- Thread starter
- #41
thanks
physically I'm ok. I got the truck taken apart enough to find I tweaked both frame rails on top of all of the body damage too.. this might take a while
My diesel 4 door '86 LN65 Hilux progress and upgrades!
- Thread starter RyanMiller
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physically I'm ok. I got the truck taken apart enough to find I tweaked both frame rails on top of all of the body damage too.. this might take a while
Do you think the stiff suspension had anything to do with the accident?
- Thread starter
- #43
Didn’t help..
but neither does a turbo and neither does knobby tires and going too fast for the conditions. I can’t point a finger at anyone but me honestly..
it was running and handling the best it had been ever and that was basically the first rainy day we had in a while.
I guess I might as well put an update:
I got the back door kind of into a door shape( have to be super careful with the glass!!) picked up a local front door skin, got the hood bent back..
I still need to try bending both frame rails back, and get the core support over more... Planning on some beefy concrete anchors and a pair of chainblocks
I bought a "Move" front bumper and trail gear spring hanger to rebuild the front.. and ditching the bed to go flat bed.. it aint dead yet
Man that’s s***ty about your accident, but luckily you’re ok. Glad to see you’re gonna bring her back again!!
- Thread starter
- #45
little bit of a update:
I got the frame pointing in the right direction again thanks to my organic frame rack.. its a bit of guess and check work, where you have to over bend it, hammer it, let it relax and try again. the core support is still about 1/2", but its complying when I push it back and when its over that last bit, its sitting nicely over the frame rails. .. just need to get one kink out of the core support and then do another round of measuring. once I'm happy with the line up of things I'm going to weld on frame rail reinforcements. finding a passenger mirror is extremely difficult, if anyone has any tips on that I would appreciate it
I ordered hood hinges off e-bay and they were completely wrong, and offset the hood almost an inch.. so currently the old hinges work enough to shut the hood again but they really throw off the hood
I got the frame pointing in the right direction again thanks to my organic frame rack.. its a bit of guess and check work, where you have to over bend it, hammer it, let it relax and try again. the core support is still about 1/2", but its complying when I push it back and when its over that last bit, its sitting nicely over the frame rails. .. just need to get one kink out of the core support and then do another round of measuring. once I'm happy with the line up of things I'm going to weld on frame rail reinforcements. finding a passenger mirror is extremely difficult, if anyone has any tips on that I would appreciate it
I ordered hood hinges off e-bay and they were completely wrong, and offset the hood almost an inch.. so currently the old hinges work enough to shut the hood again but they really throw off the hood
Sorry to see you going through this, but good to see the progress you're making.
Hey brother, been following the thread and I was gutted to see the damage to the truck. Glad you're okay though and still determined to rebuild. Not sure if you're still looking for mirrors but I've heard that 60's series landcruiser mirrors bolt straight up to Hilux doors, so that may be an option if you cant find the originals. Good luck and keep us updated!
- Thread starter
- #48
just a little update.. I really am struggling to find any shops that will work with me, so I'm just doing everything myself extremely slowly lol.. early this year I took what I had to a frame shop in Washington state.., they held onto the truck for a week and a half before calling me and told me to come pick it up un repaired because they didn't feel confident to work on it. ( that whole situation is enough to boil my blood on its own) That led me to park it in the shop and just be frustrated with it for about 4 months without touching it. That lack of momentum was met with exasperation with our summer vacation, putting a new roof on the house/ shop, and having a deviated septum surgery have really kept me from working on my truck.
I am not an autobody person, but I have seen enough hack jobs to make me confident enough that I can do an OK job myself.
While working on the A-pillar I found a bunch of rust, so I removed the windshield to fix those. I still need to fix rust above the rear door, back of the cab, and the bottom of the rear door. Really the crash forced me to have to fix the underlying bodywork that was poorly painted over in Japan.
I'm wondering if patch panels exist for the windshield tray, or if I should just make my own?
also still looking for a frame shop.. I would love to have my work checked before I weld the front cross member back.
also still looking for the power hilux door mirror.. that is easily the hardest to find piece so far
thats it for now..
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Did they say why specifically? I see a lot of places that are just basically bolt on, bondo, and paint. I can see such a place not wanting to touch something they couldn't get parts for through their normal channels. Although, with the internet they should be able to order any required panels from overseas. Just more time and money to do so.
I end up taking on more and more projects because I get fed up with "professionals" that just charge me a pile of money to do halfa**ed work that I end up having to redo myself.
You have to stay focused on the bright side of things. The truck will be better for you putting the time and effort into it.
The cowl? Probably your best option will be used parts. Here is one I found on eBay. I'm sure there are others out there: 84-88 Toyota Pickup 4Runner Truck Front Windshield Wipers Cowl Panel WHITE OEM | eBay - https://www.ebay.com/itm/115439381993
I'm wondering if they have the specs for the double cab frame? At the very least, they should be able to take measurements side to side and make sure that they're equal. Of course, similar to what I said above about the body shops I could see your generic places not knowing what to do with something outside their normal channels.
Hmmm... It says discontinued, but has a price and you can add it to the cart: 1985 Toyota PickUp 2.4L A/T 4WD Base Standard Cab Pickup Fleetside Louver, cowl top ven. !!discontinued!! - 5578189101 | Toyota Parts Superstore, Lakeland FL - https://oemparts.stonemttoyota.com/p/Toyota_1985_PickUp-24L-AT-4WD-Base-Standard-Cab-Pickup-Fleetside/LOUVER--COWL-TOP-VEN--DISCONTINUED-/54188559/5578189101.html
Maybe they still have them in stock?
Maybe they still have them in stock?
- Thread starter
- #51
His reasoning was that he wanted the windshield and interior removed. Keep in mind, his shop is about a hour north of me, so I asked if I could pay for his shop to remove the glass and interior, and that's when it got weird. He said he was uncomfortable to do it because of its age.. I told him the windshield and most the interior are easy to source and I wasn't going to freak out of a plastic clip broke. He his stance and wanted me to either: come do it myself in his parkinglot, or tow it home and do it, and bring it back. Meanwhile the guy has 1960's muscle cars in the shop also, so I'm feeling like he just doesn't want the job. At that point I drilled down and said something along the lines of " If you arent capable of removing the interior of an a1980s toyota I dont want you working on my truck", I called a tow truck and got it out of there.
Past that and in addition, the other local frame shops I have tried ( I live near Hillsboro Oregon, NW of portland) seem to have had their "frame guys" retire and now dont take on frame work, but only do alignments and that kind of stuff.
Thats absolutely true, even If I'm not " working" on it, I'm planning or thinking about it.
not the cowl, I still have mine and its usable. the metal patches are actually the 90° channel that the windshield gets glued to
I appreciate you looking out!
The 90° channel you're probably going to end up making your own pieces.
Sorry to hear about your luck with shops. I see the same things around here - they just want to throw some monkey at things to bolt on new or slap some bondo on it. The "craftsmen" are long gone...
Sorry to hear about your luck with shops. I see the same things around here - they just want to throw some monkey at things to bolt on new or slap some bondo on it. The "craftsmen" are long gone...
any updates to your Lux?
- Thread starter
- #54
Unfortunately nothing too groundbreaking. Part of me keeps thinking about buying another truck and swapping the drivetrain over but part of me knows it has to be fixed.
I have the windshield frame stripped to metal, still need to make and weld in the patches. I wish I could find rust repair panels but my intent is to steal sheet metal from my original front door.
I'm going to weld up some fishplates to the frame where I bent it back, so I pulled the steering box off to get access..
the B-pillar fitment still needs another date with the porta-power to get it 100%..
hopefully I'll have a better update soon
Good job, keep up the good work. That type of rust repair isn't hard at all, each piece can be just a flat piece bent and welded in. The corners you make in 3 pieces. The top matching the curve of the window frame, the bottom ti match the pinch weld and then a center piece bent to form the "step". Stitch weld together, grind and final shape with a dolley to take out any high spots or edges. I recommend trying to fluid film or spray a xan of etching primer into the void to reduce rust from coming through.
- Thread starter
- #56
I have the windshield rust all patched up.
Need to get out and work on it more
