Hey All!

Just had my original 81 longbed rebuilt for my son as he's going to be a driver soon. Looks and drives great so far!

However, looking to gut the interior as its about as bad as it can be (Forgot to take pics!). I've seen some good looking interiors while browsing the site, and as hard as I've tried, can't seem to find any links for the products.

Ideally I'd like to start with some bucket seats and do a spray liner for the floors. Can anyone recommend seats that aren't too pricey and won't need to be fiddled with too much to get them in?

Also looking for the following items:
OEM Coolant/Washer Fluid Tank
Back window latch (Its broken!)
Front eyebrow above the windshield
Metal door panels
New seatbelts
Storage box for between the seats, possibly wired for accessory hookups, drink holder, etc.
Anything cool you could recommend to make it a lil nicer for the kid!

Would greatly appreciate any links you could send, or if you make or know anyone who makes custom parts, I'd love to support you!

 

hey there - great truck, lucky kid!

closest i've been able to find to a new OEM style coolant/washer reservoir is for a land cruiser FJ40/FJ45. only problem is the locations are reversed, coolant on driver's side, washer tank on the passenger side. looks like it should work with minor modification to mounting, but i haven’t bought one yet, so no field experience. - ebay.com/itm/233912832677

i replaced my seat belts with aircraft style belts and really like them - seatbeltsplus.com

however, i kept my OEM seat belts and plan to have the webbing replaced - safetyrestore.com

not metal, but highly accurate and well reviewed reproduction door panels from thailand - ebay - piyamasshop99

my defrost vent nozzles were trashed and crumbling from years of UV exposure. i bought a 3D printed reproduction set and they are outstanding. i'm sure his other stuff is of the highest quality as well - retroreviveparts.bigcartel.com

i'm a leathercraft artisan and i'm working on a pattern to for saddle stitched shift boots and sun visors. if that's something you might be interested in, let me know.

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i do have a question for you... did you have any issues mounting that koyorad radiator in your '81? they only list compatibility for '84 up and i'd like to know if any modifications are required before pulling the trigger.

 

Nice, thanks dude!

Definitely going to grab up those door panels, they look great!

I ended up picking up some seat belts online that should work out. Kid wanted all black so that made it easier than expected.

I'm going to look at a local yard that I was told had some of these old trucks and I'm hoping to see if I can salvage anything that's in better condition that my interior, but I might be interested in getting some shift boots from ya.

As far as the radiator, I wish I could give you info about it. I'm not mechanical AT ALL so I ended up having a lot of the work done at a shop

 

you're welcome, hopefully at least some of that was helpful. for the shift boots, I'll let you know when i'm out of the prototyping stage and have an acceptable product.

i forgot to mention i have a retrosound radio installed, looks period correct with modern tech. quality is pretty decent (not outstanding) but awesome for fitment and aesthetics.

1980 toyota pickup 4x4 retrosound

RetroSound Build Your Own Radio -
Motor 4HD / LBC-M4-UNADORNED Chrome/Black
Black Knobs Set - 39-80
Faceplate - 503

don't want to hijack your thread, but if you could post a couple pics from above the radiator mounting brackets looking down where they bolt to the front clip and the fan shroud. i'd be very appreciative.

 

we make a new visor for above the windshield , and maybe have a few other pieces you might be interested in ... new website , so not everything is up there
http://www.toyotafiberglass.com

 

Looks nice! I already stripped the radio out when I was a kid to put a nice system in or I'd totally do something like that. This is probably sacrilegious to say here, but I'm not really into the stock look and like to have my tunes going.

I totally forgot to get some pictures for you. I'll make sure to send some over once I get home tonight

 

This is RAD!

I've got some work to do before I get to the interior and visor, but I'm for sure going to have to pick a bunch of stuff up. I have a small dent on the left front panel which I considered just taking to a body shop, but those fenders you make look great.

Also, would it be possible to make a visor that doesn't have the bump in the middle of it? I don't hate it, but really like the look of a straight visor.

 

maybe by the time your ready , we will have the website a little more up-to-date .we do have a "flat" type visor in the works ..

 

Sweet! Really looking forward to it.

Letting the little man pick and choose what he wants to do. Currently ripping out all the carpet and getting the floorboards cleaned up and looking for some seats.

I had thought about using some fabric/vinyl dye to touch up the the headliner, but just noticed you have a hard headliner for sale as well. How difficult is that going to be to put in?

 

super simple to install , basically the front windshield weatherstrip , rear weatherstrip , and the 2 door moldings hold it in place . stock visors and mirror are screwed and the passenger O/S handle also . more stuff not up there yet .

 

That’s way cool. Do you typically do any upholstery for that or just paint?

 

This is about as good as I could do. Let me know if you need other pics or angles and I’ll give it a shot

 

Can you post a photo of your seats? I may be able to advise on upholstery.

 

you can do what ever you want !! , super easy to paint , or glue fabric on , or whatever ... your imagination is your only limitation !

 

I almost went the retro-sound route in my 1982. I first put a Kenwood in without chopping the dash much, but then found these (put one in my '91 Honda Civic too) on Amazon for $220.00. It's so hard to browse 256GB of music without a touch screen. I also use the Android Auto Google Maps feature all the time, and need hands free for my phone. I have no idea what they sound like without amps attached though. It's not in the way of anything as it appears. All the heater/ac controls are easy to reach, and clears the shifter. I also thought about one in my 87 4runner, but the smaller 7" screen fits perfectly in the dash of that, and it would probably disappear the first time I parked it out of sight with the top off.

 

Hell yeah, sounds like it'll work out for us then! Probably another 3-4 months out from doing any of the tear our, but for sure picking these up. I did a test spray of the fabric dye and didn't love the outcome.

 

Oh nice! I think something like this is how we'll go. How does it mount to the dash?

 

First I had to open the existing radio opening a little with a Dremel tool and a plastic wheel so it would fit a standard single Din stereo. I gave it quite a bit of thought before I decided to cut up the dash, and figured I'd do it because I'll never try to sell the truck. Then I cut a piece of 16 gauge aluminum I had to go over it. You can see it to the left of the unit with the extra interior light I added when I did it. I also added a bracket to hold up the back of the stereo. Those speaker pods you can see to the right of the radio are also available on Amazon. I also put 3 piece component speakers in each door using the original 4" opening for the mid-range (need spacers to clear the window), cut 6" openings under the vent windows for the woofers, and tweeters just past the window crank. There's a powered sub-woofer under the passenger seat, and a 4-channel amplifier under the driver's seat. The complete system cost less than a Sony 10" screen unit itself I was interested in buying. I thought the price on these was too cheap to be true, but I'm happy with them, but I have no idea what they would sound like without the added amps.

 

Life got in the way and I never responded to this. I showed my son this and he was pumped about how it looks. I should have included a picture of my dash as it's already been cut and chewed up from my younger days. Crazy to think its been 25 years since I've had it!

Definitely gotta get this kid a decent sound system to go with the screen!

Gotta say I'm also worried about ANYTHING, including the truck leaving whenever I take it out.

That being said. If anyone has any thoughts about a tracker or killswitch I'm open ears. Thought about putting an airtag in there for the time being even if its not the most reliable. Been parking it and putting the 4x4 shifter into neutral hoping that might stump whatever dummy thinks about taking it.

 

Airtags work great. I’ve got them on 5 cars and two cats. 😁