^^ The front end as it is to this point.. Honestly in all of my not knowing and frustration, the main reason why I refuse to abandon this truck is embodied in this picture.

After lifting the seat and finding the floorpan to be structurally sound, but full of holes, a 12 pack of high life and a few old plates inspired my temporary floorpan.. Which though also a pain, is actually coming together pretty well, and I like the look (plus who else has a license plate floor?), I hope to keep it after putting in a real floor next year if possible.. People ask where the plates all came from, I either say Wisconsin or that the neighbors are asking questions.. Real life I found a collector that was done with license plates and moving on to "man cave type" items so, I traded a PBR sign.

Simple solution to the broken speedometer, which, keep the bitch floored approves of according to whoever manages their Instagram account.

Another shot I tossed on my Instagram, it was a bummer to have the bed off as long as it was this summer, but things are better for it now (crossmember, shocks, frame, etc), and the little bugger fired right up after reattaching the fuel lines and all. So that was nice.

 

As it sits now.

So.. The build goes on.. And on..

Realistically, nothing about this truck was a good idea. I scooped it up unknowing what would all be required to fix it up to road worthy; how big of a bitch finding parts would be; and without the tools, space, or know-how to do it all; should've bought a daily driver over this.. But.. I still don't regret it..

The parts stores' employees scatter when I walk in... I've spent more on tools than anything... And anyone that knows me, knows it fits me, even though my lanky self doesn't fit in it.

The spindle swap to 83, for disc brakes, is an adventure and a half, there's junkyard guys I'll never meet everywhere that know my number by now, the parts guy at the Toyota dealership has my email address memorized, was confused as to why I'm not aligned with a shop anywhere and from this point forward hooks me up with discounts on anything they can actually get.

So she's close.. But.. Idk how close that actually is..

More to come soon. Thanks to everyone for the input early on, mad thanks to everyone that decided to share knowledge in the tech threads.. I'll try and be back with more in less than 3 months this next go round.

 

This is such a cool truck. I wish I could find an older one around this age in my area somewhere.

 

Thanks bud!
Yeah it's definitely different, and totally was a score even with all the Hell I've been going through to get it roaded again.
Good luck on finding one of your own, just keep looking. I'll warn you that as far as I can find, getting parts is a basket case.. But this forum is for sure a huge asset. I mean to contribute more of what ive learned, but my hands are usually too gunked up to grab the camera.

 

Well.. It's been too long.
To paraphrase the last six (?!) months;
It was a fight. But I'm glad I got into it.
Things that I did along the way...
I did do the disc swap on the front end, I went with 83 spindles that I sourced from junkyards I found online and managed to sucker the guys into listing them on eBay.
Along with the geo metro booster master from my local pick and pull.
The one note that I have pertaining to that that I didn't find through this forum was that swapping passenger to driver's side and vice versa was a no bueno. Instead I swapped out the steering rods from my '71 spindles to my replacements and kept them on driver to driver and passenger to passenger. (Truck wouldn't turn with the 83 arms linking up to the steering) the cold and the frustration kept my from snapping pics along the way, but it was hours of torment that I remember quite vividly, so, any questions or anything relating to that swap, hmu, I'm sure I'll have something for you.
From there it was titling adventures and more parts difficulties.
The titling is done and over with thankfully. Just a few bits of papers that I had to track the previous owner down for, re-creating the VIN in the WI DMV database and tax/title twice over and I got to tack on a registration fee and start driving it!

The wiring is jankity.. Idk what's up with it, but I'm guessing ground, flasher, relay.. Individually or all together. There's even a harness just dangling with nothing for it to attach to under the dash.. So.. That's a good time.

But it's a blast. Its by far the worst vehicular decision I've ever made and I don't regret a second of it. The cost I guess I could do without. Currently its my daily.

Today I just went and redid the clutch master and slave as the slave was leaking and didn't figure it made any sense to replace one and not the other.
Last week I did about a 100 mile round trip to get the engine for my swap out of the shop it got ripped out of the donor at. (Guy wasn't too happy to have it sitting there, his son parted out the donor with minimal assistance from me in January) It made the journey, but not happily.. I had two occasions where I seriously thought I was on fire.

The 8r isn't long for this world I don't believe.. Loses oil at a rapid rate now, and has a shudder on acceleration that developed soon afterwards that I want to blame on poor gas along with carb issues, but nothing is that simple with this truck.
I'd like to swap a Holley 5200 on to it and revamp the fuel delivery system on a whole, but with these developments.. I might just run it until I can yank it as is and do a rebuild for a future project.

Oh.. She also has a name.. A full title in fact: Natalie the HellBilly Hilux

You can find her on Instagram with #nataliethehellbilyhilux
Or follow me directly (I pretty much just post truck pictures) @Grittake22

 

If you werent that far id tell you where theres a 18R and a couple of early 22REs.

 

Well thanks @ jetas.
My bud does have a 22r he just yanked out of his truck that I could probably grab cheap..
But, I guess the plan is to swap a little more aggressively and go for horse power. All the same, it may end up getting that stuff dropped in for a little while in between.

So, the 8r might die, but no matter, I plan on having the truck for a long time to come!

 

Drop in what you can now to get it driving. Upgrade everything to the support the added power in the future

 

A 20r/22r would be a good easy low cost swap to be a good reliable driver. Id just keep it simple and affective.

 

Yeah, I'll have to talk to him about his 22r.
I was hoping to keep the 8r going until it was time for it to go under the knife for the big swap.
This is what I'm dealing with:
The truck idles fine, and until it gets to normal operating temperature it accelerates about as well as it has since I've owned it. However, as it gets closer to temp, and while it's in gear it shudders and sounds like it's missing or starved for fuel.
The vacuum lines appear to be fine, and last night I replaced the fuel pump and lines, which initially appeared to make the problem go away, but at temp, it apparently made it just a little better.
I hate running this way, its sounds angry and has poor acceleration.. But the oil isn't loosing rapidly, and temp stays solid as a rock.
I'll do plugs and wires today and see if that helps or gives me anything more to go off of for diagnosis.
I'm new to anything carbureted for the most part, and by no means an expert mechanic in the first place. So.. I guess it's kind of a grab bag.
If it was timing related, the engine would show the same symptoms when at idle and higher revs out of gear wouldn't it?

 

Also @jetas.
The plan has been as such..
Get it driving and keep it alive, update a few things that'll be easy to transition over to the swap and save budget..
Then get a different daily and swap starting late summer and hopefully done next spring..
Which, seems like a good route, but with a move coming up, and this truck eating all the money I would be saving for it.. Idk man..
Silly little thing is just mad that I don't let it die.

 

Finally pegged it down today..
There's been a cascade of shit.

Something in the fuel I got along the way to retrieve the donor engine busted up whatever varnish and rust the tank had and created all kinds of clogs.
The carb was actually a Holley 5200 I've found out..
And the timing was so advanced it was insane.

Now we're finally back to just clutch slip, which whatever, I could fix it, but let's hope it hold on until transplant time.

Thanks for your input again guys.. Without that along with existing threads I'd just have a broken truck.

 

That sucks about the fuel tank crap. I cleaned my tank up when i had to bed off to run the wiring. The pickup tubes were clogged. And there was still crud coming out.

 

more info on the geo metro booster? what master are you running?