hey all!
bought this a couple months ago, and it wasnt at all what it was claimed to be.
the guy who sold it to me had no idea, so at first i wasnt thrilled.
but after having worked out a few kinks, doin a little bit of customising and learning to live with the fact that the previous owner is a genuine muppet, i think ive become a toyota nut! lol

when i got it: note the big ugly tray in the first pic









Have had to fiddle about with this ute to no end, and while its heaps better, its only got a 12r in it, theres still a bit to go but trying my best to do it on the cheapies
since work has started ive;
-replaced points, leads, plugs, dizzy cap... basically the whole ignition system apart from the rotor arm, cant find one

-flushed the brake system and deleted any vacuum leaks...pretty basic but the only reason i mention this is because it made a HUGE difference

-head and tappet cover gaskets while i was there i did the valves, the tappet timing and re-torqued the head bolts

-shortened the flatbed and flushed the tail lights

theres alot more but its all relatively minor....and anyway sussed out a silvertop 4age which il be sticking in soon



got more photos to stick on, will get them off the camera

 

ive havent bought a car from a genuine muppet yet


but seriously, that dude put the steering wheel in on the wrong side







really serious this time...


thats gonna be a killer lil sleeper

 

haha least it looks in better condition than most!

 

haha! and hopefully you never will, just saying theyre out there....
yea the chassis is awesome absolutely rust free, have welded in a few patches around the windscreens but i think youre right it seems to be better than most

thought id throw on a few more pics, still learning to drive this forum

test fitting the now shortened tray took 400mm of the end and 300mm off the sides it was a monster!, i didnt like the lights or the number plate position so off it came


little helper, cant get him out of it


modification begins


revised light and number plate mounts


tray back on and brand new lights wired up and working, i reckon that number plate looks heaps better there
also blacked the wheels, they were too...boy racer

have done heaps since il have to take some more pics

 

interior update

managed to get it pretty well finished, started with removing the bitumen sound deadener. horrible **** really, but necessary as there was a little surface rust underneath so cleaned up and painted the floor.
only had to weld up a little bit

test fit of carpets before theyre edged, dunno about the pedals but was missing the brake and clutch rubbers

dash wrapped to match seat and headlining it was rooted anyway

the new seat covers i made. had to thow in a bit of free advertising - J.C.I customs - the name of the shop that il soon be opening

seat cover on! photos dont do it that much justice but you get the idea

 

few more interior pics


new headling to match seat and dash i used a period looking textured vinyl


surprisingly difficult to install when the glue dries lol but all done


had to do a fair bit of repair to the old seat foam had my lil brother on the job


all back together looks pretty sharp just gotta do something about the sun
visors, think il paint them


as she sits now, after a bit of panel

 

few extra pics


new retracting seatbelts ahhh the luxury


rustproofing and panel


whole interior shot

threw a military star on the doors for a laugh, turned out pretty cool

 

kick ass truck. lower it down alittle more and made some custom taillight and done. Nice find on that truck. also great skills on the interior.

 

that looks really good. i like it. you should trade me dashes or get me one. i wanna go righty on my 78 bad. lol.

 

makin me jealous! I actually wish i had a 77 to toy with

 

haha cheers guys, its not done yet took it for a warrant yesterday and got a bit of sh*t from the mechanic,

... and il keep an eye out standardbyker, soon as i can find a parts truck ul be welcome to the dash lol! had a read through your build up very cool

it definately needs to go lower tho, soon as it gets a warrant il get onto it.
will try to work out the suspension when i do the engine change, also a new warrant would give me 6 months up my sleeve for testing and being a little bit...illegal lol.

man i just had a decent look through the build up sections, there is some awesome stuff going on in these forums and heaps of people willing to help...quite glad i joined really

funny you should say that cinamon, i was looking for one like yours before this one popped up haha
any help on the lowering front would be most welcome

sweet as

 

does anyone know if there is was an option for disc brakes on these utes?
wondering if anything will bolt straight on....

lol i have a feeling im not that lucky

 

Dude I hate to sound Stupid But I see 3 peddles, but where is the shifter?

 

sweet. i would only need the main section. cluster and box door are swapable i think. well, let me rephrase...id only want the box door and main section. lol. pad should be the same.

QUEST! sho, me and you need to do parts number hunting to check that fact. lol.

anyways...its coming along great inside. i really like it.

for the front, i got all of my drop from cutting the coils. i think i took about 3-1/2 turns off of them. lol. its settled alot since i first did it. for mine, with stock steelies and 195/65/14s i have no rubbing or bottoming out...anymore. and just parts store replacement shocks. but, i did have to roll the fender lip, fold the outer edge out, and bow out the whole fender. so mine are the equivelant to a 4wd fender more or less. i also had to remove any bolts (emissions stuff and coil, ect) going through the fender towards the tire. i removed all my emissions stuff and relocated the coil bracket over a little. fender liners are also gone. i then spent a long time hammering the inside of the fenders to get as much clearance as possible. i finally got to the point where i had the truck on stands with the tires still barely touching the ground, and took a scissor jack on top of the tire with a block of wood to push the inner fenders away from the tire. NOW all of that isnt needed unless you want the engine crossmember less than 2" from the street. lol. mine is.

for the back, i took out the center leaf of the stock 3 piece pack. also used a set of 4-1/2" blocks i made. had custom ubolts bent up since these use a 2.5" axle tube. havent replaced those shocks yet.

i also adjusted the carrier bearing (longbed only) forward as much as it had adjustment for. i plan to very soon rebuild that crossmember since it hangs very low and doesnt have a very large exhaust notch so the crossmember and pipe both hang low in that area. other than that i didnt have any issues.

ive put over 30k miles on it like that without major issues. never bound up balljoints or hit metal to metal in the front. the rear i have very little space until the frame. less than 1". i need a small notch but cant get much of one unless i also make clearance in the floor for the 3rd member to not hit the floors. i only have about 2.5" there. sooo...i know how to get these trucks low.

also, they had disc brakes available. the pickups til '78 (in the states) had the same suspension. the 79 bodystyle went totally different. although though spindles, as well as the 84-95 style are very similar. from what i remember the only mod would be to have the lower ball joint aim the opposite direction. so a machine shop would have to drill it out and insert a tapered sleeve from the other side. any 4wd shop should handle that easily. the reason is that one style aims the lowers up, the other down. dont remember which is which.

heres a link to my photobucket folder with all the shots of the truck i have. feel free to link any back to here to ask questions about them.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m160/standardbyker88/mork/?start=all
and a few more are mixed into the main as well
http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m160/standardbyker88/?start=all

 

few other notes.

being i made the blocks, i used one grade 8 bolt through the leaf pack and the block so theres no movement issues. also had thicker ubolts made up. i got tired of my previous ones trying to walk no matter how tight they were.

also, for the brakes, i would also suggest using an 81ish (whatever year span that part number fits) brake booster and master cylinder. its set up for balancing power to a set of discs and a set of drums. it bolts right up to the truck with no major mods needed. slight bit of opening the holes on the stock rear brake balancer fitting that mounts below it to fit the slightly wider span of the 4 hole style. the booster fits the firewall but reuse the little plastic spacer the original one was held on with. and try your best to readjust the new pedal linkage that hooks to the pedal to the same overall length as before. a side benefit is its a smaller diameter booster so you will have a little more space to hammer those inner fenders. lol.

and a little trick i like to do, is reuse a set of valve cover acorn nuts on the 4 bolts of the booster to master. looks cleaner. i use them all over in there if i can. i always get any i find at the yards.

 

Dude I have to ride up and meet you...


you are a wealth of knowledge

 

lol thanks man. thats actually stock 30 year old paint. im the third owner. got it at 81k for $500 runnin and driving. ive dropped about $2k into it. that picture is probe wheels, an old VW mirror and the rest is stock. took off the bumper feet, mudflaps, rear bumper and giant mirrors. ive since put H4 headlights and steelies back on. you can also see the flared fenders. hahaha...and its about an inch lower.

 

if i can get the tranny in youll see it on the 10th

 

I don't think I'm going to be so lucky.. the tranny I have is a 4 speed, I need to go look for one.

 

column shift bro, on the left of the steering wheel lol