A couple of months ago I found this wonderful set of dealer plates on EBay Australia.  I had never seen something like them.  Since one of my trucks is a 1981, they would be a perfect addition.  As you can see from the picture they came with the original dealer packaging.  The plates were stacked, so the one in the rear is perfect, while the one that was in front has faded slightly from sun and heat.  After they arrived I emailed the seller again asking if he had any old brochures, which he did.  He sent me the list and I was amazed.  We worked out a deal and I purchased everything he had.  All of these brochures had been in storage for close to 30 years, so they were in perfect condition.  I had been trying to find information on the 79-83 Toyota trucks in Australia for a while, so I was excited to get all of them at once.  I was also surprised that he had a Toyota Winnebago Trekker brochure in the grouping.  I know none of the Trekkers ended up in Australia, but apparently at least one of the brochures made it to a dealer. 

So now what? Here in Michigan there is no-fault insurance. Since I don’t have collision coverage on an “antique” truck it seems that I may have to pay for someone else’s mistake. Had it been an ordinary old pickup would have been bad enough, but this truck is “special”. Now I managed to pry out the old taillight housing and replace it with another spare I had laying around. But it looks horribly out of place. A body shop that I stopped at said they could replace the chrome Mojave taillight assembly, but I really wonder what the quality will be. They say they can bump out the crumpled metal, but I wonder how long it will last. And I wonder if I will be the one that will have to pay for all the damage, when I only stopped to make sure the kids could get on the bus safely.

As sad as this day was, I have to admit my amazement. Two tons of Suburban crashing into my old Toyota at 50-60 mph and, really, the damage was minimal. Truthfully there was more damage to the Suburban that my old truck. There is a cage that forms the housing around the taillight and it’s plain to see that held its own as the damage does not extend past it. The marker lens got scuffed up, the topper molding also got a rash, and the worst is the chrome tube bumper took a hit. I doubt there is any way to fix the bumper, but I can live with that. Looking at it in more detail it seems the thing to do would be to replace the fender skirt; that seems to be the part that is corrupted the most. Then the box panel would be bumped out to fit and refinished as new. I wonder if any of those body parts are still out there. For now I have to wait until the police report is finished and then I can see if anything else can be done to restore the Mojave back into shape. 5/18 is a dark day in SR5 history.

This unit has a part number of 08690-00280, but what does the Gates Rubber Company have to do with it?

So anyway after getting it into the garage I was able to evaluate my new purchase. The 35×14.5 Thornbirds just didn’t look like a good match to me so after posting a quick ad in Craigslist they were gone and half my money was returned. After careful consideration I had no plans to use the 4″ lift springs so another ad brought home the rest of my original investment. I now had a free frame but it was reduced to the bare necessities. Instead of being able to roll it around now I had to pick it up and carry it.

At this point I don’t know if  I was glad to have it or not. Over 12 bags or sand and 3 weeks of spare time spent blasting all the rust off the frame. Slowly it was beginning to clean up like new. The only bad part of the frame was the front crossmember which had been beat to death, rusted, and had a huge pipe welded to it. There was no way to save it, so it had to be replaced.

Not an easy task, but I had to get the job done. A suitable replacement part was extracted from another frame I had. I decided to brace the frame to make sure when the crossmember was removed that the frame didn’t spring out or bow in. Finally the crossmember was cut out and then the inside welds were cut with a die grinder. After each channel was cleaned out the new crossmember was ready to go in place. It was a tight fit and it was all I could do to beat it into the correct position.

After double checking all of the joints were securely welded. It was a bit of a job to get it done- probably took about 2 1/2 hours. But the new part is much better than the old one and now I can move forward with sanding and painting the frame. Still not sure what to do with it, but having a nice rust free frame lying around cant hurt- just in case.

It was the year that Toyota began selling the 4 wheel drive pickup in the United States. Until then there had been a niche market for mini-trucks to be converted to solid axle four wheel drive. There were many companies to choose from such as Low Manufacturing that would take your 2wd mini and cash, and give you back a desirable 4wd truck. However in 1979, Toyota brought an end to such aftermarket suppliers with their factory engineered solid axle 4×4 truck.

One such company produced a “look a like” off road conversion for base Toyota trucks know as the Wolverine and subsequently the Wolverine II. However an analysis of the value of such a conversion quickly revealed why these conversion businesses quickly gave way to Toyota’s successful product line.

Toyota Wolverine II

The Wolverine II started life as a basic SR5 2wd refrigerator white base truck. Adding a body lift gave clearance for the large off road wheels and tires. Using stock Toyota body parts the 2wd truck began to take form with the addition of front fenders and rear plastic fender flairs. To complete the off road facade, a roll bar, grille guard, tube rear bumper, numerous lights, and a winch were added.  The truck received a custom paint job with a distinctive blue and gold sweeping body stripes. The interior received the same custom treatment with a corduroy and vinyl door panel set, blue carpeting, and light blue and dark blue seat cover.

A Wolverine Toyota owner would receive an ultimate example of a custom truck, but at what cost? Notice the 4wd badges on the fenders? There aren’t any because this is still a 2wd truck. So a question of economics came into play in the early eighties; what is worth it?

As history can now tell us; the answer is no. The list price of the base 2wd truck in 1980 was just $5488. The parts alone for the Wolverine conversion were another $3430. With the additional labor factored in the Wolverine II wheel drive conversion truck exceeded $10,0000. Back in the day it wasn’t uncommon for dealers to sell Toyota 4×4 trucks for more than the sticker price. Even at that, one could still buy a new Toyota special edition black package 4×4 pickup for less than 10 grand. While the SR5 4×4 didn’t have the appearance of an off-road racer, it was still a true and capable four wheel drive truck. Thus the lesson in economics revealed that the expense of making a truck look like a 4×4 wasn’t as great of a value as purchasing the real thing.

Eventually other manufacturers came out with their own 4×4 minitrucks just like Toyota. One exception was the solid front axle which only Toyota had until 1985. This became a major selling point for Toyota; and became the reason for the extinction of the numerous conversion companies that had up to 1979 been the only provider for a small four wheel drive pickup in America.

So a free evening was dedicated to removing the transmission. This particular model truck has a W52 5 speed manual transmission instead of the expected L52. With the transmission out I could see some advantage to the new design. The bellhousing was removable with just a few bolts. The tailshaft housing was removed after taking off the shifter mount, the reverse backup switch, and the speedometer cable pickup. After removing the cover to the intermediate shaft front bearing it was a simple matter to remove two snap rings and the transmission case was separated from the center plate. Now the internal workings of the transmission are fully visible for inspection.

Now was a good time to take the three components of the transmission case to the car wash for a good clean up. The case was in good shape, but had a good coating of 27 years of dust and leaked transmission fluid. A quick power wash did a good job of cleaning most of the grime off.

Things were progressing along nicely; until it was time to order the parts to complete the repair. The W52 transmission has an input shaft seal and a seal in the tailshaft for the output shaft. There are also three gaskets; one for the bellhousing, one for the transmission case, and one for the tailshaft housing. Since I went to all this trouble to pull the transmission it would make sense to replace all the seals and gaskets. A search of my parts catalog revealed a gasket kit for the W52 transmission which I assume had all the parts I needed to complete the repair. I found a “discount Toyota parts” dealer that showed the part at a price of $48.50. I ordered the needed parts, but the next day received an email that “We regret to inform you that the following item is currently unavailable”. I could get the individual seals but not the gaskets. Not worth shipping two parts I thought, so off to the local parts store for some aftermarket seals. Two days later I had the parts needed and a tube of sealer to reuse the old gaskets.

So as soon as I got home it was Toyota time. I got the transmission ready to go. First the input shaft seal was changed. The old seal practically fell out. The new seal was driven in place. Next the output shaft seal. This one was a little harder to get out. I used a long screwdriver to try to drive the seal out from the housing. This didn’t seem to be working, but suddenly a piece of casting fell out. Not sure how that happened, but I looked at the extension housing carefully and couldn’t find where it came from. The piece looked like it had some threads and broke along an inside hole. After a while I gave up and decided to continue. I ended up removing the driveshaft shield and prying the seal out from the outside. A new seal was driven in place. Now the transmission was ready to reassemble. I coated the mating surfaces of the old gaskets with the sealer. The transmission case, extension housing, and bellhousing were assembled and bolts torqued to spec. The shifter housing, reverse light switch, speedometer cable sender, and clutch fork were assembled. Finally the W52 transmission was ready to go back in the truck.

It wasn’t easy but I managed to get it back in by myself. The transmission has to go into the area above crossmember first and then back into place behind the motor. Only four main bolts hold the transmission to the motor, with four smaller bolts at the bottom securing the inspection plate. The rear mounting plate was reattached to the crossmember and the rear transmission mount bolted down. The clutch slave cylinder, starter, speedometer cable, backup light wires, shifter, and driveshafts reinstalled.

Specs and Performance:

Truck weighs 2,200lbs. Custom fabricated frame and suspension was built in 2006. From the raised cab floors to the fabricated drag bars….everything was built from scratch.
Full Air Ride suspension. The truck lays on the ground. Doors, bumpers, everything on the ground!
Chrome air tank and compressor located behind cab. Once tank is full goes up and down fast!
Individual switches for the front and one switch for the rear.

Powertrain:
355ci Chevy small block very mild 9 to 1 compression pump gas street motor  estimated 300hp.
block cast # 14010207 makes it a 80-84 yr. with 1.94/1.50 76cc steel heads
Mild street cam pulls hard to 5,700 rpms and has a really nice lope to it.
Aluminum intake with new race 650cfm Holley that will be included with Buy It Now. If not original 650ci carb will be included. Runs great and more responsive just not as pretty.
Full wet nitrous system adjustable up to 150hp. Turn on toggle on dash and is throttle activated.
Shorty hedders with full 2.5inch exhaust. Flowmasters with turndowns.
Aluminum Radiator with electric fan.
15 gallon fuel cell with Holley blue pump and filter. Braided line up to the regulator mounted on firewall.
Battery is mounted in the rear with a batter cut off switch.
Power glide ATI tranny with ATI guts B&M hole shot converter 2800-3000 stall
Narrowed 10 bolt Buick/Pontiac rear end with 31 spline Mosier Axles and C-clip eliminators
4.11 gear rated with a 28inch tall tire with a nice posi unit.
Wildwood Brake master cylinder
Disc brakes in the front and no brakes in the rear.

Smoothie wheels all the way around painted blue with chrome center caps and beauty rings. The rear are 15×10 and have brand new 26×10 Mickey Thompson slicks.

Toyota silver paint base coat clear coat. Painted Nov. 2009. The truck was solid. I have before and after pictures to show you how straight the body was. Deleted rear bumper valance, smoothed and welded shut tailgate.
Custom pin on front hood with riveted, epoxied, then smoothed, 6 in. Hardwood Camaro hood cowl.
Frenched antennas on passenger side.

Our Toyota trucks stand the test of time, with a daily blast of sand, salt, sun, mud, and other harmful chemicals found on and off the road. Sometime the worst detriment to our truck’s survival is just plain sitting around waiting for that “someday” when the motor will get rebuilt, or that transmission will get replaced. Sitting out back in the weeds, the rust can form and eat away at our trucks faster than some people at a buffet line. In any case the wheels are always in harms way, and although the rest of the chrome on a sweet SR5 truck needs attention, here is one place that an ounce of prevention can go a long way.

So how can I get back that mirror finish on my Toyota’s wheels? Well, there is no magical cure, but a little hard work along with a couple of helpers. Here are two products I have found and used over the years. I always keep both in the garage for cleaning and shining up any metal found on my truck. They are cheap; less than $5 each and a little goes a long way. Neither of course is for painted surfaces. Just the chrome, stainless steel, and aluminum parts.

While Mother’s Mag and Aluminum polish is, well, meant for aluminum, it does work well for cleaning chrome. This is a paste polish so use a damp clean rag to polish and then buff off the area you want to restore. This is great for getting off that oxidization and cleaning other grime off your wheels and leaving them clean and shiny.

Neverdull is a can of wadding for cleaning about any metal surface. You just tear off a piece of the wadding and go to town. This does a great job of removing grime from any surface and it seems to leave a coat of something behind to help protect. It is not a polish however, so usually I would follow up the Neverdull with a quick buff using the Mother’s polish.

The two of these products together would always seem to get the job done for me. Of course once the cleaning phase is done, it only makes sense to protect the “raw” finish now with a coat of your favorite wax. There are many waxes out there and this is a subject of debate greater than I can cover here. However if it’s done, a little maintenance will go a long way in helping to preserve your Toyota for many more years to come.