Topic: 1983 DIESEL 5spd Long Bed

[kzunell]

  So I have been looking at this 83 2WD Toyota long bed P/U that has been parked in a yard in the dessert by my friends new house. I finally run into the owner and ask him about the truck and he says it is a Diesel??? and he hasn't driven it since he moved out of the house 4 years ago.  I ask him if he wants to sell it and I look at it. The body is perfectly straight with no rust anywhere. The windshield has a small crack in it. I look under the hood and it is a Diesel (non turbo) and the heater core has been bypassed. The battery trays are toast and the hose between the air filter and intake is cracked. Someone had broken into the truck by breaking the latch on the rear sliding window and had broken the ignition.  The only body damage I found was 2 bullet holes in the passenger side door (to me this gives the truck character haha) that went thru the outer skin but didn't go all the way thru the interior skin. I am thinking they were 38 hollow points.  Well we settled on a price of $450 and I towed it back to my friends house (about 1/4 mile away on a dirt road).  The tires were still holding air. The parking brake works fine. 
   I need to drain and clean the fuel system and drain and purge the brake system and flush radiator and change oil and fix the ignition switch and replace the two batteries and battery trays. and it should be good to test drive.  Then I have to decide what to do with it. From what I have read on these trucks they get close to 40mpg on the highway but do not have much power. 63hp and 93ft/lbs of torque. I am thinking I might add a turbo and modify the fuel injection system (mechanical system), or replace it with a more modern diesel engine if anyone has any ideas or recomendations?

  Thanks,  Kelly

[Wainiha]

Let's see it.  Pics please.  Especially that motor.

[Cheesemaker]

He needs alot more posts before he can post pictures.  Alot of the Cali guys love the diesel toys, for the fact that you can put in any motor you want and not worry about smogging. 

[kzunell [OP]]

  How many posts do I need to post pics?

[HogCanyonHopper]

http://board.marlincrawler.com/index.php?topic=53326.0

[kneedownnate]

Fix it up and tune it well and enjoy a reliable little fuel saver

[njtrekker]

You should also replace timing belt,idler pulley and tensioner. to be safe. the pulleys tend to go bad and the timing belt will wander off and brake. This is a noninterference motor. you may want to change water pump why you got it all apart also.

[helipilot77]

You would spend a fortune on a newer deisel motor swap. I probably spent $7000 on my 1KZ-te swap. If it will fire up, I would say keep it the way it is. The original diesels are rare.

[kzunell [OP]]

  Well put 2 batteries in the truck and cleaned the battery terminals. Pulled the steering colum apart and pulled the ignition switch apart. Turned the switch and it cranked over. Checked the fuel filter and water separator both had fuel cranked it over again and it fired right up. Checked everything and a few lights don't work and the engine oil light doesn't work. Clutch is fine gears work. Brakes master cylinder was empty so will have to bleed the system.  Ohh and radio works but speakers are blown. Not sure if the cassette player works.

[Cheesemaker]

[kzunell [OP]]

Is there a tach on some diesel pickups? Is there a different gauge cluster? I can use? I only have a speedometer and a fuel gauge and temp gauge then the idiot lights for the rest.. It does have a glow plug light and oil light and amp light etc.. what are the after market gauge options available specifically for Toyota p/u's? 

  thanks

[helipilot77]

I'm pretty sure that all diesel trucks came without the tach. It would be challenging to add one on a manual injection pump model like yours. Although I read something once about being able to get a tach signal off the alternator.