GIANT KILLER
THE first thing Taylor Shaw did when he took ownership of this 1969 Toyota Lite Stout was park a petrol-powered 80 Series Landcruiser next to it, fire up the plasma cutter and proceed to make one vehicle out of two. Taylor freed both front and rear axles from the 80 Series chassis and grafted their mounts on to the Stout frame. To keep it looking factory, Taylor carefully unpicked the OEM spring seats and shock mounts from the 80 frame and transferred them on to the Stout frame.
A thick-walled brace was added along the back edge of the rear axle, helping it cope with the added stresses of low-range rock bouncing at low-tyre pressures. An ARB air-compressor was also given the nod, with air lines running along the Stout’s chassis rails and plugging in to air lockers front and rear. While the housings were stripped back to bare metal, Taylor ran through them wheelnut to wheelnut replacing every bearing, seal, bushing and brake component.
Front and rear, the Toyota is running three-inch lifted coil springs from EFS; although, exactly how high it’s sitting over stock is anyone’s guess. As Taylor is still fine-tuning the beast, he’s thrown in a hodge-podge of shocks that were in the donor 80 Series, as well as a couple kicking around his shed.
On each corner are a set of lightweight aluminium wheels from Us-based Dirty Life. Punching in at 17x9, the ‘Roadkill’ beadlock wheels allow Taylor to drop down to single-digit pressures. Each wheel is wrapped in 315/70R17 Maxxis MT772 Razr muddies.
With a lethargic carby four-cylinder sitting under the bonnet, the choice was clear. The 1FZ-FE sitting in the donor 80 Series was liberated and lined up inside the engine bay of the Stout. The 212hp six-cylinder, DOHC, 4.0-litre donk is a significant upgrade with more than twice the power of the old 80hp motor, but that meant significant work was required to make it fit.
A custom alloy radiator with thermo fans saved space, while a
tubed firewall at the back of the engine takes up the slack. Taylor pieced together an exhaust system to fit. It snakes around through two mufflers before punching out the side of the tub. The whole package is backed by the five-speed cog-swapper and transfer case from the 80 Series, with the stock 80 driveshafts in place too, as the wheelbase is a perfect match between the two vehicles.
The paint up front is the same as when it rolled off the production line 52 years ago, but the tub is off a different vehicle and Taylor has worked on the rattle cans to make them match.
Taylor also armoured-up the lightweight rig. Up front is a tube bar housing the Warn 8274 high-mount winch recessed into the grille. It flows rearwards into scrub rails over the front and rear wheels, linked by plate-steel rocker panels below the doors before tying into the rear tube bar. Taylor’s welder also pieced together the tub-rack that holds the huge Darche rooftop tent.
The attention to detail in this build is insane and something that can only be appreciated in person. For now though, some of the toughest tracks in the country are about to come face-to-face with the toughest Stout in the country.