Shorty Highlander: Too Stock

[mitchell72]

Here are some interior pictures. I'm going to bring the door panels back to parchment, (sorry to say, years ago I sprayed black vinyl paint over them), I have parchment seat belts on the way ( which I look forward to cleaning, pics to come).

[mitchell72]

Yeah that hurts, I hate to see 6x9 holes in a door. Mainly for two reasons. First, its a molestation of these beautiful doors. Lastly, a door is a speaker in and of its self, the poor speaker is forced to compete with road noise. Just use kick panels.
Sorry, I will get off my soap box, But seriously, at some point I will have to weld up those holes.

[mitchell72]

P.S, who paints that color over hugger orange.

Anyways, another pet peeve, (AND THIS ONE IS UP THERE WITH MY BEER BEING LEFT IN THE FREEZER TOO LONG)..... The cut out CD player.

Thanks to member 396ci, I bought this dash piece and will make the repair.

[mitchell72]

You see that black seat cover, well, its not a Highlander seat, needless to say I will order a orange plaid seat from member Truckseats (Tim) in the not to distant future!!!

Next up, I will be pulling the block, have it hot tanked, honed, install cam bearings, main bearings, freeze plugs, fuel pump, water pump, oil pump, transmission seals, u-Joints and the rest.

[mitchell72]

Update, here I am cleaning some parchment seat-belts that I bought from a board member through craigslist.

The one picture is of the belts soaking in Tupperware in hot water also in simple green. I am using an old electric toothbrush to do the cleaning, but for now they are still soaking. Pics to come.


The majority of the pics are the before, but what I would like to get across is how well the Clorox disinfecting wipes clean. Anyone can do this, and you should, even if this is just a weekend project on your dd. I simply used the wipes for just about two minutes and this made a HUGE difference on the retract-er plastic. Check it out. More pics forthcoming, -Mitchell

[steelhorse]

Can't wait to see this one done. "Though I do like rallies"

[aggie91]

Hey, I'm a bit under 50 and still like this kind of build. Especially since the truck is an oddity of sorts from the factory. Since most of my builds are modified and custom, I generally find the cheaper low level trucks since they are so special. If I was to ever get one like this it would be a resto-mod with only bolt-on changes that can be reversed if needed.

Carry on with this one, looks like you got a good start. BTW, how long have you had this truck?

[mitchell72]

Ive had it since I was 14. So 12 years. After that long I better have my act together.

[mitchell72]

Here is what I did today. In attempt to clean my parchment stat-belts, I first soaked them in simple green. Then used an electric toothbrush and this did quite a number on the belts.
After this I rinsed the belts and a large amount of dirt and nasty brown water went down the drain. But, at this point, I was not completely happy.
So my dad walks in and says, "you need to use a 100% simple green." So I took his advise and soaked them in a heavy mix. Well, the belts were pretty green even after soaking. So I took them to the car wash and pressure washed them. There were still somewhat green, so then I soaked them in bleach. Unfortunately, this produced an overly white effect.
Now, I put a couple of tea bags in a Tupperware to try to darken them. This worked somewhat, but it was not all together t he correct color. So the came the coffee. It turned out ok, but remember they are parchment, and 40+ years old.

[mitchell72]

Compared to the original, not too bad i guess.

[mitchell72]

OK, status update. I got the engine out, disassembled, and off to the machine shop for a hot tank job, cam bearings, and a hone job. Then I am going to clean up the pistons, they are in good shape, I have fresh OE style heads, cam bearings rings, basically everything new.

I bought an Edelbrock truck/RV cam, this will be perfect for my build, and to top the heads off, some full roller rockers that I had from a previous build.

I will stay on this project but I am moving to southern California soon. Which, as you may guess, will severely dampen my project for the meanwhile. But, I figure if I can get the engine assembled and running, my job will have been accomplished. So, we will see. -Mitchell.

[mitchell72]

Here are my factory bumpers, White like the originals. I love the color and this is certainly the best thing in the looks department that i have done to my truck IMHO.

[mitchell72]

I love the rear view, the bumper looks killer, the chrome capped bolts really set it off, and the color match looks very similar to the original. I did my best to find an accurate match.

[mitchell72]

My next post will be of the wheels, I will be painting them the same factory color as the bumpers as per stock specs.

I think some of us (me included) gravitate towards the options listed in our SPIDs (if you care about OEM). And so for me, I love white bumpers and white base style wheels, I dig it, its my bag baby.

[TheCougarine]

It's going to look killer on white wheels. I recently put a set on mine and I just think it looks so right on these trucks.

[mitchell72]

Yeah, my thoughts exactly.

But now I am trying to decide on 225/75r/15's or 215/75r/15s?

We will see, but I think the 215 in white walls would be great!

Any input would be great..

[mcbassin]

Nice looking project. I'm gonna follow along too.

[TheCougarine]

I thought I saw someone on here somewhere say 215/75/15 was the closest match to the stock size tires. I'm not 100% on that but if so I'm sure that would look good.

[slowcpe]

37 and into customs following along now. Cool truck and dig the build.

[mitchell72]

I put the wheels and tires on and they look killer in my opinion. I will post pictures tomorrow, I thought i had them in my library, but I will retake them tomorrow.

[zicc1835]

lookin good Merry Xmas

[mitchell72]

These are my new wheels and tires. I found them at a used tire store in Porterville for 35 bucks each, not bad for Michelin's, they are my favorite. Yes, the size, 215 75r 15 may not be exactly perfect, and I know they are not white walls. However, they are not my last set of tires. But I like them, I also like the wheels and hubcaps.

[mitchell72]

The sun was kinda bad on this picture, but you get the Idea, Project Highlander is coming together!!!

[TheCougarine]

That looks killer

[mitchell72]

Hey all, its been a while since I've last posted. I have regained interest in my pickup and I'm slowly getting organized. Its time to send off my freshly honed 350 block of to get re-ringed and re-baringed. My new goal is to get it running. After that i can focus on getting the bugs out before disassembly for paint and body. Because it has been some time i need to locate some of the nuts and bolts that are out sight and out of mind. I know this will take along time, but Ive been missing having a project. So here it is.