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Possible project truck ~ 1993 Toyota Pickup 4WD Small Cab 3.0 v6

Knic

Knic

Active Member
Hello everyone,
I haven’t been around in a lonnnng time. I have a chance to buy another Toyota truck early 90s I believe it’s a 93 small cab 4x4 with the V6 3.0. I haven’t looked at it in detail yet. But I know it runs and drives. I was wondering what it’s like to restore one of these how “easy” it is and how hard it is to hunt down body parts. if anyone’s done any cool project I’d love to see them. Cheers
 
jazz

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
Not difficult to source parts, they built thousands of these trucks. I have done minimal work on my Toyota, squirted fresh coat of paint and the usual maintenance however I have done full frame off restorations on '40's and '60s vehicles
I bought a parts truck($650 CDN) with a perfect driveline to supply parts as needed for my '91 Toyota. Only parts scrapped were box, cab and frame. I stripped it bare. Boxed all the parts including wire harnesses, you name it! Parts truck paid for itself after a couple years.
 
rickc5

rickc5

Our back yard
Staff member
100 Posts
Community Leader
Parts for the 89-95 trucks are much more available than parts for the earlier trucks. But, the V6 will be more complex than the 20R-22R four cylinders. Body parts should be easier to find, but maybe not if you live in the rust belt. Be sure to crawl around underneath to determine that amount of rust you will be dealing with. Check the frame carefully.

We bought a new '89 back in late '88. That was a GREAT truck, but lots longer than the '86 we traded in. The V6 was better in the mountains too.
 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
I do live in the rust belt. I’m sure there is rust under there. I don’t think there any soft spots, yet. it’s so cheap that it’s hard not to pass on even if it end up as a daily. I’m no welder so I’d be paying for any frame repairs. Not sure what ball park on something like that is.
 
rickc5

rickc5

Our back yard
Staff member
100 Posts
Community Leader
Rust repair costs can vary considerably, depending on how much work needs to be done to "fix" the rust issues. Patching a few small holes may be relatively inexpensive, but replacing major parts of the frame rails, and fixing broken spring perches will cost quite a bit more. I watched a few videos on You Tube about fixing rusted frames on Tacomas where Toyota wouldn't replace the frames due to the recall--LOTS of work involved.

On the plus side, small rust spots/holes can be cleaned and painted with POR15, which will stop the rust from getting worse. You just need to avoid a frame that looks like swiss cheese, and is rusted through around the spring perches--bad news there.
 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
rickc5 said:
Rust repair costs can vary considerably, depending on how much work needs to be done to "fix" the rust issues. Patching a few small holes may be relatively inexpensive, but replacing major parts of the frame rails, and fixing broken spring perches will cost quite a bit more. I watched a few videos on You Tube about fixing rusted frames on Tacomas where Toyota wouldn't replace the frames due to the recall--LOTS of work involved.

On the plus side, small rust spots/holes can be cleaned and painted with POR15, which will stop the rust from getting worse. You just need to avoid a frame that looks like swiss cheese, and is rusted through around the spring perches--bad news there.
Click to expand...
Thanks I’ll probably pull get it and then go through it really well then decide what I want to do with it. It will esither be a hunting truck/daily or a long term project. Thanks for the info.
 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
On a side note is there any kind of frame repairs kits or reinforcing kits any one suggest?
 
jazz

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
I have not seen any repair kits. Usually these truck frames rot right behind the cab where rails drop. Its a catchall for debris and salt to collect.
Good a time as any to learn to weld. A decent small Hobart mig welder will pay for itself many times over in a lifetime. I had never used a mig until I replaced floors in a '68 firebird. The cost to farm out the work was $2000 so I bought a mig ($700) and two floor pans ($200) This was 20 years ago and the mig has done a pile of work since.
 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
jazz said:
I have not seen any repair kits. Usually these truck frames rot right behind the cab where rails drop. Its a catchall for debris and salt to collect.
Good a time as any to learn to weld. A decent small Hobart mig welder will pay for itself many times over in a lifetime. I had never used a mig until I replaced floors in a '68 firebird. The cost to farm out the work was $2000 so I bought a mig ($700) and two floor pans ($200) This was 20 years ago and the mig has done a pile of work since.
Click to expand...
I’ve always wanted to learn how to weld but idk the first thing about it or I would.
 
jazz

jazz

Mechanic
100 Posts
You could attend a course local to your area, weekend or evenings. Community colleges tend to have them or just learn the basics from youtube or on your own as I did. Its not rocket science:D
I only chose the Hobart as I do know they are a good welder and would suit your needs. I have a Air Liquide mig but they are no longer made.

 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
jazz said:
You could attend a course local to your area, weekend or evenings. Community colleges tend to have them or just learn the basics from youtube or on your own as I did. Its not rocket science:D
I only chose the Hobart as I do know they are a good welder and would suit your needs. I have a Air Liquide mig but they are no longer made.

Click to expand...
I will be working on finishing my second associates degree maybe I could use it as my last elective.
 
kennythewelder

kennythewelder

Super Moderator
Staff member
100 Posts
Well when it comes to welding, welding school is 9 months long for a reason. Until you spend some time under a welding hood, welding beads, you will never be able to be good at it. The wire feed machines are the easiest to learn on. As for brand, well the best electric machines are Miller, and the best engine driven machines are Lincoln, but nether of these are cheap. Hobart is OK, We have a big Hobart wire feed at work, and its OK but thats all. When I bought my home machine I bought a Miller Thunder bolt AC/DC. but I do have a TIG torch that I can TIG weld from this machine. All of this all depends on what you want to weld. Thick metal requires a more HD machine. If all your doing is body panels, yo can get away with a small 120 volt machine.
 
toyotafan

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Knic said:
Hello everyone,
I haven’t been around in a lonnnng time. I have a chance to buy another Toyota truck early 90s I believe it’s a 93 small cab 4x4 with the V6 3.0. I haven’t looked at it in detail yet. But I know it runs and drives. I was wondering what it’s like to restore one of these how “easy” it is and how hard it is to hunt down body parts. if anyone’s done any cool project I’d love to see them. Cheers
Click to expand...
Good to see that you're boosting your skills to learn to work on your truck, that's awesome. What are your long-term plans with the truck? Going to try to restore it, modify it or just do whatever it takes to keep it on the road?
 
Knic

Knic

Active Member
toyotafan said:
Good to see that you're boosting your skills to learn to work on your truck, that's awesome. What are your long-term plans with the truck? Going to try to restore it, modify it or just do whatever it takes to keep it on the road?
Click to expand...
Idk for sure honestly. I’ve never really taken on a project or anything.
 
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