave me a hiccup and the trail is pretty steep. Needless to say, I was very impressed.

For the Friday run, my buddy @knoll0351 came up from Southern Oregon. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to bring his truck, so I let him an his fiancé wheel Ol Red. Besides, I knew that I was going to be wheeling Saturday. After the event, we do a club night run that can get a little rowdy. I could wait one more day. Here is a quick video of Travis plugging along:



Unfortunately, on the way back to camp, the heater bypass hose under the intake manifold split. Travis noticed it was getting warm, but drove it back to camp. By the time he got there, there was no coolant left in the block. I tried a couple of band-aids to get Ol Red back on the trail, but finally called it and loaded her on the trailer. I have ordered the hose and will get that in there and the coolant flushed. I'm really hoping the head gasket is good. Coolant wasn't sucking back into the radiator from the coolant reservoir... I guess we will see after hunting.

 

[ferg]

Turn you flashlight around, head to the rear. It'll stay in place better.

 

[CreeperSleeper]

Turn you flashlight around, head to the rear. It'll stay in place better.

The head is sandwiched between the mount and the raised part of the floor the seat bolts to. It has no way to slide either direction.