Topic: Rexy Re-Do: SUPER SLEEPER 1ST GEN!

[H8PVMNT]

they have the gas can tool boxes that would work well for that. 2 actual gas cans and 2 of the gas can tool boxes

Those are cool.  I may just try to make one.  I kind of like the idea of just a box with a big lid rather than the drawers.  I saw somebody even made a jerry can mini-bar.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I have been commuting in Caleb's pickup while I am waiting for this truck to get running again.  Friday I managed to blow off early and wheel a bit of the famed Rubber Lake Trail.  The snow had about a 4" crust with something like Styrofoam dots underneath for about 2 feet.  It was OK as long as you didn't do anything, at all.  No throttle, no steering, just idle.  At one time I got buried and just got out and shoveled a bit, the truck drove itself out.  I guess it's a better driver than I am .

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

More boring stuff, but I have to post it for motivation.  I ordered the rear brake hose for an '85 4runner because it was just about an inch longer than the 1st gen pickup one.  This was perfect because I wanted just a little bit more length, not a big wonky hose.  The clip end had a 17mm hex instead of a round fitting so I had to file that down to fit in the early frame bracket.

[redneckcustoms13]

2wd plates and shocks in stock location are the bees knees aren't they.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

You may have noticed in the last post how crusty and bent up my hard lines are.  Well, I just touched the long side of the hard line on the rear end and it broke off right at the T-fitting.  Too many sticks smacking things and fences getting wrapped around it over the long years of it's hard life.

 
I had a few long lines from part out trucks laying buried in the snow so I dug some up and got to work with the brake line tools.  If you are clever you can even re-use some factory bends.  Anyway that's fixed for zero dollars...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

2wd plates and shocks in stock location are the bees knees aren't they.

Yes indeed that is one cool cheap trick!

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Another jerry can thing I might do:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXc8WcHy0WM

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Put some new front brake pads on. 

Slapped my front tires back on in hopes to roll the truck forward to drop in the engine and I found my brake line re-locate brought the new brake hoses to close to the tire   .  One of those decision points where you can run something kind of dumb or swallow your pride and do it right...  I cut off the brackets again and welded them back on the side of the frame 90 degrees in the 2WD/IFS style.  This got me even more available down travel and I also had the hard lines from a 2WD in the shed so I used those instead of bending the 4WD hard lines around.

This left plenty of room and the brake lines are healthy and out of harms way.

Also replaced the 40 year old, gooey, seeping clutch soft line while in the engine bay.  Maybe now I won't have to bleed my clutch slave every time the weather changes.

[emsvitil]

Brakes are overrated..........


 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I agree.  Stopping is lame.  Going however is fun...

 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

This truck has always run on hand me downs and leftovers, but leftovers aren't always bad parts.  I had replaced my clutch on my '94 right before the 3RZ swap.  So when I needed a clutch in the '80 way back when the big later style clutch and flywheel were laying on the bench.  It has some wear but it was working great before so it went right back on.  When I need a clutch I will continue to use the big one.  The smaller size is fine with good gearing but the bigger clutch with more surface area is a noticeable difference in hook up and launch when you are abusing it.

[redneckcustoms13]

How is the bed coming?

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

How is the bed coming?

I decided to use some decent angle iron to lace the top rails together and beef the whole thing up.  Paycheck didn't go very far though so I will get that next week.  No reason to half a$$ it, I got nothing but time.  Looking into leading the seam on the bedsides so if I pull that off it should be some interesting tech.

[Slabzilla]

Great to see the Heartbeat back in place. Zoom Zoom.   

[helipilot77]

I decided to use some decent angle iron to lace the top rails together and beef the whole thing up.  Paycheck didn't go very far though so I will get that next week.  No reason to half a$$ it, I got nothing but time.  Looking into leading the seam on the bedsides so if I pull that off it should be some interesting tech.

Kind of like this?

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Found enough bits and pieces to get my intake side put on this morning.  I will run the 32/36 with the same intake I had on my hybrid.  It has the bridge cut out under the carb and is polished out a bit. 

It was a reasonable 20 degrees out. Finished just as the sun was coming up.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

40 degrees this morning and heavy wind peeling the snow off!  Unfortunately there was a small pond under the truck.  In an effort to stay dry I decided to just put the header on and get the truck that much closer to making noise.  Sprayed the gasket with the high temp copper sticky last night and let it tack up by the wood stove. 

I had the NWOR header loose and ready to go but I ended up going with the old header that came with this truck.  It is the same size and setup tri-y as the NWOR, just with a slightly thinner flange so I didn't have to mess with the factory manifold studs.  It also blocks everything off so I don't have to use air injection block offs or anything.  It's never been a bad header so I might as well use it again  .  No idea who's header this is though...

[redneckcustoms13]

Well it's your header. Duh...
Kind of looks like a Downey I have.

[Slabzilla]

I can almost hear it bark, reminds me of a Downey, too.     Miss them, wish he'd looked into something more than just desert racing. Good products, nice guy.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Went north in the county to inspect a couple new mobile homes.  They got a bit more snow and it blows around more up there because of the wide open terrain.  The snow tends to pile up in the road beds 5 or 6 feet deep because of the ditches and fences. 

The little prairie dog says it's spring time though...

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Fiddled with my exhaust a bit.  After most of the old stock exhaust with a thrush glass pack fell off while hauling a dead cow over 6" high speed wash boards a few years ago, I pieced together a new exhaust using some left overs from a 90s Celica part out.  I found it was about 2", mostly stainless.  It had the nice o-ring gaskets at the joints and the muffler is quiet but seems reasonably free flowing.

I added a piece with the O2 sensor bung for the AF gauge and the little flexy pipe.  Also added a bit of old swing set tubing to get the exhaust further back, exiting near the stock location instead of right behind the axle.  I can still fit a 33" spare next to it without the pipe being to close. I am keeping it a little short with a down turn on the end to keep it from getting smashed on rocks and cut banks.

[Toyotadon]

I can almost hear it bark, reminds me of a Downey, too.     Miss them, wish he'd looked into something more than just desert racing. Good products, nice guy.

Jim is still selling stuff on ebay and posts on IH8MUD.

https://forum.ih8mud.com/members/downey.23809/

https://www.ebay.com/sch/thetojoman/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Finished my boring exhaust and then Jake helped me lift off the bed and get it on saw horses to graft the front portion on.  For those just stepping in on this thread I am adding the front 8" of my old, mangled long bed to the front of a short bed to use it on a long bed frame, keeping the front bulk heads of each bed and accidently making a little storage box in the front of the bed.  Don't know if we are bobbing a long bed or stretching a short bed, but you get the idea.

I am welding the graft onto the front of the other bed.  I wanted a nice spine on the bedrails to make it sturdy and one piece.  I also wanted to stiffen the whole bed up a bit.  I love a 1st gen bed but I have to admitt they are a little flimsey with the single wall bed sides and all that.  I got some 1.5" x .25" thick angle iron to weld to the bed rails and offer something to tie the graft to the front to.  Both bulk heads of the "tool box" will also be capped in this for a solid place to put hinges for a lid and to act as cross members to stiffen the bed sides.  I am going to tap some holes through the top of the bed rails to make attachement points for lumber/expedition racks, headache racks, hoists and rails for processing tasty animals, side racks for fire wood or whatever I decide to fab up.  I won't have to fiddle with nuts under the bed rails, just thread in a 3/8" bolt and go.

The goal is a swiss army knife of options to configure the bed into.  We have used this truck for so many things over the years and this isn't going to change.

[toy_tek]

Great thread and thanks for the engine mount tip, hadn’t seen that before - I’m about to get mine set up on my swap. 

I just can’t believe you voluntarily work in that weather... but kudos for gettin it done.

[Gnarly4X]

I just can’t believe you voluntarily work in that weather... but kudos for gettin it done.

H8PVMNT is the MacGyver of Montana, and one of the gnarliest Toyota dudes on the planet!! 

I have no proof, but I'd bet a 6-pack that he has more hair on a pair of special organs than most guys! 

An Ancestry.com report would probably reveal his DNA has some ancient ancestral BIG FOOT in it!!

Gnarls. 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Well I don't know, I woke up wheezing a bit yesterday so I called in and took the day off and slept about 14 hours.  Being well rested again, finally, I welded the angle iron onto the bed rails that evening before dark.  Naturally this made the bed sides smile a bit as the metal cooled off.  This morning I put a good old Toyota jack and some tubing between the rails and de-smiled them back to straight.

It took almost 2" of over-stretch to bend out about a half inch of curve.  Crazy!

Then I set up the graft again for some head scratching.  The graft piece is about 1/4" taller in the top portion than the short-bed bedside.  The body lines are about the same distance apart other than that.  I think I will slice off the top rail on the graft and weld the bedside part on with the body lines in alignment, then stitch the top rail bit back on, otherwise it will look stupid.

Oh and in the process I put the tail gate on and realized I now have a working set of 1st gen latchy-latches!  I love those things!   



 

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

Welded that seam up this weekend.  It went together pretty well as far as structure, but the front of the short bed has a bit of a roll to it so there is about a 3/8" dip where the seam is. There is no way I am running that much body filler on this truck, it will just fall off when I scrub it on something or whack it with a piece of firewood.  I am afraid to go down the slippery slope of body work, because once I start picking at it I will end up working on the bed until it's pristine.  This will take a lot more time than I want and is not what I intend for this pickup.  I could just put a skiff of bondo and paint over, but I can't stand for the besides to look like ass either.  Body damage is visually acceptable to me, but really crappy body work will haunt me for ever.  I would literally stay up nights being mad about it. 

At this point I am going to finish the mechanicals and get the truck running and then revisit the bed.  I may do the lead filler, or maybe even do a nice flatbed on it that achieves the same goals as I have been looking for in the bed with fuel storage and other clever things.

[Lewis Hein]

I vote the flat bed, for several reasons.

1) Toyota beds, especially on the 1st and 2nd gen pickups, like to rust.
2) Certain types of work, such as hauling feed, lumber, tanks, and firewood (or really anything but dirt), are way easier with a flat bed.
3) A flat bed can easily have sides attached if needed
4) If you do end up doing a flat bed, it will be something cool that I can drool over as you build it and maybe take inspiration from someday.

Up to you. There is, of course, the danger that if it comes out looking too spiffy you'll end up ruining the sleeper look.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

I vote the flat bed, for several reasons.

1) Toyota beds, especially on the 1st and 2nd gen pickups, like to rust.
2) Certain types of work, such as hauling feed, lumber, tanks, and firewood (or really anything but dirt), are way easier with a flat bed.
3) A flat bed can easily have sides attached if needed
3) If you do end up doing a flat bed, it will be something cool that I can drool over as you build it and maybe take inspiration from someday.

Up to you. There is, of course, the danger that if it comes out looking too spiffy you'll end up ruining the sleeper look.

I used to run a flatbed on my '94 years ago.  I'll add to this list...

5) You can pivot off of things with reckless abandon.
6) Can be used to bridge small gulleys for less capable vehicles.
7) Vastly superior for hauling and violently driving out from under 1,500 lb bales of hay.

[Lewis Hein]

I used to run a flatbed on my '94 years ago.  I'll add to this list...

5) You can pivot off of things with reckless abandon.
6) Can be used to bridge small gulleys for less capable vehicles.
7) Vastly superior for hauling and violently driving out from under 1,500 lb bales of hay.

8) Easy to build in a headache rack and mount a work light and winch up on top. Plus all that firewood won't jab through your back window any more.
9) Tool boxes can fit underneath beside the wheels, if you're clever.
10) Did you ever consider a hinge at the back end and a hydraulic cylinder at the front hooked into the PS pump with a solenoid a la the mile marker winches, capable of giving maybe a 20 degree tilt? Might take care of the need for #7...