[oleblue22]

Here's one of my other toys that I've been working on this past year. I gave $1000 bucks for it and it spit and sputter the way home as was calmly sucking fuel out of a homeade beer keg contraption.Still I felt like a got a deal on it. I'd always wanted an ole straight axle yota. The more I got into it I kept finding things wrong, bad transmission, bad rod bearing in the motor. I was right on the edge of selling it. Then I decided I would just go through it and do it up right. Plus I found a better build G52 trans for $100 that had came out of a good truck and he threw in the T-case for free. I was inspired after that. I'm glad I kept it now, it has been a fun truck so far and a learning experience. I was searching for some heat mat today online and saw that someone on YotaTech wrote an article up about it. Here is the link to it.
https://www.yotatech.com/articles/toyota-pickup-new-lease-life/#comments

Anyway, wanted to share some pictures of the build. You gotta love the ole Toyotas. Any other Grizz owners share an interests in the ole Yotas?

A few of the better upgrades I done to it.
4" lift springs with 35" BFG's
High Steer
Dual Transfer cases
5.29 gears front and rear with High pinion Land Cruiser front third member
Zip Air lockers front and rear
Tom woods drivelines


Descriptions of the pictures.
Two days after I got it, it was in the garage getting worked on. Pulled the bed to determine why he had it running off a beer keg instead of the fuel tank. Notice how a dog chewed up the driver seat.

Had about a day of fun with the torch just ripping stuff loose from the frame. Made a nice scrap metal pile.

Rewelded all new spring hangars and shock hoops on to get ready for the new suspension.

The day I completed the lift and rolled it out of the garage. I did the happy dance. It was alot of work. Did it all by myself.

More pictures coming!

 

[oleblue22]

The day I pulled the motor.. hey I had to do what I had to do. My engine puller wouldn't go high enough. The kodiak came in handy for pulling it around the yard.

All that was said and done, I started on the interior.
Went with a quality set of Honda Civic seats straight out of the junk yard. After some welding and cutting they bolted right in.

Made a switch panel for my lockers and added a cd player and new steering wheel.

Next I needed a center console which is impossible to find for an 81 toyota in a junkyard. So I took 3 ammo cans and with some more cutting and welding, I had the rear can which doubles as an arm rest and storage compartment, the middle portion has the twin stick coming up through it and can also hold some stuff. The front part doubles as storage or a drink holder. Those are PVC fittings painted OD green.

The dog loves to ride in the ammo box while we're cruising the trails as you can see.

 

[oleblue22]

Fast forward a few months. Ended up sandblasting the bed and cab, epoxy primed it and went with OD green raptor liner. I fabbed up the front bumper, added a winch and beefed up the rear bumper that I found in a junkyard. The truck does great out on the trails. And finally you can see us coming back from Rednecks with Paychecks in Texas. Great fun by the way. Definitely had too much weight on my trailer/hitch but she made it back just fine. Hope you enjoy the pictures of the build.

 

[mainehunter]

@oleblue22, that is great! Thanks for putting this on the forum. I can appreciate the work and ingenuity that was put into this truck build being a welder/machinist myself. Up here in the salty road rust belt, our vehicles rot from the bottom up. The frames, floors, everything underneath has the look and structural integrity of a brown saltine cracker after a few years. Anyone wanting to do a resto up here usually looks for a vehicle that came from down there, or we pretty much build a new truck from the bottom up! Great job!

 

[oleblue22]

I appreciate it, yeah this one was was mostly rust free luckily. There were some spots on the bed and in the bed floor but I cut those sections out and welded patch panels in. I found the paperwork in the glovebox where it was purchased in 81 right here in Arkansas.

 

[RobPt]

That's indeed a really nice job. But how to get into the car? Use one of these perhaps ......

And look what I found on my LR Defender

Rob

 

[Vincent]

Awsome project! I love those old Toyota's and wish I a simular 4x4 project. Spent 7 years doing a rotisserie restoring on a 47 year old German car, so that killed my off road project dream.

 

[RedRocket]

Thanks for the build story and pictures!

As Jeremey Clarkson says, "You just can't kill these Toyotas!"

 

[RobPt]

....As Jeremey Clarkson says, "You just can't kill these Toyotas!"

For those who didn't see the shows or just want to see them again:
Just start part 1 and let Youtube do it'st job and you will get to see all 3 parts of the show.

Rob

 

[reogem]

Great job oleblue!!!

 

[oleblue22]

Thanks fellas! I've seen that video before they're tough. I turned this one over on the side. It was a fairly soft landing on soft ground so it didn't do much damage. We flipped it back on the wheels and it fired right up!