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Toyota Pickup Projects \ from the beginning...from the beginning...
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holcombe347
+1y
okay well, i finally got my lazy ass around to scanning the photos from back in the day. my toyota has been through a lot that almost everyone doesnt know about. everyone in the scene has only seen the truck from basically its present state with the exception of a few people. i just figured i would use this new topic thing and ditch the other two threads i made about this subject and roll its all into one deal like everyone else has. anyways, here are some pictures...it takes you from the beginning all the way to present day (almost)
my dads only new car he's ever owned. i couldnt find a side picture but its bone stock with the 14's on and black bumpers. after a few years he got a deal on some 15" crager blade wheels at pep boys in the early 90's.
my dad drove the truck for years to come, he had a camper shell on the back at one point so my dad would take me and my brothers in that truck everywhere we went. when my brother jarrod got his license my dad gave the truck to him to drive as my dad went onto something better. one night parked in front of our house my brother i guess pissed some people off (i dont know that for sure or not lol) and woke up to a rock through the back of it.
being pissed, my dad took the truck to a friend of his to get fixed. the dent was pulled and a new window was replaced and the truck was back to normal again. (for a little while). my brothers birthday was rolling around and the carpet in the truck was trashed so for my brothers birthday my dad decided to take the truck to san bernardino to have all new carpet put in. after the carpet was installed my dad started the truck up and was on his way home when the check engine light came on. by then it was too late. the motor half way up the cajon pass blew up. the carpet installers had cut a plastic oil pressure gauge line and the truck pumped all its oild into the passenger side floor board underneath the charcoal grey carpet. after being towed home and set in the driveway my dad told my brother to get some friends together and push the truck in the back yard where it wont get messed with until they get the motor fixed. one day after being pushed into the back yard the wind kicked up and blew a joshua tree over onto the truck. the frame was fine and nothing was tweeked but the insurance company totalled the truck anyways.
with a blown motor and a tree fallen on the truck i figured that was the end of the toyota's days. a few days later they found an add in the news paper of a guy selling a toyota bed for the same year truck for 100 bucks. they went and checked it out and bought it that same day...hell it was even the same color. tailgate was hammered but none the less it was a good find. with a new bed on and the blown motor replaced (which only lasted 50,000 miles because i just had to rebuild it again lol) and the big ol' mirrors taken off, the truck was back to normal. kinda. a few months goes by and one morning my dads car had to go into the shop so he took the toyota to work in san bernardino. while on his way down the cajon pass somone lost control and the toyota was totalled. again.
my brother frustraited with all the bad luck with this truck, walked away from it. he ended up enlisting in the military so he didnt buy another car because he was leaving. my dad bought the truck back from the insurance company and with the little extra money fixed the toyota yet again because he figured when i was old enough to drive, i would drive it and crash it..which he would have rather me crash that then a new car right? well a year goes by and it sat in the back yard until i was able to drive. i drove it though the year and a half through school and fell in love with it. it looked like hell...rusted hood, primered fender, black spray paint spots on the doors and tail gate, and zip tied grille but i still loved that truck.
right around the end of my senior year i would always drive by ken leets shop in hesperia...one day i drove through there and saw an s-10 bodydropped on 22's sitting on a trailer. i was so mezzmorized by that truck i knew that that was the look i wanted. didnt know jack shit about it but i wanted it. lol. from then on i knew i didnt want to get rid of the truck (like a lot of people recommended i did) i decided to fix its appearence and decided to get it painted the stock color.
primer...
sittin out to dry...
while out at paint for a few weeks, i started to gather a few pieces together to make the front a little more appealing than stock. for my birthday my dad got me the phantom girlle and i later bought the clear corners and bumper lights.
i drove it like that for a few months when on my way home from the college i saw a few people driving lowered and bagged trucks sitting in a parking lot and decided to stop. i was later intorduced to cruise nights where i started to get more and more addicted to mini trucks (toyota's in particular). after a month of that i ended up trading my brother jarrod the stock 15 wheels on his tacoma for my 15" cragers because i wanted to lower my truck and the offset on the cragers was just a little off and wouldnt allow me to do it on those. it was a win win for both of us. with the stockers back on, down it went with a 2 inch drop block and the middle leaf removed and cranked down torsions.
after being lowered i then wanted to work on the interior a little bit. it looked decent on the outside it was time for the inside. i traded a guy my freshly upohlstered bench seat for his worn 60/40 split. and build new door panels myself. then had everything re-wrapped in light grey cloth and dark grey vinyl. i got the interior color scheme from the 15 stock tacoma wheels..... anyways here is the old...
fresh out of the shop with new carpet, custom drape over the rear wall, my door panels with my design on them, and the seat redone.
after the interior was done, it was back to working on the ouside again. after wanting to bag the truck first i needed to get some wheels so everything could be measured up properly. also after being in the scene a little while i decided to get the door handles shaved up thanks to ken at leet auto design he made that happen.
while the truck was sitting in primer waiting on the doors to cure up before paint, i saved up the cash to have the truck bagged in the rear. so i called up ken, got it in the shop and after a few weeks i got my truck bagged in the rear and painted up.
the rolling link system.
three weeks later the front was then bagged. and i 'thought' i was finished.
the engine bay was in need of some work but i just didnt quite know what i wanted. with the fenderwells cut out and making a mess i just didnt have the time or money to get anything done so there it sat.
some months went by and my family decided to move to kentucky. after making it across the country and lasting about 6 months the motor finally gave out on the toyota which left me with only one option after coming this far with the project. it was to get the motor rebuilt. stronger, better, more reliable with two things in mind. horsepower and CA smog regulations. LOL. i found ARE racing engines who took on the task of rebuilding the motor for me. since the motor was out now was the time to get creative and fix them fenderwells so i did just that.
before....
during....
being bare metal which rust, i had to paint it while at the paint shop i bought enough to do my interior as well. i figured, my truck is going to be down without a motor i cant drive it anyways so what the hell, out came the interior to be glassed/smoothed and painted as well. so after buying all the material i sanded everything, sealed it all up, welded everything in place and went to town.
after....
once finished with the paint, i got my motor back painted to match the truck with valve cover that i changed to a metallic green
well that all so far, the dash board is still in the works and until its done i cant get the rest of the interior back in so its on hold for now. sorry for the extremely long post but hope you enjoyed it. this truck truely has come a long way and with hours and hours of work, time, money, and dedication....i made my fantasy of driving a bagged mini, become a reality.
my dads only new car he's ever owned. i couldnt find a side picture but its bone stock with the 14's on and black bumpers. after a few years he got a deal on some 15" crager blade wheels at pep boys in the early 90's.
my dad drove the truck for years to come, he had a camper shell on the back at one point so my dad would take me and my brothers in that truck everywhere we went. when my brother jarrod got his license my dad gave the truck to him to drive as my dad went onto something better. one night parked in front of our house my brother i guess pissed some people off (i dont know that for sure or not lol) and woke up to a rock through the back of it.
being pissed, my dad took the truck to a friend of his to get fixed. the dent was pulled and a new window was replaced and the truck was back to normal again. (for a little while). my brothers birthday was rolling around and the carpet in the truck was trashed so for my brothers birthday my dad decided to take the truck to san bernardino to have all new carpet put in. after the carpet was installed my dad started the truck up and was on his way home when the check engine light came on. by then it was too late. the motor half way up the cajon pass blew up. the carpet installers had cut a plastic oil pressure gauge line and the truck pumped all its oild into the passenger side floor board underneath the charcoal grey carpet. after being towed home and set in the driveway my dad told my brother to get some friends together and push the truck in the back yard where it wont get messed with until they get the motor fixed. one day after being pushed into the back yard the wind kicked up and blew a joshua tree over onto the truck. the frame was fine and nothing was tweeked but the insurance company totalled the truck anyways.
with a blown motor and a tree fallen on the truck i figured that was the end of the toyota's days. a few days later they found an add in the news paper of a guy selling a toyota bed for the same year truck for 100 bucks. they went and checked it out and bought it that same day...hell it was even the same color. tailgate was hammered but none the less it was a good find. with a new bed on and the blown motor replaced (which only lasted 50,000 miles because i just had to rebuild it again lol) and the big ol' mirrors taken off, the truck was back to normal. kinda. a few months goes by and one morning my dads car had to go into the shop so he took the toyota to work in san bernardino. while on his way down the cajon pass somone lost control and the toyota was totalled. again.
my brother frustraited with all the bad luck with this truck, walked away from it. he ended up enlisting in the military so he didnt buy another car because he was leaving. my dad bought the truck back from the insurance company and with the little extra money fixed the toyota yet again because he figured when i was old enough to drive, i would drive it and crash it..which he would have rather me crash that then a new car right? well a year goes by and it sat in the back yard until i was able to drive. i drove it though the year and a half through school and fell in love with it. it looked like hell...rusted hood, primered fender, black spray paint spots on the doors and tail gate, and zip tied grille but i still loved that truck.
right around the end of my senior year i would always drive by ken leets shop in hesperia...one day i drove through there and saw an s-10 bodydropped on 22's sitting on a trailer. i was so mezzmorized by that truck i knew that that was the look i wanted. didnt know jack shit about it but i wanted it. lol. from then on i knew i didnt want to get rid of the truck (like a lot of people recommended i did) i decided to fix its appearence and decided to get it painted the stock color.
primer...
sittin out to dry...
while out at paint for a few weeks, i started to gather a few pieces together to make the front a little more appealing than stock. for my birthday my dad got me the phantom girlle and i later bought the clear corners and bumper lights.
i drove it like that for a few months when on my way home from the college i saw a few people driving lowered and bagged trucks sitting in a parking lot and decided to stop. i was later intorduced to cruise nights where i started to get more and more addicted to mini trucks (toyota's in particular). after a month of that i ended up trading my brother jarrod the stock 15 wheels on his tacoma for my 15" cragers because i wanted to lower my truck and the offset on the cragers was just a little off and wouldnt allow me to do it on those. it was a win win for both of us. with the stockers back on, down it went with a 2 inch drop block and the middle leaf removed and cranked down torsions.
after being lowered i then wanted to work on the interior a little bit. it looked decent on the outside it was time for the inside. i traded a guy my freshly upohlstered bench seat for his worn 60/40 split. and build new door panels myself. then had everything re-wrapped in light grey cloth and dark grey vinyl. i got the interior color scheme from the 15 stock tacoma wheels..... anyways here is the old...
fresh out of the shop with new carpet, custom drape over the rear wall, my door panels with my design on them, and the seat redone.
after the interior was done, it was back to working on the ouside again. after wanting to bag the truck first i needed to get some wheels so everything could be measured up properly. also after being in the scene a little while i decided to get the door handles shaved up thanks to ken at leet auto design he made that happen.
while the truck was sitting in primer waiting on the doors to cure up before paint, i saved up the cash to have the truck bagged in the rear. so i called up ken, got it in the shop and after a few weeks i got my truck bagged in the rear and painted up.
the rolling link system.
three weeks later the front was then bagged. and i 'thought' i was finished.
the engine bay was in need of some work but i just didnt quite know what i wanted. with the fenderwells cut out and making a mess i just didnt have the time or money to get anything done so there it sat.
some months went by and my family decided to move to kentucky. after making it across the country and lasting about 6 months the motor finally gave out on the toyota which left me with only one option after coming this far with the project. it was to get the motor rebuilt. stronger, better, more reliable with two things in mind. horsepower and CA smog regulations. LOL. i found ARE racing engines who took on the task of rebuilding the motor for me. since the motor was out now was the time to get creative and fix them fenderwells so i did just that.
before....
during....
being bare metal which rust, i had to paint it while at the paint shop i bought enough to do my interior as well. i figured, my truck is going to be down without a motor i cant drive it anyways so what the hell, out came the interior to be glassed/smoothed and painted as well. so after buying all the material i sanded everything, sealed it all up, welded everything in place and went to town.
after....
once finished with the paint, i got my motor back painted to match the truck with valve cover that i changed to a metallic green
well that all so far, the dash board is still in the works and until its done i cant get the rest of the interior back in so its on hold for now. sorry for the extremely long post but hope you enjoyed it. this truck truely has come a long way and with hours and hours of work, time, money, and dedication....i made my fantasy of driving a bagged mini, become a reality.
wills79yota
+1y
damn sound like my s10 been trough some shit too looks sweet dude cant wait to see it done hopefully gonna body drop mine
holcombe347
+1y
so i finally got everything painted for the engine bay. ive basically had to make a new wiring harness, just cut off all the little connectors and made it from there so i could conceal as much of the wiring as possible. its not quite done yet though. anyways, got the radiator painted and put in alternator brackets painted and put in and some other thing for the smog stuff. here some pictures. sorry for the quallity they were taken with my phone. ill have some clean ones up this weekend before i start the motor.
theres my header...fits pretty snug but it looks bad ass...
here is some of the rewiring ive done...got it all close enough to loom it into one single loom. i still have a little more to do to make it as clean as possible but for the most part there it is.
heres the next cluster i get to fix this weekend.
layed out in the front
tucks pretty good in the rear with 17's and not being bodydropped
theres my header...fits pretty snug but it looks bad ass...
here is some of the rewiring ive done...got it all close enough to loom it into one single loom. i still have a little more to do to make it as clean as possible but for the most part there it is.
heres the next cluster i get to fix this weekend.
layed out in the front
tucks pretty good in the rear with 17's and not being bodydropped
baha
+1y
Great thread man! I love reading about all the things a truck has been through. I made one of my ranger
but Truck is looking great man can't wait to see more!
but Truck is looking great man can't wait to see more!
phatboislim
+1y
that is hot as hail..i LOVE the tuckage back there, i think ima keep my 2wd bed man, so when i finally bag..those starions can look real mean
holcombe347
+1y
yeah, make sure they clear the fenders....my albas are really close it was like a hair less than 1/8" clearence until i rolled the lip. now i got just under 1/4" maybe.
thanks guys, i hope my radiator paint job holds up to the heat....a buddy of my dads said it gets so hot it will make the paint flake off.... i hope not. but just incase it does im gonna take some good pictures of everything with a digital camera before it fires.
yeah, make sure they clear the fenders....my albas are really close it was like a hair less than 1/8" clearence until i rolled the lip. now i got just under 1/4" maybe.
thanks guys, i hope my radiator paint job holds up to the heat....a buddy of my dads said it gets so hot it will make the paint flake off.... i hope not. but just incase it does im gonna take some good pictures of everything with a digital camera before it fires.