Well I bought this truck in Feb after a long search for an 85 ext cab.
The truck was in pretty awesome shape for being 25 years old. It had some goodies on it as well R151 tranny, Marlin 4.7's in a single 23spl case, AP TC skid, Marlin Rear bumper and a pretty fresh rebuild on the 22RE (about 15K) 3" springs in the front, an AAL in the rear and a good set of 33/10.5/15 BFG KM's on FJ 60 wheels
I started collecting parts which include all the necessary upgrades over the next few months:
Longs, Long Chromo hub gears, Long knuckle ball wipers, Knuckle rebuild kit, TG knuckle ball gussets, IFS box mount, TG shock hoops, Marlin Histeer, Marlin Wheel Spacers, Marlin Front winch bumper, Marlin front hanger, Marlin u-bolt flip kits, Marlin front axle truss, Marlin extended brake lines, FROR bumper stiffener, Warn M8000, 4" font leaf pack, Sky 63" hanger kit, Sky diff guards, Sky rear shock hoop, a set of 63's, HP front 3rd, 5.29's F/R, Detroits F/R, IFS steering box from an 86 PU, V6 IFS rear axle
The first thing I wanted to accomplish was to get rid of some sheisty under hood wiring, cruise control crap, crappy offroad lights, and a non working security system. I also suspected a vac leak somewhere as well and the truck didnt idle well and had an intermitent starting problem. I also gave it a good degreasing as well while I was under there. Found a great deal on a refurb Odyssey PC 1500 and threw that in as well. I still need to get to regasketting the oil pan sooner or later.
I got some new intake parts from the throttle body all the way to the airbox as well from the stealership since the couplings were dry rotted pretty badly. Also picked up a new dipstick as well to replace the tired old one.
All the crap I removed. Suprisingly it started after I removed all this stuff
Found a set of 35's for a reasonable price
Marlin bumper on
Got a friend ot help me out on the donor front axle
With work being hectic as of late I was reffered to a guy to help me out setting up the 63's and changing out the front hanger and strectching the wheelbase a little bit
Front axle out
Push pull steering...Gone
Mocking up the rear
Rear shot
Front cleaned up
The front stretch
Full side view as it sits now
Should be getting to flexing it out this week for the correct length shocks and bump stop placement. Shock hoops and IFS box mounting to follow after that. Trying to have it wheelable my the end of Oct for an ICBM sshakedown.
It is coming together nicely so far......
The truck was in pretty awesome shape for being 25 years old. It had some goodies on it as well R151 tranny, Marlin 4.7's in a single 23spl case, AP TC skid, Marlin Rear bumper and a pretty fresh rebuild on the 22RE (about 15K) 3" springs in the front, an AAL in the rear and a good set of 33/10.5/15 BFG KM's on FJ 60 wheels
I started collecting parts which include all the necessary upgrades over the next few months:
Longs, Long Chromo hub gears, Long knuckle ball wipers, Knuckle rebuild kit, TG knuckle ball gussets, IFS box mount, TG shock hoops, Marlin Histeer, Marlin Wheel Spacers, Marlin Front winch bumper, Marlin front hanger, Marlin u-bolt flip kits, Marlin front axle truss, Marlin extended brake lines, FROR bumper stiffener, Warn M8000, 4" font leaf pack, Sky 63" hanger kit, Sky diff guards, Sky rear shock hoop, a set of 63's, HP front 3rd, 5.29's F/R, Detroits F/R, IFS steering box from an 86 PU, V6 IFS rear axle
The first thing I wanted to accomplish was to get rid of some sheisty under hood wiring, cruise control crap, crappy offroad lights, and a non working security system. I also suspected a vac leak somewhere as well and the truck didnt idle well and had an intermitent starting problem. I also gave it a good degreasing as well while I was under there. Found a great deal on a refurb Odyssey PC 1500 and threw that in as well. I still need to get to regasketting the oil pan sooner or later.
I got some new intake parts from the throttle body all the way to the airbox as well from the stealership since the couplings were dry rotted pretty badly. Also picked up a new dipstick as well to replace the tired old one.
All the crap I removed. Suprisingly it started after I removed all this stuff
Found a set of 35's for a reasonable price
Marlin bumper on
Got a friend ot help me out on the donor front axle
With work being hectic as of late I was reffered to a guy to help me out setting up the 63's and changing out the front hanger and strectching the wheelbase a little bit
Front axle out
Push pull steering...Gone
Mocking up the rear
Rear shot
Front cleaned up
The front stretch
Full side view as it sits now
Should be getting to flexing it out this week for the correct length shocks and bump stop placement. Shock hoops and IFS box mounting to follow after that. Trying to have it wheelable my the end of Oct for an ICBM sshakedown.
It is coming together nicely so far......