73 hilux project

figured i would start a build thread for my 73 hilux.

found it on craigslist for $240. this is where she sat for a looong time.


brought it home and threw on some matching rims.


had the seat redone since it was in "less than desirable shape"

before:


after:


then i started ordering the air ride components.







next i tore the truck down. pretty ugly stuff underneath.



and since i hate cleaning up rusty frame i decided to back half it. got $50 into it so far.













hopefully i'm gunna get the back half welded on soon.

here is the donor motor



here it is.

stock...



1uz-fe







well as i wait for my garage to have some space , i worked on my grille shell today. 4 hours worth of hand sanding and i'm half way done.





i primed it, then painted the face of the center fins with ceramic aluminum engine paint. then i masked it and sprayed the flat black. i think it will fit the theme of the truck overall.

got it finished.

LOVE the truck! however not really a fan of RHS frames. keep the updates comin tho mate be great to see what tha 1UZ does in this little beast!

kinda forgot about this forum for a while..... lol

here is what has happened between my Dec.1 and now.











so far i'm into the whole frame $130, and about 15 hours (that includes the time when i built the back half)

and after looking at cars in the junkyard, i decided i'm going to go with a 1975 cadillac deville bumper and taillights. hoping for something like this



i will get more pics of it once it's fully welded so i can pull it out of the garage.

front cab mount



rear cab mount



















and just when you think you freshly bodied truck is low, you realize some other asshole has one lower



i fabbed the brackets and installed the original fuel tank from my 86 yota.







plenty of clearance..
















gotta get some mounts fabbed up. also started cleaning up the rear axle. i'm planning a disk brake conversion.

i've started on the front k member.







the bushings for the lowers will go inside like this





and my nieghbor gave me these. 17x8 cobra mustang wheels.

wow you got down to business. Is that a ford rear end?

Sham...WOW!!!

it is the stock rearend.

finished drilling and welding the k member



squared it and tacked it in place



trans clearance






got the motor mounted. didn't get any pics in progress

Picked up some junkyard stuff!





Mk3 toyota supra rotors







got my link x member fabbed and welded in.







tranny sits pretty high, that

Diggin the work.

picked up 40' of 1 1/4x.120 round tube, 2 sheets of 16 ga. and some trailer fenders.



i cut these out with my 4 1/2" water jet



and tacked up the beginning of the upper wishbone to check that it will operate smoothly. there will be a couple more pieces added once i get the tubing bent for it.











did some work with the hood.....

started with this



cut a big hole to let it close. motor sticks up about 1 1/2" too much.



took the skin of a 79 hood and increased the crown in it by rolling over my bmx bike tire several times





then i pie cut the hood so the edges will come down to stock height



the mark is the section that needs to be cut out



and got the one side tacked down



this is the beginning of my new core support

wow, thats clean, thats alot of good progress.