My '79 Hilux Body Swapped First Gen Tacoma

A little backstory. I bought a rolled '98 Tacoma regular cab 4wd. Its a 3rz, 5-speed, 4x4 wtih 334k miles on it. Wouldnt run at all. Previous owner replaced everything he could think of to get it to run and then got fed up with it and sold it to me. I replaced the ECM and all was good. Runs great..ish.


It was in a slow roll that knocked out the windshield and crunched up the cab/doors/fenders/bed pretty good. Suspension-wise it has a full OME kit front and rear. Someone thought it would be a good idea to double stack lift kits and installed a strut spacer on top of the strut and lift blocks under the new leafs. Its all getting removed. The truck came with a beautiful looking e-locked rear end that i will be using to replace the one currently installed with a bad bearing.

Plexiglass windshield screwed into the cab and "sealed" with foam. This of course didnt work and soaked the ECM in the dash.


The water damage in the ECM


I drove it around the yard for 6 months using it to pull junk around to and from my shop, when i started to try and figure out what i was going to do with it. I wanted to leave it outside instead of in the shop taking up space so i began to look for a new watertight cab.

As some may know, i am kinda obsessed with first gen pickups. They are my jam. After some search i came across this little guy at an organic farm in Austin for cheap. My brother picked it up for me and it was on.




The new truck is a 79 Sr5 with bucket seats, a 20r/5-speed and AC. Minimal rust all for $450, including title. truck was purchased wednesday of last week (10/30).

First day i got the cab removed from the 79



Next was getting the tacoma ready to remove its cab. Took plenty of pics under the hood and disconnected the engine wiring from the cab. The powerful 3rz. I love these engines.


How she looked before tear down on some 33x12.5 BFG ATs.


Next up, taco cab removal.



With the help of a few buds and my Dad, we loaded up the 79 cab and got it sitting on the taco chassis. I spent a couple hours powerwashing the engine/transmission/chassis prior to this.

Its just sitting here at this point. Still need to relocate the body mounts.



Before i moved the new cab over, i modified the tacoma steering joint and grafted it into the 1st gen cab. Im using the taco booster/master, clutch master, etc, but reusing the 79 pedals. It all bolts in.


Next day i moved the tacoma body mounts and used the front and back mounts from the 79 chassis to mount the cab. Came out well. Its as low as i could go and still have the hood clear the engine.


Not looking as shitty



Checking out some 37s i have in the shop. They fit....


Now for the fun part...everything else. I started on the Tacoma dash swap inyo the 79 cab. I reused the taco dash bar and modified it some to fit in the 79 cab. I made a couple plates that used existing bolt holes and welded the bar to them. I then set the steering column in place and trimmed the plastic dash to fit the curve of the windshield. Its almost in place but needs a little more trimming to fit nice.


Now i know this all works because i have had another first gen truck can on a tacoma chassis but in 2wd. Should have never sold it.




List of shit to complete:
Transfer wiring from tacoma to 79
transfer over HVAC stuff over to 79
Connect all wiring and plumbing
check to see if it fires up.
cut down long bed from 79 to match wheelbase of tacoma. (110 vs 103 for the tacoma)
Unfuck the suspension and lower it
mount up 35s on a set of FJC steelies.
tacoma seats (probably)
Tacoma Center Console
Stereo for jams
profit?

Let me know yalls thoughts. Im trying to not spend hardly any money completing this swap.

So far ive purchased:
LEDs for the cluster while i have it out - $11 on Amazon
New trans shifter seat and HD ball from Marlin Crawler - $25

 

I like the Profit part but you left out blank

Looks like a fun project

 

I love it im sure it will be awesome.
I have a 3rz 4runner and its such an eager little 4 banger.

 

If my 82 ever gives up the ghost on me, I'm doing this swap no doubt about it. Both swapped trucks look awesome.

 

I removed the entire harness from the tacoma last night in two pieces. Toyota was nice enough to use a connector connecting the under hood stuff to the under the dash harness. Makes it so much easier to remove. Its gonna be so much fun putting it back together.


I also removed the HVAC system as well. I cleaned all the leaves and mud from the blower motor and tested it to good results. Some fabrication will be required to get all this shit to fit.

 

This is a cool project. I dig it.

 

Dash swap is now complete. I reused the tacoma fuel lines and hooked them up. Truck starts and runs as it did prior to the swap. So yay me. I installed the tacoma gas pedal and e-brake assembly as well.

A video of it firing up.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/d5pmAoAUWXnpjbqT6



Blue LEDs son.


Complete.



I next moved my attention to cleaning stuff from under the hood. I knew the battery wouldnt stay on the drivers side (as per OEM tacoma) so moved it over to the passenger side where it was OE in 79. This meant i needed new longer pos/neg cables made and ran to the drivers side to make everything work. I bought some power studs on Amazon and started rewiring things. Im waiting on some 1/0 welding cable to come in, then ill connect everything up.



Because the battery in now in the way of the air filter box (which was too tall to fit under the hood anyways), i bought a MAF filter adapter and cone filter on Ebay to replace it all. I also bought a silicone 45 degree elbow to tuck it behind the battery.

I am also going to unfuck this abortion of a front suspension. Double stacked lift kits are no bueno. You can clearly see my issue here. Lowering it back down will help the UCAs, shaft angles, steering rack angles, etc. There is definite contact here. While i have everything torn down, ill swap on some tundra brakes/rotors that i have from my 05 tundra SAS project. Then i start on the rear E-locker axle swap and get rid of the lift blocks to level things back out.

 

More work done over the last two days.

Front end is no 99% complete. Swapped the grille and bumper for a 4wd one. the 2wd chrome one will not fit the 4wd fenders due to being narrower. Still need to buy some more parking lights for the fenders.


Also unfucked the front some. Removed the 2" spacer on top of the OME lift coilovers. Brought i down a lot.


I now have suspension again and no binding.

 

This is awesome! Best looking body, one of the best/simplest motors and the best looking interior Toyota made. So sweet and it looks like you've done it for pennies on the dollar. Keep up the good work!

 

this is by far the most interesting thing i've seen in a long time...your old red 2wd looked amazing..this is coming along nicely and i can't wait to see the result...keep it going man

 

wow ,like those 79 - 81 round head lamps and grill classics ,I use to have a 80 hi lux 4 x4 wish I kept it

 

Very cool, I rolled my 95 3RZ tacoma and was a less original and put another body on haha. I have a brand new set of Vision X 7" round headlight H4 conversion housings. $50 shipped if you want em, been in my garage forever and I don't know anyone with round headlights :/

 

Thanks for the offer on the lights, but ill just stick with these cheapo halogen ones. Just an fyi, the 7" round headlights fit the FJ40s, 60s, Heep CJs/TJs, etc.

Thanks. I love the round headlight first gens. Ill swap the square ones out every time.

Thank you.

 

Way cool dude!

 

Sweet. Can't wait to see this continue.

 

I tried my damnedest to get the red 2wd you had. So let it be known, I'm calling dibs on this one, if it ever goes up for sale.

 

Thanks guys. This one will not be as nice as the red 2wd one. More of a beater for sure.

 

Swapped out the bad rear end with the nice e-locker rear. Gears are the same and it was a straight bolt up. All i need to remove is the ABS wire since this truck didnt have it. The old one has a bad outer bearing and was making an awful knocking noise. Third member is good. Also removed the 2" lift block during the swap. The previous setup had the shocks fully extended due to the block. Rear rubber brake line was also banjo string tight. it was bad.


E-locker rear. Ill probably get the 12voltguy.com harness for easy install.
http://12voltguy.net/product/e-locker-full-kit-switch-cable/


The good stuff.


Also bolted on 30-40hp with this MAF adapter and open air filter.

 

This is very cool. Love it man such a great concept with old meeting not so old technology. SUB'd AF

 

Just an fyi. From my old school toyota days, i went to Pirate and looked up an off the shelf extended brake line. Napa #38256 is ~3.5" longer than a factory 15.5" OAL tacoma rear brake line. Should work for the lift kit just fine.