My 1985 Toyota Truck, original owner, bought it new in June 1985 for $6700 I think




It's had:

• 6 sets of tires





• 6 batteries ?





• on the 4th starter and alternator





• rebuilt the carb





• 1 head gasket repair





• front wheel bearings replaced twice





• numerous brake pads





• 2 clutches replaced





• radiator replaced twice





• 50+ oil changes





• 5 or so traffic tickets





• mechanical fuel pump replaced





• exhaust system replaced





• catalytic converter replaced





• windshield replaced





• repainted one time





• throttle cable replaceld





• speedometer cable replaced





• radiator hoses replaced 4 x





• oil sensor replaced





• igniter replaced





• ignition coil replaced




• brake master cylinder x 2




• clutch master and slave cylinder x 3




• rear drum brake cylinders x 1


• fan clutch
  
  





• and more

Was my only vehicle from 1985 to 1996.  Very reliable.  The igniter died and left me stranded for a few days but it was an easy fix, ever since then I've had a second vehicle.
In 2000 had the head gasket replaced just under 200,000.  Since then only put about 6000 miles a year on it since I've had another vehicle.
Sometime in early 2000's the AC belt was squealing, the compressor seized, I just cut and removed the drive belt
Last year I wasn't paying attention and been dealing with a slow loss of coolant by just topping off the radiator which had a small leak as well as a small heater hose.   I neglected to stay on top of it and ran out of coolant and overheated the engine.




The result was a second bad head gasket.
At first the bad head gasket was small, just used more coolant than normal, but I could still drive it for short trips around town and such so I left it at that.
Then it got worse and worse.  Now it blows white steam out of the exhaust, sucks the coolant into the oil, turning it into a milkshake type substance.
Decided not to fix it.  Have a 2015 Mustang GT on order expecting delivering in Feb/March 2015.  Until then I'll rely on my trusty 2003 Toyota Tacoma.
Ended up selling to my trusted mechanic for just above scrap value.
Here's the truck as it was today, the mechanic, and the old Truck being towed into the sun set
RIP Toyota Truck, I shall miss you


The bottle of rum is actually a bottle of water and coolant










 

I felt the same way when I finally got rid of my '92 Mitsu Eclipse last year. Original owner with 196xxxmi. The front main seals gave out so I sold it to my neighbor's handyman who is also a good mechanic.

If I had that much time in a vehicle (never happen) I must say I would have to park it in the back yard and let it return to the earth with dignity.

The irony is I may see it again.  The mechanic is going to sell to one of his employees (another mechanic) and he's supposed to fix it up.



 

I'm sorry for your loss.

I feel for you.

The eyesore has gone to a better place. I will never forget our road trip to JAX, I woke up on I95 and you were going 95 in that little beast.

I've known and worked with AssaultRifler for the majority of the time he owned the 'Blue Eyesore', as we all affectionately referred to it.  
So, I knew this day was coming soon.  I feel the loss too.
It shuttled us to many a range day, and its bed served as a platform for many a beer brewing session.  I also assisted in a few of the repair sessions over the years.  I'll miss you Blue.

Sorry for your loss

My long time running joke was anytime I had to buy new tires, replace the starter, whatever it meant I had to keep the truck for at least one more year so I'd get my money's worth, but within that year another small repair or something would be needed so the "one more year" became like 20





 

That's the coolest truck ever. Hope it serves the new owner just as well as it served you and has many miles to go

my dad still has his 85 but its a 4x4. his headgasket went out too so he rebuilt it and bored out the block, bigger carb, exhaust, small lift/tires. just got it repainted. probably gets 1K miles a year now.

Quick, someone post the video of Old Blue singing dust in the wind.

Sorry, op.   I love my 99 Tacoma.  I'll rebuild it, make it stronger.

Frank The Tank sang it at Blue's funeral. Get it right!

Seems like a lot of repairs for only 277K miles.

Bought a new F150 in 1990, for $10,300.
Tires and brakes a few times, shocks once and rebuilt front end once.
Original battery made it 9 years,10 months.
So add one battery and one alternator to above list, and that was IT for 242,000 miles.
And I used/abused the hell out of it.

And can't stand to part with stuff, it's been sitting behind the barn, since 2004.
With some older stuff (tractors, trucks, bikes, boat, etc)

Yeah, the list is long but the truck was over 29 years old.  Clutches last about 120K or so, tires, 40-60K, batteries 6 years,  starter/alternators 6-10 maybe, etc

would be a lot of repairs if the truck had 277K and was only 14 years old



 

Yeah I wish I had lived in the south. All vehicles disintegrate in the snow belt. Same truck up here was gone in the 90s.

LOL, I have some stuff from the 70s still "running" but that's about it.
Usually have to go behind them and pick up whatever has fallen off.

I drove a 1987 GLHS from 1992 to 2012 and put around 200k miles on it. Took me through college, law school and beyond. Replaced almost everything on it, most of the breakages were performance upgrades that broke. Rebuilt the a525 twice, replaced with a523. New engine after I dropped a valve in a ported head with super 60 cam. Struts, brakes, bushings, radiator, turbo, etc.

Loaned it to a friend who needed a car and he put a hole in #4 piston, probably leaned it out. But the frame was pretty rusty so I stripped good parts off and sold it to a wrecking yard for $250. Sold a bunch of small parts and spares for $400.

I thought I would miss it but I was glad to see it go, big weight off my shoulders. I did put a lot of work into it.

For some reason the pic of the interior reminded me of the smell of my dad's 86 4wd.  Boy that brings me back, what a great truck that was.  He (and right at the end, I) put around 387,000 on it before the frame rusted out so bad you could push your finger through the side of the rail.  Some guy noticed it had been sitting in the same spot next the the garage for awhile and bought it for $800.  That was in 2004 or 2005, I think.

I loved that little truck, getting used to it not being around.  The bench seat was great.  The inside was small, no extra cab.

It came with a non sliding glass window, I bought an aftermarket one, then the toolbox.  The vehicle was so basic had to love the purity of it: 4 speed manual, carb with automatic choke, no tachometer, no cruise control, no power steering, power locks or windows, no ABS, not a single computer in the whole thing, no tilt steering wheel, etc



OTOH it was probably a death trap: no air bags

Sorry that you had to say goodbye to your friend.

I have 3 of those, 2 87s and an 86.

Not a hands on kinda guy? 22r head gaskets are pretty easy.

My condolences.

That sucks, man.    The rest of us will carry the 80's torch from here.