** MSD Toyota Trailblazer **

[slobin3d]

This is my Hilux that I'm building for the Scale Nats, although I'm not going to be able to really run.


Its based on the Griffith Conversion Trailblazer. Griffith was 1 of 3 manufactures that in 81-84 were approached by Toyota to do a SUV conversion with the Hilux platform, the forerunner to the 4Runner.

The most common would be the Trekker done by Winnebago. I personally think that the Trekker conversion is nice but that the Griffith version was done with more quality. The Trailblazer retained the steel bed where as the the Winnebago replaced the steel bed with a fiberglass unit that was not removable.

WIKI_HERE

On to the pics:
First off the 1983 OG that I based my topper off of







The sketch work:
I drew up some small then full scale renditions of the topper to get a feel for what needs to be done.





The Medium:
I originally purchased some styrene for this build but unsure of my plastic work I gave in to a more familiar medium

I started off my laminating 2 3x3 and 1 1x3 blocks of balsa to get the proper width for the bed, then transfered the rough outline from my drawings to the wood block



The cutting:
I took the block that I laid out to work with me and using the table saw I roughed out the basic shape and removed the majority of the unneeded balsa, the using chisels, exacto and sanding blocks I have come to this.




Test fitting:
Placing the newly trimmed block on the truck to see if it really fits





I still have to cut some gray plex for the windows, smooth up the lines, coat the whole works in epoxy sand and repeat, paint and add lights. Then mount it up once and for all.

[HITMAN]

Nice wood working. looks good so far.

[Jaynen]

Were they making Toyota based SUV's or Motorhomes?

The 1981 model year saw a vehicle development deal between Toyota and Winnebago Industries (primarily) and two other aftermarket customizers. Toyota was attempting to enter the SUV market. The vehicles which resulted from this collaboration were the Toyota Trekker (Winnebago), Toyota Wolverine, and the Toyota Trailblazer (Griffith). All three employed the Toyota Hilux 4x4 RV cab and chassis, and an all-fiberglass rear section (the Trailblazer had a steel bed with a fiberglass top). There were at least 1,500 Trekkers, 400 Trailblazers (only 41 currently registered by the DMV), and an unknown number of Wolverines sold in North America. Research and development work on the Trekker lead to the development of the Toyota 4Runner (The 4Runner was also sold in the United Kingdom)(called the Toyota Hilux Surf outside North America), which was released in 1984.

ah I read winnebago and RV chassis and got confused.

[slobin3d]

Originally Posted by mxmhero

Nice wood working. looks good so far.

thanks its far from done though. It won't be 100% identical but close

Originally Posted by Jaynen

Were they making Toyota based SUV's or Motorhomes.......
ah I read winnebago and RV chassis and got confused.

All the companies are/were RV manufactures and this as far as I can tell was their first attempt at this type of thing.

[Jaynen]

Its an awesome bit of history to capitalize on for the event and for a build I can't wait to see it.

[slobin3d]

I suppose I should post a couple of specs about the truck too

Hilift Hi-lux

MSD axle C's and Lockouts

Ahead of the axle steering mod

front and rear Pan-hard bars

Exesivefire's wheel mod

1.9 Rock crushers

shaved diff covers

full bearings

Jr st126 steering servo

Hitec 311 shift

Xrs Speedo

6cell between the frail rails in back

RX in the fuel cell

few other small things here and there

[DwaneO]

Thats lookin real good. You should use that to make a fiberglass mold. Then you could make more if you wanted to. I saw the how-to on here somewhere.
Good job , nice truck

[sniper]

i got a carbon fiber setup at work that I could suck down some fiber over that mold that would be awsome! reproduce reproduce....

[metomwhou]

Originally Posted by sniper

i got a carbon fiber setup at work that I could suck down some fiber over that mold that would be awsome! reproduce reproduce....

Yep yep, no reason NOT to capitalize on this one. Make it even cheaper with fiber glass and I'l be your first customer!!

[slobin3d]

Originally Posted by DwaneO

Thats lookin real good. You should use that to make a fiberglass mold. Then you could make more if you wanted to. I saw the how-to on here somewhere.
Good job , nice truck

Originally Posted by sniper

i got a carbon fiber setup at work that I could suck down some fiber over that mold that would be awsome! reproduce reproduce....

Originally Posted by metomwhou

Yep yep, no reason NOT to capitalize on this one. Make it even cheaper with fiber glass and I'l be your first customer!!

Thanks for the complements guys, I don't know that I would ever get that far with this though

I wouldn't even know where to start

[sniper]

First send me the mold to reproduce from and then i reproduce.
I dont know how much market there is but i guess i could make any kind of topper.

[metomwhou]

BTW, thanks for bringing these cool trucks to my attention. i've been goofing off for the last two hours. I know you're doing the trailblazer but the trekker guys have a whole forum if you interested. http://toyotatrekker.proboards107.com/index.cgi

[slobin3d]

Originally Posted by metomwhou

BTW, thanks for bringing these cool trucks to my attention. i've been goofing off for the last two hours. I know you're doing the trailblazer but the trekker guys have a whole forum if you interested. http://toyotatrekker.proboards107.com/index.cgi

No prob, I've been researching these trucks for a while, started looking for a 4runner concept truck when I saw that the hilux was being reintroduced and came across the history of these. Never did find a pic of a true 4runner concept but I really liked the looks of these and it sold me on the Idea

[TerribleOne]

Looks like a good start. Not sure if I would have used a solid block of wood though. I think molding the bed to the cab and cutting the bed floor out and build a full interior would have been a better way to go, but time consuming

I assume you will do the headlights too?

[Unimoger]

I saw it today, wood is balsa and weighs nothing at all. I told him the same thing TJ, we will see if he listens to us.

[slobin3d]

I'm not a styrene master YET! I have the materials and the basic knowledge, but lack the practical experience to pull that off just yet. I'm working on a few small projects to build my confidence

[slobin3d]

Did a little body work this afternoon, nothing too major, but my first real attempt at this sort of thing

[slobin3d]

One of the puppies got hungry in the middle of the night and the wood topper has a few bite marks on it:-(

So I figure what the hell I'll give this styrene stuff a try





Got a start and a bit of a feel for how it goes, at the moment I have run out of Tenax and need to locate more, and do some more shaping. once I get the topper sitting and looking like I want I'll give dropping the bed a shot and see what goes from there

[roktoy]

Wow...great start. This should be a unique build!
Jay

[2JSC]

Originally Posted by Jaynen

Were they making Toyota based SUV's or Motorhomes?

Toyota Dolphin - I knew a guy who had one a couple of years back that was lifted with 31" tires.