The Holy Truck / was Trypo the trypophobia-Inducing truck / was a chopped model 80 (1 Viewer)

[John Young]

It so happens that I powdercoated a set of stock rims and I'm inclined to use them. I've had steel rims and they are so heavy... In fact, just yesterday I was in a salvage yard and I got offered these:

I kind of dismissed them but they are nice... Could be a real cool look and very unusual.

 

[Vitek]

Yes, go for it!
I think the choice options in tires are also much better for 17inch rims and they do look great on deflared 80s!
As a bonus, the not sticking out thing is quite easy as these are usually narrower rims

 

[John Young]

Yes, go for it!
I think the choice options in tires are also much better for 17inch rims and they do look great on deflared 80s!
As a bonus, the not sticking out thing is quite easy as these are usually narrower rims

They do look good. Is that your truck? I note the great side rubber bumpers. Do you happen to know the part numbers for them?

 

[Vitek]

No, its a picture from the internet. This is mine:

I think these are the standard type side trim pieces on that 80 too.
The difference that its from factory without flares. I think this was not a common thing, but in the venezuelan production was quite prevealent. The important difference is that the front and rear side panels where the trim pieces are located are different, the length of the trim and the groover for it is the same, while trucks with flares from factory after the deflaring there will be a gap, as on mine also.
Unfortunatly I dont have a frame number for a factory no flare but trimmed 80 to compare trim and panel part numbers.

 

[John Young]

I went and had a look at the Holy Truck and at the moment it has some crappy rims on it with unknown offsets. The 265/70R15 tires sit fairly proud by a couple of inches at least.

These tires are 30.6 inches in diameter, but they sure look small in these wheelwells.

 

[D21FJ60]

Stick 37"s on there so when you ship it to Florida itll fit right in amongst the natives

 

[gummycarbs]

The 265/70R15 tires sit fairly proud by a couple of inches at least.

Interesting. I've got 265/75-16s on stock aluminum rims, and no flares. The tread is *just* hidden by the fender. The sidewall sticks out. I've got a "2.5 inch" OME lift that was more like 3", at least when I first installed it. Until I welded on an extension for my rear panhard bracket, one side stuck out more, but even then it wasn't as much as yours, and I think it was the other side.

I'm guessing your stickout is due to those rims? I don't remember if you've discussed their specs.

 

[John Young]

So I went ahead and bought 5 NOS steelies in 17x7.5. Here are some measurements:

200mm high

450mm across

And about 14mm from the plane of the back side of the rim to the underside of the mounting surface:

On the truck the outside edge of the rim is essentially flush with the side of the truck without fender flares

So I am going to try to get tires that are as flat as possible on the side--commercial tires. And narrow.

 

[John Young]

At the moment I am leaning towards 235/80R17:

which is 31.8 inches tall, by 9.3 inches wide. I am so far not finding a dunlop or other known quantity tires.

The salvage yard offered me 2021 Dunlops in 225/70R17, which is 29.4 by 8.9. Smaller than I want, but a Dunlop. So far all i can find in the 235/80R17 is something called a landspider and a tire by Acella, an Indonesian tire maker.

 

[leonard_nemoy]

If I had a freshly painted rig with no flares I would definitely want my tires tucked in the fender to protect the fresh paint from rock chips and such.

 

[gummycarbs]

If I had a freshly painted rig with no flares I would definitely want my tires tucked in the fender to protect the fresh paint from rock chips and such.

Just as a point of reference, with my tread *just* covered by the fender and a little sidewall stickout, I've never picked up a rock chip from my tires. I drive and park in a gravel lot almost every day. That's with Nokian Rotiiva HT tires. Maybe you'll get more rocks flung from the edge with an A/T tire.

@John Young Cooper makes the ST/MAXX in LT255/80R17, which is about 33". No idea what you're looking for in a tire or what you can get, though.

I'm a bit confused as to why your rims are flush with the fender. US market FZJ alloys are 16x8 with 4.5" backspacing. Yours are half an inch narrower and about 5.5" backspacing. I would expect them to be tucked in a bit. I guess I've never actually tried to measure where my rims sit, I've only looked at the tread.

 

[LINUS]

If I had a freshly painted rig with no flares I would definitely want my tires tucked in the fender to protect the fresh paint from rock chips and such.

I helped a ton in my young & dumb years - a AL baseball bat covered in masking tape & a heat gun on the lip to help “melt” the paint was a great way to stuff tires & not crack paint while we rolled fender lips.

Just a thought to add when people here talk cutting w/o other disciplines from other ways of modding.

 

[John Young]

I helped a ton in my young & dumb years - a AL baseball bat covered in masking tape & a heat gun on the lip to help “melt” the paint was a great way to stuff tires & not crack paint while we rolled fender lips.

Just a thought to add when people here talk cutting w/o other disciplines from other ways of modding.

That is very interesting. I grew up in Southern California and I was completely unawares of rolling your fender lips with a heat gun and aluminum baseball bat!

 

[John Young]

At the same time as worrying about tires, finally some progress on the rear windows:

 

[John Young]

Today I went over to take a closer look in person at the Holy Truck. They guys are starting to polish the paint

The back doors close with a wonderful 'thunk' now

And I LOVE the new side windows:

I think I will leave the little white stripe at the bottom. Artifact of a learning experience.

Evidence of polish.

 

[John Young]

There are a few random items that we are taking care of, including the hood release, which was in very bad shape:

Fortunately, new parts are available

Most of my time has been spent obsessing about tires. Endless conversations on whatsapp with suppliers who have only a couple of options available, and none of the anything that I really liked.

The closest was a dismanteler who wanted pretty much top dollar for these:

He was asking 200 USD per tire with rim, but the date code was 2nd week of 2021. The Dubai government is getting strict about enforcing the 5 year rule on tires so this was pretty material. I won't be driving this truck much, most likely, so I will have to replace essentially new tires unless I ship the truck out.

Fortunately my ace parts guy was able to find a set of 2022 tires in Al Ain, a neighboring Emirate, which gives me much more flexibility. I really like these commercial Dunlops. I think they will look great on the Holy Truck and they should be just about right in terms of size and not sticking out too far from the body.

 

[John Young]

The new tires came today! With a little luck I will take my first drive in the Holy Truck early next week!

 

[John Young]

I am absolutely THRILLED to see the new rubber and rims on the Holy Truck today:

I think it gives a very nice OEM look. I would have liked to go a little bigger on the tires, but on the other hand they are nicely tucked into the body and do not extend at all:

Unfortunately, I was unable to drive the Holy Truck for the first time. The AC tech had the dash apart. So, Monday perhaps.... I am quite anxious to feel this old truck move under its own power.

 

[John Young]

I've been making progress on the side trim. I had good success in revising the trim profile.

Front fender

By the rear wheel

Rear fender

And the wipers are back on the Holy Truck, with new mechanicals and a 'new' motor

The powder coating turned out really nice!

I noticed, BTW, that I got the wrong gasket for the windshield, but I am just going to leave it as-is. Learning experience for next time.

By the rear wheel

 

[LINUS]

I've been making progress on the side trim. I had good success in revising the trim profile.

Front fender
View attachment 3082880
By the rear wheel
View attachment 3082881
Rear fender
View attachment 3082882
And the wipers are back on the Holy Truck, with new mechanicals and a 'new' motor
View attachment 3082883
The powder coating turned out really nice!
View attachment 3082885
I noticed, BTW, that I got the wrong gasket for the windshield, but I am just going to leave it as-is. Learning experience for next time.

By the rear wheel

Is the gasket an ‘early‘ 80 or what’s the issue?

-All I know is there’s no gap in the gasket on USDM late where the glass is glued in & the gasket is almost an afterthought/smooth looking trim.