I just got a 1983 truck. It is a 4x4 with a 5speed, bucket seats and a sliding window. I think it is an SR5.. Previous owner painted everything blue. I know it was blue to start but I am trying to figure out what was blue and was not. I found an online carpet kit in blue but some of the information I found says that they only came in black. Also, did this truck come with exterior decals? what about the tailgate logo, was it always white?


Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Looks like an SR5 to me. The first eight digits of the VIN # will tell you if it is Deluxe or SR5 JT4RN38S=SR5 JT4RN38D= Deluxe. Looks like you have all the SR5 accessories (seats, gauges, tilt, wheel, etc.) Blue interiors had blue carpet. Probably had the stripes at one time but they peel after so many years. White logo is correct for the tail gate.

 

looks purty clean from here. Good find, take care of it!

 

Please don't make it a bobb'd rock crawler. Nothing wrong with those, but plenty of crapy trucks to do that to. This is too nice...with the exception of that visor and shower grab handle. Haha.

 

That a nice looking truck with a stellar interior.

Your carpet should have been blue. I ordered a new one from Stockinteriors. It was a bear to install but looks great.

Your door panels were likely 2-tone blue with a plastic chrome strip. I’ll post pics of mine if I can figure out how.

James Dean creations and BLVinyl on Etsy have the tailgate and side decals. The only interior decals I know of are the transfer case and blinker which you have.

 

That is interesting. What year did they go to the two tone? Our 1980 SR5 has single color panels with the chrome strip. Is that chrome strip embedded in the panel or is it attached? Do you know if they are available? I know they are not real chrome, but just chrome plated plastic type of material. Ours are trashed. Here is a pic of our '80 SR5 door panel. Was this kit you used? https://www.stockinteriors.com/AutoC...85&ModelId=484

Passenger side

Driver side

 

I thought all of the ones with the big SR5 handles/armrests were two tone, but some Googling makes it look like I might be wrong.

Mine look like they are maybe heat bonded to the panel somehow. I don’t remember seeing rivets or anything when I had the panels off.

Are yours broken or is the paint just worn off in spots? I can’t tell from the pic.

Mine were worn down to clear plastic in most spots, so I just lightly sanded them, taped off and painted with some chrome paint.

Edit: yes I used that carpet with the mass backing option. It’s heavy formed rubber bonded to the carpet. Have help when you install it, lol.

You can also buy matching carpet by the yard with your order if you need to freshen up your lower door panels. That’s one of my winter projects.

Nice that you have the drivers side bag and factory speaker grills. Those are not easy to find!

Edit again: they send out samples fast if you aren’t sure about color.

 

I’m pretty sure they are bonded to the panel. The chrome “plating” has pealed off of most of it. Does the chrome paint look good? With the heat seams on the panel, it looks like I’ll have to find a NOS replacement to fix the dog chewed holes up near the vent wing on the pass door.

I think there must be a change in the door panel two tone at a specific model year. Maybe the change happened when they went to buckets instead of the bench seat. My dad hated the bench and threw it out (arrrg!)in favor of later(‘82/‘83?) buckets. I’ve found the correct seat but not out of a SR5 sadly. I’m still on the hunt for the correct material(red/tan weave) on the insert. Any leads?

 

Westfalia,
My tan exterior 81 SR5 (MFG date of 10/80) door panels looked exactly like yours before they totally disintegrated.
Seats were similar, but vinyl edges/bolsters with cloth centers IIRC.

 

I don’t think it looks bad. You can judge though. Keep in mind these trucks were not the pinnacle of aesthetics even when new. Paint bleed, crooked decals, etc.

on the seats, I’m not sure where you are located. I found a guy in East St. Louis that basically restored my trashed SR5 seats to factory.

 

I'm located in Southern CA. Those seats in your truck are the seats that my Dad found and put in the truck.. He found the seats but did not get the center console and just put a little Igloo cooler in there (lol). How is the back wall finished off in the trucks that came with the bucket seats? With the bench seat, it is just bare-painted exterior color. I assume with the buckets, it has carpet on it or some treatment. I like the bench so will put it back in. I do think the buckets would be more comfortable though if you were daily driving it. Here is a pic of both the fronts and a link to all the pics I currently have. https://photos.app.goo.gl/zcmzb8hZtZUKnoqq6

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Here is a link to a restored or super original 1980 SR5 in Toyota Red. https://photos.app.goo.gl/7eno9SGpim8rtmAW7\ The picture below is the correct material for the bench seat in a SR5 in Toyota Red with a black interior. Our truck should have the same pattern on the cloth, but it will be tan and red checkered pattern.

 

Back wall of cab was a formed fiberous materiel that wasn't carpet. Had metal hooks along the top that attached to the slots about 1.5" below the rear window. Mine matched the carpet color.

Also, to my knowledge, there was no "factory" center console. Always aftermarket or junkyard from other vehicles. Could exist, but I've never heard of one.

 

Ok. So the blue one on your truck is not original. I just figured there was something there on the '81-'83 trucks since that space looks so unfinished to me. I've been scouring BAT(Bring a Trailer) archives https://bringatrailer.com/toyota/pic...ort=rtimestamp for a truck with the original red/black woven fabric for the bench. So far no luck. That is going to be one of the hardest things to find to put this truck back to correct. lol.

 

I actually like the bench better, I just wanted to keep mine as original as possible.

The rear of my cab has some molded in sound deadening, and is painted the same color as the rest of the interior. Mine had what looked like heat molded boat carpet that hung like Bingle said.

At least some SR5s had molded plastic that covered most of the sheet metal in the cab. Unfortunately mine pretty much crumbled into dust when I removed it.

I don’t know where you are in SoCal but there used to be some great upholstery shops down in National City and places close to the border. Good shops will have huge sample catalogs full of material you can look through and match up to your truck.

There was a factory center console for SR5 trucks, but it is almost useless. It must have been the same one they used in one of the GT cars, because it has a huge slot for a hand brake. Your Igloo is much more functional.

ETA: check out eBay prices for those SR5 buckets and that Igloo cooler. You might be sitting on some gold there.

 

LOL, I'll do that. Finding this fabric is going to be tougher than I thought. Took me over 30 min of searching to find these few pictures and they are buckets from a 2WD and not a 4WD bench. The red check is what was on the stock bench seat as an insert with vinyl edging. I have a feeling it was only around one year. Lucky me ;-).

 

Toyota on the early trucks used a material known as "sling" today. It is a woven plastic used on outdoor patio furniture. I have searched the net and found a fairly close match to my 1979 SR5 and my 1980 SR5.