Bizzo's RN35 Toyota Hilux

[Bistro]

So here's the new stead that I've had for a while now. An ex Seedy Al special as seen in his project thread, Allan's so called "long time dream ute" that he "planned on keeping" was sold to make way for the then 'flavour of the month' Suzuki Carry Van. I'm guessing I picked it up around March/April of 2008.

At the point of sale the lux had no warrent and was pink stickered however the registration was on hold and it was a short wheel base version with a wellside. Most of these utes were sold as flatdecks and the ones with decent wellsides slowly diminished overtime due to the rough nature of Kiwi blokes shovelling shit/builders mix/wood/cattle from arsehole to breakfast on the farm/building site/underwater into the back of them. I'd always wanted this shape Lux, almost buying one in Dunedin a few years back, so to find one with a wellside locally where I was able to check it out and take er for a spin meant I had to jump on it. Plus it's a Jap import. Bonus!!

So I'm a little bemused at why it's registered as 1985 as from what I gather this generation of the Hilux was produced from 1979-1983. There are two versions denoting SWB or LWB, these being RN30 series and RN40 series respectively.

Being a commercial vehicle from Japan there are no surprises that it's white. The interior is pretty mint; two tone grey and black door cards, black dash and surround and a lush grey benchie. Most of the NZ new versions are tanny brown which in my opinion is second rate to this.

It runs a "lovely" 12R with super sweet column shift action of all 4 gears. Engine will obviously be replaced with something decent in the future but if I could I would like to keep it column shift.

The cab is pretty reasonable, dents here and there and the only penetration rust is two spots around the bottom of the A-pillars under the windscreen rubber.

Tray is is pretty fucked but it's gotta be fixed as I don't see finding another one an easy task.

Immediate plans are to get the rust fixed and a paint and probably track down a pre face-lift front.

Then I dunno. Bags or hard slam?? and I've had the idea of a 1UZ... Crazy!

So here's a picture of it to keep the masses happy and will update later this week maybe with current status of the Lux.

...what a sack.

[Bistro]

will update later this week maybe

Yea whatever bro.

IF ONLY HAH

been workin on it a bit so will probably forget to update later this week.

[Bistro]

will update later this week maybe

Yea whatever bro.

...

been workin on it a bit so will probably forget to update later this week.

Fuck I am average at updating shit. But to be fair its not like much has been going on...

Pulled it apart and started on the rust. Cab was ok, rust at bottom of A pillars and some along a seam on the bottom rear section as well as a couple other minor bits and pieces. Wellside...well, that's another story all together....

These photos were taken late December 2009:

Cab rust got patches and the dented to all buggery roof was made evenish. These photos were taken late February 2010:

Then I it got shifted around a bit and finally ended up in a garage down the road from my mothers place. So it sat like this until a pretty much last weekend:

Did some etch priming here and there

And the last photo taken was this

Discussion thread here: //oldschool.co.nz/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=18212

[Bistro]

Mum's partner Rick sprayed it with primer today

and found some rust :s

[Bistro]

Hi!

Oh no wait....incorrect automobile

ahhh HI!

Big thanks to Rick for spraying the cab while I finished off the chassis and front panel etc

Rick also plated up a couple holes in the driver and passenger foot wells. Driver's was significantly worse..

Also scrubbed the headlining; it was sitting under a tarp in the elements sans door window for some time so the mould attacked the lining and seat.

Using some 3M stuff which is good but didn't get it all off. Will have to go over it again.

Can see here half complete.

Bye!

Discussion: viewtopic.php?f=18&t=18212&start=20

[Bistro]

Bought a new RHS door from some outfit in CHCH as mine was stuffed; it's a reproduction item from either Taiwan or Thailand.

Being the master beater of panels Rick found this was not so straight and set to work. The result is below - as you can see not so straight. They seem to dent the skin when welding to the frame, and there was also a stiff crease in the midsection from when it had been folded.

Interior cleaned/Neopoled

Benchie srubbed up alright

Taiwanese grill, headlight bucket and bezel seem to line up...near enough. Not great but ok. The grill clips on these repro bits are pretty average as well, keep popping off.

[Bistro]

Took this piece for a VTNZ wof just before - failed on a few things unfortunately but fortunately they are all easy fixes.

Drivers seatbelt is starting to frey

Rear brake imbalance

LHS end cap missing off bumper (I had taken this off as it was not the factory item and was touching the guard as it was slightly longer. will just cut er down until my new bumper arrives on the boat)

Still gotta paint the bonnet and tray as you can see

Discussion Fred: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=25299

[Bistro]

Right. So going from I left off last.

Found this sweet AM radio that I got given years ago – since I’m planning of running a later model head unit in the glovebox I thought this was the perfect fit for the vacant slot in the dash.

Made up a pretty simple bracket and then

Boom town, interior complete!

Got a set of falcon steels couple years ago – wire wheel plus some industrial g-black. Can see the change from stripped – etched – and rusty.

So got a bunch of new stz for this from Thailand and Taiwan. Everything reproduction seems a little off so some tweaks here and there make things fit close enough. IE Round holes filed into square etc and slightly massaged

Always have this intention of running slam and wideish reyums. Therefore some guard lipping/cutting required. Plenty of room now!

And here is about how much got lopped off

While I was at it I got some reproduction fender indicators as the original ones were simply bulb s and lenses rangily help in with some silicone gunk and was fairly degradable to the touch.

You can see here the bottom is what I had (with only a lens). The middle is the reproduction with the shitty connector and the top is the repo unit with the original connection soldered on to length. Much better.

While I was at it I managed (after a couple of years of trying) to get this wellside imported. Pretty good as the old one was just too much swiss cheese and denty to fix.

Most mounting points fitted except the front too which were removable. Chucked the mounts off the original tray on and they lined up sweet as.

Chucked everything together for wof time. The bump stops at the front needed a little work/trim as did the taillights on the new tray.

Aaaaand a pic from the less pointy end.

[Guest Bistro]

So after new brake cylinders, new shoes, machining the drums and four attemps at VTNZ I finally got a WOF.

Still have plenty to do but it feels goooood.

Discussion: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=25299

[Guest Bistro]

Big shout out to Brock-Dave for his help from the weekend till now. And also to Forman George/Tomstement for fantastic formanising.

I don't do pictureless updates so here is picture of my picture

ohlolololol

[Bistro]

Cool. So got it the wof and then Rick and I pulled the tray off and painted the underside with some chassis black.

 

Also cut the headache rack off there as it was hori thai design/construction and then sprayed the front of the tray white.

Then it was time to get the thing on the road to nats.

 

Brock Dave and Forman Tomstement came round and we slammed it/chalkboard NASCAR livery.

 

 

Pulled out a main leaf, the overload and chucked in some 2” blocks. Wound down torsions in the front.

Put on the tridents then proceeded to slowly lip and pull the rear guards.

 

Before

After

 

Tridents and 14x7” and 8” with 175/60s and 185/55s respectively.

 

Dave stuck around and we had a few rums and did a couple designs for the tray to break up the shitty black thai paint job.

Painted it over a couple days, a couple days before nats. Went through a couple cans of cheap paint but had the desired effect so pretty stoked!

 

 

Then loaded up and headed to nats

 

 

Some sweet photos from nats

 

 

 

 

Discuss: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=25299

[Bistro]

Some more photos from nats care of Richy thanks maaate

 

This magnificent shot of Club ’33 even made it into print

[Bistro]

So rolled around like this for a while but before long I had chucked my steels back on for better drivability and put it to work. Odd jobs/scrap boat etc.

 

 

 

 

Bwarp shot this one at a monthly meet

 

 

 

Shortly after Nats I bought a 3RZ and bits off NicT. The motor was out of an ‘04 Hilux and has done a mere 108,000kms. Standard power for the 2.7L petrol 3RZ is 150hp compared to the alleged 90hp of the 1.6L 12R. Should make for a good ride!

While I was at it I picked up a G52 gearbag out of estate’s RN40. 5 speed column change goodness that can mate to the 3RZ with the help of the bell housing that came with the motor.  

Big thanks the slacker.cam for picking up both the box and engine and storing them for several months!!!

 

Then it was time to collect said parts, and over a few brews, BrockLee and I devised a plan to coincide the pickup with the inaugural OS Drag day.

I didn’t really have a vehicle for the trip so I thought it would be a good idea to buy a van less than a week out from our trip away.

 

Enter the Nissan Caravan. 3.2 litres of coal chugging brilliance. Collected on Monday, WOF’d on Wed, hitting the road on Friday.

 

 

 

Just under 1,500km of trouble free cruising, we arrived back in the windy city with the bits for the ute, plus a few more. OS freight service in full swing!

[Bistro]

Steelies’ ol mate has an RN30 with a bung 12R and needed my engine. With the 3RZ here it was a no brainer. Over a couple jars the removal date was set for Boxing Day, but we ended up doing it the day after.

 

Rookie Dave as in town so he popped over the lend a hand, Steelie Manu arrived with a dinky Suzuki Carry full of engine crane and Lion Brown, Seedy Allan brought a bucket of tools and Joe Goat turned up with a sweet new tattoo.

With the much appreciated help from all above, the heart of the old Lux was removed.

Ta gents!!

 

[Bistro]

Hit the engine bay with a few cans of degreaser and a scotch pad and it came up pretty good. Might touch up the black patches but no plans for a full paint yet.

 

Dirty

 

Clean

 

Dirty

 

Clean

[Bistro]

Me and the van went and got Seedy Al and his engine crane yesterday.

 

Engine and box bolted together:

 

 

 

Dummy fit engine/box time:

 

 

 

Got the engine in and did some measuring. Engine mounts need to me cut off and mounted further toward the cab on the chassis. Gearbox mounts need some modifying; needs to sit the box about 30mm lower. So Al said he would work on that, thanks mate.

 

 

Up to date for now. Discuss: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?showtopic=25299

[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