Resurrection of the taco

[DragginWagon]

howdy ya'll.
so ive been looking for a 2wd, single cab, short bed, standard trans toyota pickup for what seems like eternity.
found a few here and there, but im getting reaaallly sick of rust, so finding one that was rust-free was a difficult task to say the least.

Until recently, when my gf's dad mentioned he had what he thought was an old toyota at his shop that was abandoned some 4 years ago.
i went to look the next day and it turns out it was a 96 tacoma 2wd, short bed, single cab, stick shift truck, from indiana, with absolutely zero rust.
i was told by her father it had a blown engine, was dropped off to be looked at by his shop, and never picked up. i quickly hopped on craigslist to look for a new engine for it.
ended up finding one locally that i landed for 250 bucks, and the guy threw in a new clutch and transmission with it!
it goes in this weekend so i can start with the engine swap, then the quest for lowness begins.
sorry for the long story. heres a few pics to tide ya'll over till the tweakend.





im planning on driving this while i tear the wagon to pieces. i do still have it and plan a full resto-mod-thing. just incase you were thinking i sold it.

more soon!

[anth]

pretty lucky find! looking forward to seeing what you do with it. How do you get the truck into your name if the owner has gone AWOL?

[I_R_5m4r7]

Since the vehicle was abandoned at a shop it pretty much becomes the property of the shop after a certain amount of time. All u gotta do is go to DMV and get a new title made up

[DragginWagon]

yeah exactly, my gf's dad just has to file for abandoned title.
i think im going to have one of the only static mini trucks in my state lol.
still unsure of what direction im going, i think a 01-04 front end will find its way on.

[DragginWagon]

update.3/11/11
got the old motor yanked, turns out the rod never went thru the block, altho it appears to have never had an oil change ever..lol.



in with the new:

got it bolted down.
3/12/11
got everything wired up, fluids topped, and all set. and the starter was crap.
got a new starter, and it fired, but due to the 4 year old fuel, it wouldnt run on its own. gonna go in later this week to replace the clutch slave and put in fresh fuel and plugs. fingers crossed!

[DragginWagon]

Update. 3/18/11
went down and put 5 gallons of high octane in the tank, and a can of seafoam.
still after a half hour ran like ass, so i dug a little deeper with a can of carb cleaner, looking for potential vacuum leaks.
seemed like it needed the gasket between the upper and lower intake manifold, so i unbolted them to find that the manifold actually had a few big chunks broken out of it.
i threw the other one off the old motor on it and it runs like a top now!
broken shit:


registration on monday, then on with the stance-related updates.
i appear to be boring people lol.

[benz88]

i like these, Hard to find them without rust. Thier really bad for rotten frames too, Toyota still is recalling these. lol

[DragginWagon]

yeah i lucked out and found one from the south with mint frame and body.
i talked to a guy at toyota the other day, i guess all the recall that fail get crushed whole, too bad, lotta good parts going to waste.

[benz88]

Ah from what i read Toyota just replaces the frame. Or buys the truck from you

[jared1988]

[Okoye]

dude you think you could find another cheap car like this? im a few states down from you. but yeah man love the old taco. you should swap the 4runner front end on it as theyre the same as the hilux pickup fronts

[DragginWagon]

vermonts tough for getting good, cheap cars. half the cheap ones suck. you just gotta scour backyards and knock on doors. lol.
craigslist is always a good place to start, thats where i found my wagon. among my 35 others cars ive owned.

as far as the front end on the truck goes, im swapping the 99-01 front end on it. very very easy to do and parts are cheap as dirt.

then a 4 inch drop all around, rollbar, bumper shave, wheels, and custom exhaust.

[Okoye]

i thought the 4runner front was basically a bolt on swap?
build plans sounds good man looking forward to more updates!

[DragginWagon]

mild update. 3/28/11
Got it running great and registered and insured. been driving it around the last few days and giving the wagon a rest.
cleaned it up, shoveled the 4 years of crap out of the bed, exterior still needs a buff.


threw on my old 8ball shift knob, and my awesome sticker lol.


found some sick plaid seats from an 88 corolla all trac in the scrap yard. gonna pick em up this weekend, maybe some wheels, i got something special in store as far as the wheels and tires go.

[dubtruk36]

Toyota trucks always WINNING!