So my cousin shows me this truck that I have no interest in (don't they all start the same way?) and offers me $100 to take it off his old mans hands. So I check it out.



I like the colour so I check the inside.



Yee GODS! The floor has pin holes all through it. A quick inspection reveals that is the major damage to the truck. The rest is quiet minor. So I make the decision to purchase it. After all.. the diff must be worth at least that. I'm also told it doesn't have the original engine in it but a worked 2T Celica engine instead. Seems to be getting better.



I check the paper and find another Hilux for sale up north. Time for a road trip!



Hey presto! We have another one! This one was a long wheel base with a 74 shell. My shell was longer and I had the shorter wheel base truck. It was in average condition. The engine wasn't running and the gearbox had pieces missing from it. The roof had all of the water channels filled with bog (the owner wanted a cleaner look). Now that I had another floor it was time to get to work. I cut my floor out...





Then clowned around...



Before disconnecting and removing the shell.



Then clowned around some more...



It was at this point my cousin was shifting through gears and got it jammed so we now had trouble moving the car around.

Floor gets welded in..



Gets some primer..



Body deadener goes on..



Chassis is sprayed black..



PERFECTO!



I go down to the paint shop and find a nice colour. I didn't want purple initially but it's such a nice colour in the sun.



This was just a test on colours to get an idea of what looks nice.

That's it for now. I'll post some more when I have time.

 

Wow! Cool story and awesome cut-and-paste on the floor. It's also pretty neat to see one with the entire body off, but still sporting the engine!

 

I was about to say score on the RHD for 100... Then saw you are in Australia. Sweet find nonethe less.

 

I check the paper and find another Hilux for sale up north. Time for a road trip!



Hey presto! We have another one! This one was a long wheel base with a 74 shell. My shell was longer and I had the shorter wheel base truck. It was in average condition. The engine wasn't running and the gearbox had pieces missing from it. The roof had all of the water channels filled with bog (the owner wanted a cleaner look). Now that I had another floor it was time to get to work. I cut my floor out...




how much for the
how much do you want for the front bumper and valance off the donor truck?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

yeah nevermind, i just took a better look at that pic. don't to much care for it, at second glance

 

can't wait to see it when she's done though!! LOVE THE FACT THAT IT'S AN OFFSET DRIVE!!!!!!!!!! F**K YEAH!

 

Hmm, offset drive? Japan drives on this side and they are the country of origin!

 

Most people on here are from the u.s. and it's a rarity to see rhd stuff. Don't mind them! It's probably strange seeing vehicles with lhd too. Looking sweet! Get more updates!

 

The engineers just been around and certified the engine mounts and steering setup so I'm willing to post those now. But for now more story time.

I was planning on cleaning the engine bay up and using the 2T engine but it didn't quite turn out like that (does it ever?). My Cousin finds a 1uz for sale and gives me a call. Turns out a guy needed a new shell for his Toyota Soarer and I needed (wanted) a v8 for my truck. Seems to tick both boxes.



This thing has the works. Airbag suspension for adjustable ride height, reversing camera and bucket loads more. Pretty good for a 93 model. So we go about grabbing the v8 out. Here it is natively.



After some handy work from my cousin...



We unbolt it AND THAT ENGINE CAN'T WAIT TO ESCAPE THAT HEAVY ASS CAR! GIDDYUP!



Conveniently there is enough room for engine and gearbox to come out in one go.



Ditch the 2T from the engine bay..



A bit more handy work.. Note: we had to cut the front bar where the bonnet clips down to get the engine and box to fit in one piece. (couldn't be stuff pulling them apart).



Home sweet home. The engine has wood under the sump and the gearbox is held on by ratchet straps.



More to come when I find my engine and gearbox mount photos.

 

Keep up the great post info is useful

 

How is this project going? Looks awesome! Any photos of the dash while it was complete? Loving the purple. Keep up the good work.

 

This project will be amazing if you actually finish it!

 

HAHA! It's a work in progress. I have completed The engine mounts, gearbox mounts, moved the steering box with adjustments to the steering column housing, cut the old gearbox hump out and put a new one in with a B&M shifter, shortened accellerator cable, new tubing for the radiator (with 90 degree steel bends), custom tail shaft, converted front to fisc brakes but my favourite part is the new instrument cluster. GPS speedo and tacho in one guage and 180 degree readings of oil, temp, fuel and volts in the other. Brand new from Speedhut and the real bonus....It all fits in the old housing. I WILL be posting pics with instructions

 

I would love to get this crazy with a build one day. I'll be keeping an eye out on your thread for updates.

 

You have to post pictures of those gauges. Im a gauge nut. My dad is a trucker and my grandpa was a pilot. I like seeing all the readings on stuff.

 

OK. My major project at work has been completed so I have some spare time to post some stuff up. I will start with the gauges. Standardbyker88 is too excited about it to leave till last. Now I would like to point out that I had no interest in keeping the rear of the instrument cluster holder in any good shape (after all, I'm the only one that should ever see it). Feel free to use more appropriate tools than I did but I used whatever I had on hand.

Tools required:
Original instrument panel
4" gauges (I chose Speedhut)
Phillips head screwdriver
Flat head screwdriver
7mm spanner
Soldering iron (for cutting plastic. Again use a more appropriate tool if you have one)
Cork or screws (depth of gauges)

Right then! Firstly, the old gauges.

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I measured them and discovered they were 4" across so I set about finding some gauges. I stumbled across Speedhut and they were offering some 4" stuff in some nice 2 gauge combos. You can choose your tick patterns, font style, needle colours, backlight colour or even add an image to be printed on the dial plate. Speedhut Click on gauges at the top (red button) and in the 'Filter by' 'Gauge type' section choose Quad Gauges. So I grabbed one of the kits which contain 1 (GPS speedo and tacho) and 2 (volts, fuel, oil, temp). SPEEDHUT HAVE A SPECIAL ON AT THE MOMENT FOR MY KIT UP TO 120MPH. CHECK IT OUT. Mine are in KPH (I'm in Australia). And here they are..

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I went away from the original design by getting a tacho as well cause I have a V8 now and want to know what's it's doing. If you want to keep the original style then there is an option with just the speedo. Now, when I called my engineer about the GPS he said your speedo must read true at all times... this includes tunnels and underground carparks(??) so I grabbed a 2 1/16" gauge to mount some where else in the car (I'm thinking in front of the auto shifter). It is small but with so few increments it is very easy to read.

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Naturally I was quiet excited when these arrived and I found something that I DID NOT expect. These were relatively easy to insert into the current housing. But first to pull the housing to pieces.

Remove the outer cowling (6 screws).

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Flip it over and remove the screws (6) and nuts (6) from the circuit board. Remove the front clear shields by the clips and you should be down to this.

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Now is the time to place the new gauges in to see how they fit. You'll notice varies plastic pieces are in the way and need to be removed. Now this is where your better judgement comes in. I only had a soldering iron available (I can imagine you cringing now). Start to remove the offending bits and cut a new hole for the wiring.

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All good so far. Now place the new gauge in to see what it looks like. Notice how the lugs for the gauge 'nut' are pressed against the sides. These are a very tight fit (make sure you push the gauge in evenly or it won't fit in!) and allows NO movement vertically or horizontally. Bonza.

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Make sure you feed the wires through first in the hole you've created.

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Pull the gauge back out and remove the offending pieces from the other side. This is the side that looks like a mess. I'm not happy about it but I was trying to be creative (lol) and I hadn't seen this done before so I was going by feel. Now that you guys have seen this I'm hoping you perform a better job. Don't forget to cut a hole for the cables again. The extra butchery around the edges is to fit that tight gauge in again (and I do mean tight).

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Once I had placed the guages in and placed the front cowling on I realised the original housing is too deep so I pulled the gauges out and placed cuttings of cork gasket in the bottom to bring them back up. I'm thinking about putting screws in from the back (the flat end kind so you don't drill through the gauge) instead of the cork and doing them up till it's at the required height. I made them about 1-2mm shallower than the original gauges so that the front cowling can be screwed down onto them and really hold them in place. Be careful since your screwing into plastic. And then you have... New vs Old.

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Other thoughts:
- Any screws that may come loose under driving conditions may probably need lock tight or another locking liquid/compound to help out.
- I have thought about replacing the Speedhut clear shield with the original clear shield and at first try, it didn't fit. I will investigate further if someone would like me to.
- The tacho is now electronic so it works with my 1uz auto setup. Make sure this is suitable for yours before starting.
- The odometer readout actually has many other functions too. 1/4 mile distance, elevation etc. Check it out on Speedhuts site for more info.
- One thing I was not aware of when I bought the GPS was it claims 3 second link up. This ONLY works if you restart the vehicle within 4 hours of shutting it off (it has a general idea of where the satellites were from last transmission). I'm not too worried about it though. After 4 hours you would have to warm the motor up again before moving off. Should be plenty of time to grab a signal.
- The GPS will require a good location for the signal. They recommend at the top of the windshield. Not sure if you could place it on the rear window behind the drivers head.
- The new gauges have indicators and and high beam light built in. These were lost when you took the circuit board away. The only light that is not available any more is the brake light. I may convert one of the black panels below the original indicators to a brake light.

Let me know what you think. Any comments are welcome so I can hopefully improve for next time.

 

That. Is. Amazing. Looks super clean. If I hadn't covered my dash in gauges that's an option I would consider. I like the speedo alot. May have to look into it. I'm glad you posted all the pics. I've taken those housings apart too many times and know it well. I was adapting 75 celica gauges in for a while. This is way better.

 

I only saw this on my phone before. Seeing the gauges on my computer I like them even more. On the 4 way, is that a warning LED for each gauge near the needles? For the little area between the gauges, I would make a small metal or plastic cover plate. Hide the stock blinker indicators and allow you a spot for any other warning or circuit-ON LEDs. I like how centralized and integrated it makes it all. I almost like it better than all my gauges across the dash.

 

The speedhut site is so fun lol. I found a few look combos I like. I am deffinately swapping to this stuff, the ones I have can migrate to another truck. The "antique" tick style and "rickshaw" font make a sweet combo. And they have counterclockwise speedometers. That would be cool for random factor. Awesome tip buddy. Much appreciated.

 

Yup yup . It's all programmable to your likely so you set your own warning levels. I will post a clearer pic tonight or tomorrow. I just relised the glare doesn't do it much justice.

I love the Speedhut site too. You can even post them your own image to place on the dial face.