Toyota Hilux MK5 Restoration And UZ Swap.

[Siena]

I know it's not a surf but I'm really enjoying this.

Great job so far.

Thanks bro.

[Siena]

[Siena]

I decided to use my insurance windscreen cover, the earliest it can be fitted at my home is Tuesday the 14th. Grrr.

I brought my truck home today, after close to 7 months absence. I want to carry out the refit at my own pace, and not be bothered about using someone else's tools, so I had her recovered home on a breakdown truck.

Despite it being dark when I arrived home, she looked pretty good sitting on my driveway.

[Siena]

There was a delay, as I realised the shop had refitted the bed, but forgot to clip in the rectangular cabin vents on either side of the cabin. Which meant the bed had to come off - again! I've become a veteran though, so all I did was undo the bolts, then pull the bed back just enough to clip in the plastic vents.

The bed lid was then fitted. It took 4 of us to install it, with one of us (me) bolting the lid to the hinges. This was the most intense part of the refit, with all that fresh apple candy paint around...

[Siena]

Some pictures. Truck without the lid, with the lid, and being lashed down on the back of the recovery truck, homeward bound:

[Siena]

G'day ladies and gents!

It's been a fairly busy day. I began the rebuild of my truck. I fitted the rear screen, both door glass, glass guides and rubbers, as well as both latches and handles.

Both headlamps, combined side lamps / indicators, repeaters and grilled have been fitted too. Tomorrow I'll fit the fender flares, and make a start on some steel plates to raise the front bumper brackets from their lower fitting points on the chassis. Once this is done, I can fit the valence, then the front is done.

I am missing the 2 rubber bungs that the hood rests on, that are screwed into the slam panel. Can anyone help me with a pair?

Hopefully I can get the rear lamps fitted tomorrow as well. The rear bumper will be tricky, but no big deal. I need to extend the licence plate lamp connectors to their new location in the bumper. The redundant original rear Foglamp also means the wiring needs to be modified to power the new foglamp in the offside rear cluster.

It's all going great.

[Siena]

I didn't take much pictures, only remembering to do so when it was dark, doh!

I tried both the OEM grille with the colour coding, then the Hilux Sport Rider one. Not to everyone's taste, but that is what I've decided to go with.

Some pictures:

[Siena]

I didn't get much done today, as my wife had to go out, meaning I had to keep an eye on my kids. Between babysitting duties, I did manage to get the nearside front and rear fender flares fitted.

I think they look pretty good. Fitting was cake - as they should be, they ARE genuine Toyota items. I think back on the fibre glass flares I bought off eBay, from a seller in Cyprus, and how much work would be required to get the rears to fit. *grimaces*

Some pictures showing the nearside:

[Siena]

I got a bit more done today.

I have fitted the fender flares on the offside, and the funnel for the fuel filler neck. The funnel needed a bit of trimming to clear the aperture, which was modified along with the fuel flap to clear the fender flare. I didn't want to cut the plastic flare.

I need to extend the filler tube hoses, due to the 2" body lift. Easy to do.

I temporarily fitted the hydraulic rams to the bed lid, and connected the pump. All parts were removed from a 2008 Saab 93 Convertible.

The result? Nowhere near enough capacity to lift the bed lid more than approximately 6". The Rams are definitely not up to the task, the lifting angle, combined with the weight are beyond what the pump and Rams can cope with.

I have looked around, and I'm going with a double acting cylinder ram. This is industrial spec, fully extended length is 1170mm, the ram push load is rated at 2.51 tonnes @ 3000 psi. I won't need a pump rated that high, even 0.5 of that pressure (1500 psi) will be more than enough.

I'm only using 1 central ram. Any more will be overkill for what the lid weighs, of course the weight is less important than the actual lift angle. I'm going to call the guys tomorrow to discuss.

I have also ordered the rubber seal to fit between the bed and lid, opting to fit the seal to the lid itself, rather than the bed rail.

We're getting there.

[Siena]

Some pictures from today:

[Siena]

Not much achieved today, with rain hampering things.

As many may remember, I got rid of the aerial on the offside fender. I got my Black & Decker out, ready to drill the cabin roof at the rear, to mount a 2013 Toyota Prius stubby aerial.

Then I realised my truck won't require an aerial, despite having radio reception.

Does anyone know why?

[Siena]

I have just come off the phone to the hydraulic shop I'm going with for my steel tonneau operation.

Yesterday, I emailed them drawings, showing the lid, mounting base and the area the pump will fit to. I also gave dimensions and weight. I'm going with a 45 degree opening angle.

I have also opted for a double action cylinder ram and pump. The pump has a hydraulic lock, which means once the ram is fully retracted, it can't be extended without the pump being operated. So the tonneau will NOT require a lock. A single action ram will only lower the tonneau under gravity, and WILL require a latch.

[Siena]

At last, my truck is water tight.

Autoglass turned up today, to install a replacement windshield. They did mess up though - the technician arrived at 14:43, despite the booking being between 09:00 and 14:00.

This meant I was unable to get my front bumper brackets extended to accommodate the 2" body lift. A job for tomorrow.

I did get time to install my crystal LED tails though, I think they look pretty good.

[Siena]

[Siena]

There was a slight hitch - the tech turned up with a plain screen - no tint, or top band. And it was an aftermarket screen, "Pilkington" despite my insistence at the time of booking it MUST be a genuine Toyota item.

A phone call and 45 minutes later, another screen turned up in a non-Autoglass van. After I confirmed it was the correct one - tinted, top-banded and genuine Toyota, it was installed.

I'm happy with the work.