My '79 Hilux Body Swapped First Gen Tacoma

Finishes the install of the rear last night, minus reconnecting the driveshaft. Parking brake and brake line hooked up. Shocks back on. I have suspension again. Next up is cutting the bed down to size and getting it mounted up. I hate welding toyota sheet metal.

I had a stainless line on the shelf with some adapters that was left over from my mini truck days and got it bolted in.

 

never done it before, why the hatred of welding yota sheetmetal? just really thin?

 

Very thin. Plus i suck at it.

 

ah, LOL i've never welded so its gotta be better than what i could do

 

It's very easy to burn through it.

 

7" taken out in front of the wheel wells. Its welding together nicely with some 0.024 wire and a low amperage. Minimal blow through.

 

Enjoy your builds, following!!

 

I love that little red 2wd its amazing.

 

there's a little blue one just like it about 2 miles from where i live, think its an '82 or '83 i approached the guy about it and before i asked what he would take he said $2300...it doesnt run and hasn't moved in almost 2 years..it's still there...referencing the little red one

 

I paid $450 for my 2wd blue one. No way id pay that much for a broke down 2wd truck.

 

right!! found a '86 4x4 today on facebook and he's asking $700 for the whole truck "just needs rods and bearings" not sure where people come up with pricing around where i live...i thought about going back and offering $800 and thats being generous..i think...no way to know the actual condition of the truck inside and underneath he won't let anyone near it to look and is pretty much one of those guys that comes out of the house carrying a shotgun asking what the hell you want...people are weird lol

 

Bed is mounted. Still need to finish weld out the bed but its on there.




Next up is to swap on the 13WL tundra big brake upgrade and start on the floor repairs. The drivers floor board is pretty bad thanks to the previous owner leaving the window down with shag carpet inside. Water just sat. My plan is to use sections of the floor from the tacoma and graft them in and seam seal them up.

 

here is what it looked like with the two OME overloads still installed in the leaf pack. Lowered it down a couple inches.

 

Looking good.

 

Dude. That VW is rad. Honestly not sure my piece is a fair trade. Mine is far from good. Some rust, 334k miles, no ac, etc.

 

The top back cab corners has a spot. The drivers floor has a couple spots that i plan on cutting out and patching up. Engine seems sound. Doesnt leak much but does need a new rack and pinion, which i plan on ordering today.

 

Spent a little time in the shop yesterday and got the Tundra big brake kit installed. All parts are from my 05 Tundra. The size difference is impressive. This was a direct bolt in swap. I had to trim the backing plate 1/2' on the top side to clear the caliper. A 15" stock wheel will no longer fit, but im running 2" spacers and will eventually run some 17" FJC steelies and 35s.

 

Worked on the interior some last night. I cut out the mounts for the shift boots and welded it in to the first gen cab. I will seam seal it later. Also started on mounting the taco buckets. I cut off the rear mount that bolted to the tunnel and will weld on a new one so it bolts to the floor. They fit nice for the most part.



Before i installed the boots and console surround i fixed the whored out shifter. The seat was nowhere to be found. Previously, it was hard to even find reverse because of the slop. This Marlin Crawler part fixed it. $25 from them.



Its coming along. Im going to order a Napa reman's rack and pinion with new TREs and bushing mounts. But before that, im going to test drive this pile this weekend hopefully.

 

Learned last night that even with 2" spacers up front, a 15" wheel still wont fit over the tundra brakes. Ill get the 35s mounted up this weekend on the FJC steelies.

Last night i power bled the brakes and the clutch. Also added some antifreeze and checked for leaks. Everything looks good there.

Oh and i knew i saved this roll bar for a reason. Needs some KC daylighters for it now.

 

I swapped in some 1" spacers (instead of 2") up front and did some slight fender trimming to clear the 35s. Overall the look is better. I finish welded the bed and drove it for the first time. Turns out the rear end doesnt have any gear oil in it. Thankfully it was only a short distance. Steering is fucked. Bushings are out and is quite scary to drive at speed. It also leaks badly. Im going to order a reman'd one today from Napa.

Wheels are FJC steelies and tires are 35x12.5r17 Nitto Trail Grapplers in $100 condition.