Barely got home from a 6-hour round trip to pick up this sweet truck from the UT/CO border. This is Isuzu #12 for me, yet I still have a lot of learning to do.
I sold my 2x4 space-cab with the intention to turn around and get something 4x4. I had two Amigos back in Alaska that I never had time to fix up roadworthy, so I was excited when this popped up in my local classifieds. I got it for a steal considering the condition ($1000). The owner seemed to take very good care of it. He barely cut out all the rust on the rockers and welded in new sheet metal, then he painted it. He also just replaced the Clutch, Throw-out bearing and pressure plate. The Engine runs awesome and has no valve ticking like my spacecab had.
The goal is to keep it highway worthy, and trail ready at the same time. There's a lot of great campsites in the Uintah Mountains and I plan on getting a lot of trips in during the summers. I'm still attending school at UVU in Utah, and have access to all the schools auto shop welders, lifts, air compressors, and paint booths. I'll be taking a night class this summer that's pretty much for people to work on their cars. I'll be doing most of the work then.
Here is a list of things to work on, Hopefully in this order. I could use some suggestions of things I should consider during this build.
-Figure out the electrical issues. The speedometer bounces between 5-20mph all the time, but once and a while jumps to the correct speed for a short time. Does this sound like the cluster itself or the speedometer cable? The weird part is that the ODO is working fine, but the trip meter doesn't move at all.
Also, the Temp Guage doesn't move at all, it must be disconnected somewhere, or maybe the thermostat is stuck open? The head never gets very warm, even after a 3-hour drive with the heat on high.
The blower wasn't working for the last owner, so he wired a switch directly to the blower motor to make it blow on high the whole time. Do you think I just need to replace the resistor pack?
-The Check engine light came on after about 2-hours of driving, it started turning on and off every 10 minutes or so. I'm not very worried about it but I need to read the code. Does anyone have a link to the guide for which terminals to jump to read the code on these?
-When engaging the clutch from 2nd and 3rd gears, I sometimes feel a light thud that feels like its coming from the rear dif. Any ideas what that could be?
-The previous had no recollection of changing the timing, so I'm thinking about doing it. Is the water pump tied into the timing on this one? Also is it possible to carefully take off the old belt and install the new one without moving the components so that I don't have to re-time it?
Okay, now for the fun stuff
-Redo the body and paintwork, I'm leaning towards the Desert Sand color on the Toyota Tacomas.
-Fabricate front and rear ARB style bumpers
-Build Rock Sliders and roll cage for the rear half of the vehicle w/ built-in roof rack
-Locate some good Fender Flares, If anyone knows where to get some, please let me know.
-2" Torsion Bar Lift w/ Rear lift shackles
-Tires/Rims, I'm thinking about getting some 16" Snowflakes from a salvage yard and getting some lightly used mud tires. Arent the 15" and 16" the same lug pattern? I also need to figure out how big I can go without rubbing, and I also don't want my fuel economy to hit the fan
-Redo the interior, right now the seats are trashed. I also want to pull out the rear seats and carpets and get the back half bed-lined so its no big deal hauling firewood and animals around.
I have a lot of other small ideas to do as well, but this is the focus list. Like I said, I'd love to hear suggestions and tips, I want to do the work right.
I sold my 2x4 space-cab with the intention to turn around and get something 4x4. I had two Amigos back in Alaska that I never had time to fix up roadworthy, so I was excited when this popped up in my local classifieds. I got it for a steal considering the condition ($1000). The owner seemed to take very good care of it. He barely cut out all the rust on the rockers and welded in new sheet metal, then he painted it. He also just replaced the Clutch, Throw-out bearing and pressure plate. The Engine runs awesome and has no valve ticking like my spacecab had.
The goal is to keep it highway worthy, and trail ready at the same time. There's a lot of great campsites in the Uintah Mountains and I plan on getting a lot of trips in during the summers. I'm still attending school at UVU in Utah, and have access to all the schools auto shop welders, lifts, air compressors, and paint booths. I'll be taking a night class this summer that's pretty much for people to work on their cars. I'll be doing most of the work then.
Here is a list of things to work on, Hopefully in this order. I could use some suggestions of things I should consider during this build.
-Figure out the electrical issues. The speedometer bounces between 5-20mph all the time, but once and a while jumps to the correct speed for a short time. Does this sound like the cluster itself or the speedometer cable? The weird part is that the ODO is working fine, but the trip meter doesn't move at all.
Also, the Temp Guage doesn't move at all, it must be disconnected somewhere, or maybe the thermostat is stuck open? The head never gets very warm, even after a 3-hour drive with the heat on high.
The blower wasn't working for the last owner, so he wired a switch directly to the blower motor to make it blow on high the whole time. Do you think I just need to replace the resistor pack?
-The Check engine light came on after about 2-hours of driving, it started turning on and off every 10 minutes or so. I'm not very worried about it but I need to read the code. Does anyone have a link to the guide for which terminals to jump to read the code on these?
-When engaging the clutch from 2nd and 3rd gears, I sometimes feel a light thud that feels like its coming from the rear dif. Any ideas what that could be?
-The previous had no recollection of changing the timing, so I'm thinking about doing it. Is the water pump tied into the timing on this one? Also is it possible to carefully take off the old belt and install the new one without moving the components so that I don't have to re-time it?
Okay, now for the fun stuff
-Redo the body and paintwork, I'm leaning towards the Desert Sand color on the Toyota Tacomas.
-Fabricate front and rear ARB style bumpers
-Build Rock Sliders and roll cage for the rear half of the vehicle w/ built-in roof rack
-Locate some good Fender Flares, If anyone knows where to get some, please let me know.
-2" Torsion Bar Lift w/ Rear lift shackles
-Tires/Rims, I'm thinking about getting some 16" Snowflakes from a salvage yard and getting some lightly used mud tires. Arent the 15" and 16" the same lug pattern? I also need to figure out how big I can go without rubbing, and I also don't want my fuel economy to hit the fan
-Redo the interior, right now the seats are trashed. I also want to pull out the rear seats and carpets and get the back half bed-lined so its no big deal hauling firewood and animals around.
I have a lot of other small ideas to do as well, but this is the focus list. Like I said, I'd love to hear suggestions and tips, I want to do the work right.