Hello, I am new to the forum. I am in the process of building my 1980 pickup into a sorta mud/woods truck type thing, but still street legal. I know some Toyota purists might not approve of it...

I bought this pickup about a year and a half ago. I drove it around for a bit with the stock 20r and 4sp, but then I decided I wanted to build something special out of it. So I took the body off the frame, kept it, and sold the complete running gear. I got the running gear and frame (minus engine) of a 1978 Chevy long bed with an SM465 and 1/2 ton axles with a 4 inch lift. Then, I went and bought a 1985 Mercedes 300D, ripped the OM617 diesel out of it, and sold the rest of the car.

So, as you can see, I have a Toyota that has exactly zero Toyota mechanical parts on it. Chevy running gear and frame, Mercedes engine, homemade flatbed, Toyota body. I shortened the frame 20 inches, made motor mounts, bought an adapter kit for the engine to bellhousing, made cab mounts, cut a bunch of the firewall out, built a flatbed, and obviously did many small things along the way so far. I also learned how horrible working on Mercedes engines is when I had to partially pull the crank to replace the rear main seal (main bearings looked great at 235k miles though!). As it currently sits, I am making a patch for the firewall and the rusted out floors. I just figured I would share what I have going on and will update this thread as I work on it. I plan on doing a decent paint job, all LED lights, and a fairly nice interior.

First pic is what she looked like when I bought it.

 

Oh man, what a monster. Awesome work. Awesome shop too.

 

I figured i'd put a couple more pics up, just to show a few more things i've done along the way or am working on. Just to be clear, none of this is really chronologically in order, sorry about that.

This is what the front end looks like. I put the cab on the frame as low as I possibly could, but it is still quite a ways above the frame. I will have to get creative with the front bumper to cover up the frame and still make it look good (and have a winch of course).




I had to cut quite a bit out of the firewall to fit the engine. I didn't really want to move the transmission to accommodate the engine. The bad news is obviously I have to make a big patch panel and also I might not be able to pull the motor without pulling the cab. The good news is, I have tons of room up front for radiator/fan. Also, the floors are completely rusted out around the old mounts. I am in the process of making patch panels for those too, which I will rivet on. I plan to bedline the floor and its not going to be a show truck so I think some homemade patchwork will be fine. The shifter and t-case shifter actually ended up almost perfect. I just had to do a tiny bit of cutting and will have to bend the shifter.



The fenders were rusted out and had about 15 lbs of bondo globbed around in them. So I bought new ones, I'll cut the front bottoms off of them level with the grill/headlights. I am also thinking of buying new doors and a hood, because the doors are pretty rusted too.



I have also been working on getting the engine ready to run. I will run a remote oil filter on the oil cooler circuit, so I have all that mostly set up. Just have to get some lines made with AN fittings. I still have to get the radiator set up, electric fans, power steering, fuel tank. So still a lot left to do.




This is what the rear bumper will look like. Clear lens round LED taillights, LED pods for backup lights, plate in the middle.



Made a little sleeve to attach the column to the Chevy steering box. I'm not sure if the square shaft size is universal, but the chevy and toyota shafts were identical. Obviously the bolt just holds it from sliding, it doesn't take any of the twisting force.

 

The new official truck of the United Nations!

Looks good

 

Little update on the project. No school so I’ve had a lot of shop time recently... I did some work on the brand new fenders I bought. I am going to delete the side marker light and also the toyota badges, so I welded up all of the holes. They came out pretty good. With a little body work and filler they will turn out great I think.




started working on my exhaust. The stock down pipe extended straight back off the turbo too far, it would have hit my firewall. So I made a little flange piece on each side of the exhaust so I can bolt it together and delete the intermediate piece. I have about an inch now between downpipe and firewall.



Formed some floor patches out of sheet metal. They came out pretty good. I riveted them into the floor. They are thicker metal, 14 or 16 gauge i think so I’m not worried about strength. I’m going to bedline the floor.



this is the plan for the exhaust. Picked up a 5” straight miter cut stack, I’ll paint it black. It’s a diesel, so I have to have a stack right!

 

I got an 18" glasspack for the exhaust, I am hoping to cut down on drone a little bit considering I'll have the stack right behind the cab. I also made the first main firewall patch. I will be very happy when I am done doing patches, not my forte.

So, moving forward, I'd like to get the drivetrain together. I need a rear driveshaft since I shortened the frame so much. I have an np205 transfer case, so its fixed yoke so I need a slip shaft. I need a custom length slip driveshaft for an np205 and a 12 bolt GM rear. Does anybody have any recommendations for a good place to have one made? The suspension only has a 4" lift so the angles aren't anything crazy. The distance yoke to yoke is a hair under 48".

 

Are those the fenders on rockauto?

Do they seem well made?

 

Theres another guy doing chevy axles on his build in the SAS build forum on here. Hes got a different drivetrain but might know abt driveline stuff.

 

I purchased both of them for 150 bucks total with free shipping from Ebay. I'm not sure who manufactures them, they are some off brand. I just went and looked at my purchase history and the seller I used no longer offers them. They seem decent, I haven't fully bolted them up yet so I won't know for sure until then. They definitely don't fit perfect! I think I will have to tweak them a bit. However, who knows how much of that can be attributed to the trueness of my front end and inner fenders. I would say the steel thickness is similar to the OEM fenders. Overall i'm happy with them for 75 bucks apiece shipped to my door.

 

Cool. Let me know what you think once theyre installed. Ive had my eye on a set for a while.

Mine are shredded.

Also check out toyotafiberglass for their fender flares. Cheaper than bushwhackers i think. Im not affiliated with them or anything but theyd look good with your wider axles

 

Well I obviously took a bit of a break from my toyota. A couple antique tractors and such stole my attention for a while, but I’m back now.

i finished up all of the floor and firewall patches, i am pretty happy with them overall, they took a ton of time for me to do. Then, I welded up the exhaust down pipe, mounted the stack, and some other little things.

last week I pulled the cab and engine, hopefully one last time. While everything is apart, I have a ton of stuff to do. POR-15 the frame, ALDA delete on the injector pump, remote oil filter setup, bedline the flatbed frame, and put the clutch and flywheel in.

I am going to use doomsday diesel’s oil filter adapter plate since the stock one won’t fit.

hopefully I’ll have more progress soon!



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The trucks looking good!

You gotta post the old school tractor pics so we can excuse your absence

 

if you insist! I did a ton of work to a 1950 Massey Harris 44, bought it non running, did 12v conversion, carb rebuild, fixed leaks, brakes, etc.

then I got my family’s ‘39 JD H running, my great great grandpa bought it way back in the day. It hadn’t ran in 15 years but she purrs now. I love those 2 cylinder Deere’s.

 

Very nice work. Love the classic feel of them both.

Ok welcome back now!

 

Great patina on those tractors!

 

i apologize for being so bad about updating my thread! I’ve been busy after I started college last fall, I haven’t had a ton of time to work on it. But I’ve still gotten quite a bit done. Pictures are in no particular order.

i got the clutch and flywheel in a while ago, got the motor back in for hopefully the final time. Then I put POR-15 on the underside of the cab and the frame. Got brand new doors and hood, cut the fenders flush on the front end.

ive been getting the engine pretty close to running. Installed the starter (chevy starter), made a bracket for clutch slave cylinder, made a fully adjustable bracket to mount chevy PS pump on the om617. I also have the lower radiator mounts done. Diesel tank is also installed. I can upload more pics later.

anyway, hopefully more should be coming soon! Hoping to have it running here in a month or two.

 

Been getting a fair amount done lately. Started her up for the first time about a month ago, the om617 ran great after sitting for a couple years. Among many other things, I raptorlined the bed, got the lights in, and have been making custom aluminum dash/gauge panel pieces. I really am excited about how it is starting to come together.

 

Very nice! I like that dash

 

Yeah very bad ass truck. I wish I had a shop like that to work in!

 

Finished up the left side aluminum panel. My plan is to put a tweeter in it and a couple of switches.

I am getting rid of the front heater vents that would go there. ​​​​​​​Since I am using an aftermarket heater (stock stuff won’t fit because of firewall hump for engine) I will just run heater vents to the floor and defrost.