Topic: My "All in the Family" 82 LWB

[kletzenklueffer]

I thought I'd add a thread with a story and pics of my 82LWB 4x4. (Pics coming shortly).

My dad bought this truck new in the spring of 1982. He had been driving a 67 Plymouth Valiant with a slant six and 27" dunlop snow tires on the back for several years prior. I rode in that Valiant while my dad put the car through mud holes where jeeps had gotten stuck- that taught me that driving ability will do more for you than mods. So anyway, he kept the Plymouth, but came home one day in the 82. It is/was white with a factory or dealer install camper shell on it and orange to red BUSHWHACKER decal package. The guts of the truck were the 22R with no powersteering, no AC, no radio. A real DLX with nothing. My dad put a CB in it and we took several trips from north GA to north Ohio with me and my little sister riding in the back (dad set the back up with carpet and pillows and a cooler and stuff). 13 hours later we'd arrive. The truck chugged away for years with not a problem. So then when I was 17 and started driving, my mom bought my dad a 72 VW Camper van. My dad let me start driving the 82 and he outfitted the VW for SHTF. 1700cc Porsche engine in it and it was still slow.

So with the Toyota I stuck some 31" Mud Kings on it and felt like I had a monster truck. I jumped everything I could find in it. My now wife and three other aquaintances bought Toyotas becuase of how the 82 lasted with me behind the wheel. so after 6 years of driving it, I was ready for something with more room. I found a 72 Blazer for a good price and bought it. It was like driving an elephant. It was a beast on the road and too wide for any trails. It needed a bit of restoration, and I came to the point of needing to sell one to fix the other. The blazer got the cut. It turned in to 3" lift and 4.56 gears for the Toyota (and some new furniture for the then wife). Well, things went south and I ended up buying a CJ7. I loved the open air of the full convertible blazer and the V8 power. So the Toyota got sold to my brother in law. I drove the Jeep for a couple years, had a son, and needed something more spacious. So I looked for a 4Runner. I still wanted a 2 door and found a 86 with 57K miles and never sat on seats, never stepped on carpet. Both had been covered since it left the dealer. (This was 97). The 4Runner was great. It was from Missouri so had some rust on the undercarriage and some coolant problems. One by one they were sorted out. I drove it for 10 years. I got again to the point that I needed to eiter pour a couple thousand in to the 4Runner or buy something else. So I opted for another 4Runner. I went to church with a guy with a 97 for a decent price. It was 3.4 auto, low miles and loaded. I was tired of shifting. So I still have it and drive it daily.

Then one day I went to pick up my nephew for him and my son to ride 4 wheelers. My brother in law asks me if I want the 82 Toyota- he said he put a carb on it, but it's just sat for a while and it was going to rust away if something didn't happen. He said he put a Weber on it, but still had the Aisin. He said If I paid him for the Weber I could have the truck back since it had always been mine anyway. I wasn't going to pass it up. So a couple weeks later he brings it over. I nearly cried. The old thing had been abandoned! He lowered it off the back of a rollback. I started going through it and found he'd not completed the carb install. It ran, but rough. The oil looked like tar. The drivers side floorboard had some rust pentetration. The big stell tube bumper was gone (the bumper had survived two or three rear impacts with no damage- I loved it as much as the truck). So I pulled it to the back of the property and was unsure of it's fate.

After a couple months of just starting it to keep everything oiled, my wife tells me that the neighbors son in law asked if I wanted to sell it. I was really thinking about it. I'd been eyeing a KLR650 Dual Sport. So after a couple more weeks I figured I should at least get it running right before selling it. So I went to finish the carb install, removing and plugging the remaining vacuum leaks. I changed the oil and plugs. It sounded so much better. So I pulled it back and parked it. On the way back to the house I turned to look at it and it looked like it's headlights were a bit brighter- like Herby the love bug. So the nexr day at work I am thinking about it and decide I need to fix the shifter which had been bad loose for ten years. I came to Marlins site and ordered the shifter seat and cup. Then it was the clicking in the 4wd. I tore the front end down to ensure the birfs were still good. and off for a drive in 4x4, hanging out the drivers door and hear that it's the front drive shaft. So an ordered for a Cardan joint ball kit is pending more $$. So I told my wife I can't sell the truck- it's part of the family.

[gmack192]

I would almost kill to get my first Toyota back.        bring her back to her former glory and save her for your son

[Rocksurfer]

I would almost kill to get my first Toyota back.        bring her back to her former glory and save her for your son

Same here, I'd enjoy having my 84 truck back and my wife's 86 turbo runner in the garage right now. Even though they were bought 2 years apart I consider them the 1st rigs I owned since one was a truck and the other an SUV.

[kletzenklueffer [OP]]

That's exactly what's on my mind. I learned to drive and to four wheel in this truck.

While I was setting my timing I was thinking about how I felt as a kid hearing my dad talk about his 57 chevy that he bought new in 1957. He raced it and ran it like a dog. I so bad wished I could have seen it, drove in it, etc, and still have a spot for a 57 because of him owning one. When I was my sons age, it'd be 24 years since my dad had his 57. Now it's been 22 years since my dad gave me the 82. Just to have it again is special, much less getting to fix it (not to mention all the stuff available for these trucks now) and wheel with him and teach him to drive in it.

[gmack192]

have the boy help work on the truck, he will learn form the experience and you can spend time together   
is your dad still around?

[kletzenklueffer [OP]]

Yep, pops is still around. (Just a little props to pops-he served in the Navy from 58-68, got a bronze star and purple heart in VN for courage under fire. He manned a machine gun after the gunner was killed. His shin was chewed up by bullets and fragmentation as he ran. I'm proud of him for his medal, but also he's been a great dad. Taught me to drive, shoot, hunt, fish, and to be a man. My first trip driving any distance with him he had me pull a 16 foot camper behind the 82 toyota out of the mountains about 30 miles. My knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel to tight).

My dad seems happy that I'm putting the 82 back on the road. don't know how ya'll feel about this, but I feel the need to have at least one ride that is not subject to EMP. (Where's the tinfoil hat smilie?!)

[LilChief87]

 

[kletzenklueffer [OP]]

Pics will be up inj the next few days. I figure I'll add pics to this thread as I make improvements. I got my Marlin shifter seat and bottom thingy today. I just put them in a few minutes ago. What an instant gratification. The shifter would rotate 360 and was sloppy as a butter churn. Now it 85% better. The pins that hold it in need some work, and the grooves int he shifter ball need welded and reground. I'm going to look in to cutting a new shifter altogether.

The mechanic that put the tranny in rigged the shifter. He told us he did (maybe ten years back, but the tranny has only had maybe a couple thousand miles on it since then). The plastic seat must have been gone because he put a washer under the ball. It may have caused some of the pits in the ball.

Still, it'll be nice to know what gear you're putting it in, and hopefully it won't pop out of reverse now.