I tried to put the important stuff in bold, so you dont have listen to me blabber on. I found a 1983 Toyota pickup truck that has been sitting for a little over a year now and I asked the owner what it would take to part with it and he named a price of $250. He said that he just wanted to get rid of it because it had starting issues, no one new had to drive a manual and probably needed a new corroborator?, but that once it started it ran well. Mileage is 236,000 I think its 2wd, standard bed and cab, but not sure. I am fairly mechanically competent and willing to but in the time just trying to guage what I would be getting myself into get to be get me from point A to point B.... Thanks for any help! I guess my questions are..... Is this a good deal?(probably a dumb ?) What kind of time and money should I expect to budget? What is the worst case scenario? Life expectancy?
Do It, Toyota's are known to be near indestructable, the only reason it still goes at all with these problems is because it's a toyota, These mini pick-up's are like chevy's and ford's as there is a huge following and parts are plentyful and cheap, If you don't buy it someone else will and then you'll get to see them driving it around while your dumping money into something else,.
I would definitly buy this truck especially at that price, you won't regreat it. I paid $2500 for mine and dson't regreat it, worth every penny to me, of course I am a life long devoted fan, all of our vehicles are Toyota so foir me thers no othjer choice. This is my truck when I bought it, its an 82 and the second pic is 1 1/2 years later. Just start dong mods one at a time, like all of us do, believe me you will not regreat it! Mini Truckin is a beautiful and fufilling thing to be a part of, I have been a part of it for 22 years now and it has changed my life for the better, don't really know any other way to explain it. The guys here are very knowlegable and you'll find all the help you need. Also check out www.streetsource.com and subscibe to Mini Truckin magazine, anoither great resource. Good luck and post some pics of the truck up. http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...dID=403890559&albumID=545061&imageID=19888942
unless there's a hole in the block, a rod knocking, or the head's cracked, everything else should be cheap and easy to fix. Buy it for 250, give it a tune up (>60 bucks) and rebuild the carb(>50 bucks), and I'd bet it'll start, run, and drive like no other 26 year old truck would (except another 'yota of course). No joke, you should be able to get it on the road and fairly safe for less than a grand, including the cost of the truck.
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/ind...dID=403890559&albumID=545061&imageID=26898257 Heres my truck 1 1/2 years later, truck is bagged, stock floored (body dropped), raised smooth sheet metal bedfloor, new 4x4 chrome front end, new mirrors, roll pan, new wheel and tires and a little interior painting. Next mod is more than likely going to be the interior, wife lets me do one major mod per year. My best advice for you is to put together plan for what you want out of the truck and stick to it, do your suspension first, most important mod in my opinion and after that, do your mods in complete sections, suspension, motor , interior ect thats way once one section is done its done an dyou don't have to worry about it any longer. I am basing this on my own past experices withb my last truck, I jumped around with my mods on that truck, big mistake, I was never happy with it and sold it, I have learned my lesson and don't want anyone else to make the mistakes I did. Good luck with your new truck, you two will be very happy LOL
Mini Truckin' and AC/DC are a big part of my life and I wanted to share this video and put my own words into it that I firmily do believe in: "It's a long way to the top if you wanna be a Mini Trucker." I firmly beleive this, I have been clIimbing the ladder for 22 yeras and I still have not reached the top, probably never will, too much to learn along the way, seeing these guys perform is like seeing a mini truck crusing, gets my blood flowing, enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy0I9WKWp44
I picked up my 88 RN50 for double that price dragged it home and got her to start in a week and found she had a blown HG. I spent some of my broke student funds to buy new parts for a major drivetrain overhaul and enrolled in the engines class at the local community college in a semester i had the engine out rebuilt and reinstalled (along with a new clutch among other parts) in a month I had rebuilt the carb myself. right now she's sitting in the driveway beacuse of my neglect to reinstall cotter pins in the steering joints. For the money and time I think it was worth it If u have another car to get around than these are really fun and simple vehicles to own/maintain. $250 if you're not happy with the purchase later, u can always just part out the thing and come up some coin -
i say buy it. 83 is on the cusp of the dual row timing chain but its still swapable. if the timing chain has never been replaced good its prolly a dual row with metal guides (read: indestructible). and a lil elbow grease and you would definitly make your money back and then some. i paid $150 for this $800 later (mostly tires) imagine what im gonna get when i sell it. good money in yota's, but even better DD's
Ok so I've decided to buy it. BUT its been sitting for about a year and its not starting....I was told that there isn't a spark coming from the coil. I'm assuming that I need to replace the coil?
Might wanna also check to see if the gap between the reluctor and and pickup is right (those are parts under the distributor cap). My 86 lost spark after installing the 6AL. turns out my pickup had moved out of spec.
most PO's ive dealt with that leave a car sitting dont know whats wrong with it. check the basics and i bet you find the problem. if you havent already bought it, ask if they did any work to the car themselves, and suspect that
