Hello all! My name is Giovanni and i live in Costa Rica. I have been following the site for quite a wile and finally got the guts to sign up and post a buid thread. I own a 1988 4x4 Toyota Hilux DLX X-tra Cab 2.4D which I bought from my uncle that was the original owner of the truck (literally straight from the dealership back in 1988). Before anything this is DEFINITELY and 88 with a stock front solid axle. Anyways im going to go straight into the pics since I know that is what everyone wants to see, if you have any questions regarding the truck ill be more than glad to answer them for you.

This is the day i bought the truck. Took it to my dads saw mill since it has a muddy yard and i wanted to play around with it.




Yes that is me in the picture . When i was playing around in the mudd i found out that the front wheels were not engaging and quickly came up with a short list of things i wanted for the truck.

 

So turned out that some idiot mechanic replaced the locking hubs but put the right one on the left and the left on the right. So of course he forced them in and broke them. I quickly replaced them with originals with a new front wheel bearing kit.

Afterwards i was not very happy with the newer bed that was on this truck so i leterally went THROUGH HELL AND BACK in order to find the original bed for this truck. So after a month and some more miles added to the truck I FOUND IT...




That is my dad putting in the plate, and next to him the guy who had the bed laying around...

RIP the old bed, as you can see it was hella beat up inside!

 

cant wait to see where you take this thing!

 

Now that i was very happy with the way it looked i wanted to tackle the engine. It is a 2L diesel that i had no clue in which state it was, so before I got any surprices i replaced the timing belt, water pump, idler and tensioner pulley.









After assembly, i took the truck to a lab so that they can work on the diesel injection. Injectors were changed, pump calibrated and tank and diesel lines cleaned out. After all this work engine sounded and worked much much better.

 

Welcome to YT, Good call on the switching the beds, smooth style bed nicer looking than the external lipped and hook beds. Look forward to more :}

 

so after all that work ane day I am headed to work and BOOM! . the driveshaft started going crazzy... took a look and found this...



So i put it in 4L and drove it home in first gear.




Bought a new one and placed it in...

 

going up a hill one day the transmission started knocking which worried me a lil bit and it turned out that there was very little oil in it. So istead of just putting more oil in it we took it down and check it out before anything...






It was in really good shape . since the transmission was already down i went ahead and worked on the clutch and replaced a seal that was leaking oil from the engine.







Also took the time and got the ratiator cleaner out and painted.

 

So at this point although the 2L is pretty slow i am very happry with its reliable performance so i took it to have some FUN!!!

My friends steering bar disconnected from his output shaft and ended up on the side of the road. Nothing like a YOTA to help a jeep






This hill, although it doesnt look like it, was tough speacilly with only A/Ts







Now for some real mudd...




I needed some weight for more traction in the rear tires...





and of coarse always ready for a nice trip...



Cant forget your grill

 

I gave the front of the car a LIFT UP as well as added an ARB Safari Snorkel which did give the slow 2L a jump in performance... huh who would have tought...

 

now all the car needed was a nice paint job, so here are the different stages it went through...

 

Took of the plastic and filled in the holes, never really like it.

 

floor was in really bad shape and had some holes due to rust...




and this is how it turned out afterwards. We used a rhino lining type paint that is used for chassis. We used it as well on the bed which is later down...

 

The Chassis was next...





and now the truck is starting to finish up...

 

now back to the bed. the side panels were taken of so that work can be done from the inside out you can also see the rust this thing had...








and this is how it looks now...



also worked on the inside a little bit more



now the truck was starting to get built up again...

 

so this is how the truck is standing right now, i am still giving it some more time before i buff and polish it. By the way the paint used on this truck was Chrome Silver from a Nissan Z












Pround To Show This Badge!

 

so that is all for now but so far from over. i am really looking at buying it a 3 inch lift from skyjacker with nitro shocks, some 33 KM2s and rims, and also some gears just in case if the little old 2L cant take the 33s . I would really like to hear from all of you. Feedback, thoughts and opinion are highly apreciated! thank you for taking your time to check my thread and i will definitely keep you guys posted if there are any chages.

 

Do you have extended diff/axle breathers? I couldn't see if you did or not in the pics you posted, I hope so if your going to go through deep soupy mud like you did, It looks great, awesome job on the body work & nice color you picked!!!! Looking forward to more!!!!

 

X2 on extended breathers...

nice job on the truck...

 

Looks good. I think it is really funny that down there those floor boards are in "bad shape". I am really happy to only have had to about 2 square feet of floor board patches and only an inch on each corner of the windshield frame.

I am always jealous of the good condition trucks in central america. I have never been to Costa Rica, but when I was in Nicaragua las winter, there are diesel toyotas everywhere and tons of Land Cruiser pickups.

Keep up the good work.

 

after that soupy mud i took it straight to the shop and had just about every fluid of the car flushed and changed. Diffs, Transfer, Transmission, Engine, and even coolant, thing is like i said i didnt know how the truck was maintained before i got it and after going thru that mud i was pretty worried myself. But if you can tell me some more about the breathers ill be more than happy since i am completly unaware bout that (sorry for being a noob jaja)