1987 Toyota Truck questions

Turk919

Turk919

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2019
Location
Garner NC
I’m not sure if this is the right place specially to post this, but I didn’t see anywhere else that seemed more fitting.

I’ve always wanted a little Toyota truck to tinker on, always liked the concept of them and reliability. I found out a friend has a ‘87 Truck (non SR5?) and think I might take it on as a project. It seems to be pretty sound body wise, couple small spots on the bed I see and a dent here and there, but the frame looks to be in surprisingly good shape as is the cab. I didn’t see any rust on the bottom of the doors or rockers, etc. But unless rust on these likes to hide, it’s better than any of my J10’s

The truck does apparently need a headgasket, it is popped on the exhaust side. Bubbles the coolant but isn’t mixing anything, and it lost a bearing in the trans so it has 2nd, 4th and reverse. It does come with a spare trans and Tcase, as for the HG, I’m on my own. The engine has a Weber carb, header and apparently an RV cam.

If I get it, I’m swapping a Colt Python for it, I think with the pricing on the Toyota’s, it’s about even. ($1800 or so?)

My questions are:
Is there any thing I need to look for on the truck specifically?

Any places in NC that sell parts to these like a seat/dash/fan shroud?

Are these capable of being converted to EFI/ac/etc?

Any way to tell what trim package it is? I have the vin, but the truck has a basic speedo and all that.

Should I stud the motor or do anything performance related when I put a head on it? I’m going to try and re use the cam if it’s not damaged.

Assuming the truck does not have a diff lock, it has things on the rear axle but I’m assuming they are parking brake related.

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Looks to be base model, no AC, carb etc. As long as the frame and bed are good then its pretty solid. Being a carb truck it likely has a G series transmission which do like to have problems. Might look at the spare one to see if its a W56 which would be preferable but not really important if you just want a driver.

Swapping to EFI is doable if you have all the parts and know what you're doing so it depends on what you want to do with it. AC would be a bigger project requiring donor dash, hvac, under hood stuff etc. Rebuild wise, stock is hard to beat for reliability. I had this exact same year/trim truck, didn't get anywhere fast but it was anvil reliable and fun to drive.

Looks like a great driver, don't ruin it.
 
^^ this. Buy a reman head from a reliable seller. They are EVERYWHERE. New headgasket. Head bolts can be reused but are cheap for new ones. I would recommend a timing set while you’re in there get the metal backed guides not the factory plastic ones. Put it back together. Drive the hell out of it. Keep your eyes on FB marketplace. 5 speed trans are all over the place for cheap. Just saw a couple 5 spd W series for pretty cheap.
 
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Hard to beat a relatively stock yota for reliability. I wouldn't worry about swapping to EFI personally. Like others have said, W56 trans ftw.

@specialtoy is in Statesville and has a LOT of stuff that he may be willing to let go of. He may chime in.
 
rcalexander105 said:
Hard to beat a relatively stock yota for reliability. I wouldn't worry about swapping to EFI personally. Like others have said, W56 trans ftw.

@specialtoy is in Statesville and has a LOT of stuff that he may be willing to let go of. He may chime in.
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If it's just for road/farm use, then a well-tuned Weber will perform just about as well as the EFI. There is a slight difference but IMO it isn't worth the effort to do it, unless you have an entire EFI motor right there and you can swap it all at once together.
The swap isn't hard, the time to do it is when you have the head off anyway.
As mentioned if the gasket is bad, when it's pulled you should get the head checked too. It's almost 50/50 odds on the value of getting that one checked and decked etc vs just buying a rebuilt one ready to drop in.

Re: trim - that's definitely a base model. There's only 2 trims... SR5 and non.
The good news is though - if you want the "fancy stuff"from an SR5 package (a dash w/ a tach, volt meter etc, variable intermitent wipers, fancy door panels, etc) you can literally just swap it in. Just have to find a donor vehicle (has to also be manual trans)

Oh and don't expect it to have any testicles. First time you load up that bed w/ firewood you'll know what I mean.
 
The deal we were working on ended up falling through. Had a bit of a difference of opinion in values. I appreciate all the advise and am going to continue the hunt
 
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