1987 Hilux SR5 Turbo Build

[Africanhilux]

My first car! I got this pickup a couple of years ago and slowly want to build it up for proper overland travel.

Current:

When I got it, none of the wheels matched (not even the spare), the paint was faded, and the engine had a knock.
Just after the money was handed over

Removing the engine

Turned out the engine had been rebuilt before, but they put a non-turbo head on it so a couple valves were hitting a piston.
Engine rebuilt

Snail:bike_rider:

Then I got my hands on a set of the stock wheels

After a bit of spit and polish it doesn't look half bad!

Fixed a couple of holes in the exhaust, so now it's only slightly leaky

Not a whole lot happened after that, just some exploring!

 

[Africanhilux]

I recently got a set of matte bronze FN Five Stars and General Grabbers in 285/75R16 flavor

Put them on and promptly checked for clearance

They don't rub at all with some slight fender rolling

I have to do something about the [lack of] flex...

I am currently gathering parts for a 1JZ-GTE swap:smiley_drive:

 

[RainSR5]

Great looking Pickup! VVTi 1JZ or the twin grenades?

 

[Africanhilux]

VVT-i Single Turbo, should be fun!

 

[Africanhilux]

Sitting around waiting for an amazing engine to come off a boat is boring, so I went out in the mountains in the meantime!

It got a little dirty...

Clean again

The 1JZ arrived from Japan sometime in November, and I've been slowly putting everything together.

Got some TRD hubcaps...love those wheels!

The 1JZ is finally in! All that's left to do now is to finish up the wiring and to fit the intercooler.

 

[devero4]

Sub'd :coffeedrink:

 

[bdp1978]

Cool little build.

 

[godzillus]

Have any more photos of the install? Really neat

 

[Africanhilux]

Cool little build.

Thank you!

Have any more photos of the install? Really neat

Thanks! I was so focused to get it done that I forgot to take pictures.

 

[wrecked]

I'm curious what your plans for an intercooler and placement are. I'm currently working on finding and placing an intercooler in my '85 2LT pickup.

 

[Africanhilux]

I'm curious what your plans for an intercooler and placement are. I'm currently working on finding and placing an intercooler in my '85 2LT pickup.

For me, there should be just enough room in front of the radiator with the grill slightly trimmed. The hard part is going to be the piping to the intake plenum, because I have to squeeze it between the radiator and the battery at an awkward angle. Everything is TIGHT on this swap, that's for sure.

 

[wrecked]

For me, there should be just enough room in front of the radiator with the grill slightly trimmed. The hard part is going to be the piping to the intake plenum, because I have to squeeze it between the radiator and the battery at an awkward angle. Everything is TIGHT on this swap, that's for sure.

I took up a fair amount of space in front of the radiator with a giant oil cooler. Did you consider air water-air intercooler?

 

[Africanhilux]

I took up a fair amount of space in front of the radiator with a giant oil cooler. Did you consider air water-air intercooler?

I was originally going to go with a water-air intercooler mouted by the firewall, but I ultimately went with an air-air intercooler because I found that there would be enough room in the front, and because it is a lot simpler/slightly less expensive.

 

[Africanhilux]

A lot has happened since my last post.
I was having trouble with the wiring; it would sputter and badly misfire. It seemed like the timing was off, but the crank and cam gears were absolutely perfect. I went through all the wiring and could not for the life of me figure out what the problem was, so I sent it to a local shop to see if they could figure it out.

It just sat outside of their shop for three weeks. They did not even touch it once. So I took it back home, and realized that I had one of the latest 1jzs out of a Toyota Crown (early 2000's). For the last couple of years of 1jz production they changed the MAF, so I had the wrong one. Once I got the correct MAF and put it one, it would not stay running. It would start and then die after a couple seconds. It didn't matter if the MAF was plugged in or not, it would just start and then immediately die. Then I went through all the wiring with a continuity tester, and lo and behold, by pure luck I connected the tester from one of the MAF pins to a wire that all my research told me was not needed! I gave that wire 12V and the engine started right up! I just had to adjust the idle a little bit and it was perfect! Now I could take care of the smaller things. I trimmed the grill to fit the intercooler, and painted the inner edges of the grill to hide the rough trim. You don't really notice the trim because the intercooler is black.

 

[TheCascadeKid]

Yes! Such a frustrating process, but the reward of finding the source of your problem is ALMOST worth the headache in the end