Our Toyota Chinook 4x4 build *Firefly*

[Lawson_nate]

This is "Firefly". She's survived just over 7,200 miles (so far) since October 9th so I think it's safe to call her an expedition rig.
1977 Chinook camper shell on a 1983 Toyota (4x4 solid axle ) pickup.
Quick history: Home is North Pole, Alaska (near Fairbanks in the center of the state). Bought the original 2wd camper for $300 in July (2015), couldn't get the original engine running (seized), said "screw it" and bought the '83 pickup around the end of August, swapped the camper on in September, started snowing so we said "screw it (again)" and started driving the beginning of October.
From this...



To this...



From North Pole, Alaska (Oct 9th, 2015)


To Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur (Dec 9, 2015)


"One of these things is not like the other..."


I do have a bunch of build pictures (when I remembered the camera) and will try to post the rest when we slow down. Just had a little internet so figured I'd post up a little teaser. See our first Chinook build here... http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/151977-Our-first-Toyota-Chinook-build-*Turtle*
*Safe Travels*!

 

[NorthernWoodsman]

Awesome! Good to see these old Chinooks keep getting new lives as expo rigs.

 

[v_man]

Superb, would love to see interior pics.

 

[refried]

Very nice, That's been my plan for my '81 but I haven't found a Chinook body that isn't either trashed or too nice to cut up.

 

[Lawson_nate]

Current (ish) interior pictures.






It's still in the testing phase. We didn't have time to finish before it started snowing, so we will finish when we get a chance. But as long as it has a bed and a place to cook... We're happy.

 

[Lawson_nate]

This is actually the second Chinook that came to Alaska to die, that I have pulled out of the woods and is on the road today. I'll post a couple of the past one when I get a chance.





Original 20R was seized, since I really like the classic Toyota 4-headlight body I got a newer 20R attached to a 5-speed tranny from an '81 2wd pickup and tried to fit it in.


However, no one ever said how hard it is to fit in the 5-speed. In my case the tranny mounts didn't line up, when I got it to fit, turned out the motor was not timed correctly and I was on my last nerve with only a month or so to go before we had to leave. SO... After a lot of convincing the wife that it was a good idea, she let me buy a 4x4, running/driving truck. $2500, 80 miles away and we brought home the new project. Ran great, got 24 mpg on the way home. YAY! This is going to be awesome!






As you can see... the bed was completely swiss cheesed, luckily the cab was in perfect condition... go figure. So the bed was removed and the truck was weighed (2,740lbs full of fuel).






Time for some surgery...




DON'T forget about the last rusted bolt...




...so you can do this...






Test fit and where to mark for the floor cut...

 

[Lawson_nate]

A little bit of a gap so needed to trim the floor so it fits snug.








I was so excited at this point... IT FITS PERFECTLY!!!




That's 3,180lbs, so the empty Chinook shell is 440lbs and only added about 200lbs over the original weight (2,960lbs) with the bed on.
The camper was then removed one more time to clean the frame (and paint) and make the mounting blocks.



The original Chinook build quality was (I'm assuming) to be a "floating" design so the cab and camper could flex independent of each other. Heck, they used a garden hose as the gap filler between the roof of the truck and fiberglass, and that thin sheet metal and pop rivets to attach the fiberglass to the cab (you can see in one of the previous pictures). I wanted to make sure it was a little more secure. 3/16in aluminum plate, rigid adhesive silicone, and fiber-glassed directly to the cab of the truck.







Keep in mind that these were process pictures. I would get so excited about starting another part of the build that I would forget to take completed pictures.

 

[mtnbike28]

wow that is cool! I think the garden hose and rivets is a great idea for the pass through we all thinks about!

 

[Lawson_nate]

The rear floor wood was rotted out and the sheet metal below it had taken the brunt of the foot traffic so the entire thing was removed. The wife really wanted a storage box in the rear floor so...





Since it now sat higher I came up with our step/storage rack/security door/back porch. Has so far successfully held over 400lbs.





Finishing the rear floor...





Wife was VERY happy (and cold). Got me major husband points with that one.




Next was reinforcing the rear wall. The original door mounts were screws from the outside into a small strip of plywood on the inside. There were also a couple of pieces of plywood glued to the fiberglass to keep it from flexing. 1" angle aluminum with locknuts solved the door issue, and 1/8" aluminum paneling helped with the rest (it is even radius-ed where I could to get additional rigidity). The plate aluminum also allows me to attach things to the back of the camper in the future without worrying about the fiberglass cracking.








For the outside of the rear wall I didn't like the original taillights so I put up some diamond plate to cover the holes and strengthen the area to carry extra fuel cans (fiberglass now sandwiched between aluminum sheets) , and added the LED lights later.





...it was about then that it decided to start snowing in mid-September. So a quick drive into town to get some new tires. I decided on 235/75 15R Cooper Discoverer AT/3 based on a few online reviews of all-terrain tires. Basically they were great middle of the road tires, good street manners with decent offroad capabilities. I keep them at 50 psi for the roads and 30 psi for dirt and they have done amazing. I really like them.

 

[Lawson_nate]

While I was doing all of that the wife was finishing the interior walls with 1" blue foam paneling and white plastic sheeting to keep the inside warm, bright, and easy to clean. You can see parts of the foam going in on some of the other pictures.



Then came the toughest decision to this point... Do we cut out the rear of the perfectly good cab? After some debating, we decided that it was the only way to do it. If I had to do it again... I wouldn't even hesitate! It is awesome to just crawl through no matter what the conditions outside. Washington and Oregon rain... No problem!




Had to get actual mirrors to see around the camper. Simple standard Chevy truck/van mirrors have worked and looked good so far.






Just a week before we planned to leave...




The wife hard at work on her interior. She really didn't like the cold so didn't get as much done as she hoped, but managed to get the 6" memory foam bed (my priority) and her double sink (her priority) before we had to go.





We had decided on LED lighting for the interior so I had ordered some cheap ones off of Amazon. The previous picture is with the standard shop light. The following are the LED's. White for day time, Red for night time (don't lose your night vision), and Blue/Green for party time (even has a flash and mixer setting)!






Plus some extra LEDs out front...

 

[tanglefoot]

Ooh...much like! Great, purpose-built interior! Did it lose much nimbleness with the chassis swap? Or maybe you haven't driven one on the original chassis.

The weight numbers sound great! Most modern vehicles that size weigh more than that, empty. Gotta love the earlier trucks!

 

[Lawson_nate]

That is all of the build pictures I have. Hopefully this helps anyone who has ever wanted to do such a swap. The guy I bought this from had been holding on to it for three years with this conversion in mind. Sometimes you just need a deadline to push you into getting something done. Next chance we get internet I will try and post some trip pictures. *Safe Travels*

 

[BlairB]

Great build! Very jealous of your 4x4 nook.

 

[Lawson_nate]

Ooh...much like! Great, purpose-built interior! Did it lose much nimbleness with the chassis swap? Or maybe you haven't driven one on the original chassis.

The weight numbers sound great! Most modern vehicles that size weigh more than that, empty. Gotta love the earlier trucks!

I'll have the story of last year's (his name was *Turtle*) 1976 Toyota Chinook posted here...http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/151977-Our-first-Toyota-Chinook-build-*Turtle*
He was slow, loud, and so much fun, but acquired a nasty backfiring habit that the wife got tired of me fiddling with so we sold him after 8,000 miles into the trip. Sold it in Arizona and last I heard the current owner is cruising the northwest of Washington.

Wife wanted a low maintenance, light, and solid interior. The lower 2wd truck was definitely more nimble through the turns than this one. However, I have taken some pretty sharp turns (to the white knuckle and murder eyes from the wife) in this one and have had no fears of tipping. It still has a nice low center of gravity which I love. The extra work into making it solid has paid off. No squeaks and creaks this time!

 

[Henry_G]

So many questions to ask but I just wanted to say this is an amazing build and is exactly what I hope to accomplish with my Chinook. Look forward to future updates!