1981 Toyota 4x4 Pickup - The Phoenix Project Finale - Tech

Aft of the motor mount, the frame had a couple of factory-punched holes right where they shouldn't have been. The solution was to plate over the holes. After this plate was welded on, a pass-through tube was welded between the inside and outside vertical frame faces. A pass-through tube (better known as a sleeve) lets a bolt pass through and be tightened down without crushing the frame.

In addition to the blind hole opposite the motor mount, two other through-holes were created for engine cage bolts to pass through. With three bolts per side, this gives a total of six frame tie-ins for the engine cage.

The next step was to eliminate the sheet metal fenderwells. One strut per side tied the radiator core support to the cab so I could slice out the sheet metal between. Even though the fenderwells were eliminated, the hood still latched as it always had. The tie-in struts held the core support in its original position. Ultimately, the core support and fenders would fasten to the engine cage. Shortly after I got to this point, I decided that I was in over my head with two major projects, and I put the word out through the grapevine that the truck had to go.

I'm thinking, I'm glad he wants this truck. Taking it apart and hauling the carcass to the scrap yard was gonna be a major hassle. Jeff's thinking, Man, he did a lotta work to this thing. Plating the frame and installing the crossover steering was gonna be a major hassle. We both came out ahead. I'm the one on the left.

Now for the significance of paint, or the difference between guys and gals. One of Jeff's first moves was to douse the sheet metal in olive green. The old paint was badly faded, and I had a paint job planned after all the mechanical work was completed. Collette, my wife of 14 years, saw this photo and said, "If you'd painted it, then it would've been OK." "Huh?" I asked. "You mean to tell me that if I'd painted it, you wouldn't have hated it?" "Yep," came the reply. "Paint comes last after everything else is done," I countered. "Paint should come first," she said. "So that the truck still looks like something other than a piece of junk while you work on it for years and years before you drive it. Good paint should go on first and inspire you to make the rest of the truck as good as the paint." "Oh."