Early Toyota Pickup Goes from Beach Beater to Badass Bruiser
Once again, YotaTech members prove that every truck is worth saving. Not matter how rusty it is!
We can confidently say, without a slimmer of doubt, that YotaTech members are fearless. Things like prodigious rust and mysterious mechanical issues don’t scare them one bit. When it comes to saving an old Toyota pickup, they’ll go to the ends of the earth (and the brink of insanity) to do it. Just take a look at the amazing work kevin11mic did on his 1981/1982 Toyota pickup mashup and you’ll see what we mean.
After picking up the old rusty pile, the OP proceeded to work his magic on something many people would simply haul in for scrap.
“New to the forum. I’ve found lots of useful information working on my truck, so I figured it was time to share the progress. I started with a beach truck. 1982 Toyota pickup with lots of rust and a motor that needed to be fogged for mosquitoes. Stripped the truck down and built the engine, cleaned and painted the frame, and found a 98% rust free 1981 cab to put on it. Still want to build a flat bed, but she’s a work in progress.”
With the old Toyota pickup churning along once again, it was time to work on some smaller (yet important) stuff.
“I got the A/C working this weekend. Originally planned not to mess with it but I’m glad I did. The truck had all the original A/C parts and the compressor appeared to be functional. So I changed all the o-rings and converted it to R134a and she blows cold! All it cost me was a $20 vacuum pump from Harbor Freight, $30 worth of freon, and a few $ worth of o-rings and R134a converters. Been working for 3 days now so it looks like a success so far.”
But the best was yet to come. Namely, a sweet tubular flat bed project.
The results were obviously awesome. With a 5-speed manual transmission swap also complete, it was time for the OP to enjoy the fruits of his labor. In other words, do some wheeling!
