Thought I’d introduce myself and post up about my latest Toyota obsession. I have had several Toyotas throughout the years mostly Land Cruiser‘s and a few newer pick ups but I found this one in an abandoned yard and watched it for about six or seven years till I was finally able to buy it. Long bed 4x4 with factory air (or should I say with remnants of it) It was rough but fairly complete. Had some typical frame rot in front of the driver side spring hanger that so I pulled the bed and cut out the bad and with some help patched the frame up. While I was there completely stripped down the back half of the frame, POR15’d it all then repainted. Put in a new gas tank and replaced the exhaust. It had been sitting because of no spark so I did the GM igniter mod and that did the trick. Just finished up my Weber install and could not be happier with it. 20R has been replaced with a ‘85 22R but the truck still has the factory 4 speed. Truck has been repainted many years ago and has plenty of “character” but honestly I prefer it that way. I’ll post up some more and also use this as kind of a build thread. Here’s a couple pics, one the day I bought it and one how it is at the moment. Not really planning on restoring it as much as getting it mechanically sound and enjoying it. Would love any insight as to what trim package this may have been also. Thanks!

 

Couple more

 

welcome aboard .. have fun with it .

 

Nice truck! And welcome!

 

Good start for a project truck. Congrats

 

Hi. Congrats on the truck. We, well now I, have our family '80 that looks almost exactly like yours. Long bed, red(not sure what Toyota called that color red) and I assume you have the tan/brown interior but they did come in black(see link). We are the original owners of ours and I was there the day my Dad bought it. Yours looks like an SR5 with the exception of the painted front bumper(but again they could have come that way too I think). I'm no OG detail expert, but I do know that buckets did not come till after '80...82 maybe? As a '79 it should have a bench..hard to tell, does it? Ours was a SR5 with brown/tan interior. Red/tan woven cloth seat inserts, tach in-dash, AM/FM stereo with door speakers, lower gauges, SR5 steering wheel and a few other SR5 items. The mirrors are the same as on our truck and I believe they all came that way, but not sure. I believe the sliding rear was a SR5 package item, or it could have been an extra. I know Dad wanted an opening rear window and either opted to get the SR5 or had it added. Our original '80 SR5 long bed( I pleaded with him to get the short bed to no avail..haha) was fully optioned and came with front and rear chrome bumpers and the backward "Tri-L" silver graphics on the doors and front fenders...which I promptly persuaded him to remove. It came with factory AC too. Funny that your truck has the same gold center steel aftermarket wheels that ours is still wearing. BTW I hated those things but that's just me. They were on everything back in the '80s. Nowhere near the choice of wheels there are today. You had maybe 2-3 choices of aftermarket wheel and everyone wanted big offset and balloon tires. Those Taco rims look good on it. What year are those?

Anyway, congrats on the find. I've been collecting NOS parts for a long time for a resto of ours someday. Luckily the only rust on ours is a few spots on the lower front fender and oddly at the front top windshield corner. I hope to pass it on to my son or his son if that ever happens. Glad I never let my pop sell it the thousand times he threatened to over the years. Here is a link to an extremley clean and correct 1980 SR5(with some dealer added graphics and wheels). I do not know if this is a restoration but I assume it is. Very nice regardless! https://photos.app.goo.gl/7eno9SGpim8rtmAW7 Can't seem to find good pic of ours, but you can see a small bit of her peaking out from her garage. That's an Italian 4x4 articulating orchard tractor BTW ;-P

1980 4x4 hiding in the garage. Pasquale 4x4 in the foreground.

 

Thanks for the Great info Westfalia! The fact yours is a one owner truck is incredible and it being a family truck makes it even better! Mine has the black interior and it does have the original bench seat with plaid fabric. It was pretty roached and stunk so bad of mouse urine that I pulled it and installed a late 80’s seat that a friend had. I kept the original seat and purchased a fabric as close to the original as I could find. Plan is to reupholster the original and install after I have the floor pans redone but this will be a later project. My bumper could be chrome, I haven’t checked it yet. It’s covered with at least 4 different layers of paint right now. Funny you pictured your tractor also, I had to push the truck into my garage with our tractor when I first brought it home. The rear tube bumper was completely rusted out and I planned to take it off anyway so it didn’t hurt anything. Again great info and thanks again!

 

Haha. My pleasure. That was the day I was getting the Pasquale tractor ready for a new home. Once my dad passed and we hired a grove manager there really was no need for it anymore. Neat little thing though small, but I guess for a reason to work under fruit trees and on hills. It's articulated in the middle and is a bit disconcerting when the front does one thing and the back does another. I'll look around for some more pictures of the truck but it basically is your truck's twin with a brown interior. It even had a white shell from the '80s like yours. The door broke and I took it off too. It did not have a super easy life and got left outside for many years and did much wood hauling so it's a bit banged up with a few rust spots. We are in San Diego County so frame rust is a nonissue here. My dad threw away (unbeknownst to me) the original rear bumper and bench seat(he hated that thing for some reason, most likely due to his large size..lol). I remember him finding some buckets out of an '83 or '84 and putting them in, but did not get the center console so there is a gap between them. I've since found a bench out of a '79 but it will need to have the correct cover fitted. I'm sure that is unobtainium in the correct red tweed. Did you check out the pictures in the link I posted? That truck is amazingly restored down to the last nut and bolt or some crazy never driven survivor. I can't remember where I found those pictures but grabbed them for future reference.

I recently got it going again after a long long sleep. Fitted a rebuilt Asin CA spec carb and it still runs pretty well, though the 4 speed is really tired. Anyway, sorry for the "auto"biography, but it's cool to see these things surviving. You've now got me thinking more about it, but in the middle of a house remodel so it sits and waits. Enjoy your Toy!

 

Finally got down and took some pictures. It's been a while since I'd looked at it and she is no beauty queen. lol. It's a runner though the trans and clutch are not long for the world. I'd forgotten my dad used to flat tow this thing behind his motorhome. There is quite a bit of welding done on front frame cross member. A standard A-frame hitch would bolt to those brackets. Link to G photo album below photo.

Original 1980 SR5 long bed in Toyota Red

 

Love it!! That truck had a lot of good stuff going for it and is in much better shape than mine. Thanks for posting the pictures!

 

That paint cleaned up pretty nicely! What did you use on it?
Also that topper looks awesome. The integrated rails are a cool touch and would be great for Yakima or Thule crossbars.

 

Thanks!! When I first brought it home I hit it with a pressure washer. After that I scrubbed the whole truck with CLR. I can’t remember exactly if I did the CLR scrub with 0000 steel wool or a blue Scotch Brite pad. I rinsed it real good and then after it dried I went over it all with boiled linseed oil. The boiled linseed oil takes a couple of days to cure out but it makes a really nice finish when it does. Works fantastic on the rusty spots also. A lot of the rat rod guys do this or something similar to their cars.

Hadnt thought about using cross bars on the existing rails……that’s a great idea! Thanks!