After so many years and so many projects coming and going, the time has come to pass this truck on to another owner. Yesterday morning I was approached by a neighbor who desperately wants the truck, and up until that moment I had no intentions of selling it and every intention of finishing it. The spark was ignited and the thoughts played out...what could I do with the cash? I could build my new to me HJ61 Land Cruiser. I could put the money towards the Willys wagon, or the K30 Chevy or home improvements or a new piece of equipment for the shop. So once the seed was planted, it grew to the inevitable conclusion that it is time to sell.
Any of you here that have followed the project over the years know what has gone into the truck to make it what it is. You also probably know that it is far from complete. What it is is a good, solid truck that runs well, and could be driven daily as it sits. With a day's work, it could be Rubicon ready.
I promised my neighbor that he could have first shot at it, but he has a truck to sell before he has the cash. I warned him that he opened Pandora's box, and now that it's open, my mind is made up. So I'm putting the word out. It is for sale.
What is it? Here are the broad strokes.
It's a 1983 Toyota with a 3RZ sourced from a 1998 Tacoma. It's got about 600 hours into it with a body off, cab blasted and painted in all the hard to get places (exterior obviously remains). A custom center console with removable lid covers all the shifters, but is easily removable for trailside repairs. The front end of the body has been extensively modified for shock towers with added sheetmetal for strength.
The frame has been modified with double plating, massively strong shock towers with shock tower brace and a relocated steering box. With four frame brackets it is 3 link ready (which was always my intention). The dash has been modified as well to fit the Tacoma gauge cluster as well as a modern sound system while retaining enough room for nine Carling switches to operate things like lockers, compressor, lighting, and winch. It has also been reinforced behind the dash to accept a custom passenger side grab handle. Over 100 hours have gone into the dash alone.
The drivetrain includes the Tacoma 5 speed trans adapted to a reduction box and then finished with a Marlin built 4.7: t-case. A custom VSS has been adapted to help run the EFI. The driveshafts are both CV, front and rear. Axle-wise, the axles in it were never intended to be used long term, but they are well built. The front axle has a high pinion diff (though with no locker and 4.10 gears), a truss on top, and Tacoma brakes. The rear axle is a reinforced IFS axle with a V6 open diff and 4.10 gears. A Tacoma booster and master help make it stop on a dime. Ask me how many hours it took just to fit the Tacoma booster...!
Wheels are 17" Trail Ready beadlocks shod with 35" Nitto tires. There are less than 200 miles on the four tires and the full size wheel/tire in the bed has zero miles.
I also have a custom 3" wider front axle from Diamond. It was built with a custom diff offset and pinion angle and combined with the Tacoma brakes, offers 6" total width gain over stock. Inner shaft and RCV joints as well as keyed flat steering arms from Diamond were sourced and the knuckles have been machined for the arms. Two brand new ARB lockers and two sets of 5.29 gears with bearing kits could also be part of the deal, for the right price. Obviously if anyone wanted those parts installed, we could work something out.
I realize I may be forced to create a classified ad for this, but I thought I would include some of the details here and add some pics of the recent work and extra parts.
Price - call or email for details.
Would be nice to see the finished article.
