Howdy! Come watch me polish a turd.

Hey guys, I just picked up a 2006 DC with 4wd and a V8. She’s in pretty rough shape so it’s it’s a little tough to post up next to all these beautiful trucks, but I want to say hi and thank you all for all the info I’ve gotten already.
She’s pretty rusty and the drivers seat looks (and smells) like a badger lived in it but it’s only got 170k on the clock, 4wd and almost all the body panels are the same color and hey, it was $3500. Anyway, thanks again and sorry in advance for 10,000 questions. Yes, I’ll search first and I’ve read the pre-buy sticky like 35 times.

 

How’s the frame? Any concerns about rust through there?

 

Thanks! I have a feeling I’m going to need to get my elbow grease at Costco but I’m pretty stoked. Already knocked out steering bushings, bled the brakes poorly and just about to get going on valve cover gaskets. Ball joints are sitting on the front porch as we speak too. It’s just a beater for yard work, but might as well minimize the risk of dying as much as possible eh?

 

It’s a little flaky, but fortunately it has a MASSIVE oil leak from the crank shaft seal and I live in a place that doesn’t salt the roads so it shouldn’t get much worse before I can treat it.

 

Should be okay for yard work. Feel free to to start a thread when you plan to get around to the leak in the crank shaft seal. Plenty of good people here that can answer questions if you like to DIY.

 

Spending 60% of the purchase price to get it fixed is kinda out of the question lol. I’ve been working on Toyotas for about a decade and like to play a fun game my wife hates where I build a project only using used or on sale parts to see how cheaply I can do it. Obviously that excludes things like ball joints and brakes.
Anyway here are a few past and current builds just so I get a little street cred.

 

Nice!

 

So just off the bat, should I pull this bent ass radiator to make it easier to do the seal and straighten the front end? It works, but I’m assuming the amphetamine enthusiast I bought this from used the cheapest possible part after he hit whatever he hit.
And for the record I knew this was a heap of shit when I bought it.
Also let me know if I need to make separate threads for all this stuff.

 

Nah, retitle this thread and keep it as your build/ progress thread. That way everything is in one place.

 

Better?

 

Haha. Is the condenser bent as well? Hopefully you still got AC.

 

Nah no AC, but I haven’t gotten that far yet. Guessing it’s trashed. The trans cooler is painted black which I’m sure helps with thermal transfer.

 

Reverse methhead psychology, if you insulate the fins from heat, it’ll hold in the cold better, right?

 

Oh. This "build" is already interesting.

And I see Renton. Born and raised in Bellevue.

 

Trans cooler is painted black from the factory

 

I really like how you're approaching this. You know what you have, and you're not trying to make it something it's not. Following.

 

Only half painted gloss black?

 

I may be fiscally irresponsible but I’m not foolish.

 

If the frame, engine and transmission are good, LBJ, timing belt and radiator get done and fluids refreshed (if not done already), then you are left in a great position to do what you can when you can and bring this thing back. I'd probably get rid of the badger first though!

 

Engine sounds good and trans and trans case both work well. Frame is not great but someone in Michigan would be pretty excited to have it. No holes, just needs to get some love.

 

Alright new headlights and tail lights. No more taped on turn signals for this guy! Fitment was… challenging.

 

Thanks for sharing your adventure. I'm interested to see how far you go with it.

 

Yeah if this were me, I’d be hitting FB marketplace and CL and car-part.com to look for a donor vehicle. I’d probably try to find a radiator support, fenders, and hood. Even if you gotta roll around two-tone like @JakeJake, at least you have straight sheet metal and don’t need to worry about the parts you’re putting on getting damaged due to the current sheet metal condition.

 

I blame the turtle pace that my personal projects tend to take on. Someday the truck and camper will be Porsche guards red. Maybe yellow. Maybe some lowrider style lace work.

@Nimitz_ my local yard didn't even charge me for the small headlight filler panels and a pile of other stuff. I harvested a whole front clip, hood and one fender in about 45 minutes. Totally worth it if you can find something in your area.

 

Already doing it but not sure what fits the DCs. Also most of the time they get stripped pretty fast.

 

What’s the best way to find something in a yard? The closest dual cab on car-parts is 700 miles away

 

Really depends on your location. Sometimes just searching “tundra parts truck” on FBM and CL will get you much closer private-sale examples. Maybe expand your search to OfferUp and/or other sale outlets. LKQ is a choice @The Black Mamba posted more info on how to setup alerts for LKQ Online’s new parts trucks in a previous thread very recently.

 

The U pull it’s in WA are called pick n pull.
https://www.picknpull.com/