Vehicle Purchased!

I have finally purchased a vehicle for the conversion.

It is a '92 Extra Cab Toyota Hilux ute (Tacoma Pickup for our American viewers). Model is a RN90R.

The good:

The right price for Sydney. These vehicles are about $2000 more expensive in Sydney. I payed $4k for it. The body is straight apart for a ding on one guard.

The interior is in good condition apart from the drivers seat that will need replacing.

The Bad:

It looks like it is from Mad Max as it has been painted black and has very dark tinted windows

The tray has no sides

The black respray is peeling off in places.

It has done 330,000km so I can not really sell the motor

To Do:

Replace drivers seat and various trim pieces inside.

Remove interior for cleaning. (I did this on the weekend. I just need to wash the carpet.

Investigate re-paining the body white or touching up bad paint job.

I took it to the local tip to put on the scales. The kerb weight (no driver or fuel) is 1250kg. A little more than I expected as it has an aluminium tray back rather than a well side. The GVM is 2050 allowing 800kg of load.

The rear axle has 41% of the weight. I will mount the motor as far forward as practical in order to maintain the balance.

I would still prefer to remove the gearbox. There is a 5.29 ratio differential available (existing is 4.1) from an early Hiace. This would give a final drive ratio a little high than third which may be acceptable. The top speed would be about 80km/h which is adequate for me.