Seeing your door without speaker holes hacked in is a first for me. I have 3 sets of doors and all have been cut for speakers.
Build 1987 Toyota Xtra Cab - From Scrap To Truggy - Build
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- #62
Chapter 16: The other Toyota
Now with the paint left to dry, it was time to pivot over to the pink elephant in the room, the other Toyota.
I was not looking for more Toyota’s, but a friend of mine sent me this ad and I couldn’t turn it down. It was a 1988 with 22RE manual. Somewhere in my vision of this Truggy build entered an idea of putting a turbo on it. I often pushed it back in the corner of my mind because I knew I would want EFI to make that happen. But I also knew that I would be way more pleased if a rock crawler had EFI in general. When this thing popped up as a non-runner but ran when parked and basically give me a really nice keg of beer for it, I couldn’t resist.
So here is a picture of the two together to give a point of reference for how long this has been lurking in the background.
Don’t feel bad for it, it had a completely rotten frame and was all used up. The engine, however, needed a happy fuel pump and was back off to the races! The thing ran really well! So, as I mulled along on the actual build when I was tired of working on that, I’d play with this one. You know, like how long of a burnout can a stock 22RE do? If you feel like you need that answer, I can already tell you, you’ll be disappointed.
Ok, so now what? I know the stock computer leaves a lot to be desired, it is robust and reliable, but not much to play with in terms of making more power. With that dare to dream of a turbo still echoing in the back of my brain, I caved on something I’ve been wanting to dive into on something for a very long time; I bought a Megasquirt PNP.
Up to this point, I had never dived into programmable logic in automotive applications but have in industrial applications. I felt confident that I could learn the ins and outs of this black magic. I knew right away I wanted to use this thing to its full potential and have as much control over the engine as I could. So soon after I plugged it in and had it running off base maps, I was cutting wires and hacking the harness up. Step one was the obvious, a wideband. I started with an LC2 from innovate. From there I set off to build a crank sensor reference.
Now with the paint left to dry, it was time to pivot over to the pink elephant in the room, the other Toyota.
I was not looking for more Toyota’s, but a friend of mine sent me this ad and I couldn’t turn it down. It was a 1988 with 22RE manual. Somewhere in my vision of this Truggy build entered an idea of putting a turbo on it. I often pushed it back in the corner of my mind because I knew I would want EFI to make that happen. But I also knew that I would be way more pleased if a rock crawler had EFI in general. When this thing popped up as a non-runner but ran when parked and basically give me a really nice keg of beer for it, I couldn’t resist.
So here is a picture of the two together to give a point of reference for how long this has been lurking in the background.
Don’t feel bad for it, it had a completely rotten frame and was all used up. The engine, however, needed a happy fuel pump and was back off to the races! The thing ran really well! So, as I mulled along on the actual build when I was tired of working on that, I’d play with this one. You know, like how long of a burnout can a stock 22RE do? If you feel like you need that answer, I can already tell you, you’ll be disappointed.
Ok, so now what? I know the stock computer leaves a lot to be desired, it is robust and reliable, but not much to play with in terms of making more power. With that dare to dream of a turbo still echoing in the back of my brain, I caved on something I’ve been wanting to dive into on something for a very long time; I bought a Megasquirt PNP.
Up to this point, I had never dived into programmable logic in automotive applications but have in industrial applications. I felt confident that I could learn the ins and outs of this black magic. I knew right away I wanted to use this thing to its full potential and have as much control over the engine as I could. So soon after I plugged it in and had it running off base maps, I was cutting wires and hacking the harness up. Step one was the obvious, a wideband. I started with an LC2 from innovate. From there I set off to build a crank sensor reference.
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- #63
Once that was built and useful, I moved on to the distributor. I wanted to turn that into a cam sensor and use GM coils to manage spark control.
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- #64
Once I had the mad scientist stuff figured out to this point and had enough runtime to feel like I would actually be able to know what I was doing. We were ready to pull the drivetrain for the truggy’s repower.
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- #65
Chapter 17: Triple Sticks
Now I don’t get to play with machinists’ equipment as often as I think I would like, but when I have a project that requires that type of work, I have a lot of fun with it. Now was one of those times. I decided to drop into the deep end and add an additional low range gearbox to the drivetrain while I had it all apart sitting in front of me. Yes, this would require yet another redesign of my transmission support, this was very disappointing to me, but things you run into when you are flying by the seat of your pants.
So first thing first, which is likely obvious, I had to cannibalize a t-case and build this using one of those fancy doubler kits. The kit was straight forward and had not drama. I opted to have some smarts and upgrade to a 23-spline input and output between the two low ranges.
Once I had a complete unit, I moved onto the fun part; figuring out how I was going to build my linkages. I decided to make a shift block for the rear t-case and use shift rods to stack the shifters side by side at the forward low range box. The shift block was the machinist part and was a lot of fun to build out. It’s not fun enough that I want to start pumping these out as a side hustle, but enjoyable. I began by just cutting out the basic shape of the block. I used two plates, because my idea was to sandwich needle bearings in this thing to attempt to keep the shifting smooth and reliable.
Now I don’t get to play with machinists’ equipment as often as I think I would like, but when I have a project that requires that type of work, I have a lot of fun with it. Now was one of those times. I decided to drop into the deep end and add an additional low range gearbox to the drivetrain while I had it all apart sitting in front of me. Yes, this would require yet another redesign of my transmission support, this was very disappointing to me, but things you run into when you are flying by the seat of your pants.
So first thing first, which is likely obvious, I had to cannibalize a t-case and build this using one of those fancy doubler kits. The kit was straight forward and had not drama. I opted to have some smarts and upgrade to a 23-spline input and output between the two low ranges.
Once I had a complete unit, I moved onto the fun part; figuring out how I was going to build my linkages. I decided to make a shift block for the rear t-case and use shift rods to stack the shifters side by side at the forward low range box. The shift block was the machinist part and was a lot of fun to build out. It’s not fun enough that I want to start pumping these out as a side hustle, but enjoyable. I began by just cutting out the basic shape of the block. I used two plates, because my idea was to sandwich needle bearings in this thing to attempt to keep the shifting smooth and reliable.
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- #66
I cut the arms out by hand, which is why they look a little crude, but they do the trick.
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- #67
Now that I had my shift block created, it was time to start building the linkage system out to the handles.
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- #68
Chapter 18: Heart Transplant
With the trans and t-cases ready for fitment, it was time to drop those and the 22RE into the chassis. Unlike the last chapter, this chapter is very picture light and word heavy. Looking back on this, I never felt then, that I needed to take pictures because the progress made was small and tedious. However, there were a lot of small projects wrapped up.
I cleaned the engine up and threw a new rear main seal in, a new clutch that was a little more up to the task of clamping for boost later on, front crank seal, and valve cover gasket. I painted the block just to keep everything clean. I had decided to pull the intake plenum off to do this work. Basically, a craigslist rebuild.
Once I had the engine/trans/t-cases back in, I continued focusing on the wiring. Before reinstalling the intake plenum, I took the original engine harness apart and thinned it from the wires I would no longer need and tried to tidy everything up. These old Toyotas run the wiring loom without a firewall connector, and I knew I wanted to change that. So, I bought some Deutch flange connectors and mounted them in.
For switching from carbureted to EFI, I decided the easiest thing for me to do would be just to transplant the entire wiring harness from the ’88 truck I had, so I started down that route. That harness was very whole yet, so it was lucky to have that unmutilated. I opted to pull the entire dash out to do this. I'm glad I did, the amount of mouse feces I was able to pull out from the dash insulation was worth it. I ended up replacing the insulation all together with the bubble wrap stuff you can buy for houses at Menards. Once I had everything gutted and cleaned, I put the new insulation in, followed by hanging the EFI harness.
Getting all the wiring in place took some time, but wasn't very hard. Once I had the wiring sorted, I had to shift my focus to adding a fuel pump to the gas tank and routing feed/return lines for that. I used aluminum tubing from tank to engine bay and adapted over to flex line to the engine. I initially did this retaining the factory fuel regulator which worked well enough.
Once all the wiring was completed and the dash was back to being whole, it had come time to validate my work by starting the engine and ensuring everything transferred over ok from the '88 truck to the '87. It barked to life without any drama. A transplant success. Itching to drive this thing now, I needed to work to make it mobile again as at this point, I still had a jackstand under it to hold the trans up and no driveshafts made for the lengthened driveline.
With the trans and t-cases ready for fitment, it was time to drop those and the 22RE into the chassis. Unlike the last chapter, this chapter is very picture light and word heavy. Looking back on this, I never felt then, that I needed to take pictures because the progress made was small and tedious. However, there were a lot of small projects wrapped up.
I cleaned the engine up and threw a new rear main seal in, a new clutch that was a little more up to the task of clamping for boost later on, front crank seal, and valve cover gasket. I painted the block just to keep everything clean. I had decided to pull the intake plenum off to do this work. Basically, a craigslist rebuild.
Once I had the engine/trans/t-cases back in, I continued focusing on the wiring. Before reinstalling the intake plenum, I took the original engine harness apart and thinned it from the wires I would no longer need and tried to tidy everything up. These old Toyotas run the wiring loom without a firewall connector, and I knew I wanted to change that. So, I bought some Deutch flange connectors and mounted them in.
For switching from carbureted to EFI, I decided the easiest thing for me to do would be just to transplant the entire wiring harness from the ’88 truck I had, so I started down that route. That harness was very whole yet, so it was lucky to have that unmutilated. I opted to pull the entire dash out to do this. I'm glad I did, the amount of mouse feces I was able to pull out from the dash insulation was worth it. I ended up replacing the insulation all together with the bubble wrap stuff you can buy for houses at Menards. Once I had everything gutted and cleaned, I put the new insulation in, followed by hanging the EFI harness.
Getting all the wiring in place took some time, but wasn't very hard. Once I had the wiring sorted, I had to shift my focus to adding a fuel pump to the gas tank and routing feed/return lines for that. I used aluminum tubing from tank to engine bay and adapted over to flex line to the engine. I initially did this retaining the factory fuel regulator which worked well enough.
Once all the wiring was completed and the dash was back to being whole, it had come time to validate my work by starting the engine and ensuring everything transferred over ok from the '88 truck to the '87. It barked to life without any drama. A transplant success. Itching to drive this thing now, I needed to work to make it mobile again as at this point, I still had a jackstand under it to hold the trans up and no driveshafts made for the lengthened driveline.
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- #69
Chapter 19: Belly Pan
I had a couple design consideration when rebuilding the transmission mount for the 3rd time. One of those considerations surrounded the rear quarter elliptical perches on the back and having noticed that even through I had reinforced that area substantially, I had a portion between the front and rear suspension points that was just the 3” C-channel, and that area showed some deflection from the force applied as twist to the back bulkhead the elliptical mounts were mounted to.
Another consideration was the levearage the lower link mounts might have on deflecting the frame in the future. So, considering these, I opted to create a sort of sub frame much like how you see any modern rock buggy get designed. Then I figured, after I had that made, I could just bolt the belly pan to those. So what I did was fabbed some flatstock to bolt up vertically that I would later weld to the belly pan. This would allow me to not have any bolt heads showing on the bottom of the pan.
So, I decided to use more 3” C-channel, (you know, the free stuff), and weld that to the front and rear lower link mounts.
I had a couple design consideration when rebuilding the transmission mount for the 3rd time. One of those considerations surrounded the rear quarter elliptical perches on the back and having noticed that even through I had reinforced that area substantially, I had a portion between the front and rear suspension points that was just the 3” C-channel, and that area showed some deflection from the force applied as twist to the back bulkhead the elliptical mounts were mounted to.
Another consideration was the levearage the lower link mounts might have on deflecting the frame in the future. So, considering these, I opted to create a sort of sub frame much like how you see any modern rock buggy get designed. Then I figured, after I had that made, I could just bolt the belly pan to those. So what I did was fabbed some flatstock to bolt up vertically that I would later weld to the belly pan. This would allow me to not have any bolt heads showing on the bottom of the pan.
So, I decided to use more 3” C-channel, (you know, the free stuff), and weld that to the front and rear lower link mounts.
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- #70
Once the 3” C-channel was in for good, I set off building the reinforcement structure that the belly pan would be welded to as well as build in the new and final version of the trans mount. For belly pan material, I decided to go with 3/16” steel. Pretty heavy for what I am doing, but I know I’ll never have to worry either. You can also see be starting on my mini boatside supports that will be added to this later.
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- #71
Chapter 20: Welding Exo on, Locker, & Onboard Air
With that wiring complete and the transmission now supported, I was one driveshaft away from being mobile and ready to drop the cage back on. I cut the rear driveshaft down and I was ready to go.
The cage went on ok, but not as easily as I had hoped. I ended up cracking the windshield as I tried to manipulate it into place. That was a bummer but also, that windshield had a lot of little potholes from welding knurdles resting on it from time to time, so I figured it wasn’t too much of a loss.
The reality to the windshield being busted was ultimately a good thing. I ended up accessing some rust in the window channel that I previously was going to leave alone. Being able to now cut that out and replace that with good metal was a plus.
With that wiring complete and the transmission now supported, I was one driveshaft away from being mobile and ready to drop the cage back on. I cut the rear driveshaft down and I was ready to go.
The cage went on ok, but not as easily as I had hoped. I ended up cracking the windshield as I tried to manipulate it into place. That was a bummer but also, that windshield had a lot of little potholes from welding knurdles resting on it from time to time, so I figured it wasn’t too much of a loss.
The reality to the windshield being busted was ultimately a good thing. I ended up accessing some rust in the window channel that I previously was going to leave alone. Being able to now cut that out and replace that with good metal was a plus.
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- #72
Once the doors were put on, it was time to finish out the Toyota strips. Along with that, I had overlooked the wrong color on the wheels long enough and I corrected those as well.
I still needed a front driveshaft, but before that, I wanted to rebuild the whole front end. I dug into that next. I put new chromoly axle shafts in with chromoly lockout bits. I also built a new 3rd member with high-pinion housing, and a Yukon air locker.
Now with a new air locker installed I obviously needed some air supply. Now my dad has had an old York compressor sitting around since before I could remember. I used that, fabbed a bracket up and mounted it essentially were the OEM compressor would locate. From there, I added a small tank under the passenger side floor board with a pressure switch for on/off to maintain correct pressure. It works really well.
And now with a new windshield in, it was ready for another adventure.
I still needed a front driveshaft, but before that, I wanted to rebuild the whole front end. I dug into that next. I put new chromoly axle shafts in with chromoly lockout bits. I also built a new 3rd member with high-pinion housing, and a Yukon air locker.
Now with a new air locker installed I obviously needed some air supply. Now my dad has had an old York compressor sitting around since before I could remember. I used that, fabbed a bracket up and mounted it essentially were the OEM compressor would locate. From there, I added a small tank under the passenger side floor board with a pressure switch for on/off to maintain correct pressure. It works really well.
And now with a new windshield in, it was ready for another adventure.
Nice! You got some $hit done man. Those glue in windshield surfaces rust out even out here in the dry azz desert. Bad design, good moisture trap.
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- #74
Chapter 21: First Wheel
I was able to get this put together just in time to take it up to Silver Lake Sand Dunes to do some testing and tuning with the timing and fuel maps. I thought the dunes would work well because I can run wide open throttle for the whole RPM range and see how the changes play into torque and knock. I was just starting to dabble here, so don’t mind the values above 100kpa, they don’t matter.
It was a good time; I did, however, make a foolish decision and backed down into a tree on the passenger side. Not a huge deal, this thing was not meant to be pretty, but I had hoped to keep nicely new painted panels in better shape a little longer.
I quickly sourced a used side vent and had the rig ready to meet some friends in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to do a weekend of two-tracking. I figured it would be light duty and give me a chance to focus on how to drive the thing, as well as start understanding how to really tune it with Megasquirt software.
It ran out really well. I had some small tuning gremlins, or really just limitations with how basic the EFI is on these engines, but overall, I was able to start understanding what amount of timing this thing liked and where. It was still a long way from dialed in at this point, but it was trustworthy enough.
I was able to get this put together just in time to take it up to Silver Lake Sand Dunes to do some testing and tuning with the timing and fuel maps. I thought the dunes would work well because I can run wide open throttle for the whole RPM range and see how the changes play into torque and knock. I was just starting to dabble here, so don’t mind the values above 100kpa, they don’t matter.
It was a good time; I did, however, make a foolish decision and backed down into a tree on the passenger side. Not a huge deal, this thing was not meant to be pretty, but I had hoped to keep nicely new painted panels in better shape a little longer.
I quickly sourced a used side vent and had the rig ready to meet some friends in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to do a weekend of two-tracking. I figured it would be light duty and give me a chance to focus on how to drive the thing, as well as start understanding how to really tune it with Megasquirt software.
It ran out really well. I had some small tuning gremlins, or really just limitations with how basic the EFI is on these engines, but overall, I was able to start understanding what amount of timing this thing liked and where. It was still a long way from dialed in at this point, but it was trustworthy enough.
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- #75
Then, I did my first stupid thing. Much of this landscape is swampy up here. I never really planned on this being a mud rig, but I’m not going to shy away from some water either. My family ties to this area date back well over a century. My dad recalls stories from my grandad telling him that when they ran railroad tracks through the U.P. to pull timber for rebuilding Chicago at the end of the 1800’s, they’d come up on mud bogs that had no bottom to speak of. As a solve, they would just throw big timbers until enough hung up to act as a bottom. I say that to help you understand the next picture. I opted to try my luck in this hole.
I have ZERO experience in how this Toyota grips or how I should approach so I was very reserved driving into this. Double low range, front diff locked in, and a cautiously slow drive into the water, I bumped the front left tire up against something and it came to an abrupt halt. I learned a lesson then and there, this rig doesn’t really have much more to give in the water after it starts to spin because I can’t get the wheel speed up enough, just not enough motor. So, as I fought to back out of this, it would not pop back out and the front left tire just kept getting lower and lower. This is when I confirmed that my winch is also not waterproof. With the fan scooping water conveniently onto the air filter, I opted to shut it down while I considered my options.
Long story short, once I shut the Toyota down, it would not restart with the starter under water. Two 2500 trucks could not pull this out as dead weight. We ended up digging down the two 2500 trucks and using them as anchors. We used a highlift jack as a come along and we were able to pop the front left tire up and over whatever had held it up originally. Once it was over that, the starter was out of the water. I was able to get the starter to kick off and start it back up. Once running, I was able to drive the rest of the way out of the water. What a mess!
I have ZERO experience in how this Toyota grips or how I should approach so I was very reserved driving into this. Double low range, front diff locked in, and a cautiously slow drive into the water, I bumped the front left tire up against something and it came to an abrupt halt. I learned a lesson then and there, this rig doesn’t really have much more to give in the water after it starts to spin because I can’t get the wheel speed up enough, just not enough motor. So, as I fought to back out of this, it would not pop back out and the front left tire just kept getting lower and lower. This is when I confirmed that my winch is also not waterproof. With the fan scooping water conveniently onto the air filter, I opted to shut it down while I considered my options.
Long story short, once I shut the Toyota down, it would not restart with the starter under water. Two 2500 trucks could not pull this out as dead weight. We ended up digging down the two 2500 trucks and using them as anchors. We used a highlift jack as a come along and we were able to pop the front left tire up and over whatever had held it up originally. Once it was over that, the starter was out of the water. I was able to get the starter to kick off and start it back up. Once running, I was able to drive the rest of the way out of the water. What a mess!
IH8MUD
YIKES!! Glad you managed to get out.
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- #78
Chapter 22: Rear Sheetmetal
Winter was here again (2023), and it was time to work on the daunting task of tinning in the back of the Truggy. Not hard really, just time consuming as hell. It takes a patient mind, and I’m not always at a point I can take this on. I decided to cut the outside paneling from some scrap aluminum sheet I had around 11ga. The inner fender pieces were some 24ga-ish galvanized scrap and the floor was 18ga fresh steel.
Winter was here again (2023), and it was time to work on the daunting task of tinning in the back of the Truggy. Not hard really, just time consuming as hell. It takes a patient mind, and I’m not always at a point I can take this on. I decided to cut the outside paneling from some scrap aluminum sheet I had around 11ga. The inner fender pieces were some 24ga-ish galvanized scrap and the floor was 18ga fresh steel.
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- #79
Overall, I was happy with the results, so it was off to paint.
Great job. I like the run what ya got attitude. Still kinda looks like a pickup with the color match under the tube.