Howdy there fellow Mini's, Uncle Tuhd here. It's about time I finally started making some progress on the old rusty fart of a truck, so I guess it's time to get a build log in order.

When I got the old boy 5 years ago or so, he was mostly 2 colors. Exterior cream house paint over factory-looking gray, and half of it's peeling off. Not sure if that's the original color, but that's the color I got him in. Some rust came free, mostly in the lower extremities where things had been hit.

A few years after I got him, when I had a little spare cash, I swapped out the factory front 2wd fenders for a set of 4wd ones. I had plans back then to get a second set of fenders and cut the flares off one set, and weld them onto the bed, so the flares would match. I always thought the factory 4wd rear stick-on flares were crap, and tiny, and really didn't give you any more tire clearance. And, they don't flare enough. Years passed and it never really came to be. I did manage to swap the mirrors out for some fender mirrors, because hey, it's a Toyota, so do what they did on the Celica, right?




I swear, I've since removed the giant side mirrors...

So, fast forward to a couple weeks ago, and I got a wild hair up mah butt and ordered some more fenders. Now, at this point in time, the original 'new' fenders had rusted to shit on me (visually, mind you, not structurally), because I'd been a jack and not painted them. Turns out its just primer on them things.

Naturally, having learned that I needed to paint the damn things, I went ahead and picked out THE most obnoxious color the Home Depot had to offer on a Tuesday and painted the new fenders before I stuck them on.






But no, I wasn't done. I had a perfectly good, although rusty, set of fenders lying around in need of a purpose. And a purpose I gave them. I sawed the flares out of them, and stuck them on the truck.




I managed to remember the gas lid needed some addressing, so I tackled that. It'll get boxed in properly at some point, but for now I can fill up and that's what matters. I made sure to use zinc-coated screws so they don't rust




The lines of the truck are quite perfect now (short of the dents n shit). From the front, it flows like it was meant to be, and in relation to the body the flares are at the same height, so once I get him all leveled and lowered, everything will look professional.

 

Oh lord that color is fucking obnoxious! I like what youre doing tho. We need more pics tho!

 

Cant tell, but that orange looks photo shopped.

 

X2!

 

The phone camera does it's magical software hoopajoobery that did add a touch of saturation, but the photos come pretty damn close. It's right between a satin and nearly flat finish, so it almost looks like felt from far away. It's just as unreal in person. Nobody will ever be able to say they didn't see me coming. At least until I paint it the real color.

Yes, yes it is. I did that to get my ass in gear to change it. I don't want it to be that color either. That color's reserved for a later project.

I've got more pics to take, the interior used to have a good stereo in it, but I've gutted it while I work on mechanical shit.

The engine bay needs a little more work before I want photos going out of it. It's pretty rough, and dirty as fuck. Got a cam, headers, Weber Redline carb, and dual plane intake though. Not a lot more go-go over stock, probably due to the piston rings being shot.

I do have drop leafs for him, and plan on ordering some severely beefed up torsion springs (will have to be custom made as they're out of production), and then I figure I'll do a little modification to the lower control arms to properly fit drop spindles.

Hell, I've got a head out of an EFI Celica that'll drop on, and I figure get that sent out to engnbldr for a good flow upgrade. I've got a W58 out of a different Celica/Supra, plus a possible rear end swap (3.43) that needs to go in as well. Carving out the time has been my issue. Always a time issue

 

time is always the problem. Atleast you have stuff lined up

 

I lowered the back yesterday with drop leafs. Need to get about an inch or two on the front, and probably toss a 1" block in the rear, but he looks pretty good as is.

 

Looking good! What is the plan for rims/tires?

 

I plan to continue having rims and tires on it, yes.

I'll probably look into 2" spacers to push the wheels out so the stance is correct, and roll like that for a while until i have the truck closer to complete.


When i have the money, i want these:

Like Cragars on steroids and amphetamines


Probably will look into some of these in the interim, however:

No steroids...

 

Finally had a chance to get back to working on Rusty. I've added a new bumper from a previous year, front lip spoiler (someone in Thailand makes them finally, check ebay), new turn signals that fit the bumper, and did a front torsion drop. Have some pictures. The first one is before the signals were added.






Man, I really need to get those wheel spacers

 

Gotta get on craigslist and find some old wheels bro. Ive come across some 10" wide with a stupid low offest

 

Liking the front lip! Looks to fit pretty good?

 

It fits as good as I expected. If I still had the 2wd fenders and valance it would have fit absolutely perfect. With the 4wd fenders you have to bend the side tabs out, which is easy enough. Not bad for $190 shipped from Thailand. Dude also makes fender flares if you need some for your 2wd fenders.

Man, I wish. Out here craigslist is FLOODED with bros selling off challenger rims, big-ass escalade rims and shit for lifted fords. The market down here is primarily ballers and rednecks and not enough oldschool guys. Even the oldschool guys are down with 22s or better.

 

Spinners and baby sitters for sale all day haha.

I usually just search 5x4.5 and a bunch of old mustang or mopar wheels come up.

 

Do u have a link to the spoiler??????

 

I believe this is it. http://www.ebay.com/itm/JDM-Front-l...ash=item361d3575a8:g:EjkAAOSwHoFXrR-H&vxp=mtr

 

Yeah, you found it Fred. Piyamas is the guy. His work is definitely worth the money, and I vouch for his ability to pack for shipping.

 

Man this truck it sick!! Love what you're doing to it, there's an 81 on my local Craigslist for cheap but not running. I feel inspired, I might just go pick it up!

 

Time to get back on it. Slowly accumulating more parts for Rusty, but recently I've grown tired of these empty fenders. About 3 inches of suck on all sides, as you can clearly see








Much suckage, and the rims/tires I want are gonna cost me at least $1400, of which is tied up in some other shit, like eating and keeping beer in the fridge. Thankfully, ebay is always my friend, and had a low-cost solution for my problem:




$130 worth of 2-inch front and 3-inch rear wheel spacers, hubcentric even! (beer used for scale. It's empty, i guarantee)



Looks mighty good right there. I like the contrast of shiny and rusty. This was fun to torque down...

I had actually thrown the rear on first, but I don't have a pic of the 3-inch spacers installed without a tire (it looked bitchin'), but here's how much of an improvement it gave in the rear




Dead-nuts flush to the eye. Maybe, maaaybe an eigth-inch of inset at most. Couldn't be more pleased with the rears. Honestly, after installing both the fronts and rears, I'm kinda kicking myself for not getting 3-inch all around. Only reason I didn't, is because I was afraid I'd take the front fenders out on a good bump. Once I upgrade the front torsions though...

Have some more stance






All that was left to do after this was take him home and park him in the garage. I saw my car reach out to give Rusty a fist-bump. Today was a good day

 

Yo. Jegs has it's own line of 15x10 wheels that I think will look good on there. The 4.5" back spacing (negative 25mm offset) will fill the wheel wells nicely.No spacers needed. They are just $105 each with free shipping.



I'd rock them if they were offered in 18".