got a 79 chinook - what to do with it?

[john the fisherman]

Scored a 79 chinook "gazelle" with I think 125k on a 20R. The camper is pretty well trashed, so I was thinking of ripping it off and building a four wheeler.

As I understand it, these are the 1/2 ton frame, I looked under it and it looks like he frame extends about 2+ feet past the rear axel and then there is an extention. Anybody ever tear this down to the frame? I was thinking since the cab has no back, I could build a sleeper cell unto the back of it, and chop the frame right behind where the leaf springs bolt up. OR..... are there other camper options for the back of these things? Can you find the camper portions in good shape and swap them out? I see these show up at junkyards from time to time but they are always trashed.

Anyone done the 4wd swap on one of these? Can you tell me what doner vehices to look for? recomend a forum that could help? Thanks.

[linda s]

The camper part is fiberglass and can be fixed. if you don't want it please sell it for a profit and just buy yourself an old truck to play with. Asking us how you can chop it up is kind of like asking a cat lover how you should cook yours

LS

Scored a 79 chinook "gazelle" with I think 125k on a 20R. The camper is pretty well trashed, so I was thinking of ripping it off and building a four wheeler.

As I understand it, these are the 1/2 ton frame, I looked under it and it looks like he frame extends about 2+ feet past the rear axel and then there is an extention. Anybody ever tear this down to the frame? I was thinking since the cab has no back, I could build a sleeper cell unto the back of it, and chop the frame right behind where the leaf springs bolt up. OR..... are there other camper options for the back of these things? Can you find the camper portions in good shape and swap them out? I see these show up at junkyards from time to time but they are always trashed.

Anyone done the 4wd swap on one of these? Can you tell me what doner vehices to look for? recomend a forum that could help? Thanks.

[bajadulce]

I recently bought a 1966 F250 with a camper shell.... A HUGE camper shell at that. I bought it just because the truck was used as an "RV" most of its life and thus had extremely low miles on it (155K ish miles for a 50 year old truck). It has the original paint, original upholstery, and almost zero rust around the windshield area (notorious rot zones) because the camper's overhead bunk had been protecting it.

The camper shell was so-so and pretty tired as would be expected. And so I tore it down (right on my street in one day I might add!), recycled all the aluminum, and donated the appliances to others. Needless to say, several passerbyer's expressed how "wrong" it was to tear apart a perfectly good camper. Little did they know how 50% of the the interior wall structure was water damaged beyond repair.

This was a slide-in camper on a classic unmolested truck tho not an integrated RV such as what you're looking to scrap. I imagine 79 toyota trucks with low miles aren't as easy to come by, but as Linda pointed out, the truck component of a Chinook isn't so much the valuable half (especially ones without the rear half of the cab). The shell is what is worth keeping in this instance and the truck if anything junked.

Lots of ppl have done some really amazing things with Chinooks. Check out the front page of this site for just a few examples. So even the most thrashed shell can be salvaged by someone looking for one.

[john the fisherman]

I understand that anything can be fixed and theese campers are rare. The camper is totally trashed, and in my estimation not worth repair. That leaves a decent truck with lots of potential. Believe me, i am the type to salvage anything possible. I would sell or give away anything usable. The shell and interior of this thing are BEAT.

So if I could find another camper shell,I would put it on this truck. I think these campers are very cool. Is there a good sourse for a replacement shell that you could pass on to me? If I can't find that, I will see what I can make with a good chassis, and it seems like an excellent candidate for a 4 wheeler. I really like the idea of a sleeper cell. Didn't mean to offend, I understand where you are coming from.

Another question- How heavy are the shells?

[john the fisherman]

that's a neat ford by the way.

Some more questions- Did i get that right that it is a 1/2 frame under the chinook? without that rear-most extention, is the remaining frame the same thing as any toyota 1/2 ton PU? Also the carb is bad on this thing, what make is the OEM carb (My Chinook is in storage 20 minutes away so I can't just go look), and do you guys put aftermarket carbs on these for better reliability? I play around with old Subarus, and one of the first things I always do is replae the stock Hitachi carb with a weber 32/36. they run great and are very tunable, don't break either, they have half as many parts. That same carb would probably fit nicely on a 2 liter engine.

[MAXXFabrication]

that's a neat ford by the way.

Some more questions- Did i get that right that it is a 1/2 frame under the chinook? without that rear-most extention, is the remaining frame the same thing as any toyota 1/2 ton PU? Also the carb is bad on this thing, what make is the OEM carb (My Chinook is in storage 20 minutes away so I can't just go look), and do you guys put aftermarket carbs on these for better reliability? I play around with old Subarus, and one of the first things I always do is replae the stock Hitachi carb with a weber 32/36. they run great and are very tunable, don't break either, they have half as many parts. That same carb would probably fit nicely on a 2 liter engine.

you are correct about the weber 32/36 great carb for your 20R

the factory carb is an AIsin, even if you could find a22r carb it is bigger than the factory 20r carb is.

.

post up some pics of how trashed this thing is.

and you only have a frame extension, it is an entire toyota frame under your ride just with an extension at the rear and in the middle maybe (can someone with one confirm this?)