Rusty 1979 Toyota Pickup Gets a Redo Right Before Our Eyes
What appears to be a clean ’79 Toyota project quickly reveals some problems, but it still keeps chugging along.
There aren’t quite as many old Toyota pickups kicking around as there used to be. Which is just one of the many reasons why we love perusing the Yota Tech forums. There, we see a new/old Toyota project taking place nearly every day. Oftentimes, these trucks are pretty beat up and in a condition that would scare away most folks. But not our members. The latest example comes to us from member BootySlam, who recently took on a rusty ’79 pickup with the intentions of returning it to its former glory.
“I recently found a ’79 in pretty decent shape. This is my first restoration and I’ve started tearing it apart already. I though it would be cool to post about it here. The first thing I did was take out the awful seats it had and weld in some old MR2 seats I had lying around. The floors were disgusting! I hit them with a wire brush and Simple Green and they cleaned up decently. At some point, someone welded in floor pan patches and then they started to rot..so that’s on the list.”
After that, work continued on the interior and exterior with a few other minor fixes.
“Next, I rigged up a little bracket for a new radio and wired that in. I also did amber LEDs for the dash and an LED for the dome light. Put in new headlights, side marker clears, and LEDs, and painted the grille. I fixed the nasty old shift bushing and wow what a difference! It feels great, but I have yet to drive it because I’m working on the front suspension and shocks and all that. Also painted the wheel wells, and hit the frame and suspension bits with POR15.”
The OP kept chugging along with little repairs here and there. Things like a new shift boot, clutch master cylinder, and even repainting the valve cover. But soon, it was time for a bigger job – repairing the floor patches and repainting them. In the meantime, the OP also repainted the exhaust manifold.
This cool old project is humming along pretty quickly at the moment. So be sure and head over here to stay tuned for future updates. As fast as the OP is moving right now, we expect there to be plenty of those in the near future!
Photos: Yota Tech Forums
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