DAILY GRIND
Hi Neil, we’re really liking this truck of yours. What’s the story? It’s my daily driver. It was a single-cab 2007 Hilux — one of the ali-deck ones that RD1 uses, and it was an insurance write-off. I didn’t even take the motor out of the chassis, just lifted the body off and put the ’49 Ford on.
That’s impressive! We’re guessing that’s why it sits really well — nice and low. Yeah, that’s it — I like things sitting right!
And it isn’t actually running a V8? No, it’s still got the intercooled three-litre turbodiesel motor and five-speed manual box from the Hilux. It’s a good, reliable setup.
We know you’ll get asked this a lot, but we have to ask — why? I’d bought the 1949 Ford Bonus to do something with, and this happened to be it. I wanted an everyday truck that I could drive anywhere, cheaply. I’ll fill it with 90 bucks of diesel and it’ll do almost 1000km! It’s the cheapest hot rod I’ve ever built; I just built it all from stuff that was lying around, just made it all work. I kept the Hilux firewall, floor, door latches, and even the wiper motor — everything from the Toyota was used.
When did all of this take place? I first registered it in 2010, so it would have been a couple of years before then.
How did you go about doing it? All the Toyota body mounts have been welded to the cab, so it’s still on the original Toyota rubber mounts. I had to shift the floor and firewall back by 150mm — the key to ensuring the build went so smoothly was using the factory firewall and floor. That meant I could use the dash, the plastic heater ducting, and all of that stuff — it all just bolted back in. It’s got air con, power steering, ABS, and everything. It’s still got the standard Hilux seats, but I had them recovered in black leather.
We imagine there are going to be some very upset hot rodders reading this right now! What sort of condition was the Bonus in when you decided to do this to it? It was a rusty piece of shit — you buy something in primer and think it’s good, but it isn’t! I had to cut out rust from top to bottom! From top to bottom, that’s what took the time.
How long did the conversion take? Two years off and on. It was the first vehicle I ever repainted, and the second I’ve extensively panel beaten. It has been widened in the front to suit the Hilux track, so the front wheels and tyres fit inside the guards. I added metal in the centre of the nose cone, and added some metal to the top of the guards to push them out. I made the bonnet because I wanted a challenge and something different.
Did you do all the work on it? Ron Ronaki from Custom Wellsides did the custom swaging on the running boards, and made the tray. I had the seats retrimmed by Barry at Surtees Boats, but I did everything else. The guards came out by an inch, and I made the deck wider, and I cut 60mm off the back guards to make the proportions look right — otherwise the deck would have looked like a coffin.
It does look very cool, and well used. Any reason for the primer-grey colour? That isn’t primer grey. It was shiny grey originally, but it’s just faded. I’ve driven the hell out of it. I’ll tow my hot rods with it, I’ve carried topsoil, car parts, firewood — you name it, it’s been on there. I’ve driven 130 kays in the time I’ve had it. It just gets used as a truck. The tray was designed to carry two full-size motorbikes, or three motocross bikes — I can pretty much do everything with it!
That’s awesome, Neil — it’s a very cool, and one-of-a-kind, daily driver!