Hey guys. Just picked this up and thought I'd post my progress. I grabbed this in Longview WA today for $599. It's a little rusty, a little rough and messy, but it's straight and just about everything's there.
Before I could drive it home, I had to replace the upper radiator hose. it was ballooned at the thermostat housing and had already sprung a leak. I went across the street and picked up a new one and some coolant, replaced it and was on my way!
The motor SERIOUSLY needs a tune-up. It was missing all the way home. It's a 40 mile drive from Longview to Vancouver, so I got pretty famililar with it. I can tell it hasn't really been maintained, the last owner had it for 15 years and barely did anything to it from the looks of it. From what I can tell right now, at least one of the shocks is blown, at least one plug is fouled, the hazard switch is stuck off, the vent is stuck open, and there's a hole where the radio would go. Yea, it's got some issues. Oh yea, did I mention that the exhaust manifold is leaking? It's a little loud. Plus the starter is a little tired.
In it's defense, it made it all the way without even breaking a sweat. The clutch grabs good. It's a little wobbly on the road on the freeway, but that's most likely the shock that's blown. It's all original, has all the SR5 parts, even has the SR5 decal on the hood.
Here's the pics from the CL ad:


The pics make it look better than it is, but it's the straighest one I looked at, and the only one that would have made it home under it's own power.

For the moment I'm just going to get it sorted out, but eventually I'll lower it 2" all the way around, but some 15's or 16's on it (steelies probably), put better buckets in (these are totally gone... the driver's seat leans to the left), replace the dash panel with one that's not broken, and put a decent stereo in it. I'll probably tear the whole thing apart as I go along and clean it totally. It's a mess and it needs some cleaning bad.

I'll post more pics as I go.

 

Looks like a nice truck for the price and a great place to start, makes me miss my old 79.

 

sweet! reminds me of ashton (predracer) truck, cept short bed

 

Nice looking truck

 

I think thats the coolest truck i've ever seen!

 

I don't know about the coolest... LOL!
So I checked it out today, 3 of the 4 shocks are blown. Thing bounces like crazy on all but the right rear! So yea, it's time for some shocks!!!

The seats are gonna kill me too... it leans to the left because that side has broken springs. They guy I bought it from was about 100 lbs, and I'm about 200, so it probably didn't bother him as much! I found a decent Tacoma bench for $60... might grab that if it doesn't sit too high, I'll measure it out first.

Also eyeing some RAV4 wheels, they're steel and 16x7... maybe slap some 205/55/16's on 'em. Gotta drop the truck and align it first.

Man, this is gonna be a project!

 

So wash it up and hit it w/ quick detailer. See if it will shine up.

 

Getting it low is a must. I dropped mine before I could even drive it.

 

Wow, that is really close. My paint's definately not as good as that, though. I'd have to repaint and fill in a few rust holes! I'll take some pics of the body tomorrow, Been really busy the last few days but tomorrow I'll have a few minutes to clean it out. Getting the exhaust done monday, it stops at the muffler. The guy had the rest of the pipe that goes over the axle, but it wasn't welded on. no idea why.
Tomorrow I'm just going to clean it up and make it run a bit better and take a really good look at it, and take pics as I go.

Ashton - how does yours ride in the front? Did you tighten up your sway bar to tighten it up?

 

Mine rides like crap haha. Thats an old picture. Since then i've lowered it more and it's prety much just sitting on trimmed bump stops all the way around. The ride doesn't really bother me though. I just cranked the torsion bars on the front.

 

^^ lol, I got so used to riding with all the bumps

 

Boy do I have some work to do!!!!

 

I'd say so lol

 

i saw that truck on craiglist too!!! nice truck for the price!!!

 

whats next to the lighter on the dash? please say bottle opener! hahaha

 

Im jealous! Chome Vent Visors AND Wing Windows!! Looks like a great project

 

LOL! That's the horn button. I guess they couldn't figure out how to get the horn button to work on the steering wheel, so they just added one to the dash. I thought that was a pretty funny addition.

It ran pretty rough when I drove it home, and now I know why! The air cleaner is full of oil, the filter was black, and it looks like the air pump was unhooked but none of the hoses. It was sucking crankcase gases directly into the aircleaner! Not good! I'll be rebuilding the carb and undoing all the grime as I go along. Gonna take some work, and with a 14 month old daughter time isn't something I have a lot of!

So here's my list to do before I use it as my daily driver:
- replace starter
- rebuild carb
- replace shocks
- new plugs
- Change oil / filter
- Seat

After a while I'll drop it 2", swap some rims / tires, replace the broken dash panel, stereo, and maybe even replace the horn button!!

 

if ya swap rims, nverenufedge is lookin for the stainless center caps!!!!

 

Recently found one of those 80' SR5's in the yard. She'd been pretty much molested for all she was worth, except for the perfect burl wood trim (which I had no use for), and the housing for the two gauges that sit in front of the heater.

Hadn't seen one (oem gauge housing) in person before, and thought it would be perfect to house my tach and one other gauge, for a nice clean look. Needless to say, I snatched that puppy up fast.

 

You'll never stop at 2 inches so you might as well go low to start with.