My daughter has roped me into helping her restore her pickup. Fun father daughter thing. I’ll post some picks as we work on it The majority of the work will wait for spring as this her daily up on Mt Hood (major snow board bum). But before it goes home I had a few projects to attend to do it doesn’t deteriorate further. The truck is a 81 Toyota SR5, 4x4, short cab/short bed. Factory black with very thin paint…let’s face it, rust. She wasted to apply pappy’s patina to it. I told they would great as the metal rots out from under it. Soooo, we are painting it. We will go base/clear gloss black, factory decals unless dad gets a hair and paint them on. The bed is rusty but it’s just surface rust. my daughter jumped up in the bed and applied Por15 bed liner after wire wheeling it. She said it was her new favorite tool. Dad was not happy with the Por15 finish (too shiny and blotchy) so I wait the 24 hours recommended and top coated it with Raptor Liner. I recommend it highly. I applied with a schutz gun, turned out nice. The truck has aSmittybuilt tube bumper in back but it was rusty and dented. I spent some time welding on new end tubes and had it power coated. And while I was at it I found her a roll bar on FB marketplace that matched the bumper. it also had a bit of rust on the tube bases that I had to weld up and it too got powder coated semi flat black wrinkle like the bumper. And I picked up some old school KC Highligthers for the bar. Not those new LED lights, she likes them old school as well.
The plan is to have her pull out here in a couple weeks with the roll bar mounted, lights wired. I already worked the tail gate over and it is in heavy epoxy primer for winter. I need to top the front fenders and the roof still. I applied rust mort to those areas, just need protection from the PNW rain and snow on the mountain. But back to the wiring, I needed to build a switch panel inside the truck for our accessories. There was a plastic pocket above the stereo (that didn’t work) so I chose that spot and fabricated a couple little brackets and rivnuts to secure it. I had some aluminum plate with I cut to size and drilled a shot ton of holes in it. For four toggles and those little u bolts in between them. I had never done that before and I wanted to do I did. she plays guitar so the pick guard was apropos. I bought some brass nuts just to dress it up a bit. Tight across the back. I had to index the nuts to get the toggles to clear. Note to self: leave more room next time. But, a cool looking panel to run her off road lights from. To fill that hole below it I sourced a Sony cassette deck (with shafts) that had never been installed (the plastic "carriage key" was still inserted in the deck from shipping). I found it on CL this summer for a C note. I’ll throw it in real quick while I’m working on the wiring. The roll bar has to be wired, lights installed, prior to mounting in the bed. I am using trailer plugs so the fill bar can be unbolted and disconnected if ever needed. They plan is to add an accessory fuse panel under the hood off the battery for the stereo, lights and whatever else happens. It is also cleaner and easier to work on.
I love early Toyotas. I used to work for a shop that restored & modified FJ40s. I bought my 2001 Regular Cab 4x4 Tacoma in 2012, and it's been the best little truck ever. I'll never sell it. After my F100 is done and I have some space in the garage, I'll give the Tacoma some love with fresh paint and interior.
Here’s my’91. Bought it from the original owner several years ago. It’s all original and in great shape. I’m currently replacing the clutch in it.
Good for you ! those are cool trucks , but the best part is time spent with your daughter. That is where the value is at.
My daughter is quite the seamstress. She did a bit of upholstery in my 41 ford PU and she is going to tackle the entire interior on the Toyota including carpeting. This is a fact. My son got a wild hair up his ass to relocate and moved my only granddaughter to Virginia. This project helps fill a void in my garage and my heart. I love the interest she is taking in it, learning to wrench, it’s awesome. She wants to do all her maintenance and repairs going forward. I finally got a gear head, it just took 36 years
Nice ute Billy. Put a dog in the back, and a Bundaberg Rum sticker on the back window and it would fit in down here. I grew up with Toyopet Stouts and the N10/N20 Hilux. They worked hard on sheep and wheat farms. Couldn't kill 'em. Cheers, Harv
Easy to work on it seems, and you can't beat the looks. They really nailed the small truck look. This is the last round headlight truck, she has taught me all about it. It won't lead a carefree life. She is an avid climber, hiker, boarder, camper, outdoorsy girl. As such I am not going whole hog on the paint job. The paint will be as nice as new but not a show truck, she doesn't want a show truck. No rub out, I'll keep the orange peel to a minimum.
Those are brand new TA All Terrains on there. What do you guys think about white letter out? She has no preference.
Added the accessory fuse panel I was thinking about. There was a nice bit of real estate adjacent to the battery. Two tapped bolt holes sitting there. I made a steel plate and some spacers That will elevate it so water runs under it and I cut up some spaces to elevate the panel as well mainly due to the heads on those mounting bolts. I didn’t have metric flat heads so I danced with what brung me. Added a breaker for protection. This little panel has a ground buss so I’ll run the ground here from the lights to make it easier to diagnose future issues. Even came with a plastic cover, not Weather tight but Ito keep some dirt off it. Next up is to do some cabling My daughter is under the weather herself so I am taking care of the minutia of wiring details.
I had an 84 many years ago , solid front axle is a true 4x4 truck for me . Enjoy the time Dad and family have together , it’s a memory tomorrow .
I have never driven it other than running it inside the garage once or thrice. I know she loves it. She got a parts truck with it, a 2 wheel drive 82 long bed. We put a carb on it and it runs strong. It is her summer ride. but in comparison, she says the 81 is down on power. I told her it is a 4 cylinder with 4 wheel drive, you are gonna feel that but she says it is more than that so I need to do a compression test it sounds like. It'll run for the winter and we can bust the head off next year if needs some machine work.
The 22r is not known for speed. A coworker had one back in the 80’s with 4wd. It could haul anything but it wasn’t fast. It never let him down though. I’ve had an ‘86 and an ‘89 both with the fuel injected version of the 22r. One had an automatic which really made it a dog. Even my V6 powered truck isn’t fast but it will haul almost anything. The good thing is the top end of the engine is practically bulletproof. The heads may need attention by 200k miles. After that they’re good for a long time.
The early 22R's made a whopping 97hp and 1981 was the only year the 4x4's had a final drive ratio of 3.90:1, no other optional ring & pinions were available that year. Swap the front & rear gear sets out to a 4.30's and maybe toss a later 5spd in place of the W45 4spd and it'll have some more pep.
This is excellent stuff. I questioned the gearing ratios and she doesn’t have the experience to know the difference shorter legs make. Thanks for the suggestion.
Yeah definitely need the 5 speed with 4.30’s. It might be revving kind of high with just a 4 speed at highway speeds. The bolt pattern should be the same from later 22re’s. Probably might need the driveshafts that go with it.
For reference, my little Tacoma has the 3RZFE 4cyl that puts out 150hp. It has the W59 5spd manual and stock 4.30 gears, which is fine for the original 30" diameter tires, but the heavier & taller 33" tires I've ran for the last 10+ years would benefit from a ring & pinion swap to a 4.88. It's fine around town, but doesn't have enough torque or gear to maintain highway speeds without downshifting into 4th or even 3rd on slight inclines sometimes. I've dealt with it for all these years because it's not a huge priority for me to change gear sets and it'll still get 18mpg on the highway if I'm not fighting head winds. I'm not up on the specifics of the early Toyotas as much as I am on the Tacomas, but I'm sure with a little research you'll see a 5spd swap would probably be cheap and easy to do to add benefit to a gear change. Later complete axles might be a simple bolt in deal as well. Also, you're in the PNW, which arguably has the highest concentration of Rock Crawling Toyotas of any region, so finding the parts and info shouldn't be too difficult for you.
The Toyota G-series diffs are well built. In Australia, they start out like this: We then feed them VB and Bunnings snags* and they grow into full size Hilux diffs In all seriousness though, they are a good diff for moderately powered racing (up to about 500hp). This one I had cut down from a full size Hilux/HiAce unit for my FED. It ended up with 4.7 gears, Moser axles, full spool and Wilwood disks. Should be fun. * Bunnings is an Aussie big-box hardware store. They are reknowned for supporting local charities/sports clubs by allowing them to hold BBQ's in the hardware store car park. A "Bunnings snag" is a grilled sausage on white bread, with onions and either ketchup or BBQ sauce. Debate rages about whether the onion goes over, or under, the sausage. Cheers, Harv
In Australia we are indifferent to politics or religion, but are polarised by sport and the correct order for onions. Attached below the factory G-series diff ratios for interest. Cheers, Harv
If Clarkson can't kill it neither can your daughter. https://www.google.com/search?q=top...ate=ive&vld=cid:5febf630,vid:xnWKz7Cthkk,st:0
I had a little time after work to lug the roll bar around to the back garage for wiring and comment of the off road lights. The lights ran the wire down the inside the install bolt which made install a PITA! So I installed them the way I did on my dune buggy, drilling the back of the reflector and running the wires inside SS conduit. It looks nicer, looks old school, easier wiring inside the bucket with bullet connectors for easy bulb replacement. 2 down. My powder coater knocked these pieces out! He had them out the door in 2 days for hardly more than 5 cans of spray piss. I ran out of grommets. Always something. Oh well Thursday night football is on and there is ice in the house.
Boy did that guy try! I love those Hilux episodes. I really like that truck they rigged up for the North Pole run. That was a good episode. May have to rewatch that one tonight after football.
Ch,ch,ch,ch,ch,cherry bomb! (pop song from the 70's). When I was a kid cherry bombs got flushed down the toilet at school. I did get suspended a time or three. Once for "borrowing" a school vehicle during lunch. It was good having an older brother to help teach me hot-wiring and "drive it like you stole it" chauffeur skills.
The Jalopy Journal
