Our '87 Toyota Extra Cab pickup project, fondly nicknamed Squishy, is moving along at Overkill Engineering's shop in Nuevo, California. In a nutshell, we salvaged the cab of an abandoned Toyota and are building it into a hardcore trail rig using a mix of old and new parts.
As almost all builds go, Squishy is turning out to be more extensive than we planned. We had lots of old parts, including Bilstein coilovers and MasterCraft Baja reclining seats, but quickly needed steering components; so we contacted PSC steering for a hydraulic steering system. Next on the list is a set of new chromoly control arms that Overkill is building.
Our goal is to have ol' Squishy out of the shop and on the Hammer Trails in Johnson Valley, California, before the summer heat sets in. That will give us just about one more month to finish the project. Stay tuned for Part 4 of the build and Squishy's resurrection.
The transmission tunnel and...
The transmission tunnel and a good portion of the driver-side floorboard were cut out to make room for the Atlas transfer case. Travis Kirkman cut even more tunnel and floor to bring the transmission and transfer case higher up so that both would be flush with the bottom of the truck's framerails. This will allow a flat crossmember and skidplate, which will give the Toyota additional ground clearance.
Kirkman used 1/8-inch sheetmetal...
Kirkman used 1/8-inch sheetmetal to fabricate the new transmission tunnel and floorboard. This nicely engineered metalwork allowed the factory shifter to sit at the proper height above Squishy's new automatic transmission. The Atlas twin sticks fit perfectly next to the transmission shifter, and the actuation lever for the front Ox Locker will fit in the factory 4WD shifter slot.
We had a set of MasterCraft...
We had a set of MasterCraft Baja seats left over from an old project. Seat mounts were fabricated from 11/2-inch DOM steel tubing and welded to the exo-cage for safety.
Since the plan behind squishy...
Since the plan behind squishy is to build a trail rig capable of wheeling the toughest terrain, we fitted Squishy with a 21/2-inch, full-hydraulic, double-ended steering ram from PSC Motorsports. The steering kits from PSC are complete and come with everything needed for the installation. The Extreme steering system will make steering large tires much easier and more responsive.
The rear suspension is in...
The rear suspension is in its mockup phase, and these triangulated control arms will be replaced with chromoly ones. The arms will be fitted with Currie 21/2-inch Johnny Joints with 1-inch threaded shanks. The chromoly arms and large Johnny Joints should last even with the trail abuse we have planned for the truck.
Even though this is about...
Even though this is about the third time they have built the truck, Gabe Gile and Kirkman are doing a great job with Squishy. The tube rear end of the truck will be restricted to accommodate the Bilstein coilovers and remount the fuel tank. We are reusing the factory tank with hopes that we can get the truck to pass California's stringent emissions standards so we can drive the truck to and from the trail.