Hello everyone, Writing from Whitehorse YT, the great white north. My neighbor has a 1972 hilux which ive been eyeing up for the last while. ItS been sitting in his yard and hasnt moved in the last 15 years he said. I love the look and thought of getting this truck and atleast attemping to get it running and on the road again. Id say for a 1972, its in pretty good shape. Ive got a soft spot for old toyota’s. My first truck was a 1989 , i now drive a 2013 tacoma. When i layed eyes on this thing a year ago i thought it was the coolest thing ever. He’s agree’d to let it go for only $200.. as its basically a large ornament in his yard at this point. I guess my only question to you guys.. judging by the photo’s.. is this little truck too far gone? Considering it hasnt moved in that many years, i question the condition of the seals or anything rubber really being dried out and cracked. The engine is missing a few parts from what i can tell, alternator, belts, battery, misc hoses, air filter, ect. A lot of these parts are in or around the vehicle. Just seems a little daunting starting with something thats not all there. Id love your guys opinion on this, im not afraid to out in the time/work, i think it’d be a great project. But at the same time its not something i want to sink a tonne of money into either. Thanks!
Hello! Welcome. It must be awesome living up there! I say for 200 bucks at least make it yours and see what happens. Enjoy!
For $200.00 it’s worth it just for parts. The deciding factor would be what condition the frame is in. I’m seeing snow which usually means salt. The frame rails on these early Toyota’s were made from mild gage steel and tend to rot out pretty quickly. Again, for $200 it’s worth it for parts.
Just buy it. If by the time you get it driveable youre in it $3000 its still a come up. Id say buy it and see what needs to be done and go from there. IF you cant get it going then you could always sell it for parts and make your money back many times over
True, its not a big investment. And i only gotta tow it 30’ to my property. As far as the salt goes, its actually not used up here. They use a mixture of sand and gravel, which is bad news for your windsheild and paint. But good for steel. I have a lot more photos, including a few of the frame, but they wont upload as they are apparently too large!
Dang, heck of a deal. I say go for it, even if you decide to part it out later after you dive into it and find it might need a lot of investment
Agree'd. Can't argue with the price. Im itching to get my greasy mitts on it. Unfortunately i'll be waiting awhile for the snow to melt before i can haul it outta there. Another minor setback is the new renter next door got the internet guy to mount the satellite dish right on the box of the truck. Drilled into the bed and bolted the bloody thing right on the bed rails. I was pretty annoyed. I can't even touch the truck now or his signal will mess up, lol. Only a temporary spot but common. Would you guys recommend any particular repair manuals so i can educate myself on the 18r-c?! Or any other online sources? Also, what would be the most venerable components to this trucks engine? Is there anything in particular i should look over first? Thanks.
WTF were they thinking?!?!?! I'm assuming the owner approved of this, but did they compensate him in any way? That's pretty f'ed up to me, I dunno how the dish guy would even think to drill holes and mount a dish on a classic vehicle, lawn ornament or not. Usually I see them install a post in the ground to mount their stuff on. Wow, just wow
I know right, Im honestly tempted to call the internet provider who installed it and complain. The home owner is out of town for the next 3 weeks so he has no idea. But i spoke with the renter a day prior to the install and mentioned id be taking the truck in the next few weeks. So its a little mind boggling why you would than go mount a satilite dish on it. Pretty frustrating.
OOOOH and the owner has no idea!?!? Oh hell no. I'd be on the phone reaming their ass - it's a freaking 46yr old Japanese import with like zero parts availability, not some common Domestic rustbucket you can build from a catalog.