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I literally have not touched the Toyota unless it was to move it to one side of the garage to the other. The Larry Ragland Chaparral is loaded up in Ed Maurins trailer and will be delivered to Missouri this week. The plan is to jump back into the thick of things next week starting with putting the front end back together. The ball joint cups are finally finished after mucho headache for my fab guy. It was trial and error with the new CNC machine but he finally got them done right. They were sent to heat treat and will be done in 10-14 days...
Currently i am NOT impressed with my progress after the NORRA Mexican 1000. I have only worked on the Toyota for 1 day and even that was not very productive. I guess I'm waiting on some motivation and I found it yesterday with a text from Bear race cars. Seems my ball joints and cups made it back from heat treat...
The cups grew 4,000th after heat treat and now need to be turned down so they will fit into the a-arms...
Bear says he finally sees a light at the end of the tunnel with this stuff as it has been a complete butt kicker but is pleased with the results so far. On every build I have done over the past 10 years, there always seems to be a couple things that really slow down the progress.....I'm guessing we found the first one with the Toyota. Hopefully i will have these in my hands at the end of the week or beginning of next. If that happens there is a strong possibility that the truck COULD be close to being a roller again by the end of June. I don't want to get ahead of myself but that's a pretty good plan for now.
On a side note, fellow off road racer from Arizona Rich Roberts called me asking for my address because he wanted to send me something. Seems this has been hanging in his race shop for a few decades and now that he is moving he didn't have the heart to throw it away......THANK GOD. How cool is this, one of the first posters from Toyota, shot south of San Felipe during the BFG shoot. I guess the Toyota was the only truck (as far as i know) that took the truck out for some action shots after the shoot. If it looks familiar that's because KC HiLites, Toyota and Downey used some of these pictures for ads in the mid 80's.
Poster...
BFG photo shoot...
Downey catalog...
KC HiLites ad...
Toyota "Merciless" ad...
The money will soon be dried up from the sale of the DirTrix racer so it's time to get back to the drawing table literally so i can start saving money for the rest of the restoration. Anyways, I'm still working on it and for some reason when summer rears its ugly head I tend to spend lots of time in the garage (it should be the opposite but I'm an idiot). Sooo, if anyone has a bunch of money they weren't going to use, go ahead and send it my way...LOL.
History lesson: Race #14....The 1985 Frontier 500.
The Frontier 500 would provide mixed results for the PPI Toyota team as Ivan Stewart and Frank Arciero continue to try and get some reliability out of their Toyota on a consistent basis. There is no doubt the Toyota's are fast but being 1000 to 1500 LBS heavier (and under powered) the trucks needed to be driven harder to stay with the leaders. The #001 Toyota of Ivan Stewart would have a short day as he blew up a motor near check point 3. Frank Arciero on the other hand would have better luck as he would finish in 2nd place in the #002 Toyota but over an hour behind. This was one of the toughest Frontier 500's ever and the results proved it.
Race Specs:
Race distance approx 536 Miles
Car/Truck entries- 148
Finishers- 51
34% finished the race
October 1985 issue of Dusty Times. Words: Jean Calvin Photo's: Trackside Photo
Some guy named Larry Ragland won Overall for the 2nd year in a row from the 21st starting position as class 10 vehicles were the first class off the line, followed by class 1. Larry would finish the course in 11:54:16 at 45.4 MPH on a very rocky, silty and technical race course. Larry would only have 1 flat tire to slow his pace on his way to the win.
Bob Richey would win class 2 in his RCR plumbing Raceco, finishing in 7th Overall.
Frank Arciero having problems early but came back to finish 2nd.
Rob Tolleson won class 1600 while Malcolm Vinje cleaned up AGAIN in class 5 unlimited. Dave Shoppe would have another good day out in the desert with his stepside Ford F-150.
Rod Hall in class 4....as usual.
And a list of the results for the event.
As the racers lick their wounds from this race, they would now getting ready for the SCORE Baja 1000 that is only 2 months away (November 8th, 1985).
Well, it's been a year and I decided it would be a good time to get everyone caught up with the look back at what we've done. My daughter and I headed down the week of the 2016 Baja 500 to picked up the truck from Hugo Borquez...
The truck was successfully transported back to the United States and the restoration process had officially kicked off...
First order of business was to mock the front and rear suspension up to make sure we had all the parts and then off to Allcoat in Kingman Arizona for sand blasting. Collins Motorsports would then get all the parts for inspection and magnaflux...
The chassis was taken to Darryl Putman to have the cab fitted to the chassis. The cab was purchased with the truck and was in good shape....so i thought (more later). Darryl did a FANTASTIC job putting the cab back on the chassis...
The chassis was then delivered to Collins motorsports to have the rear suspension massaged. A lot of brass bushings needed to be re-made along with welding up approx 130 cracks to suspension pieces that have been neglected over the years. The rear end was also serviced and they made sure it was straight, or close to it which it was. I can't tell you the amount of time Collins motorsports spent behind the lathe making custom bushings, shims and spacers for this beast. Not only that, the rear cantilever mounts had been cut off by the old owner and new ones made, then machined down...
At the same time all of this was happening Jeff Fields Transaxle Engineering was rebuilding 2 transmissions for us. These are Doug Nash 5 speeds and parts are hard to come by now a days. Jeff was the original builder for PPI in the early days. Jeff also handled the rear end gear...
All the Bilstein shocks were delivered to Norm Francis to be painted then shipped to Bilstein to have rebuilt and serviced...
On a side note, all the shocks will be picked up by this weekend. Next was one of the first bumps in the road....the front Ball Joints. We knew these would be somewhat of a pain in the ass but with my buddy Bear at Bear race cars having a new CNC machine it was turning out to be a slight learning curve but he wasn't about to give me sub par parts to put on the truck. A lot of trial and error but they are finally done and I hope to pick them up at the end of the week too...
Like stated previously, I'm hoping to make my way down to Cali this week to pick up the shocks and then hopefully try and talk the nice man who owns an original PPI front fiberglass clip into letting me borrow or purchase it and then have a mold made. The front clip is unmolested as far as i can tell but even if it's not it is better than what i have now. we will see...
I'm back from my vacation now so it's time to get back into the shop and get some work done to this beast.
Well, Chris Philo and I made the trip down to Cali this past weekend to pick up my shocks from Bilstein and stopped off at a few other places along the way. First stop was to Autofab so Chris could drop some stuff off to John. It was the first time I had ever been to his shop and it was very impressive with all of the tooling and machines in the fabrication room. I really have a love affair with the old school Fords and this trip did not help....
It was then off to Bilstein to pick up the shocks for the Toyota. I got to meet with Mark, Shane and Juan to go over the work they had done and Juan said he was surprised on how well the shocks have held up over the past 30 plus years. Norm Francis did a great job painting the cans and I'm sure I will have Jim Richardson make some period correct stickers for the cans too.....
We headed North to Long Beach to talk with a guy that use to pit for PPI back when the 001 raced. He has a Toyota prerunner sitting on the shelf in his shop that has been there for over 10 years that he never finished. He did put a Lexus V8 and trans in it and also has the original front glass from 001. My plan is to have a mold made from the front clip but I needed to get a first hand look at it first.
So, there it was, sitting in the same spot it had been. Richard (holding the beer) talks with Philo tells us a bunch of cool stories about the PPI days and then about the truck pictured above. Turns out it was another PPI crew member that wanted a street version prerunner that looked like the 001 and he was in the process of building when something else came along. Richard bought it, but the Lexus in it and then it got shelved. He won't sell the front clip, I tried but we are working on getting a mold made and will know more about that in about 2 weeks.
If you look closely (above), this is a one piece clip but there is another hood sitting on top of the clip. Also, the grill area needs to be cut out for the headlights and stock grill. From what i was told this clip would then be cut into 3 pieces (fenders and hood) and mounted separately. The clip has a few minor blems but in great shape besides that.
I was happy with the results of the day and we then went by McQueen to look at the process of his bump side Ford fiberglass but they had closed before we got there to get any recent pics. While on my way home i recieved a text from Bear race cars that by ball joints were now finished and ready for pick up. I will be heading to Kingman on Tuesday morning to pick those up and finally be able to start putting the front end together.
I couldn't wait to get home and mount the shocks to see how they looked on the truck, here's the rear...
And the fronts....
Time to start getting busy on this thing again, just in time for the 120 plus heat.
So the Lexus V8 in the other truck get you thinking of your engine yet? You have covered everything so far, BUT the powerplant.
The original motor was an 18RG (as I was told). I have the motor that one of the employees from Toyota mounted in the truck when it was sold to the original owner because PPI leased the motors from TRD and didn't own them. I'm not a Toyota motor fanatic so I'm not 100% sure on what motors were in what cars but the motor I have is (I think) a Celica motor with the Yamaha dual OHC head, almost equal to the 18RG......I could be set straight on this I'm sure.
The he motor will be the last purchase I make but if I play my cards right and do this restoration right maybe I won't have to buy one at al....Hint hint Toyota/TRD. Wishful thinking on my part but a guy can dream can't he?
Your in luck, as I am VERY MUCH the old school Toyota engine lover! I have a 2TGE turbo in my 74 Corolla (TE27). The 2TG is a (basicly) 2TC without pushrods and a twin cam 8 valve Yamaha built head and stub shaft to transfer the cam event from an adapter stub shaft up to the 2 cams in the G head.
The 18RG came in Celicas and Coronas among others, it's based off the 18RC, but twin cammed by Yamaha. Its heavier and stock vs stock makes more power than a 2TG in all respects though. It is only a 2L unless its been over bored and possibly stroked for race use. And its only a 8 valve motor. A 3SGE would swap well but needs to be a RWD newer engine or a few parts to swap onto a FWD engine to make it RWD... but a 152E race motor belongs in that truck. This is a 16v race version of the 18RG that was used in rally and other Toyota race vehicles.
pic is off the wiki page...
Toyota or LCE needs to get behind your project! This is a huge part of the reason that Toyota trucks are as popular as they are...this IS their history!
A friend of a friend has told me LC Engineering is very interested in jumping on board although i have not talked with them about it.....yet. Since this is a restoration I'm trying to get it as close to original as possible and that would mean getting TRD on board. I have yet to even try and open that door since the truck needs to be a lot farther along then it is now so they (TRD/Toyota) can see some real progress and something that looks a lot more like the 001. If I fall short on the TRD/Toyota route i will see what LC Engineering has to offer. I have had work done by LC Engineering in the past on my 4 seat prerun buggy with a Toyota 3RZ motor and they did an OUTSTANDING job. Not only that my good friends at Fireguys racing (google them) have also been using LC Engineering with great success (motor wise). I'm actually out in the garage today working on the truck (it's only 121 degrees today) and hope to have another update within the next couple days.
Ok, time to get back into the race shop, but first make sure I'm prepared.....
Board shorts- Check
Flip flops- Check
119 degrees- Check
Dip in the pool- Check, check, check, check........
Well, it's no longer a dream, the Ball joints and cups are complete and ready for installation. Bear Race Cars felt so bad about taking so long he built me a spare upper and lower at no charge.......I told you he was a good guy! Here's the ones going on the truck: Lowers are on the left, uppers on the right...
The cups pressed into the arms with no issues but I do have to wait a couple days for the c-clips to arrive to clip in the upper caps. This is the first time I have had the front end this far completed because I had only one set of ball joints for the drivers side and none for the passenger side. It was a nice little victory to actually see some real progress. Drivers side...
Passenger side...
With everything in place I noticed that the front end was binding a little when cycling. This was not unexpected since the rear needed some work I figured the front was going to need some massaging also. From this angle (inside engine compartment looking at the drivers side lower front suspension) you can see the play between one of the bushings. This side is not as bad as the other side as the passenger side seems to be binding the most. Lucky for me I have spare bushings that came with the truck but they will have to be cut down to the exact measurements between the bushing openings...
The upper arms have brass bushings and they will also need to be massaged (Hopefully that's all they will need) and I will most likely put it on a trailer and have Collins Motorsports work their magic once again. With all the custom crap in the front of this truck I feel it is wise to have Billy Goerke figure out what needs to be done. Next on the list was to take the "Guibo joint" apart and have a look. I'm not sure the last time this was taken apart but I'm guessing a long time.....and the "paint over everything" was not helping. With the assistance of Gary Kolar (with a "K"....sorry, inside joke), we were able to get it apart in no time. Gary was also responsible for helping me press the cups into the a-arms since it's a little cumbersome with only one person. The Guibo joint looks to be in pretty good shape but i'll still need to sand blast it and magnaflux it to make sure....
Here it is in pieces...
It's already a hot one this summer but I'm pretty sure this is the start of many days in the shop until i can get this thing rolling. Next up will be putting the steering box together and bolted in, then put the hubs on the truck so it can be an "OFFICIAL" roller. Stay tuned.
I made a very important purchase this past week with former Toyota employee and loyal PPI pit crew member Richard Reed who owns the white Toyota replica prerunner....
As stated earlier in this build, this truck has one of the original front fiberglass clips sitting on the front of this Toyota. Richard bought the truck from another Toyota employee who also pitted for Ivan and PPI back in the day and his vision was to build a replica prerunner complete with original fiberglass and the radiator located behind the cab. One thing led to another and he had to sell it to Richard (10-15 years ago) and Richard was going to finish it. Well, it has been sitting since then and I called Richard asking about the hood.
I was hoping to borrow or "Rent" the hood so I could get a mold made of it but to do that I will have to re-attach it to the 001 truck since all the mounts were cut off the 001 by the former owner. Also, there are some holes that need to be filled and smooth out the edges on the front clip to get it right. Not only that, I was told that it would be much easier to make molds of each fender and the hood separately, and also a lot easier to store.
Richard is a good dude but a little skeptical about loaning out the hood for "a couple months" so we would have time to fit it to the 001 (have to re-mount the front grill, headlights and side markers too) to make sure everything fits correctly before having the mold made....
This picture shows a spare hood sitting on the one piece clip. We think the fiberglass across the front of the clip was added later because they were going to paint in the grill and headlights since the radiator was located behind the cab. This will have to be cut out and massaged before the new mold is made. I could see that Richard was not excited about loaning out the hood but did say he would sell me the entire truck for a good deal. Now, the last thing I want is ANOTHER truck because the 001 is already taking up every penny I'm making. I had to sit on it for a couple weeks and then called Richard and made an offer on the truck.
I figure it would be easier to buy the truck now, take the front clip off, purchase a bumper, grill, headlight and side marker kit, then have it all mounted to the truck. This would all take a little time and now I wouldn't have to rush getting the hood sent out for a mold made. I would much rather spend money on getting the truck close to complete instead of spending a ton of money on a mold for the front clip. A mold will run anywhere from $2k-$4k but since I now have the original I can wait on it. Maybe I can reach out to the Toyota crowds and see if anyone else is interested in glass and make one big order! Wishful thinking but whatever.
Little about the truck, it has Centerline wheels, fuel cell that has never been used, radiator out of Ivans 010 Toyota race truck, scoop for radiator, firewall was cut out and then moved back to accept a bigger motor (currently has a Lexus V8 in it but not coming with the truck), the start of a prerunner type dash/center console, cage started in the rear of the cab and extended to the rear of the truck. This would be a cool project and I'm not really sure if I will keep it or sell it.
I plan on picking it up next month and seeing what I will do next. Like I said, the last thing i wanted was another vehicle but Richard was not going to sell the hood, it was a package deal. Richard is one cool dude, I appreciate him giving me the deal he gave me and I think it was only because he knew what it was being used for. I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run......I hope!
in the long run, this was a better way to go, so you don't have to go through the remolding process. That chassis should pay for itself with a knock off pre runner front end on it!
Thanks Racersk, but I will have to make a mold sometime down the line because fiberglass fenders and desert racing is no bueno. I'll have 2 sets of glass painted, one for display and one for racing.
Little more work out in the garage today, only about 108 degrees so it wasn't that bad. I cleaned up the Guibo joint so it is now ready for magnaflux...
The drive line bearing needs to be replaced so i need to take it down to the auto parts store and figure out what it came out of...
I finally got a chance to put the new races and bearing in the front hubs and mounted them to the spindle, although they will still need to come off later for the new rotors and final clean up. I'm starting to feel like I'm getting somewhere as it is getting closer and closer to being a roller...
The problem with getting a race car in a million pieces is trying to figure out where everything goes. For the past year these two short bars have been bugging the hell out of me because i couldn't figure out where they go.
At first i was thinking motor or trans mounts. That wasn't it....how about some sort of body mount? Nope. I was seriously thinking these must have just got thrown in with the rest of the truck and they weren't even for the 001. I almost scrapped them 6 months ago but then figured that they were painted the same color as the truck so they must go somewhere. Today, while trying to figure out where the front grill and bumper were going to bolt up the the chassis, I started looking at old race photos in my archives and B O O M!
They have been slightly altered to accept, I'm guessing, a quick attached light bar to the front bumper. They fit perfectly, mystery solved...
We'll see what happens tomorrow but I might tackle the rear hubs and get them mounted too.
Hope everyone had a good 4th of July, getting small stuff done on the 001 PPI Toyota. I love it when the UPS guy shows up with brown boxes. July 3rd was no exception with the delivery from www.mastercraftsafety.com. Robbie and Kelli from Master Craft Safety/Impact jumped on board early with the 001 Toyota build and said whenever we were ready to give them a call. I delivered the old seats to them at the MINT 400 tech inspection. They would make the journey back to Indy for the seat restoration. The seats were actually not in too bad of shape but they did smell funny....we will just leave it at that. Here they are once delivered to the shop in Indy...
They were then stripped down to the frame...
New netting installed...
And then the foam...
Now, we had 2 options from here. As far as i know the 001 had 2 different colors choices during its career. The original was and a mixture of red, orange, yellow, black and white....
The 2nd option was all black, like you see in the top picture. We wanted to go with the original colors but trying to find that color combo was not happening and we tried to find something close but there was nothing remotely close or it was the wrong material. Sooooo, we just went with the Black.
With our choice made, the good people at Mastercraft got busy laying out the patterns for the seats and starting cutting them out...
The attention to detail has always impressed me as Mastercraft reworked the old logo and embroidered it onto the back of the seats...
The final product turned out OUTSTANDING and i can't wait to bolt them into the truck. As for now I will keep them wrapped up in plastic and still protected in the box until they are ready to put in the truck.
Mastercraft Safety has been involved with my last 3 restorations and with results like these their is no question why they are the best in the business in my opinion. No matter if it's Challenger IV...
Or the DirTrix racer...
I will always choose my friends over at Mastercraft Safety/Impact. Thanks Robbie and Kelli!
05-04-2017, 11:58 AM
