You never forget your first truck. I've still got mine. I purchased my '81 Toyota 4x4 pickup over 10 years ago, and it's been growing on me like a fungus ever since. The association of the name "Toyota" with the term "reliability" is usually a hand-in-glove fit. This particular truck missed the boat. To those who say, "you can't break a Toyota with a stone," I counter: you can fry the engine with a clogged radiator, you can have an L-45 transmission shaft fail when you least expect it, and you can have a rear axleshaft snap during street driving. The clogged radiator was my fault, so I have to own that, but caring for this truck has shown me that when you paint a picture with broad strokes, you're bound to miss a few nooks and crannies.
As of this writing, the Phoenix Project has been sitting with a dead engine since late '03. Why resurrect this thing? The reasons are part sentiment and part practical: I've grown attached to it, I already own it, and it's still got a lot of untapped potential.
When the Phoenix Project finally rises from its current bed of ashes, I envision a truck that's much more powerful than before, more comfortable to drive than in the past, and will beat the terrain beneath instead of the occupants inside. Let's get started.
As purchased used from a private party, the axles already had 4.88 gears installed at both ends. The front differential had been infused with a locker, and the rearend sported a limited-slip. This made for great grip on the trail, and was the ideal ratio for the 33-inch BFG All-Terrain tires I chose. The John Bull Trail in Big Bear is hardly hardcore but is still both challenging and scenic. | 
Trail 2N17X rises steeply from the edge of Silverwood Lake to Forest Service Route 2N33 in the San Bernardino National Forest. Like John Bull, 2N17X isn't hardcore, but it tests its travelers with several steep inclines and declines. The limitations of carburetion became readily apparent during some of the steeper climbs when the engine burbled to a stop. The '71 Blazer on the right is fueled by a Quadrajet carburetor, so it fared better when the slope angles got nasty. | 
Roadside with the hood up is no fun. This is Highway 330 that climbs up to Big Bear via Running Springs. My radiator was clogged, but I didn't know it at this point. Even if it's not overheating, the carbureted 22R four-cylinder is a weak excuse for an engine in my experience. The thing is low-powered, has a noisy valvetrain, and the carburetor can't compensate for changes in altitude. The fuel-injected 22RE is an improvement, but it's still a slug and still has a noisy valvetrain. |