Bistro

Rightio, a long time between drinks on this project build. So since last time.. Sometime last year I started some work on the reproduction tray. The nats paint job was a temp job. Essentially it was shitty supercheap rattle can paint over equally shittiy Thai primer, so it was time to take it off and give it a few thick coats of etch primer for the mean time. I also cut off the engine mounts at some point. Later on in 2014 I tucked this and the engine away in a lock up with Seedy Al. Sadly it remained untouched…until a couple of Sundays ago!! I gave Al a hand towing one of his new steeds and then later in the arvo we went to work on the hilux. Thanks Al! With a bit of maneuvering, we had the 3RZ in the hole and the gearbox mounted up. As in the last post, Allan modded the gearbox mount, dropping the bolt up point for the gearbox about an inch or so. Al must have had the magic touch that day because it was perfect!! We got the engine sitting pretty straight and bang on level. She’s a bit tight at the firewall but not super tight – move a couple hoses and some other bits and she’ll be right as rain. I already knew the driveshaft yoke was a match to the gearbox output so I wanged in the driveshaft just to see the angle of the dangle and how much it needed to be shortened/lengthened. Turns out it is the perfect length! Gotta love those Toyotas. Didn’t get too many photos as the phone was running out of battery It hasn’t come without a couple problems however. The swaybar – had to undo this bugger and drop it down to get the 12R out/3RZ in. Now it is awfully tight around where the sump bowl will be, so this will need to be spaced down about an inch. The sump – a modified sump was always in the cards. With the engine sitting where I want it, the sump will need a notch where the sway bar will go. Because of this, the pick up will likely require a tickle up too. The sump will also need a tweak over the front crossmember, and the center link/drag link. The drag link – looks like these things are also known as a centre link or centre drag link. This bastard is right in my way!! Ideally this would need a drop in it, as the below pic. It looks like most of the 2wd Hiluxs have the same amount of straightness, up until the late 90s/early 2000s when the RZ etc came out (go figure) but the design is a fair bit different, not too mention probably a lot wider. Does anyone know the logistics/legalities of modifying these?? Or know of one off another vehicle that might fit? I saw this website but ahhhh unsure ?? http://grannys.tripod.com/centerlink.html Discuss: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/25299-bizzos-rn35-toyota-hilux/page-6 many thanks

Woah, had to drag this up from the depths. GLWS, will be a sad day to see the wee fella go.

OHHHHH SHIT YEAH!!!!!

oh man excited to see this on the focus!!! The 13s are great tho. I remember when me and Rawb put my 13' streets with 215/50 eagers on the waka and it looked like a Japanese version of an XD falcon hahahah. will have to drag up a pic

far out, fast work mate! looking goooood

Oh sweet just had a bit of a trawl through some b1600 photos and I can see what you mean! I used to think that some of the wellsides looked s bit funny and now I know why. I think the same thing happened with some of the early hiluxes too - there are wellsides that are a bit boxier and don't carry the body lines as fluidly.

hey dude, love your work!!! always wanted one of these! what differentiates the japanese wellside from other wellsides? Is it the tailgate and the lower extension that follows on from the cab?

dang, forgot about this but couldnt make it anyway as Lozzos family in town. Looks like fun and good turnout tho!

also, great to see a nice wee turn out of oldschool steeds on a dark windy night!

Great meet! did anyone get pulled over by the popo? There were 2 marked cars going up and down the parade a few times when we were there. sneaks!

Look forward to seeing this thing develop!

got it in one. actually.

you remind me of Tom Jones.

lol, awesome

I got some reset springs for my 323. wanted them lower than they were by about another inch. they have settled since by about 2 inches and are a little saggy now. am going to chuck another main leave to stiffen it up a touch and then roll some 2 inch blocks. in summary - get the car together, drive it for a couple hundy kms and then see how it looks. I would say that it'll settle atleast another inch.

good work dave. good work.

oh wow, this is so cool! Definitely keep the paint as is! Not a fan of chopping up with tray either - if you can, raise the tray up inside the body so it's still flat. would look much tastier imo. also, go for an old v8 I reckon. keep it period!! look forward to seeing some updates oh jeah

thumbs up!!!

very very cool idea!! Looks great!

hah cheers dude. Yea, the prefacelift models (I think 79-81) came out with round headlights, different grill and bezels, different headlight buckets and a rounder bumper. I also found that the mounting points on the bumpers are different too. also, this joker here is selling cylinders old hilux. http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/used-cars/toyota/auction-862588067.htm I see he still has the wellside so you could always see if he wanted to sell separate. It'll be rusty but most of them are and it'll prob be cheaper than mucking around importing and fixing a taiwanese one. you can see in cylinders old thread the earlier headlights etc //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/35393-cylinders-1982-toyota-hilux/

I knew there were two different cab sizes for the 3rd gen but didnt know about the doors. You can easily tell by the vent grill behind the door. As you can see mine is a short cab (and, being a 30 series, is also a short wheelbase). Excuse the large pic.. Your issue may be that you are after RN45 specific panels, or 1985 panels. The changeover year was 1984, and most if not all of the 3rd gen hiluxes after this date are Jap imports. So all the third gen front sheet metal should be the same. Are you going to a round headlight?

sooo was it originally orange?? this is so sweet btw!

Nice!! Yea VG, mine had aircon too but needed regassing to ripped it all out. Will prob refit when I put in new engine. aircon is the bombs. just ask sparkle

Far out dude, that's shithouse! you should def jump on that blue wellside one if you can!! if you end up parting it out there are prob a few interior bits and pieces I'd be keen on. PS. Congrats on Best Commercial 2015!!

FYI - calenders are pretty good. They have them on most phones. That's what I do anyway. I put it as a meeting in my phone calender. Works a treat and saves me looking like an knob.