1994 Toyota Pickup Build

[saltwatertoyota]

Ive neglected the forum lately but theres still lots to catch up on so here it comes…..


The day with the frame repair was crucial, The clock moving way too fast, as I was set to be on the road the next morning. The primer was shot on the frame, the rear drum assemblies cleaned up the best we could and the reassembly puzzle began.

Everyone tackled a different project and by 1130pm, the truck was back together and pulled outside for the first start. It felt surreal. But there it was. The got shed cleaned up, and everyone hit the sac after a lot of hours punched.



The last errands were ran in the morning. Getting the clamps for the tonneau cover (they only had one of each size in stock), and a new battery, packing up the vehicles… etc and off we were, me in the pickup and my girlfriend ahead in the car.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

We had an overnight ferry crossing, and thus far the little pickup chugged along quite well for the 700km across Newfoundland. A slight oversight on my part was that I wanted to make this trip on New Years Eve / New Years Day, meaning there wasn’t a whole lot of room for error if something went wrong, something I didn’t think about when booking the tickets.

About 2 hours off the ferry in Nova Scotia, I started to realize a noticeable power loss to an already stretched motor in terms of power. There was very little torque in the lower end and the inability to maintain speed in the higher gears. Had I noticed the truck become rougher? Honestly no. I wasn’t paying as much attention as I should’ve been. I pushed on towards Truro, NS, at a painfully slow speed.

Once in Truro I tried to do a little trouble shooting. I diagnosed what I thought might’ve been a bum spark plug. It’s all I could chalk it up to. With a quick look on Google Maps, it became evidently clear why you shouldn’t risk driving a vehicle you know nothing about on a holiday. Every garage and service centre was closed, and after phoning 24 gas stations, no one carried the spark plugs I would need. Again we continued to push on as there was nothing else we could do.

I turned to a local Facebook Toyota group in the area while passing through Amherst, NS to ask if anyone had any spares laying around. Only one person replied and said he had exactly what I was looking for in Fredericton, NB. God love Toyota fanatics. For those unfamiliar with Maritime geography. It was another 250km from where we were…… More slow driving. Yay. I don’t think I was very well liked on the road that day.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

We arrived in Fredericton a few hours later, and I managed to meet up with the keeper of all parts Toyota. The guy had quite an impressive collection of older Toyota vehicles, along with the cleanest 1st gen 4Runner I’ve ever seen.

He equipped me with a new array of spark plugs, distributor cap and new plug wires. Voila! My power had been restored. Thanks Rob!

We decided to crash with family that we had in the area and start fresh the next day.

And that we did. The next morning came. We said our goodbyes and hit the tarmac once again. Unfortunately, not long after, my un-trusty steed, started making unhappy noises. The noise inside the cab only grew louder. Almost immediately I pull over on the side of the road to troubleshoot. I didn’t like what I seen. The Y pipe that joins the exhaust to the tubes going to the manifold, sheared off. Well at least I knew what was causing my noise.

The nearest gas station was 3km up the road so I got back in and moved there and off the side of the road. - I suited up in my coveralls and crawled up in underneath. Upon further inspection, there was no amount of JB Weld, that was going to hold that exhaust together. With desperate hope I phoned anyone in the local area that I thought may have been able to fix the problem and fit me in…No luck. It was time I admitted defeat. The tow truck was called and towed my rust-ridden chariot back to my family's house.



We hopped in the car and carried on too Ontario. I had no choice but to go back for work. The truck would have to be sorted out later. I was not very happy that day.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

Months passed. The truck was towed on January 2nd. We ended up taking a couple vacations, worked lots and before I knew It it was March. Thank god I have great family that didn’t mind keeping my eyesore in their yard.

I wasn’t exactly in a rush because I knew once I got it to Toronto, Id be working on it in a parking lot. Something I wasn’t going to be doing pre-March (because snow).

The original plan was to put the truck into a muffler shop, have them fix the problem, fly down to Fredericton, hop in and drive home. My hesitation was that there was almost 1500km left to the drive and if something else were to happen, what would be my recourse?

The truck had now been sat for well over 2 months. Anything could’ve happened. It wasn’t worth the risk. I reached out to several towing companies, and someone gave me a really good quote and a really good timeline. It was a no brainer for me. It would’ve cost me more to go get the truck than for him to bring it to me.

The age old saying of if its too good to be true then it probably is, couldn’t have hit any closer to home. Albeit I got my truck eventually, it was a nightmare of a situation. I’ll keep it as a campfire story, but if anyone wants to know who not to use to ship their truck….. Let me know Lol.

The night it FINALLY showed up

 

[saltwatertoyota]

I feel as though at Christmas I had rose coloured glasses on. The truck arrived in Ontario and was positioned into its resting place aka my workshop in my work parking lot, and the more I looked, the more problems I began to see.

The body work!!!!!
Leaking axle seals
The poor parking brake
The scraping noises when the truck moved
The exhaust
More body work
The rear bumper or lack thereof
The poor rims and tires
The door seals

The list just kept growing.

My girlfriend had given me tickets on April 17th to see Thomas Rhett for July 15th in Buffalo along with a CD to put in the truck. I set a goal that I wanted to drive the truck down to the concert. I was way in over my head.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

I think I probably spent upwards of two weeks spending my breaks at work out sizing up the truck and adding more things to the list that I needed to get done. I was caught in a cycle of analysis paralysis. I took plenty of pictures but did zero work.

Sure, in May I procured plenty of parts, but still felt overwhelmed. I have LC Engineering on speed dial at this point.

But in June finally I guess something clicked and I started turning wrenches. It started slow. I removed the rear bumper, the tonneau cover, then the bedliner. I purchased a couple sawhorses to rest the bed on. One thing led to another and the bed was finally off again.

They always say the hardest part is getting started.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

The one job I wanted to do with the bed off last time was POR-15 the rear portion of the frame. I didn’t get around to it, so I made it first on the list to accomplish.

I’ll use any excuse to buy new tools. This was one. A new battery powered grinder so I didn't have to worry about battling with extension cords across the parking lot. I love the thing, partly due to the length of time the 9AH battery lasts.

I got rid of as much excess surface rust as possible and followed the POR instructions as best I could using their 3 step process. I put 3 coats on the frame. I think it turned out really well, in comparison to what it was.. But I guess only time will tell.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

My next job was getting rid of that hideous noise every time the engine was running. It needed new pipes. Who better to go with than the LCE Street Headers linked to the Pro Flow Pickup exhaust system. I'm impressed with both purchases. It was a seamless install and the sound is very nice. It almost makes it sound like a real truck

I've yet to detail the engine bay but it will come. The headers look like one rose petal in a big patch of thorns.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

I already had tires bought for the truck in March, I purchased 4 Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S 275/65/R15 The price was unbeatable and suited what I had planned to use the truck for. The other thought in my mind was being hesitant to spend big money on nice 33’s +Rims just to run into bigger issues with the truck and not be able to use them.

I found a set of 15” Mickey Thompson Sidebiter II's for sale on Marketplace with garbage rubber wrapped around them. I picked them up and had my tires put on. Again not my ideal rim but they look much better than the rusty ones that were there.

The pictures are with the old rubber on. I just stood them up to get an idea of what they'll look like.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

The next was the interior. I had a hole in the floor on the passenger side that I decided to patch with fiberglass. I knew that's how I was going to go about fixing the bed and not having a whole lot of experience with it, I wanted to try fibreglassing out to see what I can do with it. Worst case scenario I cut it out and do it the right way with metal. Someone before me did a very shifty repair on the driver's side floor, so at some point more than likely when I replace the carpet, I'll have to make up my own floor pans and burn them in. Until then, I'll be using this floor until it causes me any troubles.

The factory sound deadening was pretty useless, most of it being rotten. A chisel and a hammer made quick work of removing it and while I was at it, I scuffed up the floor and used the Last of the POR-15. Made the floor look much cleaner and made a much better surface for the KILMAT to adhere to.

Some people find using the roller tools helps apply the sound deadening, even though I bought the rollers, I found them to be more of a nuisance. A nice warm day and a massage of the fingers I thought worked best.

 

[saltwatertoyota]

The beauty part about these trucks is their simplicity is many forms. The interior can be completely ripped out, to put back together in like 12 minutes tops. But for a truck that was pretty heavily abused for at least the last ~10 years of its life, the interior cleans up shockingly well.

I still want to try and pressure wash the carpet hoping it might take some more of the dirt out, but I’m soon going to place an order with ACC for a new one.

The husky liners from 2012 Tacomas fit very well in here. Mine are #53701 X-Act Contour Series