I did a thing. A friend was incredibly patient and enabled the heck out of me. Together, we will do many dumb things together right now and in the future. I've been pretty quiet about it, but it's time for the build to begin.
As it was found by @js0k
@js0k aka Mr. Doublewrench, AKA Jorts McSmileyface helped me out more than you can imagine with this truck and we haven't even turned a wrench yet together.
I had the world's best tacoma. A 2.7 Prerunner that had never given me an issue. Ever. 180k and going strong. But we have too many cars. I was at 6 a while back. 60 series, 40 series, 68 Roadrunner, TDI wagon, a W210 E320 Mercedes and the Tacoma. First to go was the 210 to a good friend. Next, was the tacoma. I was asked many times "why are you getting rid of the best car you have for a 62?" Simple. Because we love driving Sh!tB0Xes. I want as much time as I can in old cars before I can no longer afford gas.
The tacoma was worth a ton right now and it was a single cab. Great for commuting, but not great for anything with 3 dogs and a wife. Maybe kids soon, who knows. It was sold last week to a dear friend who already cherishes it and is already getting thumbs up. I'm so happy it will be with someone who respects it and is happy to be part of the Toyota family. If it wasn't for how good the tacoma treated me, I never would have bought my 60.
So I turned the tacoma into cash and met up with @js0k. We did a deal. I didn't negotiate. His price was very fair in this current market and he already did a ton of work to ensure that it was a good truck to build off of. This is his Build thread. I'll be stealing pictures from his thread as we go.
He named it "Touch of Grey". Very fitting. My wife and I only improved upon that, and named it "Grey Gardens" after one of her favorite movies.
I find that resurrecting these trucks takes a bit of derangement. And we're all living with illusions of Grandeur driving these legendary dinosaurs around. Let's get this derelict abandoned project working. Where both Edith Beales failed to resurrect their derelict mansion, we will fix Grey Gardens up to an accurate representation of its former glory.
This truck is going to be for my lovely wife. She has earned her dues daily driving (and learning manual) on my 60 for years now. She drives it around with confidence and she knows about all of its quirks. She loves it, aside from when she has to pick up friends, or get into the back through the tire carrier or deal with the carb when its not feeling like its in tune. She tried to negotiate with me. She said "you can do whatever you want with the 40, but we need to put the 60 back to kinda stock to make it more functional" So with me being the great negotiator, I'm keeping the 40 project and we bought her this 62. I can't put my rust bucket 60 back to stock. It's too good as is, and it's reaching the point of diminishing returns while keeping things in factory locations. I can't downgrade a completed project.
The goal is to keep it completely stock with a few small exceptions. It will likely get an H55F by her request. I've already got a spare 38mm split case, flywheel, bell housing, crossmember and pedals. Thats a battle for a later day.
The 62 in concept for her is perfect. It will start like a normal car, have a few key amenities and have overdrive. Plus, this one is REALLY rust free. A few week ends of small rust repair and we will be ready for pebble beach. She knows I love the 60 series platform and I can work on it in my sleep. The 3FE is a learning curve for me, but a few hours in front of the computer and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm sticking by my motto of "one system at a time, no short cuts". This ideology has worked without exception on my 60.
The idea is a head to toe refresh without upgrading anything unless it really needs a "fix". No springs, stock location bilstein shocks, factory parts wherever I can. We don't have any grand ideas aside from being able to hop in and drive anywhere. It's gone 291k without being on a trail, and it's going to go quite a bit further with highway tires.
The short story is this: the truck was parked in 2009 for unknown reasons. The motor had zero compression. The Toyota "master tech" gave up on it. It jumped an owner or two and ended up in Johhny's care. Johnny tore into it and figured the engine issues out really quick. It looked like the engine had never had the oil changed. I'm sure that's not the case, but it was nasty. He literally beat the rockers and lifters out of the engine and made it come to life.
As it sits, there are a few issues and some unknowns. The biggest one is the A440F. I know very little about Toyota automatics. I've got a spare working transmission that a friend wanted out of his garage. So that's a plus. I don't want to start a manual swap at the moment, I would like to let my wife enjoy it as is for a while.
The list:
1. Rodney flush. Synthetic ATF, an external cooler and some ATF friction modifier. That's all I've got for that. Fingers Crossed.
2. Fix a broken ignition switch.
3. Complete cooling system refresh. Rebuilt factory radiator, OEM Thermostat, a smattering of gaskets, Aisin water pump, Aisin 3F3 80 series fan clutch and all new coolant and oil cooler hoses. This is what I did with my 60 and it worked pretty well. Easily the most work needed in one area. I just bought every hose I could find from Toyota.
4. OEM tune up with plugs, wires, accessory belts rebuilt/cleaned and flow checked injectors, a fuel pressure damper, lots of gaskets and maybe a reversible desmog. This truck will keep the cats, I don't want her to smell like fuel. She did enough of that in my 60 over the years.
5. All fluids, synthetic where possible and a break refresh and checkup.
6. A new set of small tires. 235 of maybe a 31x10.5 Michelin Highway tire. Nothing aggressive.
7. An OEM Toyota True Start battery.
8. A carpet kit from @dnp
9. Some roof rail rust from a roof rack in the past
I'm sure other stuff is going to come up, but that's the plan for now.
As it was found by @js0k
@js0k aka Mr. Doublewrench, AKA Jorts McSmileyface helped me out more than you can imagine with this truck and we haven't even turned a wrench yet together.
I had the world's best tacoma. A 2.7 Prerunner that had never given me an issue. Ever. 180k and going strong. But we have too many cars. I was at 6 a while back. 60 series, 40 series, 68 Roadrunner, TDI wagon, a W210 E320 Mercedes and the Tacoma. First to go was the 210 to a good friend. Next, was the tacoma. I was asked many times "why are you getting rid of the best car you have for a 62?" Simple. Because we love driving Sh!tB0Xes. I want as much time as I can in old cars before I can no longer afford gas.
The tacoma was worth a ton right now and it was a single cab. Great for commuting, but not great for anything with 3 dogs and a wife. Maybe kids soon, who knows. It was sold last week to a dear friend who already cherishes it and is already getting thumbs up. I'm so happy it will be with someone who respects it and is happy to be part of the Toyota family. If it wasn't for how good the tacoma treated me, I never would have bought my 60.
So I turned the tacoma into cash and met up with @js0k. We did a deal. I didn't negotiate. His price was very fair in this current market and he already did a ton of work to ensure that it was a good truck to build off of. This is his Build thread. I'll be stealing pictures from his thread as we go.
He named it "Touch of Grey". Very fitting. My wife and I only improved upon that, and named it "Grey Gardens" after one of her favorite movies.
I find that resurrecting these trucks takes a bit of derangement. And we're all living with illusions of Grandeur driving these legendary dinosaurs around. Let's get this derelict abandoned project working. Where both Edith Beales failed to resurrect their derelict mansion, we will fix Grey Gardens up to an accurate representation of its former glory.
This truck is going to be for my lovely wife. She has earned her dues daily driving (and learning manual) on my 60 for years now. She drives it around with confidence and she knows about all of its quirks. She loves it, aside from when she has to pick up friends, or get into the back through the tire carrier or deal with the carb when its not feeling like its in tune. She tried to negotiate with me. She said "you can do whatever you want with the 40, but we need to put the 60 back to kinda stock to make it more functional" So with me being the great negotiator, I'm keeping the 40 project and we bought her this 62. I can't put my rust bucket 60 back to stock. It's too good as is, and it's reaching the point of diminishing returns while keeping things in factory locations. I can't downgrade a completed project.
The goal is to keep it completely stock with a few small exceptions. It will likely get an H55F by her request. I've already got a spare 38mm split case, flywheel, bell housing, crossmember and pedals. Thats a battle for a later day.
The 62 in concept for her is perfect. It will start like a normal car, have a few key amenities and have overdrive. Plus, this one is REALLY rust free. A few week ends of small rust repair and we will be ready for pebble beach. She knows I love the 60 series platform and I can work on it in my sleep. The 3FE is a learning curve for me, but a few hours in front of the computer and I'm starting to get the hang of it. I'm sticking by my motto of "one system at a time, no short cuts". This ideology has worked without exception on my 60.
The idea is a head to toe refresh without upgrading anything unless it really needs a "fix". No springs, stock location bilstein shocks, factory parts wherever I can. We don't have any grand ideas aside from being able to hop in and drive anywhere. It's gone 291k without being on a trail, and it's going to go quite a bit further with highway tires.
The short story is this: the truck was parked in 2009 for unknown reasons. The motor had zero compression. The Toyota "master tech" gave up on it. It jumped an owner or two and ended up in Johhny's care. Johnny tore into it and figured the engine issues out really quick. It looked like the engine had never had the oil changed. I'm sure that's not the case, but it was nasty. He literally beat the rockers and lifters out of the engine and made it come to life.
As it sits, there are a few issues and some unknowns. The biggest one is the A440F. I know very little about Toyota automatics. I've got a spare working transmission that a friend wanted out of his garage. So that's a plus. I don't want to start a manual swap at the moment, I would like to let my wife enjoy it as is for a while.
The list:
2. Fix a broken ignition switch.
3. Complete cooling system refresh. Rebuilt factory radiator, OEM Thermostat, a smattering of gaskets, Aisin water pump, Aisin 3F3 80 series fan clutch and all new coolant and oil cooler hoses. This is what I did with my 60 and it worked pretty well. Easily the most work needed in one area. I just bought every hose I could find from Toyota.
4. OEM tune up with plugs, wires, accessory belts rebuilt/cleaned and flow checked injectors, a fuel pressure damper, lots of gaskets and maybe a reversible desmog. This truck will keep the cats, I don't want her to smell like fuel. She did enough of that in my 60 over the years.
5. All fluids, synthetic where possible and a break refresh and checkup.
6. A new set of small tires. 235 of maybe a 31x10.5 Michelin Highway tire. Nothing aggressive.
8. A carpet kit from @dnp
9. Some roof rail rust from a roof rack in the past
I'm sure other stuff is going to come up, but that's the plan for now.
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