So this is my third first gen. the first was a rust bucket woods toy...... (my avatar pic), the second was a 2wd.....and now I have this 1983 dlx. I bought it from a friend and his father who had it shipped here to Alabama from the west coast. they bought it not running with a stuck #3 cylinder last year. since then it has had the engine (22r 100,000 miles) rebuilt and bored, front axle and hubs rebuilt, 5 speed tranny redone, exhaust, and most all of the other mechanicals gone through! I bought it a couple of weeks ago to replace my 2002 tundra daily driver that was totaled by a ford driver in a snow storm. the rumor is that the truck has never been off road...which is believable when you look at the undercarriage (ill have pics of that asap). any advice, suggestion, opinions are welcome!!!!ENJOY



screenshots of the truck from the previous owners fb page



with a broken femur from a sxs accident, I have only been able to do some minor work in preparation for paint....going downstairs is a bi***!


welding up holes from old anchor points on my bedrail
after paint, it will be sprayed with linex

I think I counted a total of 14 screw holes in the tailgate...all gone now!

everything is still bone stock under here...minus the cylinder bore!

the dash before I trimmed the high spots from cracks. prep for my new dash cap from jcw


after trimming. the cap should be dry tomorrow. I should have more pics coming then.

 

Man, sweet looking truck, that thing is clean! So what's your plans for it?

 

thanks man. I am in the process of finishing up the restoration to bring it back to dd condition. ive always thought it would be fun to have one for a daily and when my tundra got totaled, it seemed like the perfect time. being that my femur is all busted, Im out of work temporarily which translates into plenty of web time to order parts lol. it should look close to a showroom sr5 in the next couple of months. it will be repainted a charcoal factory color with the silver stripe kit and tailgate decals. I have a set of the old aluminum enkeis to run on it with some 31's...prob km2's, and im going to add the chrome package to it. just having trouble finding the grille in stock anywhere. other than those changes, it will roll down the road everyday in stock form getting me from a to b!

 

Wow very nice, you are lucky to have such a clean unmolested 1st gen, and I'm glad you'll keep it that way!

 

Very nice truck! Are those seat covers? If they are, what brand are they? They look pretty tight on those seats.

My truck was originally white, but I've been thinking about going Charcoal grey too. What paint are you thinking about going with?

And here's your chrome grille (if you don't mind a non-original replacement):

http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/more...075&cc=1277197

 

thanks for the kind words, fellas. I was surprised to find one in this shape.
they are not seat covers, the seat has been re-upholstered. as far as paint, im going to use DuPont base and DuPont clear. two coats of each, If I remember right from what my painter said. it will be baked, then allowed to cure for two weeks before the stripes go on.

 

I really like the grey color.. Always been a fan of that. You're a lucky guy to find such a clean truck! Good luck with the build.

 

here are a couple of pictures now that the dash cap is dry...not bad for $80!

 

thanks ROARK. the truck was repainted in cali and is a bit faded now so the new paint will be a bit darker, and with metallic

 

I took some more pics today of the under carriage as best I could with this bum leg...and a couple more pics of the exterior as well

rust free!!!! wooooop



here is the undercarriage

 

Dash cap turned out great! I've always wondered how good those reproduction caps are. Fortunately for me, I have a crack free dash. As far as paint, I was looking at a single stage grey. Clear is great but not necessary if you aren't doing metallic base coats. I want to do several wet coats of single stage that way I can easily sand and buff out any scratches I may get or worst case scenario shoot the damaged area again if it is bad enough without worrying about feathering out the clear coat.

 

Very nice looking truck Matt. Was it originally an SR5? It's a little hard to tell but I don't see a tach. Or the gauges below the center vents. It's good to see another resurrected first gen.

 

Sorry if I missed it, but who did you get the dash cap through? It turned out really good! Man I like the look of the factory rims, wish I had a set!