Steve's 81 Toyota "angelo" build

[Panos]

sweet man!
dont drop the hanger at all, just use it as it is intended.your pinion angle will get all screwed up.And your pitman arm will be fine.
the tacoma hybrid leafs will be fine for now i think.

the tunnle was super easy to make actually, and the carpet can be found as homedepot, it was really cheap as well! the carpet was the hardest part of the whole thing actually, getting it to lay just right and fit tight was hard. I didnt use any glue at was all cut and screwed down with big washers. i know its just a buggy but the carpet is nice i guess.

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[sixstringsteve]

i would definitely want carpet in a buggy. It just feels a lot more comfortable that way. Do you have a build thread panos?

 

[Panos]

no build thread, although i have a million pics i should probably do something with them

 

[sixstringsteve]

A little progress:

My buddy York. Couldn't have done it without him.

Bolted to the tranny. I need to cut that tunnel.

This is how it sits before the tunnel. It looks like I don't have to cut too much, but looks can be decieving.

 

[sixstringsteve]

As I gutted the seats and carpet I noticed some rust holes in the floor. It wouldn't be a 1st gen without the rust holes. I'm not worried about plating it up, but I am worried that the metal has become so weak that the body mounts don't hold up the body. I'll take some pictures then get your advice.

 

[sixstringsteve]

all that grey stuff is the matting under the carpet. Looks to be really clean with no rust.

This is the back of my cab. It looks like it went through WWII, I have no clue how that happened.

As I started to remove the matting, the horror of the situation started to set in.

Take a look at that body mount barely holding on for dear life.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I decided most of the floor was going to need to be replaced, so it didn't make me nervous in the slightest to start cutting the tranny tunnel.

 

[sixstringsteve]

At this point I was beginning to hit the front of the tranny before it would go up any higher into the floor. I only have about 3/4" clearance between the black heater and the stock tranny tunnel. I'm looking for suggestions...

Not a whole lot of clearance. THis is looking from the tranny towards the front of the truck, right under the heater.

This shows the contact it makes when the t-case is all the way up for the flat belly.

 

[sixstringsteve]

rather than remove the front section of the stock tunnel and try to fab up my own, I figured I"d just bend the stock tunnel up until it didn't rub. The notches in the sheet metal are to allow it to flex and bend up a bit.

It'll get flat, but the tranny is still rubbing that same spot. I need about 1/2" of clearance.

What can I do to gain an inch? I wonder if I could trim the bottom of my heater.

 

[Tacoma]

You could replace the entire heater with a Mojave or similar. Money, but that thing is pretty huge.

 

[sixstringsteve]

That's a great idea. Those mojaves aren't as expensive as I thought they were. I think I'll hack up my existing heater to see if I can make it work well enough, then if it doesn't, I'll get a mojave. It's worth the price of the mojave to have a flat belly.

 

[Panos]

very nice! when i did mine i just kept raising and cutting, and raising and cutting semed like it would never get flat on the bottom

 

[ricsrx]

X2 on trimming the heater, I dont think there are any moving parts or core that low.

 

[sixstringsteve]

I'm having a hard time getting the heater out. I think I have to remove the entire dash, does that sound right to anyone else? I've got those 3 bolts off that hold it on. I think the tubes going to the core are still holding it in.

Panos, did you keep your heater? The 2nd gens must have a smaller core. Did you shorten your tranny shifter? Does it seem weird having the tcase levers stick up so high? I'm wondering if I should shorten those as well. I guess I can worry about that later.

 

[sixstringsteve]

X2 on trimming the heater, I dont think there are any moving parts or core that low.

I think there's one little vent flap that opens and closes, I'll have to take a closer look at it.

 

[Chevycrew]

Sounds like some 1" aluminum pucks on the body mounts would help a ton with the flat belly.

 

[Panos]

No, I kept my heater. It didn't seem to be a problem when doing my flat belly, but the shifters are a little high. I don't mind it at all, actually I kind of like it, they are nice and close to me , easy to grab .

 

[sixstringsteve]

Sounds like some 1" aluminum pucks on the body mounts would help a ton with the flat belly.

They definitely would. For some reason I'm very against body lifts. My last 4runner had a 2", and it was great, but I try not to do them at all on my builds now. But great suggestion.

Panos, what year is your runner? I wonder if I can swap out the heater from a 2nd gen.

 

[sixstringsteve]

Hey rick,

was your '84 heater core much different than the 82? Is it worth me trying to find an 84, or should I just hack mine up?

 

[ricsrx]

the cables operate in the revers direction on the 2nd gen, you need to pull the heater hoses to remove the heater assembly. be carfull the copper pipes crush easily.