Wednesday Work (Vlog)

Here is a video I took while working on my truck yesterday. It highlights what I got done yesterday and the current shape of the project. I’m hoping to be able to work on it twice a week or so from now on.

Weekend Bargain

For the past month or so I've been trying to buy a set of tires for my truck from a friend of a friend; This weekend I was finally able to see them in person and purchase them.

They looked WAY better in person than they did in the photos, the guy had bought them for his pickup a few years back then when he sold it he kept the wheels and they've been sitting in the basement since. I was lucky enough to get all four of the rims and tires for $150, nearly a third of what they're worth. They are pretty large tires, but they aren't too big. I don't want to lift my truck, and the biggest tires that it can fit on its stock suspension are 31/10/50r, That's exactly what these new ones are, so I shouldn't have any issues with them fitting. They're definitely a lot better than my current dry rotted tires that lose air every two weeks, plus they'll give the truck two more inches of ground clearance and a bad ass look.

How Should the Bed Look?

Since I haven't been able to physically go work on the Pickup recently I've done some research on what would go into building a bed since the current one isn't the most stable. The main thing I need for a bed is it to have more structural integrity than wood. Steel is what I plan on using for the framing because its both super strong and cheap. I priced out the steel and for a 5 1/2 foot bed should be around $150 more or less, wayyyy more affordable than buying an original bed.

I've been searching on Google Images and forums to find ideas for how other people have designed theirs. I found a lot of helpful pictures, some of the truck even look exactly like mine.

 These four pictures are my biggest references and luckily the last one is one of my friends, and that means I can go look at it anytime and take measurements to help me out. I plan on doing a mix between his bed with the square steel framing and wooden planks on the floor then adding one of the back racks from the second or first photos.
The hardest part of creating this new bed should be the welding and measurements, but I have a few friends who like to keep busy and will gladly help me out. I plan on taking the bed off in the spring when I do some rust repair on the actual cab of the truck. I figure while I have it off, it'll be a perfect time to refurbish a new one.

Behind Schedule, but Excited to Bounce Back

December was an extremely busy month for me between a new job at Burdicks Chocolate taking up my after school life and homework taking up the rest of my time. That means that the trucks been put aside until mid January when I complete my College Applications. Luckily with the new year comes more school time to work on senior projects so every Wednesday I'll be working on the truck in the afternoons. I've got a plan for all the things I want to complete next, I'll keep posting updates on any progress I make!

The Engine is IN

On December 13th, a few days before I got my manual in the mail my Dad and I went up to my Uncle's garage and we all finally got to work on installing the engine.
The first thing we did was blow up the trucks tires since they're junk and seem to lose air in two weeks or so (no big deal though, I plan on buying newer ones in the spring.) then we pushed it into the heated garage with a tractor and got right to work. Before even touching the engine we had to prepare the transmission with a new release bearing. The old one didn't look that warn but its just one of the things where its such a cheap part, might as well replace it while you have it apart.

After that we hooked the engine up to a pulley and slowly slid it into the engine bay of the truck, it went in a whole lot easier than our previous attempt which was a release. it took a few minutes to align everything up how it was supposed to but once we did the Toyota went up on the lift and we quickly screwed in all the bell housing bolts which attach the transmission to the engine. After that we were kind of tired but we wanted to finish the motor mounts before we left. It took another half an hour or so to line those two up correctly but we eventually did it, the motor was installed in its new home.

Now all we have to do is hook all the cables, hoses, and sensors up... luckily that job isn't the most challenging and I can do most of it by myself!

Another Delivery!

On Giving Day, the day before break, my second book finally arrived! So far I haven't had to use it yet but I skimmed through all the chapters and WOW it has useful information. Step by step procedures on how to do nearly everything on the pickup. This will definitely be one of my most used resources throughout the project right alongside Google.