Siena

My crystal side repeaters have since arrived, the LED rear lamp clusters have been out of stock, I received an email last week, letting me know they are back in stock. Yesterday, I snagged a set, they were dispatched today, and should be with me tomorrow.

I definitely need to get cracking with my custom solid rear tonneau cover, so it can be painted the same time as the rest of the truck. I've also ordered some chassis black paint, so I'm going to be pretty tied up. This weekend however, I'm giving some time to my Audi A4 Quattro DTM V8 Competition car.

Siena

My new LED rear lamps arrived about a week ago, they'll freshen up the rear of my truck real good:

Siena

I had the rear of my truck measured up to get the frame of my custom, hydraulically-operated rear lid / tonneau built. Of course, my truck had the optional Toyota rear roll cage fitted, so that had to go:

Siena

So out came the cage, and I ended up with a clean rear tub:

Siena

Losing the cage though, meant I ended up with 16 holes, where the cage was bolted to the rear deck - 8 at the end of the load deck, and the other 8 on the rear wheel arch tubs. Not a big deal, I'll simply have them welded up:

Siena

The rear tub was boarded out with 6mm ply board. Essential in keeping the rear load area free of dents and major damage. But not if my purpose is to build a show truck, which is what I'm doing here.

So last Saturday, I tackled the job of removing the lot. And an hour later, I had drilled out the last aluminium rivet, and removed the damp ply board. I was expecting to find the rear bed rusted through, with a view of the ground through gaping holes. Fortunately, all I found was light surface rust, just needs a rub down, priming and paint.

It was good to lose the wood, it was bloody heavy!

Siena

One thing's for sure - it's great to have a skill that's in demand, besides working for yourself, you can do a trade with a less common skill, or qualification.

I have recently been on a number of Toyota-sponsored courses, and examinations. One of these is Hybrid Control. I passed my Hybrid examinations at Pro-Tech level a couple of months ago, and much more recently (15th May 2014) passed my Hybrid Control examinations at Diagnostic Tech level. I was glad I did.

Now, there's a bodyshop the Toyota dealership I work for is affiliated with. They had a client bring in a 2007 Toyota Prius, with front end damage. It was driving when it went to the bodyshop, but the insurance company of the owner wrote it off. So the bodyshop siphoned all the gas out. Then the owner decided to buy the salvage rights back from his insurer, and get the car repaired privately. Unfortunately, the car could not be started. A few technicians tried their best, to no avail.

Anyone familiar with Lexus / Toyota Hybrid System will know that in order to get the system into READY mode, the transmission has to be in P, the foot brake must be depressed then the POWER button operated. If these conditions are not met, there's no way to get the car started. And if there are underlying Hybrid issues, no way to get the transmission into neutral.

This car was recovered to my dealership, after doing the rounds of local garages.

The deal was simple - if I could get the car started, and drive it, the bodyshop would carry out the bodywork - prep work, priming, and welding, then final colour change. And best of all, the work would be done at the cost of......

So this morning, I drove into work, and attacked the dead Toyota Prius. Naturally the first thing I did (or rather tried to do) was check for DTC's. Whatever had gone wrong, would not allow communication with Hybrid Control, or Engine ECT. And this was using Toyota's Techstream TD4. The only option left was to go the old-fashioned way, with manual diagnostics. And my efforts, and skill were rewarded - 40 minutes later, I had the car up and running. And drove her round the block.

A call made to the bodyshop by my dealership to relay the good news, some negotiation, and the owner was happy for me to drive down, and let him look my Toyota Hilux over. And I was able to see what the quality of this bodyshop's work was like. The shop is massive, with room for at least 30 cars at any given time. And it has the benefit of 4 spray booths, and of course, this means 4 ovens.

After I had a chat with the manager / owner, told him exactly what I wanted, he was only too happy to take on my Hilux. It's due in any time after the forthcoming Bank Holiday, which is the 26th May. I can't wait to see how this all pans out.

Next, I'm going to be updating this thread with some of the modifications I'm carrying out, prior to paint.

Siena

My Toyota Hilux is the Single Cabin, 4WD EX spec. So this means the rear tub has the hooks at the top, for tying down a tarpaulin tonneau cover. It also has the nasty groove all the way round. The tailgate also echoes this groove, and tie-hooks.

Since I won't be using a tie-down tonneau cover, I have decided to delete these. If it were just the hooks, it would have been a simple case of grinding them off. But the groove / recess means a more drastic approach is needed. The recess will require the entire area, on both sides to have new steel welded in place, filled, then sanded to shape. The rear tailgate is easier - simply replace it with the tailgate intended for Japanese-spec SR-5 models. This tailgate is smooth, and besides losing the recess and hooks like mine has, the embossed TOYOTA logo is deleted. The tailgate has been ordered from Thailand.

My truck has the recess and hooks on both sides of the tub the same on the tailgate, and the embossed TOYOTA logo.

Tailgate, showing recess, hooks and embossed TOYOTA logo:



Sides of rear tub, showing recess and hooks:

Siena

And pictures of the rear tub and tailgate with the look I'm after. The gold truck is an Australian model, pretty similar to UK-spec Hilux. The smooth sides (no recess or hooks) is only available on the double cab models. The white truck is a Japanese-spec SR-5 model. Note the tailgate lacks the upper recess, hooks and embossed TOYOTA logo.

Tailgate, showing smoothed look, no TOYOTA logo:



Sides of rear tub, showing no upper recess, or hooks:

Siena

A show truck, restored to concourse condition (or as close as possible) can't have a beautifully painted and detailed body, sitting on top of a scruffy chassis.

Whilst the chassis and general underbody of my Hilux are in good shape, nonetheless it could do with a new coat of paint. Being a 4WD model, it has much more ground clearance than the equivalent 2WD version. This means most of the chassis, suspension and underbody components are visible.

I decided to paint it back to the factory black satin, using not ordinary paint, but Hammerite Smooth / Satin black. This paint gives 8-year corrosion protection against the Red Terror - rust. I opted for a large pot of brush-on, as well as in aerosol form. The aerosol is to get into those hard to reach areas. I'll simply wire brush off any loose dirt or rust, and paint directly. Hammerite requires no primer or treatment before application. It can also be applied directly to rusty metal.

That's a job for a weekend, and the usual updates will follow in text and pictures.

Siena

Another aspect of the Toyota Hilux KDN165 I don't like, and have decided to change...

...the pesky rear fog lamp in the lower panel, beside the licence plate. It looks home made, like a last minute after thought on Toyota's part. Echoing it's Japanese origins - as fog doesn't exist in Japan, fog lamps were never fitted to Japanese-spec Hilux's. So for export markets where fog lamps are mandatory, a rectangular foglamp was fitted to the left or right, depending on country.

On my truck, as is the case with all UK-spec Hilux's, the rear foglamp is on the right lower panel. Not very pretty, it looks like a cheap universal unit, similar to the foglamp on a car trailer. The rear reflectors too are very cheap looking, and not part of the rear lamp clusters:



As I have purchased more modern-looking LED units, I have decided to lose the factory rear foglamp, and the reflectors. The LED units have reflectors built in. As for the foglamp, I'm using a red bulb in the right hand side reverse lamp, I have swapped the pins in the connector accordingly. So I end up with just one reverse lamp on the left. The holes left by removing the solitary rear foglamp, and both reflector holes will be welded up.

Siena

The Toyota Hilux KDN165 had two, or shall I say three options for the rear bumper:

No rear bumper (EX, FX utility models).
Grey rear bumper (EX, FX, GX utility models).
Chrome rear bumper (VX Hi-spec models).

Whatever bumper was fitted at the rear, for some odd reason, Toyota chose to fit it way below the lower rear valence (licence plate area). Probably due to the fact the early MK3 and MK4 models had a similar rear tub, and the MK5 (KDN165) was based upon the earlier models. As the licence plate area was the same, and no rear bumper existed on early trucks, a bumper would have obscured the licence plate, rear foglamp and reflectors.

So a bumper was designed to keep the critical areas visible. Thus, the bumper for the KDN165 was born. It had a centre dropped section to clear the licence plate, and to keep the rear foglamp and reflectors visible, was mounted low down. The result was a sagging, / drooping abortion, that Toyota classed as "rear step". It looked horrible, I actually prefer NOT to have a rear bumper than be stuck with that!

I opted for a chrome bumper designed for the Toyota Hilux KUN25/26. I took measurements from a truck at work, and in terms of width, it was a perfect fit. It incorporates the licence plate too, so that would clean up the rear of my KDN165 a treat.

Saggy rear bumper on KDN165:



Straight rear bumper on KUN25/26, which I opted to retro fit:

Siena

Current 2KD-FTV turbo diesel engine makes a paltry 101 hp and 260 Nm. A good work horse, but not fun to drive.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Glad to see you getting your truck looking good. I got to drive one quite similar to yours with the diesel engine and would love to get one over here. We just don't have them. Great little motors and trucks. You are so lucky.

Siena

Thanks, Terry. The 2KD-FTV is a great motor, but I don't get any joy from driving it. Great diesel mileage though!

SCToy

The 22r is the same way, except it doesn't even get good mileage haha

Siena

^^^That's a fact. Though I've driven a buddy's '85 2WD 22R-E, with a home brewed Rotrex supercharger. It was pretty quick, albeit thirsty.

dsal_86Yota

Great truck. Wish I had a Diesel in my 86 4x4. Would be great for the mountains and back roads here in Colorado. The low end power would be great for hauling up steep grades and crawling. Dam US smog laws. I'd lvoe to go over to the UK or Japan and get a true Hilux double cab diesel 4x4. Id never sale it, would prob be buried in it lol

Siena

Thanks bruh. Nice low-down torque from the 2KD-FTV, but just not enough overall power. Just 101 hp, though backed up with 260 Nm.

Siena

I arrived home from work yesterday, to see a rather large box had been delivered to me, carrying a Tokyo postmark.

Yep - my Toyota Hilux SR5 tailgate had arrived, to replace my UK-spec Hilux EX item. The SR5 was a Japanese trim level, which eventually filtered into the North American, Canadian and Australian market. The UK never got this model, so the only way I could get my hands on the SR5 tailgate, was to order from Japan.

The only body parts I'm waiting for right now, are the SR5 fender flares. Fender flares are available on UK-spec models, but only on the VX, a trim level only available on the high-spec Double Cabin model. The front flares will certainly fit my EX Single Cabin Hilux, but the rears are different between Single And Double Cabin models. Double Cabin models have the rear flares split on both sides - part on the rear body, the other parts on the cabin.

So mine have been ordered from Toyota Aichi (Toyota City, Japan). They should be with me next week. My Hilux is booked into the body shop at the end of the month, and while she's away, it'll give me a chance to concentrate on the interior, getting a set of 2005 Toyota Celica GT-S sport seats retrimmed in black and ? leather, ready for when I get my truck back.

I can't wait to see her in her new paint. Pictures to follow.