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So, here is where this project begins. For about the last 3 years of his life my step father was unable to drive due to being in a wheel chair. Despite this he would not part with his favorite vehicle. So it just sat on the side of the house. After his death it still just sat. My mother wanted it gone so she gave it to me. What he had was a 1990 Toyota motor home. Here is a picture that I stole off the interwebs of a similar unit.
My step father's unit was not that nice. He had backed in to a couple of things and messed up the coach a little. Everything else is in real nice shape.
Now the fun begins. The Toyota is in Tucson AZ and I live in North Texas. How to get it there from to here? It would surely need a battery, the tires are mostly likely dry rotted, and I'm sure the fuel tank is full of bad gas. Driving it is out of the question so I broke out the sawzall and big,big hammer, rented a dumpster and went to town. Sorry, no pics of that as I forgot. Here is the finished project up on the trailer for trip back to Texas.
ETA - I can report that with just that load, fuel economy with my 5.4l gas F250 was in the suck zone for the trip home.
The simple thing to do would just fill in the missing sections of the roof and back wall. Where's the fun in that? Besides, once you own an extended cab truck you don't want to go back. So what we need is a new cab or a cab clip. Sort of like this.
Here it is in the back of my trusty F-2 fiddy.
The price was right and the cab is in perfect shape. All the interior is there including the back seat. No damage and no rust. Time to start measuring and cutting so I can do some welding.
Pulled the bumper and grille. I'll do a little clean up and painting in here then fit a better grille and bumper that I have.
That catches up everything up to now. Next weekend I can finish welding the drivers side rocker panel then roll the truck over to my friends body shop and start getting ready for a new coat of paint. Fun.
This is awesome!! I parked next to a motorhome a couple months ago that looked very similar to the first pic you posted. Had no idea Toyota pickups served those kinda roles! Though I did catch that one custom '81 model for sale not too long ago.
No pictures to update with this week. I spent today finishing up the rear cab mounts and doing the last of the welding. Didn't quite finish because I ran out of gas for the welder. It turned out that the back-up bottle was also empty. Next week I'll get the truck over to the paint shop for sure.
All the welding is complete now. I spent most of the day grinding the welds smooth. As it turns out there is a fair amount of rust under the battery. Because of that I'm going to change the wheel house and the radiator core support. There was a small crack in the frame behind the left rear leaf spring. Fixed that and cut the excess frame off of the back that I don't need. My original plan was to build a flatbed but I might have a line on a 7 foot box to put out back.
Been away from from the Toyota for a little bit due to various life things but stuff is moving forward this week. As I posted last, there was some rust on the right wheel house and the core support so they needed to go.
Core support
Wheel house
New parts welded in.
Back at it tomorrow. Should be able to get it over to the paint shop by the end of the day
Started getting things put back together on the core support today. Also pulled the airbox, coil, and cruise control so I could paint that inner fender and parts of the firewall.
Back on the truck after the holiday. I drove it out of the work shop and down to the paint shop. I got the major body work done and a coat of primer on.
Without a bed on the back it does nice brake stands.
UPDATE! It's been awhile but I'm still working on the pickup. I've only been getting a day or two per month so progress has been slow. Here is where I stand right now.
The paint is done. Doors, fenders, and hood are back on. Once I wet sand and buff the clear coat the door handles, mirrors, and bumper can go on.
You have some fab skills and really like seeing what all you have gotten done. Great to see you are keeping the truck in the family. Great job on what you have gotten accomplished.
Glad you like it. I kinda thought it was a dumb project but sometimes dumb projects can be fun. I'm trying to keep it low stress and not get in a hurry. My first thought was to just make it a simple flatbed work truck. Then it became "Once you go extended cab you never go back". Now I want to put an actual pickup bed on it. The tuff part is finding a 7 foot bed within driving distance. When I'm done I hope to have a neat little run around town vehicle so my F250 can sit for awhile. That thing drinks gas like it's still a dollar a gallon.
With your demonstrated body work skills, find two 89-95.5 beds and make your own 7' bed
The thought crossed my mind. Finding two pickup beds is doubly difficult though. Around here Toyota pickups are parted out faster than you can say "Where's the ATM machine".
May 11, 2016 | 06:12 PM
