Hey gang,

So I'm a bit of a nutter. I'm moving from San Francisco to Chicago, and when I saw what U-Haul was getting $3500 for a rental, I decided to buy an old truck and fix it up and take it on a road trip. (And yes, my dad has agreed to tow me home if I make it over the continental divide.)

So I ended up falling for a 1977 Hilux, even though I had originally wanted a Datsun 620.The roof racks made it too good to pass up, and even if Datsun has some hipster cache because it's no longer an active nameplate, this thing was in great shape and I was able to drive it 60 miles home.


So I got it home and decided to do the head gasket, figuring that's the biggest thing that can go wrong on a road trip, and given that it hasn't been taken on any manor of road trip in a few decades, I figured it would be prudent. I was lucky: I found a couple of blocked ports in the EGR area.

While doing that, I decided to drop the oil pan to inspect and clean the crank case... which I found out after getting all the pan bolts out required dropping the relay rod, so I went ahead and replaced the idler arm, the pitman arm, and the tie rods (ends and adjusters).

Then I read online that you could do the cylinder head gasket without taking of the timing chain, but I couldn't quite get that to work, so I ripped it down even further and did the whole timing chain kit (i.e. the sprockets, chain, tensioner, and guides.)

I had my 8 year old nephew as my helper, and he had a ball. I gave him the old timing chain and he's going to hang it on his wall like a trophy. Gotta start em young, right?

So I've reached the point now where I'm getting it all back together. I may need some help, because I'm going to have to do some de-smogging, but I'm actually trying to leave at least the air injection system and all the PCV and EGR stuff in place. The water choke weirds me out a bit, but I'll adapt. I opted not to go with a Weber, figuring that it's been doing it's thing a very long time with the Aisan and I don't want to change that right before a trip. Any tips or threads you can point me to on de-smogging? I already broke a port on the underside of the intake manifold (that didn't look original) so I'm going to have to freestyle this just a tad.

Obviously I'm going to check the brakes and the lines, and I'm going to put on new tires and have it aligned. I don't have an overabundance of knowledge on transmissions, and I know the secondary (slave) cylinder was just replaced, so I'm hoping not to touch that.

My question for the collective expertise of this form is, what are some of the pitfalls I could run into on the road? Are there any goofy solenoids I need to look out for and remove? Are there any common failure points I need to check out? A wheel cylinder that's a real pain in the keister to get? Something I absolutely must change or inspect on the clutch/transmission?

And since I don't want to be a total mooch, I found the following PDF, which was the best guide to doing the time chain I had seen, way better than anything in the Haynes or Chilton's manuals I have for it.

https://automotivetechinfo.com/wp-content/uploads/1989/07/Toyota-20R-Timing-Chain.pdf

Thanks in advance for the help. I'll be back in the market for a replacement hood soon, and I'm looking forward to helping people out where i can too. I've had the car for like 2 weeks and I'm already pretty well versed in it. I'm really digging the mechanical design so far. All of my prior experience is with American Muscle (1969 Cutlass, 1974 Camaro, 1966 F100, and helping out on various buddy's cars) and the overhead cam design made my heart sing.

 

Crank oil seal is a common fail item. I’m guessing you did it at the same time you did the timing chain. If not, do it before any long trip.

 

If you plan in desmogging it anyway, just buy the weber and do it all now.

change all your fluids

 

If your going to load it up, I'd check all the leaf springs to ensure there are no cracks on any of them. Also check the front spindle/ball joints are all tight. I'd add Sumo springs in the back as helper springs as a means to level/control the load down the many miles. Also, watch out for idiots on auto drive!

 

Don't know the mileage, but it might be wise to check the wheel bearings for any noise/stiffness/play and the differential. I should also do that, as well as the timing chain since it's just shy of 200k miles...

 

Here’s a great resource on the torque specs and lengths for all the bolts on the timing cover. If you’re like me and ended up with a puddle of bolts, this is super helpful.

 

Thank you sir. Can't find my fsm, so this came in clutch!! I haven't ordered a new timing cover and hardware, so this allows me to run to the hardware store and get the correct size (m6)bolt.

 

Here's a great run down on how to properly run vaccum lines if you decide to de-smog the original Aisan carburetor. I'm hesitant to go with the Weber for whatever reason, but this pretty clearly points out what you need to go where and explains what's actually going on.