Hard To Start / Runs Rough / Variable Idle

[Van Allen]

I recently purchased a 1985 Toyota Van (5 speed), which I shall refer to as "Red Stripe".


Red Stripe was advertised by a woman who said the van had sat without running for over 10 years. Upon further inquiry, it looks like it was closer to 17 years! 112,xxx miles on her. Red Stripe, all those years ago, was rammed by a runaway vehicle (huge dent in side right behind driver's door. Had to replace battery by dropping the batter​y box and re-raising with new battery). She said she drove it for another six months, then replaced it with the insurance money and Red Stripe just sat until I came along.


I changed coolant, oil, new oil and fuel filters, new plugs (but NOT wires, cap or rotor), dropped fuel tank and replaced bad pump. Did not clean tank, but did rinse it with a few gallons of fresh gas. I got her running and she smoked terribly for a few miles or so, then cleared up and was running great!


Then a brand new section of soft fuel line failed, spilling gas everywhere. I replaced that section with a ridiculously high PSI hose and it did the trick.


Then the alternator died and I replaced that. Immediately after that, when I would start the engine, it would idle up and down, rhythmically. throttle would kill it, until restarting it a few times, when I was then able to carefully rev it up. Once it came back to idle, it would die. I changed the fuel filter AGAIN, no change.
This is where it is at now, except that it has got more difficult to start. It will eventually start and run rough, but it takes a lot of cranking; most normal people would give up before cranking it this much. Unfortunately, I'm not normal, and I think I might have fried the starter, as it just started making a funny noise.


Since the problem coincided with alternator swap, I wondered if maybe I knocked something loose, like a vacuum hose (and I think I MIGHT be hearing a sort of whistling, but not sure). I've inspected all the hoses I can see and all seem ok. I did find a busted wire to the O2 sensor, and repaired the connection at the plug (not a great permanent fix, but confident it's making proper contact). No change.

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Wondered also if it could be fuel pressure regulator or dampener. Could that burst fuel hose have been a victim of unregulated pressure, or just a defective part? (I can't be sure they sold me the right PSI hose).


All of this is within the first 50 miles since I bought it.


This is the 4th of these vans I've owned (all '85s), and I currently have 2 (both 5 speeds). I don't have much of a mechanical background, but I've done a lot of work on these vans and I'm learning a lot--but there are large gaps in my knowledge for sure.


Any ideas and suggestions welcome, thanks!