Builds George - 1983 Pickup SR5 Long Bed

[BHillteq]

Turned out nice!

Super stoked with how they turned out. The 15" chrome wheels that were on it originally looked awesome, but they were so rusty. That and the tires were from 1994. I work at a Toyota dealer, so those 16" Goodyear tires are stacked 4 high in every corner. I feel like the black steels were a step back from the chrome, but the white hits different. I love it. My neck hurts from looking back at George when I walk away haha.

 

[Meatdawg]

Agreed, the white looks great. George is coming along, nice work.

 

[BHillteq]

Agreed, the white looks great. George is coming along, nice work.

Thank you!

 

[BHillteq]

Last weekend we went out and stretched George's clapped out legs a little bit! The little truck did awesome! Super hot, and dusty. But George ran cool, and started for me every time we shut it off.

This trail isn't far from home. It's busy, but the views are awesome.

That beautiful 61 belongs to a pretty neat guy, who is running around somewhere in here.

Our group also consisted of a Defender 110, and an FZJ80. Tons of fun! The sun burn was worth it lol.

 

[BHillteq]

More pictures from our trip a couple weekends ago!

I scored that hat from a thrift App, it's a legit Toyota Motorsports hat worn in the early 80's by everyone from the PPI Ivan Stewart team, to the race teams. New favorite hat for sure.

 

[BHillteq]

Also, story time. One of my good buddies just picked up an 83 Pickup, short bed SR5, that at one point, they pulled the factory air conditioning. So we were looking at my non functioning factory installed a/c, to figure out what all he needs. As we were sitting there looking at it, I mentioned how cool it would be to get mine going. Pun intended. But I guessed it hasn't been used in over a decade, judging by the wildly cracked, leather belt on the compressor, and the missing knob to turn the a/c on. Just farting around with it, I reached in and pushed the schrader valve, and heard a slight hiss. I couldn't believe it! It was actually holding pressure!

Convinced it was going to work, I brought it to one of the techs at the Toyota dealership I work at, and we threw the gauges on it. After more than a decade of not working, it was holding 10 PSI! I know that's not much, but hey! That's something. We assumed seals were shot, and a few other components, so we replaced all of the o-rings, the drive belt, the dryer, and the expansion valve. Threw a charge on it, compressor kicked on, and it's holding pressure! I kid you not, it's blowing 30 DEGREES. Man the 22R hates spinning that compressor. But it blows SOOO cold. One more trick up George's 37 year old sleeve.

**Side note, if anyone comes across one of those factory A/C knobs, that goes behind the fan speed knob, please let me know! Cannot find one to save my life.

 

[G-Cat]

A/C is awesome. Strong beard game, as well.

 

[BHillteq]

A/C is awesome. Strong beard game, as well.

Thank you sir, the ginger beard goes with the red truck.

 

[davidp14]

I forkin love this thing! Love how you preserved the paint!

in this build like flynn

 

[BHillteq]

I forkin love this thing! Love how you preserved the paint!

in this build like flynn

Thanks man! Patina preservation is my newfound favorite interest. I was always a fresh paint kind-of guy, but man. Rad patina just tells a story that fresh paint cannot.

 

[John in Utah]

Looks like Farmington canyon or up above the B? Loving those white wagon wheels

 

[Manhattan]

These pics are why we have the internet!

 

[gnob]

Nope, al gore is why we have the internet.

These pics are why we have the internet!

 

[BHillteq]

Looks like Farmington canyon or up above the B? Loving those white wagon wheels

Yessir that's the place! Honestly, it wasn't as busy as I assumed it was going to be. And it seems like in recent years they have done some trail/road repairs. Washboards weren't as bad as I can remember them being. And I'm a huuuuge fan of the white wagon wheels.

 

[BHillteq]

A good friend of mine picked up an 83 Short bed back in July, so we started a Burgers and Pickups tradition!

 

[BHillteq]

We also went in on a parts truck we found locally! No motor, but decent bed, and solid cab. I took the bed and bumpers, my buddy plans to take the cab!

 

[BHillteq]

Last saturday we started early, and was able to get the bed swapped over! I have not been that filthy in a minute lol.

What a pain to break the 37 year old bolts lose. ON TWO TRUCKS.

Had a heck of a time getting the truck mullet out and moved over to the new bed, too. But no way I wasn't keeping it. It's George's second greatest feature. lol

It's pretty rough, but so was the old bed. This one at least has a tailgate, and less damage/rust.

Notice that nice bow tie on the tailgate. Sheesh. Parts truck PO had plans to swap in a V8, but never got around to it. So he let it sit out and rot away. Body only has like 130k on it. Oh well, the parts live on! I plan on sanding it down and painting it, I'm just not sure to what extent I want to go to paint it. Rattle can job fits George's motif, but we'll see.

 

[Toast]

Buy the nicest harbor freight gun, tape everything off, pickup up a few quarts of single stage, hit it with 320-500 grit and shoot it! The worst single stage job will look 10x better than any rattle can job.

 

[WoodsTruck]

I picked up a purple HVLP from HF. Get some aerosol spray gun cleaner and go to town on it. I sprayed epoxy primer, some medium build primer and some satin black on the project I'm helping on. I didn't do the main body paint but could have easy enough.

 

[BHillteq]

Buy the nicest harbor freight gun, tape everything off, pickup up a few quarts of single stage, hit it with 320-500 grit and shoot it! The worst single stage job will look 10x better than any rattle can job.

I picked up a purple HVLP from HF. Get some aerosol spray gun cleaner and go to town on it. I sprayed epoxy primer, some medium build primer and some satin black on the project I'm helping on. I didn't do the main body paint but could have easy enough.

Solid advice, thanks guys. I totally agree, gonna look into that Harbor Freight gun. It just sucks that the cab's paint/patina is so awesome, but the bed looks crappy lol. Definitely not going to try and fake a patina on the bed. Not a huge fan of that. But a solid, somewhat matching color will look better. I give it a single winter before it starts rusting through, and blends in with the cab lol.