2nd gen HILUX bed/grill questions

So lately Ive been on this rat rod obsession. I really wanted to get a stout and do the whole white wall red rim drop thing, but parts are going to be an issue.

I'm a big fan of old toyota trucks, specifically the 1st and 2nd Gen HILUX's. Ive been googling a lot of them and noticed a few things. I was hoping you guys could answer my questions:

1) If you look at the beds of a stock hilux, and some of these modded hilux's, youll see that the stock beds are not level with the cab. Does one have to modify the bed, or fabricate a custom bed in order to level it with the cab like these custom hilux's, or is a frame/bed adjustment?

2) If you notice the grills, some have different grills. If you look at this flickr example the lights have a sort of housing around them. The grill is not as open, or solid. It doesnt look like one piece unlike the other pictures. Are they different front ends, or is this housing just taken off.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mr38/6400297179/sizes/m/in/photostream/

 

Not sure what you're referring to.

On the bed, they are both the same, but on the slammed truck, the cab has been cut... the rocker panel and everything below the edge of the door has been cut off, which makes it more level with the bed bottom.

On the grille, other than what might be some custom chrome, I'm not seeing a difference. The original truck had basic black headlight surrounds.

 

Okay, the original truck has a smaller grill. If you look at the space it is smaller than on the modified trucks. The modified trucks have an open "solid" looking grill, (Similar to a 69 charger). The flickr picture has a smaller length.

Also thanks for answering my question about the bed. It was the rocker panels. That was puzzling me. How much would it cost to cut them off and slam the truck.

 

Same grille... camera angle and the lack of apparent chrome makes it look different.

Count the horizontal bars... 7 on both grilles, and it's the same logo.

 

The stock hilux has that yellow thick bar (or surround, its been a long day. Its hard to describe it. The lights are surrounded by the grill, while the custom trucks are not) on the side of the lights, the custom ones do not. Can you take it off? Or do you have to cut it off?

Also you got rep. So I appreciate your time.

 

Oh, the surround?
I'm pretty sure it's the same. Again, camera angles make it look different, as well as the dull primer color.
The adjustment holes under the headlights are still there in the same position.

The yellow lights under the bumper are the turn signal, and market lights on the fender... both legally required.

 

There. I dont think its the angle. Its a smaller grill and the lights are surrounded unlike the custom hilux's. The lights are enclosed on on this one.

 

Ahh... that wasn't in the original post.
Different year.

Like the 2012/2011/2009, there are styling differences even in the same "generation".
Mid-80s trucks were all over the place on the bed... some had hooks, some didn't, some had two "latches" on the tailgate, others had the center handle.

 

Ya... '72-'78 for that generation, n the US the 2.0 (18R) ran in '73 and '74, then they went to the 20R 2.2l in '75.
You're likely comparing a '75-'78 against a '74 or older.

 

So the 72 to what had the longer grill without the enclosed lights?

Also thanks man. Ive been googling away on these grills.

 

More likely, the more open grille is the newer model.
Datsun did the same thing. I had a '76 Datsun pickup and it was open like that.

 

Thanks for all your help. Is it hard finding parts for the old hilux's or are they easy because they were mass produced?

 

Pretty tricky finding parts for anything from more than 15-20 years ago.
They were mass produced, but the first couple of generations were not imported in huge numbers. I mean, there were a lot of them on the road, along with the Ford Courier and Chevy LUV, but the imports were still battling hard to grab the US market.

It wasn't until our 2nd large increase in fuel prices in 1980 that Toyota and Nissan took a solid hold on the market.