1976 Toyota Chinook: 1st Attempt

[OCC]

Very nice, I have a Chinook myself that I am just in the planning stages of.

Can you tell me more about the seat swap? I just picked up a couple of leather seats from the wreckers from a Mazda and hope they will fit. It looks like you have the passenger seat changed out, but not the drivers.

 

[morox]

Thanks guys.

OCC: the seat swap wasn't super easy. If you do some searching online you can find seats that might fit with the stock bolt pattern, which is ideal bc then no need for any fabrication. Of course the Audi seats didn't share the same bolt pattern, a detail I ignored when I found them because they were dirt cheap. In the end I had a friend create some adapters out of steel plates. I'll take some pictures of them and post them later, probably going to be a week or so bc I'm on vacation in UT next week! I recommend doing some searching on here and other sites about seat swap and custom brackets. Thanks.

Brian

 

[morox]

So I hate to ruin the surprise for y'all only halfway through the build thread, but fast forward to today and I've decided to drop the camper onto a 4x4 1st gen ext cab tacoma (aka 1976 Chinook "2nd Attempt"). I'm looking for a 3.4l V6. I'll go into more detail later about my plans and of course I'll continue to add pics from the 1st attempt. I'd love to find a truck from an EP member so please let me know if you have something you're hoping to sell.

Thanks and I'll be back in a week with more pics from the 1st attempt build.

~Brian

 

[AggieOE]

Interior is looking great!! I'm curious what this thing will weigh once fully complete.

 

[Aaronn]

Cool build ! I put one on a Tacoma. Just getting it usable now. It's great to drive with the 3.4. Look forward to the 2nd attempt

 

[morox]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Aaronn: great work on the swap! I'm hoping to do the same but thinking about a T100 or Taco Extended cab. The need for frame/drivetrain extension that would would have to be done to accommodate the camper on an extended cab is giving me pause though. Looks like you extended your frame successfully which is encouraging. Ideally I would like an extended cab with a removable rear cab window (like this). This would theoretically allow for a body to pass through to the camper but negate the need to cut into the truck cab to create a true pass-through.

On the lookout for T100 with low-ish miles...the search seems endless. Please let me know if you spot any nice looking T100s out there. Specifically looking for a 3.4l 4x4 extended cab in good condition.

Stay tuned, more pics of the 1st attempt when I get a chance.

Thanks, Brian

 

[morox]

Now back to the first attempt...

...The posts up until this one span from the orange shag era late 2011 up until summer 2013 when the interior work was done. Here are a bunch of pictures of the Chinook as it is now, which I'm pretty happy with. I'll try to address thebig changes below. After I toasted the transmission I postponed the project indefinitely and it's basically been under tarps for the last two years. I've become re-inspired with this project again but I'll save that story for the 2nd attempt thread. So here it is warts and all:

























There has definitely been some excitement during this process. I nearly lost the pop-top cruising at 60 mph from Ashland to Portland. Heard a giant "whoosh" and looked back to see my sleeping bag and pad flying out of a nearly ripped-off pop-top. Probably ought to double check those roof tie-downs before every trip eh? Survived an absolutely terrifying 11hr drive from Yakima to Portland in the scorching heat with completely faded brakes. Had to put it in first and ride the shoulder down into the Columbia Gorge while perfecting my high-speed parking brake skills. On one occasion my girlfriend Laura and I were stranded in Corvallis with carburetor issues. We made the best of a stressful situation and played Carcassonne in the newly decked out camper while we waited for the tow.

 

[morox]

These and other character-building experiences resulted in a constant swing between really loving this project and stressing. A lot. The truck was my daily driver for two years in Portland. This made for some exhausting commuting but within a short period I had basically repaired or replaced most of the issues and it became a fairly reliable commute. Just underpowered and rickity.

 

[morox]

The quality of the interior build surprised me and really encouraged me to take my time and make this thing as nice as I had originally dreamed.

















I was incredibly lucky to have been introduced to Dustin aka Dflow of Flo Fab Freestyle Welding , now my go-to guy in Portland for any fabrication or welding project. It was killing me that I didn't have a decent way to transport my mountain bike to the trails without messing up the fancy interior. One phone call to Dflow and within the month the Chinook was rocking a raw-dog bumper with a 2" receiver for my bike rack and D-rings to chain and lock the bikes/rack to. Now that I could get to the trails, the Chinook started feeling fun again.


Around the same time, I was able to score some pendleton blanket wool at a good discount due to some hidden mis-woven pattern error. Dflow's now-wife Alice just happens to be an incredible seamstress and local dress-maker. I found some nice firm foam at a local shop and Alice went to town. She also sewed curtains out of some Balinese fabric I had from a trip years ago.



Hitch and bumper changed my life!



New exhaust and full-size spare.

 

[morox]

We were able to use the Chinook for a couple fun little trips here and there.










Some riding at Steven's Pass, WA.



The Chinook gets really good gas mileage...when it's being towed. So about half of the time.

 

[java]

Very nice!!

 

[morox]

So there we have it, all 4+ years of the 1st attempt!


I started residency summer 2015 and decided I needed a safer, more reliable form of transportation. After some searching, found this nice '97 Hardbody extended cab.



Having second, more reliable vehicle took a lot of pressure off which was good for my mental health but definitely slowed Chinook progress to a standstill. Except for some minor work here and there, I stayed away from the project for about 2 years. I really wasn't optimistic about moving forward with the project, which had morphed into quite the money and energy sink. I originally saw myself doing most of the work on the truck and had a romantic vision of learning auto maintenance and repair along the way. While I was able to do a lot of the work, I didn't have the time or motivation to really dig into the mechanics and ended up paying my local mechanic (Danny's Auto Repair) to do a lot of work. I felt disconnected from the process. And finally, while I absolutely love the classic styling of the '76 Hilux it ain't the safest truck by today's standards.

So I decided to sell the Chinook, this summer actually. I was going to complete some interior trim and other aesthetic work, fiberglass some holes in the shell and send it on to the next hopeless Chinook lover.

Then, on a early spring trip to the coast Laura and I started to discuss our plans for after I finish residency. That sweet freedom I have been working towards for so long is just around the corner. We went over our loose plans for a 6 month road-trip biking, backpacking and skiing the Canadian and American Rockies. We were going to live out of the back of the Hardbody and had been using random weekend trips to test out the setup. We both loved sleeping in the back of the truck, it just simplified the whole process and made car camping more fun. Neither of us had questioned the thought of two people and potentially a dog living out of a small truck bed for half a year. As we dreamed by the fire on a rare clear night on the Oregon coast, Laura wondered out loud "Why don't we take the Chinook? You should drop it on a new truck like you wanted to years ago!"

I've been told that I'm easily excitable. I think that's probably true, because that was all it took. I immediately decided against selling the Chinook and started looking for a more modern donor 4x4 for our dream build. The Nissan would we great except the 4cyl KA24e is under-powered as is and the payload isn't great. I'm looking at 3.4l V6 Toyotas and I've honed in on the T100 as the most likely candidate. I called Dflow, who of course was instantly on board. Even more so after I showed him my main inspiration, the Tunook.

I currently searching for a nice truck and have a goal of a use-able Chinook by August (want to use it for a desert trip to view the upcoming solar eclipse). After that we will have 1 year to build it out so it's ready to roll by July 2018.

I'm going to start compiling lists of have-to-do's, should-do's and want-to-do's which I will lay out here.

Thanks to everyone one here and other sites who has taken the time to share their work. I have gained so much knowledge and inspiration from stalking these forums.

~Brian

 

[morox]

Found a 96 ext cab T100 in great condition. Going to sit with it for a while and think about whether the extended cab is going to create too much camper rear overhang which might unweight the front axle too much.

Brian

 

[NoahGenda]

Yeah dude! Dustin is the freaking man!
I am sure he showed you some of my T100 photos when you guys were chatting.

Keep the updates coming, this is awesome

 

[morox]

Noah, love your T100 build. Dustin has been telling me about his buddy with the T100 but I didn't realize it was yours. I heard you had some porpoising which improved with the new springs. Mine will have a lot of rear overhang so I'm probably looking at the same problem.

The extended cab is so nice to have but a single cab long bed would allow the camper to drop right on without much excess overhang behind the rear axle. I have considered extending the wheelbase of the extended cab but this is pretty expensive. I have found one example of a chinook transplanted onto an extended cab tundra and there is def a lot of overhang. Just wonder if we kept all the heavy gear in the cab or front of camper if I can have the best of both worlds i.e. Extended cab with no wheelbase extension.