Here's my story, Been a toyota owner, believer and employee for awhile now.. Had a few 2nd gen tacomas and found myself bored with them...I was looking for a unique truck.

Found lots of expensive datsun which I like as well, missed out on a sweet 1978 corona wagon but...! A bone stock abandoned 1978 toyota pickup SR5 caught my attention.. the price was the least appealing portion of this project I felt it was high. I went to check out a few other potential project but found out even after paying a bit less I was not getting as much for my money. Plus this one had factory AC..that closed the deal. AC is a must here in Az

 

Once I made it to the shop, I started the diag on the poor truck. He had been sitting for 10+ years, Although it was sitting for so long the previous owner was able to get it started right on the spot before completing the transaction.
He was telling me that it only needed a fuel pump, I followed his lead, In fact the pump was toast, I was getting 12v at the pump with good ground.

Pulled the tank emptied the old vanish, cleaned up the line and got a new pump in with new sock and filter. The Turd fired right up.. very surprised and happy.




Followed by restoring the brakes


Had not turned drums in years~!!






Caliper were seized, began the tear down, found the pistons in great shape so just decided to restore them.. cheap and easy.



Ditched all the rubber hoses for braided stainless steel, brake lines and clutch line.

 

Very nice start bro.

 

Following the brakes ALL fluids were replaced, coolant, oils, diff fluid.. I did replace the brake master cylinder, clutch master and slave. The truck need to be reliable so mind as well replaced old sealed parts for modern restored ones.
Then came the suspension
Stock height


front mighty max coils combined with tokico shock



Bit of undercoat to freshen it up







Rear was lowered with 3 inch blocks but not low enough, the middle leaf was removed, overload spring was place on top of the main combined with monroe max air shocks



before leaf pack reorganized

After much better

 

I moved to the interior, First the seats and door panels were sent to the upholstery shop. I wanted to retain the OEM look as much as possible, the oe bucket seat were nice and just needed new fabric and quick refoam.
I had ordered a dash cap to fix that hideous cracked dash, I also got a new carpet. Not cause it is in bad condition but because the smell is stuck in the old one even after detailing.

Tackle the AC, At first nothing was working.. but simple connector corrosion was the cause of all electrical gremlins..
Performed R134 conversion. Evac the ol r12, cleared the lines, new ester oil, fittings, vacuum and recharge 3/4 ways = 30 deg cool AC



Passenger window had fallen off track, The glass run was ruined. With no replacement parts available I have to outsource to my parts guy. Genius found a similar part from a highlander I believe..
Glass run fixed




Now the dash

 

Just to give a time line, I purchase the truck march 4th. I have been working on it basically every day after hour or lunch time. I need a daily so been spending good amount of time getting it ready.

Removed to camper mirrors going with Jap fender mirrors

Now for the Body, test buff patch to restore life.. in other words, Polished T(u)RD.


And Bam got the whole truck done






Interior is cleaned up waiting for seats, should be here wed.

 

Thanks, should be mostly completed by the end of next week.

Rims and tires will be here monday, (may need fender rolled),interior done by thursday. My goal is to drive it by next weekend.

Following plans are a weber, lc engineering header, ditch the cat, stock exhaust and all emission clutter. Truck is insured classic so no emissions required.
D.U.I distributor or MSD, some engine bay clean up as well.

To be continued...

 

Looks like you have a great platform for an awesome daily!

I havnt used MSD so no good or bad words about it, but I have nothing but good words for DUI. I ran one on my built 22r in my last truck and it made a quite noticeable difference. Super easy setup to! 2 wires are all that it needs, one from your old coil setup (keyed12v) and the other is only if you run a tach. I had mine swapped out and timed in less the 20minutes.definitely worth it.

 

Good to know, I did like the simplicity of the DUI distributor.

 

Is the center console factory?

 

yes, its a SR5 with center console and bucket seats.

 

Very nice build. Where did you find the new stainless brake lines at? also great shop you work in.

 

I got them made at parker store here in town. They make any type of hose for anything and everything in pretty much any material desired. Also carry all -an fitting from russel etc etc..

Used them on motorcycle builds as well as a turbo build.. pretty much the place to go when you need a hose of some sort made.

And yes, Ive worked in some dark shops in the past and worked my way up to this shop, very thankful and appreciative of the opportunity I have.

 

Im going to have to start going thru the junkyards

 

Love what you've done so far.


I'm still kicking my own ass for getting rid of this truck. There is wheel and tire fitment info in there if you are going with 15's.

I've never had an msd ignition box that didn't fail. Every single 6a and 6al failed within 2 years so take that as a warning. They make fine coils though. I used a blaster SS coil combined with a gm hei module with fantastic results.

I ran an lcegineering pro 1 5/8" header made for a solid axle 4x4 and other than having to turn the bolts for the steering box around so the nuts were on the outside of the frame and dimple a tube for bolt head clearance it fit better than expected.

 

looks awesome! I think i remember seeing that truck on CL. I recently bought a '78 longbed here in AZ. Did you use the belltech lowering coils or are those stock height? and which tokico shocks did you order? shorter shocks than stock? Next step for me is lowering the truck. Also, are you keeping the stock radio?

 

Don't waste your time or gas, buy this one. you can paint it to match the interior color you have
1978 Toyota Pickup Floor Shifter Console Bucket Seat 1977 1975 1974 1972 Truck | eBay

Thank you, and thanks for the info. I really wanted 15s but could not find a nice rim with decent offset. I want 0 offset.. going with old school jap style build.
Stanced' you may call it... seems 15x8 with 5x114.3 bolt pattern is quite the task to find. I had found motegi mr224.. but thats $1300 worth of rims.. I settled for 16x8.5 might have to roll the fenders..

Yea it was posted for quite some time..

The suspension recipe is : belltech 4270 ( from mighty max)
Tokico HE3346A, need to slightly dremel the lower control arm since the shock body is bigger. They aren't shorter than what came out. Had kyb gas..
(btw I still have em if you need em, I'll give you a good deal)

Rear is 3 inch block, combined with leaf pack reorganized.. removed center leaf.
install overload on top.
Shocks used were monroe max air MA792. They go from 20psi to 100ish good enough for my streetbike/dirtbike/supermoto.

 

If sent specs could you have a set of lines made for my 92? Thought I had a local shop but failed.

 

Crownperformance.com will build you anything you may need.

 

Sure, pm me the stuff we can figure out a way to get it to you.