'84 refurbishing questions

Howdy all, Over the last three years I have been forced to rebuild my '84 4x22R dlx xtracab. Forced, mainly because of economics and one thing led to another until I have reconciled to go ahead and complete all the things that are loose, missing or broken. It is a great little truck, emphases on "little", and I just passed the 250k mileage mark and so I have decided to keep it even though a new truck may in the future. Thanks for all help.

For your information, I have had the lower end and head rebuilt. The clutch has been replaced and the driveline was reworked a year before the negine was rebuilt. I jumped all over my mechanic for the way my truck was reassembled. I have found a number of mistakes that have been corrected and are still being corrected, the front drive shaft being one the issues. GRRRRRR!!!!

I have a front driveshaft issue going on elsewhere in this group and I have been asking questions about bed lining the inside of my cab. That will have to wait for awhile. It looks like I will have to rebuild or replace the carb. Now I believe that when I bought this truck in 1984 that I had an automatic altitude adjusting carb. It was one of the many things that I enjoyed about this creative vehicle, for in those days, "creative" was not part of the American manufacturing ideal. Who in their right mind would issue a vehicle with a 6 digit odometer? Anyway, I know there are a few Toyota techs in this group and I would like to know if this feature was actually there or it was a bunch of hooey. I believe it was, only because of all the high altitude trips I took where the engine never faltered even when pitched on a steep angle (near to rolling back over front). I live on the Gulf Coast, BTW. I have priced the carb from Toyota and they want just under 1k which seems very expensive for a carb, even for Toyota. I have been using aftermarket carbs for about 15 years now, but without the feature above. I have done a little pricing around here and the price I get is around $500, but I don't know what I am getting exactly. I have seen a "legal performance kit" from Performance Products that claims 10% more horse power. This kit, as I understand it, is actually a new Weber carb with hardware. I am not a rock crawler, nor do I plan to lift my truck to the clouds. I am a normal user, but I am looking to make this little beauty a little stronger and try to improve some of its weaknesses in stock form.

Suspension is the next issue and I am not looking for a lift. I am looking for replacement springs for my worn out OEM units. I am not impressed with the assemble it yourself Toyota product, nor the price. However, all I can find on the market are lift kits. I don't really want to lift it because it would look silly with 235 tires, plus I don't want the expense of larger tires and rims. I admit that a lift and larger tires do look good and can bring some added stability. However, I did all these things to my CJ-5 many years ago and it really just made a big hole in my pocket. So I vowed not to fall into that trap again. My goal is to replace and strengthen. The only source I have found so far is Alcan Spring Manufacturers. Has anybody dealt with these folks? Do any of you have suggestions or resources?

I have looked through the web pages of

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and have beendisappointed overall in parts availability for an older truck. Most of whatI am looking for are driveline parts and seals, and suspension parts. AlsoI am looking for replacement seats. I just found a site called,
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. I haven't spent much time there yet.Does anybody have resource that cross references seats from other Toyotamodels cars and trucks that would fit my truck. I am looking to replace the exhaust manifold with an aftermarket header by Performance Products that has the polution stuff on it. Does anybody have comments on this equipment. Does it bolt up to the factory exhaust system?

Reply to
Brad Taylor
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No solid resource, but keep in mind, since you have an Xcab, most any bucket seats can be fitted in with minimal work. I have seen, in both Xcab and normal cab Toyota trucks, seats from: 85 Celica GT-S, 90 Tercel, 87 Camaro, and of course 4Runner seats, fitted into the cabs.

good luck! GTr

Reply to
gregory trimper

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I have 300,000+ miles on my 89 xcab (v6) and replace all the suspension bushings about every 100k . i used these guys for springs and sway bars:

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very little of their catalog is accessible online. they have a2-stage spring that will lift the truck about 3/4" over stock, yet givesincreased hauling/towing capacity.nwor can also help w/ some of the driveline stuff/seals you might need (theyare also a Beck-Arnley WD). be prepared for lots of noise from polyurethane bushings when the temp dips below 20-30F (i switched back to oem bushings on the front control arms because of the noise, tho' i did prefer the improved ride/handling). also, check shipping costs; it get very expensive to ship here to the east coast!

you might also try downey:

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not all of their catalog is online. quality seems to be a little lessconsistant for some of their parts as compared to nwor. snipped

thanks for the link, i'm looking for seats too!

i think performance products may be selling the Downey exhaust. NWOR has their own header, and LC Engineering has been making 22R headers for years:

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you might find some helpful info here:
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hth,

miike

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Reply to
miike

Thanks Mike!

I like the spring idea. I little lift would be nice, but not 2". I'll order the catalogs for NWOR, LC Engrg and Downey. I sort of wondered if that was all they had or was there more.

There are not many times when the temperature dips into the 20's along the gulf coast, but it does happen.

Thanks! I've added them to my favorites.

Reply to
Brad Taylor

I bought an LC Engineering Header, bolted right up to the stock exhaust. A bit more pricey but highly recommended.

-FROST-

Reply to
frost203

Thanks, I will look into it.

bit more pricey but highly recommended.

Reply to
Brad Taylor

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