89 mild build

A

airdreams1

New member
89 mild build ~~~ Wrecked 6/23/15

Bought this in the middle of the night. (NOT RECOMMENDED! caught hell from the wife.) from the original owner With a blown head gasket. Has 333,ooo miles...... But still in pretty good condition for its age/miles. Its a fully loaded SR5 with the 3.0 V6......
Going to be a DD/weekend off-roader......

pics from the add:



Only things not working (besides the motor issue) was the dash switch for the rear window so I fixed that, tore the tail gate apart cleaned & greased everything.

Picked up a set of used Warn Hubs for $40 because I hate the auto lockers, a good used set of 31x10.515 Maxis BigHorn tires then found a set of aluminum wheels to put them on.


Bought a New set of Rancho RS9000 shocks over $300. Ill use them till I can afford to get the full OME lift.

Bought a rebuilt 3.0 for nearly $2800 & am currently getting it all together.... Pics soon.
 
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My '88 was the same color. 8D47. It will look great when it's waxed. I bought mine new and when 1st gens were freely roaming the earth it was a rare color. You have a great truck!
 
yah its pretty clean. It even has the factory interior sunroof cover. Hell Ive never seen one before! they are always missing, so didn't even know they existed till now. LOL. The P.O. said he had never taken the top off or opened the sun roof because he didnt want it to leak. Im suppose to take it by his house when I get it back on the road so he can see it.
(looks like a crease on it in the pic, but it isn't.)


Waiting on my clutch so I can drop the motor back in. Should have it by wed next week. Till then all I can do is install the new fuel filter, install my radio/speakers & alarm. may drain the trans/transfer case + axles & put in new oil. Got to look up how much oil I need to change them all to see if I have enough.

Going to be like a new rig when Im all done.. About $4000 into it so far & dont have everything done yet. Still want/need all new hoses. (vacuum + water) just changed the ones I had to so far. But will get the rest ASAP! Also going to get braided SS brake lines & clutch line (if I can find one)

After I sell off my motorcycle's, I intend to get Old Man Emu lift kit. (dont want it too tall, just want a nice ride)
 
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here is a sneak peak of the motor...... the plenum is just sitting on there for the pic.



I rattle caned everything under the rig with gloss black & installed the new shocks. (at some point Ill under coat everything.)
front. (still need to zip tie the boots)

rear



Forgot to post some pics & info......................................................
the muffler was rusted out!



had an almost new one sitting here from the samurai / Sidekick motor swap that never happened....
few cuts & welds later it was in.



muffler got dented when we moved before I got it put on, but will work for now. Had to add the short tip to make it stick out past the plastic skirting.
 
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I had to get a couple things from the wrecking yard..... & wile I was there I saw this LED 3rd brake light & thought it would work..... It only cost me $7
It matches the roof contour perfectly. just got to mount it & wire it up. Going to do a quick release plug just incase I ever remove the top. Came off a 97 GMC Jimmy... But several other GM rigs have the same



Hooked up & working.....
 
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who worked on your engine? I need to get mine done. I just picked one up too.
 

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Looks pretty clean.

I ordered my motor from SUNWEST AUTOMOTIVE ENGINES Sunwest Automotive Engines

Just didnt want to wait for the local machine shops.... They all said minimum of 3 to 4 weeks before they could even start on it. & the time frame to complete was anywhere from 1.5 weeks to 4 weeks..........
I ordered the motor on thursday from Sunwest & they had it on the truck by the fallowing wed. had the motor by friday....
Oh & the dont charge you the core charge up front. But they will if you dont return your core. Had mine almost a month because I hurt my arm & couldnt get the motor out of the truck & they didnt charge me. (but I did call & let them know what was going on.)


I have been cleaning & painting everything. Its very time consuming & tedious! But it looks good for now. I figure it should look as close to new as possible. IMO if your going to spend that much $$$$ you should do it right............................................ So I got reman injectors from Sunwest, also bought 6 Fuel injector gasket kits, new exhaust studs new exedy clutch kit, all new vacuum lines, new radiator /heater hose kit) pvc valve, spark plugs, NGK wires, cap rotor, fuel filter, thermostat, K&N air filter, oil filter, also had the radiator cleaned.

Thats all I can think of off the top of my head.... But Im probably forgetting something.
 
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I got the motor in, new vacuum hoses installed & finally fired it up. found the power steering pump was leaking as was the steering damper (started leaking from the seam). so put in a new KYB damper. Painting & rebuilding the power steering pump. Also the speedo cable was froze & not working..... So still cant drive it yet. :(


still replacing the hoses 1 @ a time since the kit I bought wouldnt fit.


got a speedo with 0 miles on it & put it in the cluster..... (easier to count the miles I put on the motor / vehicle.) also painted the inside of the cluster with fusion gloss black then Chrome & changed the bulbs out with some ultra white halogen bulbs & now its way brighter!
(have to get a pic in the dark)

(was 0 miles till I spun it with the cable to be sure it was working before I put the dash back together)
 
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Made some eddits on post #7 & #13 above & added some more pics of things I forgot to post....


broke the idle control valve when removing the power steering pump. (have to wait till tomarrow to go to the wrecking yard)

So I decided to make some 1" lift blocks for the rear of the seat & got some longer bolts.... It makes a huge difference in comfort & what you can see over the hood (unless your 6' or taller this mod will probably be benefit to you) Im 5' 8" & still have 5.5" or 6" inches above my head & can now see the front lip of the hood.




Also found some Smittybult bumpers front has some dents & rust holes. Ill fix them or find a better one. but for now mounted it & made some brackets to install the air dam (think it looks better than the bare frame.)



rear was welded on a nissan, but Ill mod the brackets to fit the runner.
 
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finally got the power steering pump rebuilt, Fixed the oil leak I had @ the corner of the valve cover or cam seal housing (not quite sure which it was) & got to put on 52 miles. :)

Here is what the speedo looks like all light up after the new halogen bulbs & painted housing...... about 50% brightness (100% is way to bright. LOL)


& here is a comparison shot.
 
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just broke 100 miles.... But when I got home I found that I have another oil leak...........:frusty:
Not happy!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

fixed that & then found a coolant leak.......... pissed again.....
(was just a hose clamp & fixed)
 
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started having starter issues. When I had it out, I tore it apart & the contacts & plunger are really worn. I should have replaced them, but all I could get was the contacts....

Anyone know where I can get a new plunger for my starter? locally all I can get is the contacts.. I searched a bit & see only the contacts on several sites. (got the parts from ABE in portland OR)


If it doesnt, I may have to look @ the wiring as well.

UPDTE:
rebuilt the starter but that wasn't the issue, it was the "flawed wiring from toyota" so I routed the starter wire to the 40 amp fuze like it was suppose to be & has never given me another issue
 
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here is the 3rd brake light all hooked up.....


De-chromed the wheel wells. & wile washing it the pressure washer took off the pin striping.



figured out why the horn quit..... the contact was just barely touching & finally wore the micro amount that was left....

Fixed that....
 
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It never ends...............
started having more issues.....
~Seems the 8 month old referbished battery I bought went bad.......
~ The alternator is bad too.(voltage regulator tested bad).....
~ Fuel gauge quit....(think the sending unite is ok, as the low fuel light came on but needle doesnt move at all)
~ Dont think the coolant temp gauge is working correctly (if I bump the dash it goes up to the place it seems to stop when warm. Bump it again & it goes to the bottom)
~the brake lights have gotten stuck on a couple times......
~ & there is a squeal in the front of the motor (possibly the tensioner pulley for the AC.) Weird part is that it quits squealing when you push in the clutch...
Think thats is for now.......................

Its going to be 100% new by the time I get all the issues fixed! Damn rig is putting me in the poor house!

(all issues fixed)
 
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