Hey everyone! I recently bought a "90k miles" (5 digit odometer so who knows the actual mileage) 1980 Toyota Pickup down in Sacramento, CA and it's now living in my garage here in Redding until I can figure out all the spots where rain water is leaking into the cabin and puddling on the floor. The plan is for it to be my daily driver once things are running smoothly.

The truck needs a lot of work but it runs and boy is it beautiful despite the poor condition haha. It was unregistered and hadn't passed smog when I bought it, but I found a mechanic here who helped me out and got it to pass smog first try, then, perhaps even more surprising, the previous owner had paid all of the back fees to the DMV so between the cost of the mechanic, smog test, and DMV fees I only paid about $300 to get everything taken care of. Lucky.

I have zero experience with working on cars beyond something like replacing a battery or a headlight, etc. So this is going to be quite the adventure for me.

Things I've done so far:

-Had the windshield replaced. There was a 12" crack obscuring the driver's view.

-Cleaned rust out of all the rear light sockets and replaced bulbs, this fixed an issue where the tail light fuse was blowing soon after replacing it. I used "bulb grease" to hopefully keep water out of those sockets in the future.

-Changed spark plugs. I did this yesterday, not because I thought it would fix anything but I just wanted to attempt to do some "real", if basic, mechanical work. I followed along the instructions in the Hayne's manual and it went well. I drove around the block afterward and things operated as normal. so... success!

-Replaced air filter. The old one was black and smelled like gasoline. Hayne's manual says this could be because of a stuck PCV valve. I'll have to look more into that.

Things I need to look more into:

-Most troubling, something leaks out of the engine. I don't know how to describe it other than it's the front of the engine, right in front of me when I open the hood. There is baked on old oil or coolant or something and when I drive for a bit, that spot looks moist.

-REALLY rough idle when first starting up. From what I've read, it seems like the choke on the carburetor isn't set correctly. I assume this old thing probably needs a full carburetor rebuild? I'm curious if that's something I could tackle or if it would be best left to a pro.

-Mechanic suggested I replace the radiator.


Anyway, I'm excited to be here These trucks are so cool and I'm stoked to have something I can tinker on for the next decade or so.

 

I forgot to mention a couple more details about the truck.

-20r motor
-Long bed
-3 speed automatic transmission (owner's manual says 55mph top speed lol)
-The blue is the original color but the previous owner rattle canned many areas to cover up rust and they added the white pin stripes.

 

Common fail item on the 20R engine is the crank oil seal. It starts as a small leak behind the crank pulley. But can fail instantly, dumping most of your oil from the crankcase onto the ground.

The seal itself is about $20. It will involve removing the crank pulley which can be a major project.

If it’s sat for awhile, this would be one of the first things I’d change. The 20R engines are pretty much bulletproof. Crank oil seals are a weak area.

 

Crank seal leaks are common on the 2Xr series engines and a lot of work to just replace the one seal, almost a "might as well do a timing chain while I'm in there" type of deal. Leak could also be higher up, such as the half-moon seals on the valve cover.

The leaking water could be something simple like a need for seam sealer on the firewall under the cowl, I think I've finally figured out that's where the leak is located on my 75.

Looks like a nice truck, great thing is these are fairly simple to work on DIY-style. Good luck!

 

I appreciate the info! I'll have to do some reading and see if I dare try to replace that seal myself. I also forgot, when I changed the spark plugs, there was oil on the threads of the old ones. It would be nice if I could uncover one thing at a time haha. Oh well. The truck has probably been running in this condition for the last 10 years so it'll keep going until I get around to fixing things... I hope.

 

Neat little unit! Couldn't help but notice you're missing a driver's side indicator on the fender. I have a thread on how to do that, but it's such a straight forward job it should just require some putting 2 and 2 together for it.

 

I think you're correct about it being the half moon seals. The gunk is way up high, not just leaking out from the bottom. Whatever it is, it's a very slow leak. Oil level is actually too high and not dropping in the month I've had the truck.

 

Hey! Yes indeed haha. That pic is from a week or so ago. All 4 indicators were either missing or very damaged when I bought the truck. I replaced the front 2 already and the rear indicators (red ones) arrived this morning from ebay. I got a new rearview mirror in the mail today as well via ebay. Crappy quality compared to OEM, but beggars can't be choosers. The existing rearview mirror is crumbling apart and the dome light is missing the cover and completely rusty / non-functional inside. Fun fixing little stuff like this that can just be done in an evening and feel like a little win.

 

The half-moons are easy to fix if that's what it is. They'll eventually leak on their own but I'd guess maybe someone didn't put the little dabs of RTV you're supposed to put on the corners when you take off the VC. They're only a couple bucks to replace, there's even metal ones if you want fancy

 

Dropped my truck off this morning to get a bunch of work done. I am a sucker for paying someone to do it, I know, but I want to get the big stuff done asap so I can sell my other car and know that the pickup will be reliable enough to be my only vehicle.

Things getting done:
-new radiator and hoses
-valve cover gasket replaced
-carburetor fully overhauled

The valve cover gasket / half moon seals do seem like something I could have done myself, but I went ahead and just asked my mechanic to do it while he's got the truck. This mechanic bill is going to be almost as much as I paid for the truck lol... but hey, I think it's worth it.


I also ordered a a new distributor cap and spark plug wires that I'll install myself once I get the truck back.

After all that I think I'll begin trying to deal with all the superficial rust on the frame and on the cabin floor.

 

Anyone have any experience with trying to chase down frame rust while the body is still on? I ordered some Rust Kutter and I have a can of auto frame paint to use after that.

I'm curious if trying to take care of most/all the frame rust without completely removing the frame is even possible or a good idea.

The frame on this truck is still 100% solid but there is a thin layer of rust over all of it.

 

Drill with a wire wheel or just fingers and sandpaper

 

Welcome aboard
Por15 kills rust & prevents from returning ,they have a product also to change rust into a primer.

 

I’m really glad you mentioned por15. I hadn’t heard of it but I ended up finding a Project Farm video on rust converters and por15 was far and away the best product. I just ordered some! Rust Kutter was dead last in his testing haha. Whoops

 

Eastwood Rust Encapsulator Platinum Gallon | UV Resistant Aluminum Finish Rust Preventive Coating | Easy Apply High-Tech Formula Automotive Paint to Stop Rust | Rust Remover for Metal Structures https://a.co/d/6nXibG7


This stuff’s expensive but does a great job.

 

Eastwood was another one that did well in the Project Farm test. Dunno if you guys ever watch him but that youtube channel is amazing for these kinds of comparisons. Lots of tool videos as well.

I did end up ordering POR-15 though this morning! I have high hopes for that stuff.

 

Wear a long sleeved shirt & gloves as it does not come off,can use lacquer r thinner right away & if you spray it use a very good respirator!!

 

Good advice. I'll definitely just paint it on

 

I just got the truck back from my mechanic yesterday. It ended up with a new radiator, new brake master cylinder, rebuilt carburetor, and a whole lot of replaced hoses and belts.

Unfortunately the truck still runs like shit! It doesn't want to start up nicely since the choke never works quite right and then even once it's warmed up, the idle is smooth in neutral but EXTREMELY rough when stopped with the transmission in Drive. As I have read more about these stock Aisin carbs, I'm realizing that was pretty much pointless getting it rebuilt and expecting the truck to run well. Especially with all the California smog stuff complicating things.

From what I've read it seems like the rough idle when stopped in Drive issue is most likely caused by vacuum line issues. I'm wondering, is there any chance that just doing an "emissions delete" would solve my idle problems by removing most of the complicated vacuum tubes? Or are people just doing the emissions delete for looks mainly? I'm in California so I would have to hook things back up to get my truck smogged every couple of years. If that's what it takes to get the truck running well, so be it.

Alternatively, I go for a weber carburetor and do something like this guy did to disguise the fact that emissions stuff has been modified https://toyotaminis.com/forum/threads/how-to-make-weber-carb-ca-legal.16939/ Hilarious that it still passes smog just fine.

Anyone's truck run noticeably better after smog delete with the stock carburetor? Or do I need to swap for a Weber?