Build-up |
One evening while at work at the tow-truck company I used to work for, I received a phone call from the RCMP Highway Patrol for an impaired driver who had struck a telephone pole out on the highway. When our tow truck finally drove past my window into our yard with the Toyota on the back, I immediately noticed that it was a red 1985 Xtra-Cab, as evidenced by the solid front axle and the EFI emblem on the B-pillar, and that the front end was completely destroyed. I thought to myself, "Hm, that's the exact truck I've been looking for! It sure would make a neat restoration project." Later on that evening, after being released by the police, the owner came down to the yard to collect his personal belongings and work equipment. He paid for the tow, and I got his name, address, and phone number. I asked what he was planning on doing with the truck, and he replied that he didn't know yet.
The truck sat out in the yard for a month, with no phone calls from the owner. I decided to take a good look at it, to see what sort of damage there really was. The front end had a telephone-pole-shaped mark in it on the passenger side, extending back far enough to bend the throttle-body butterfly pivot. The bumper, grille, rad support, headlight pot, radiator, battery, front inner fender, fender, and headlight wiring harness were compressed into a 2" thick ply. The hood was bent into an arch. The passenger side frame horn was bent down, and the cab was partially dislodged from the mounts, thanks to a broken and shifted 3" body lift. The truck sported some kind of spring lift. The passenger-side front spring was kinked, the wheel was bent, and the tire had a 3" hole in it. It had worn 33" tires on slightly-rusty chrome modular rims. A water leak from somewhere around the windshield. Tailgate slightly bent. Exhaust rusted out, and held together with duct tape. Amazingly, the box was unscathed, and only had some very minor surface rust along the seams. And only 80000 km's on the odometer! Hm, lessee now, straighten the frame, new front clip, fenders, hood, grille, rad, battery, wiring harness, exhaust, body work, paint, and the usual miscellaneous stuff that nickle-and-dimes you to death... I wanted aluminum wheels anyways, and new lift springs. Well, it was certainly do-able, if the engine was alright. I needed to find out what the owner's wishes were.
Another three months passed, as I found other things to do, but the Toyota was always in the back of my mind. Finally, the boss started making noises about the truck taking up valuable space in the yard. After talking with him, we came to an agreement... if I could get the owner to sign the registration over, I could buy it for $500. I dug up the old invoice from the first night, and copied all the relevant info. At the end of the month (November, 1995), I drove out to the owner's house with transfer papers, introduced myself, and basically told him that he had three choices: he could pay us for the storage owed at $8.35 per day (around $1100 with tax) and tow the truck home, he could sign the truck over to us for disposal, or he could do nothing and have to deal with the bailiff later on. He said, "Do you have a pen?" and signed it over. Whoo-hoo! I immediately went to the yard and handed the boss his cash.
Work on the truck started almost immediately. I work the evening shift, so this needed to be a weekend project. While the truck was still in the yard, my friend Richard and I unbolted the remains of the hood, fenders, bumper, and various pieces of unrecognizable metal, leaving only the mangled front clip in place. We removed the entire interior except for the dash, and threw out the carpet, which had gone mouldy from the water leaking in from the windshield. I stored the seats and the rest of the interior pieces in my bedroom (I'm single, I can do that!). I bought a set of three used chrome wheels and 33" tires from one of the drivers for $30, and installed one of them on the truck to make it rollable.
I towed the truck out to a frame shop where they inspected then straightened the frame. I then towed it to Richard's uncle's 3-car garage in Port Coquitlam. I started checking the newspapers for Toyota parts, buying a hood, radiator, fan, shroud, MAF sensor/airbox, and tailgate (all stored in the living room!). I had the radiator acid-dipped, flushed, pressure-tested, and painted at a local rad shop. We unclipped and unbolted everything that was attached to the front clip, then drilled out the welds and removed it. I picked out a used front clip, headlight wiring harness, headlight pots, marker lights, trim pieces, tie rod, etc., from the Toyota 4x4 Center (no longer in business). I bought a replacement exhaust, tie rod ends, 3M body sealer, Warn shocks (to replace the worn shocks!), urethane body mount kit, and tons of miscellaneous bits and pieces from local 4x4 and auto parts suppliers. All nuts and bolts were Grade 8 or Grade 5, depending on the application (stretch vs. shear). I also bought two new jobber fenders from a local wholesaler, but after fighting with the damn things for far too long to get them to fit (and not well, either), I will buy only Genuine Toyota replacement body parts from now on.
I had a mobile glass guy come by to remove the windshield, then I wire-brushed the surface rust out of the windshield track, sanded and painted it, and had the glass guy install a brand new windshield. We torched the old rusted and broken body mounts and body lift out. I wire-brushed the frame, and installed the exhaust and shocks. We removed the chrome rocker panel trim, and welded the holes. We sprayed "rock guard" on the rocker panels, and on the fenders and box to the same height as the top of the rocker panels. Richard's uncle did all the sanding (except for the front clip; I did that!), masking, and painting. The frame, diffs, etc. were painted black. We sprayed the interior floor with hard rubber undercoating, and installed new plastic moisture barriers on the door panels. I elected to paint the truck the original factory Rollover Red (a term coined by Ryan of the Delta High Rollers; he says that every red Toyota 4x4 he's known of has rolled!).
Finally, with the bodywork done, I towed it over to my house to work on the engine and electrical. I installed the grille, hood support, box mounts, interior, and other miscellaneous components, then Hank and I installed all the underhood items (wiring harnesses, cables, hoses, battery, fluid containers, etc.). Time to see if the engine was good... fired it up, and heard a metallic-sounding death-rattle coming from under the hood. #*@&! Something was seriously broken. Oh well, I had budgeted for a new motor anyways, reasoning that if I was going to go 'wheeling, then I didn't want to to get stranded because I was too cheap to spring for a motor. I towed it down to the Toyota 4x4 Center, where they installed a remanufactured 22RE, new clutch (might as well; the engine was out), new Toyota motor mounts, and a used steering column (mine was bent, and the plastic pins were collapsed). Once everything was done, I drove it down the road to the alignment shop, and then down to the AirCare station to get emissions-certified. Finally done, after months of weekends of work (and driving really junky cars!).
The next few paycheques were spent on things like wheels and tires, brakes, etc., until I was satisfied that the truck was completely roadworthy and reliable. Then I started modifying and upgrading things, but that's another story. I suppose I could have waited and bought a running truck, but this way I was able to put some money aside each month for parts, instead of having to pay several thousand dollars in a lump sum. Plus, this way I know exactly what the truck has in it, and I got a great education as well. I figure that if I bought a running truck, I would have eventually re-built the motor, put in a new clutch, installed a lift, bought new tires and wheels, done the bodywork and paint, etc., and would have eventually spent more money in the long run.