1977 Toyota Chinook Camper
 

I've always wanted a Chinook, but everything I've seen was either too expensive, or too far gone for what I wanted to tackle. When I picked this up I wasn't actively looking for one, or wanted to take on yet another project, but I couldn't pass it up.

Here she is when I brought her home.

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The top works great, and doesn't appear to have any leaks that I can see.

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New ties, and hubcaps.

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Overall she is pretty clean on the outside. The previous owner has painted over the cab to match the camper. It's a poor paint job, but I won't bother with it until I've got everything sorted out.

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Knowing that the camper had been in the PNW most of it's life, and spent some time in Alaska, I knew there would be some rust I may need to deal with.

I started by removing one of the fenders to get a better look at the overall condition of the cab. Initally all I found were a few managable areas of surface rust. I plan to sand these areas down and apply POR15 for better protection.

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After hitting it with a wire brush, I did find some areas that needed to be repaired.

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Nice! I'm sure you'll be posting photos of the interior...

Yours has less rust than mine. Mine is bad in a couple places, but overall very good.

After cleaning the area the best I could with a wire brush, I then cut out the rusted areas and prepped it for repair.

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I've never repaired rust, or worked on a vehicle of this age, so this will be a learning experience for me.

A few hours later I had cut out the worst areas, and patched them with new metal. There was still a little more to go when I took this photo, but it all worked out. I wonder what else I will find that needs to be repaired. :shocked:

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I'm debating on applying POR15 on the entire wheel well area. Anyone have any idea how well POR15 will holdup to the constant abuse in this area?

I've definitely found more rust than I had anticipated. I don't believe it's anything that cannot be fixed, but it's more than I wanted to repair. At least when it's all cut out and cleaned, I will not have to worry about it in the future.

I plan to keep this camper for a long time and take it on long road trips, so anything that is repaired or replaced will be done with reliability it mind.

I did find some rust in the rain tray area. I'm not sure how I will tackle this yet, but it will get some of the carpeting wet near the passenger area in a heavy rain. I believe I may need to remove the dash and repair it from below? Maybe delete the rain tray altogether? Did you find rust there?

The engine starts and runs great but I was concerned that it might be running a little hot. The engine temp gauge didn't work, so I started looking around to see what I could find. First up was to check the thermostat. In the process I ended up snapping one of the bolts.


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The thermostat was missing, and I snapped a bolt trying to get the housing off. I've tried vice grips, heat, PB Blaster. The more I tried, the last material I had to work with.

Unfortunately, at this point I stopped working on this project for over two years. Thankfully with the top down she fits perfectly in the garage. We moved to a new house, and had a larger garage built. I recently moved her from the back of the garage to an area where I can continue working again.

Finally back to working on her again!!

So this past weekend I tired to get that broken bolt out. A few of you recommended I try using as easy-out. I drilled down, and tried to extract it, but it wouldn't budge. Using a more powerful drill didn't seem to help at all.

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At this point I'm thinking about removing the intake manifold and trying to remove it while it's off the engine. Otherwise I may need to find a replacement in a junkyard or something.

Dang that thing looks clean, very cool can't wait to see more:) bummer on the housing I think it can be had for pretty cheap or just go to the wanted section, there has to be many members with these lying around. Good luck man subscribed for more!!:)

I'll check out the rusty area you're talking about. Mine has the most rust around the edges of the hood, for whatever reason. The cab floor is very rust-free, so that's good.

I do wish I had found one of these in Montana, even though it was fun to go out to Seattle to buy it, then drive it home. But there's a lot more rust on it than there would have been if I'd have found one more locally.

Good luck! That does look really clean. I'm all for getting rust off of stuff, especially when you plan to keep it for a long time. But with mine...especially since I'm in such a dry area, I'm letting most of my rust go for now...

I hate body work anyway.

The plan is to remove the intake manifold and try a few things. If I'm unable to fix it I will start looking for a replacement. Wish me luck!

Hopefully more Chinook owners will chime in. I'd love to see more of these on this forum.

The rust isn't terrible, but I'm going to eliminate it whenever I find it. There are a few more areas I plan to repair before I start using it, but it will be a long term project to eliminate everything including surface rust.

There was a time a few months back when suddenly there were a few brand new Chinook owners, but I haven't heard anything from them since.

There's a Yahoo Chinook group, and there's toyotamotorhomes.com.

But you don't hear much about them around here, unless there's a 4x4 conversion involved. :)

Yeah, looking at mine...I think I'll ride it out as long as possible, and only attack superficial surface rust where it looks really bad. The NW moisture has got certain places rotting more than I'm willing to work on...mostly on cab areas and not body panels. I think, if I'm still as into this thing in 5 or so years as I am now, I'll start considering a truck swap. I'd like to keep it pre-79, just because I like the old look, but I guess I'd go newer if it made sense.

Yeah, good luck. A new intake manifold might take a little time to track down (depending on where you're located...or it might be pretty easy), but one would turn up eventually, and probably for pretty cheap.

I've spoken to a few of them, but they haven't done much to their projects.

I'm also part of the Yahoo group, and the motorhome board but I find myself reading more on this forum.


I would love to eventually throw this camper on a 4x4 body. But first I need to get it running, and working as a camper for a few years before I invest that kind of time and money.

I have a really nice 2wd 94 that I use as a daily. I've always wondered how difficult it would be to swap bodies. Hmmm....

With any luck when I remove it I will be able to get that broken bolt out and reuse the manifold.

I decided to just remove the intake manifold. This way I'm able to clean up a few things, and remove anything that isn't necessary.

Carb off:
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...and she's off. it will definitely be easier to work with now that it is off the engine. I'll also clean it up. Looks like the engine could use a little cleaning as well.

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When I bought this the A/C didn't work. Might just need a recharge, but I doubt I will ever use it. I'd rather have the extra space, and a few extra HP, so I've started removing it. What is the best way to cap the lines that run into the firewall? Or should they be removed entirely?

As you can see I've done my best in labeling everything to make it easier to reinstall. Eventually I'd like to remove as much of the emission system as I can. I may even go as far as desmogging the engine. This guide seems very similar to the 20r: De-Smogging an early 22R

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When do we see the inside??

:camp2:

Chinooks are awesome, hopefully one day ill have one until then reading your build project is the closest i will get :P

The interior is also in good condition. Once I get it out of the garage I'll get some photos and post them.

They really are. If you find one in good condition snatch it up!

The best part for me is my garage doors are the standard height. I have no issues bringing it into the garage, so it can be stored indoors during the winter months.

So I've been busy the last few months and haven't had the chance to work on this project. We've recently decided we'll be taking the Chinook on a roadtrip next spring/summer, so the goal now is to make it as reliable as possible on top of taking care of a few things I had already planned. This will be a 2 week+ trip and probably cover 5,000+ miles.

I'd rather not swap out the 20r, so I'm hoping to free up some horsepower as well as clean up the engine bay.

This is what I've decided on in regards to the engine:


-Weber 32/36 Carb (seems to be the best option for more power/mpg)
-Remove as much of the emissions/desmog system as possible (no testing in my area)
-Aftermarket Header
-Larger diameter exhaust (current one needs replacing anyways). Unsure on size... 2.25in?
-Eliminate the A/C System completely (saving weight, freeing up room and one less belt on the engine to deal with)
-New ignition coil (accel super coil or an msd blaster 2)
-New plugs/wires

I may or may not swap in a 5 speed transmission depending on the results I get from these upgrades. It would be nice considering all of the hwy miles I'll be racking up on this trip.

Now that it's starting to warm up I've been working on the Chinook a little more. I had decided that before I spend anymore money on the engine I need to determine how bad the condition of the cab really is. I can tell there will be rust issues but I needed to strip the interior to really see what I'm up against.

To my surprised I started the day making over $10 in spare change that the previous owner had left behind.

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