Tamiya Hilux Resto/Repair with TRX Tranny

[mark]

I have what was once a Tamiya King Cab but the rear axle snapped and the drive hub had stripped out. The stock replacement parts, if you could even find them, were so expensive to replace that I decided to do a tranny swap with what I had laying around for parts.

My main goal in this project was to keep it clean and original looking while using a Traxxas rear end. I cut the traxxas a-arms to the give the same Tamiya width, and I re-used the stock yellow cva shocks and managed to use the the stock chassis plate with a little triming around the rear section.

Here's the stock chassis plate trimmed with the traxxas tranny and a-arms installed



Had to do some trimming of the rear chassis so the top tranny clears



Side view





As for the body I decided to go with the Hilux as I've always liked the Iron Man toyotas! The body is a repro and the decal kit is an original set I scored off Ebay. The wheels are vintage Sees aluminum.









I think I did a good job with blending the Traxxas rear end to the point you don't really notice it's not the original rear end, what do you guys think?

[Mr. ED]

That's an outstanding job. I'd take my hat off if I had one

[fakiee]

Always great to see a hi lux or king cab, love the mods. I reckon a RPM stealth box would go in nice, too.

Have you ran her yet?

[mark]

Thanks guys

I haven't run it yet, I need a radio & rec for it.

One other thing, the decals do not want to stay down where the body curves around the wheel well area, I'd hate to run it and have the decals fill with dirt and sand. I might run it with the old body on it even thou I really want to see that Hilux go.

[delsami]

i wanted a king cab when i was a kid. way to fix it, make it look factory and be better than the tamiya trans

[Diggley]

I love it, looks great!

[tamiya_d1_junky]

H-O-T... the quality of workmanship on the traxxas conversion is very clean, you can hardly tell it's not the correct rear end... Top marks for this one...

[uzzi]

One other thing, the decals do not want to stay down where the body curves around the wheel well area, I'd hate to run it and have the decals fill with dirt and sand.

Here is a tip with decals,
Lightly pass a naked flame (use a cigarette lighter) around the deals you want set against a curved surface then rub it down. Wipe the soot off and the decal should set.....works like a treat. Nice job on the mod by the way

[RedScampi]

Nice looking truck and great conversion!

[mark]

Thanks

Here's a pic with it's team mate