Classic First-gen Toyota Pickup Undergoes Extreme Makeover
Old Toyota pickup’s future looks bright as Yota Tech member gives it a second major overhaul in seven years.
A rather large portion of builds we come across in the Yota Tech forums involve major overhauls. Going far beyond your average paint correction and basic engine maintenance. No, these builds typically involve complete engine overhauls, suspension rebuilds, and major rust repair. And the reconstruction of this 1983 Toyota pickup from member warmonger88 certainly checks all of those boxes and more. The project actually began seven years ago, with a cheap purchase and a few ideas.
“After having three previous Toyota trucks, I have finally decided to do a build up thread for my 1st gen. I picked it up two weeks ago in Spokane, Washington for $1,100. She is pretty stock with 168k miles, no lift, a long bed, top shift 5-speed, and a rusty bed.”
A couple of months in, work on this old Toyota was progressing steadily. But as is typically the case, the OP found a slew of new problems while disassembling the pickup. Most of them were minor, like a crumbling shift boot. So he just kept plugging along and replacing everything that was worn out or non-functional with new or junkyard parts.
He soon scored a set of scratch-and-dent Skyjacker shocks for cheap, which were a welcome upgrade over the worn out stock units. But after digging into the truck some more, the OP found some pretty bad rust near the cab corners. So he immediately got to work correcting this newfound issue.
“I pulled my seat and carpet out, and started cutting like a drunk surgeon. All in all, the spots aren’t too big. It did eat out the top of my cab mounts pretty bad, but the sides are fine. So I cut off the top and started cleaning up the sides. When I cut the top out, the sides towed out and I could feel that the metal was still really strong when I pushed it back into place.”
Rust repair continued with patching up the passenger side floorboard before the OP could move on to other things. But after a little more wrenching, the old Toyota was running great. In fact, a few years passed, a few parts broke, and a few things changed before we saw a new, updated post. But this time around, the OP is going big.
That means a diesel swap, suspension lift, new brakes, and complete strip-down of the body. The Toyota is already completely apart and resprayed in Dark Olive bedliner, with the drivetrain coming along as well. So be sure and head over here to keep tabs on this awesome project as it goes through its second major rebuild!
Photos: YotaTech forums
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