April 2012
I came across a bakkie that as a young man was just a dream and could not resist the opportunity to restore her to her former glory. She has been standing without engine and gearbox waiting for the last 17 years. Her windscreen still had her last square third party license disk of 1995 on. Unfortunately it could not be salvaged as it was too brittle. Also note the old Transvaal registration number plates although the pleasant surprise I got is in the final couple of paragraphs.
- Image 1.jpg (39.52 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
May 2012
Bakkie was parked at home as I thought I would like to do it from home as a project. Nothing happened except the grass growing underneath it, and the obligatory Saturday afternoon boasting to buddies of what this is going to look like after completion. After a few “Brannas & Coke” everybody was always very enthusiastic and could see my vision that had grown as the dop flowed.
June 2012
Mid June I was not believing my own dronkmanstories anymore and got a colleague from our metal shop to come and work on the bakkie on weekends. This now put a whole new spin on the Saturday afternoon sessions and everybody was again excited as the stripping started happening.
Unfortunately my colleague was more talk than anything else and absconded from both work and his responsibilities with the project. Expensive lesson as I paid good money for empty promises.
- Image 7.jpg (65.12 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
- Image 8.jpg (61.3 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
July 2012
Nothing happened as I still believed the empty promises and trusted that he would come through. Even paid some more cash over to enable him to get back to Gauteng to finish the job.
At this point in time I have had a few offers to take the bakkie away from my house. When I did not want to fall for that, I again over Brannas entered into a couple of wagers regarding the fact that the bakkie would not be finished by year-end 2012.
August 2012
I made peace with the fact that I have been taken and had to find alternatives. I was also now in for a few wagers and just had to prove to all the critics that I had not bitten off more than I could chew.
Luckily I was introduced to Cecil, a mechanic from Nigel. Old school and somebody that still takes pride in his craft he in turn introduced me to Danny and Wayne from a boat and panel shop also in Nigel.
They quoted and although the budget was by now shot to pieces we shipped the bakkie of to the panelshop. With the bigger expenses I decided that now I can do it decently and the body and chassis was separated. My brief was to that I wanted to rebuild the bakkie to as close as original when it came out of the factory in 1988.
Chassis was cleaned, resprayed and put on a trailer for Cecil to rebuild the brakes, do the diffs etc. Amazingly there was no rust on the chassis. Just some surface corrosion.
I found some second hand tyres on the Hilux forum, but there developed a communication gap and I ended up buying new tyres to fit. With the rims redone and new tyres fitted and balanced, it was amazing the motivation something small and insignificant this gave me. There was hope!
Of course all beforementioned buddies advised fitting a V8 Lexus motor, but my intention was to retain the charm of originality. I initially wanted to buy an import motor, but read on the forums that these motors were not as powerfull and Toyota spares did not fit them. With a little bit of searching and luck I found the original motor of the bakkie. Now I had matching numbers. Shocker was that the quote to rebuild the motor came to R 22 000.00! Cecil again said he would have a look and has done the whole ground-up job for less than half.
- Image 19.jpg (62.66 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
I had the gearbox completely reconditioned by a reputable gearbox shop. Again with guarantee.
Cecil fitted the engine and gearbox back to the chassis.
At the end of September the chassis then went back to the panelshop to marry the body again.
- Image 22.jpg (60.51 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
October consisted of weekly Friday afternoons visits to the panelshop to look at progress. My brief was not to do a rushed job as I wanted a decent rebuild.
Progress was made slowly with the loadbin having a whole lot of manual labour to get the old clear/yellow rubberizing removed and decent cleaning and prep of the body panels. All the panels were removed, cleaned and resprayed. As I decided on a colour change from the original “police bakkie yellow” to Toyota Cameo, I did not want the old colour to be seen anywhere. It was a complete strip down, repair and repaint. Again I was lucky with very little rust and I did not want a body filler job done. Old school metal repairs and panelbeating. We could not save the bonnet, but all the other panels are original.
The fortunate spin-off of this stripped down refurbishment was that I can with all certainty have established that the bakkie have never been in an accident.
- Image 29.jpg (43.61 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
Things are really coming together quickly now with final assembly and finishing taking place. Today is the 6th of November and it is really looking good. I am happy and get a semi every day when I go and look at the progress.
- Image 44.jpg (50.02 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
- Image 45.jpg (44.42 KiB) Viewed 3637 times
Final polishing, fitment of the bonnet, bulbar, towbar and rollbar as well as the Hilux and Toyota badges.
Fitting of Raider stickers on the side. It is a combination of green and purple with the brush-stroke effect going to the back. Should give colour to offset the Toyota Cameo, but if it looks to flashy, I am going with the unstickered, clean and uncluttered look.
I have placed the order for original look “2200” and Hilux sticker on the back to be made.
Search is on for original look door handles and armrest for the inside door panels. Mine has been cleaned, but clashes as it looks more worn than the outside now.The seats have been recovered in as close as original fabric as I could get.
Search is on for running boards. I want to do simple pipe with simple inward angle at the ends. Again to blend with the front bulbar, rollbar and back step. Might have to have these custom made.
By the weekend most of the above will be done. Then she goes back to Cecil fit the radiator, plumbing etc in the engine bay and to get the roadworthy done to transfer her onto my name.
Best part of this rebuilt is that my bakkie’s license only expires in January 2013. I am going to fit the GP plates to it for test driving and roadworthy purposes, transfer her and fit the personalised plates. I have the current license disk and registration papers.
When I take delivery towards the end of November, I will do a rubberizing and have a sail made for the loadbin. I will then do an update early December of the final product if there is interest.
Thanks for reading – I just had to share with fellow Hilux entusiasts. For some reason my wife and kids don’t get it………….”But Daddy why did you not just buy a new one?”
..... You wouldn't understand.... 
[rimg=206x128]
