im moving my build thread from ifsja over here...haven't touched the truck in a few months because of my move, but i'm working on locating a space to work on it here in new jersey. hopefully it will be up and going again soon. stay tuned!
so, i figured it would be time to start a build thread even though its not all that exciting...yet...
basically i bought a $300 grand waggy and traded it for this:
1983 j10 long box with a 258, tf999 and np208. while part of me wanted to try to keep it all original, the other part of me has been wanting a fairly useful pickup for a LONG time. since i cant afford a good used gasser, i decided to build a truck with a diesel power plant for a few reasons..1) fuel economy. 2). the challenge of it 3.) motor longevity.
i originally settled on trying to find a 4bt, but when that proved difficult i set my sights on an isuzu 4cyl diesel. i immediately found a 4bd1t down the street from me and went to work making an offer on it...however the owner is still not sure he wants to part with the truck. right that happened i received an offer to buy a motor and some drivetrain parts from a fellow member on here so i decided to go for it. problem being, the parts are 700 miles away
so we worked out a deal, i put a deposit on the motor and im going to hopefully pick it up on a trip to the east coast in june when i will be driving out for a week of work.
so until then i proceeded to get the truck running well and making sure all of the internals were good before i parted it out and sold them. it was a great learning exercise since i had never rebuilt a truck carb before. but before long she was back on the highway!
here she sits in my driveway for the initial unveiling to my wife (truck had been at my shop until it was running)
she handled it pretty well...basically it took about $100 but i had the truck running really well and felt confident that i could part it out now without feeling bad about it. so i found buyers for the tires, carb, motor, and tranny for a total of $500 and i still have parts left over to sell. so now that i have my rig paid for
its time to strip her down and get the frame ready for the motor. here is the plan:
isuzu 4bd motor
5 speed manual tranny
4wd transfercase
(i already know what all these pieces are, but until i have them in my possession I won't reveal exactly what i have)
then for the truck:
-14 bolt rear (going to inboard the springs to help clearance)
-d44 front upgrade to 8 bolt or swap for a chevy d44 to go spring over
-high steer or crossover upgrade
-33" tires
-full body and bed restoration
-interior gut and restore
-upgraded or rebuilt leafs for more support
-bedline/seal underbody to prevent further rusting
fortunately for me there was actually a new passenger floorpan sitting the bed of the pickup when i got it. i bought another one from a fellow member for the drivers side, so other than that its really the bedsides that are my problem rust areas. i have neighbor who is going to be helping who also works at a body shop and is starting his own body work side business so he will hopefully be up to the task. he seems excited about the project so hopefully with some cash, a trade for work on his xj and letting him use my shop when he needs it for projects we can make the body work happen for not a ton of dough.
so...as of last week i picked up my new chevy axles and started the tear down. keep in mind, for now im doing this all myself and i've never torn down an fsj before. its not moving super quick, but it will get there. day 1:
started with this:
took 3 hours to get to this:
the bumper was really on there. i pretty much ruined the bumper trying to get it off, but it was damaged already and i plan on building bumpers for the truck eventually anyway, so no biggie. by the end of day 1 i was here:
day 2:
man...i hate torx bolts. but after a short time i got the doors off:
i broke 1 bolt and had to drill out 1 that stripped. could have been a lot worse! then i removed the fenders and finished stripping the 258:
i had a few minutes left so i also got the seat out...i tried to pull the dash pad carefully, but of course it cracked
so thats how she sits now...more stripping this weekend and monday. i hope to be down to a bare frame in a few days...BUT...i am not looking forward to removing the box. there is more rust under the box then anywhere else on the truck.