The Hot Wheels Toyota Hilux casting comes from the factory sitting higher than a junkie on dole day! It was time to bring this 1987 pickup down to earth.
… I mean seriously, look at it! Mattel certainly put the Hi in Hilux when they produced their scale version of the 1987 Toyota Pickup Truck.. aka the Hilux.

Turning the Hot Wheels HIGH-LUX into a LO-LUX

The first thing I needed to do was to cut out all the solid diecast that makes up the rear tray – a job that turned out to be anything but small due to the fact the guys at Hot Wheels got just as excited about overdoing the amount of diecast in the casting as they did about seeing how high they could make this thing sit. That’s the impression I got anyway as I hacked and cut and dremel’d and gouged my way through the rear tray…. neatly of course. Don’t want to damage the casting now.

Yep, that’ll do Donkey, that’ll do.

The rest of the story isn’t actually very interesting, namely because there isn’t one. So let’s just fast forward through the painting and making a new base and, oh wait! Making a new base – yeah there’s kind of a story in that I guess. Everyone gather around and get comfortable now… Ready? Alllllllllllrighty then.

How To Make a New Base For Your Custom Build

Since images are always easier, here is something I prepared earlier (Go me right?)… I’ll provide a brief explanation of the steps below 🙂

1. The first thing you need to do is work out exactly how long the vehicle is – including all bumpers and attachments.
2. Then work out the exact height of the rear, and of course
3. You then need to also work out the height of the front – because whilst they are usually pretty close they can sometimes differ enough to screw up your plans
4. Now you simply remove the front and rear bumper (if that is required) and with your calipers in place confirming your length is on point you cut out a section of styrene sheet or credit card to the required length and width.
   *You can get fancy and cut out the base so it fits snugly, at all corners but I find this a waste of time since I have no intention of looking at the underside of my customs anytime soon
5. Measure twice cut once!. Again confirm you have the length right and of course that the height difference (if any) has been catered for.
6. You can see in this side image how I have used the positioning of the styrene sheet on each end to cancel out the height difference found in 2: and 3:
7. Place your casting over your new base and cross your fingers it fits :p
8. Do a happy dance

Some Painting and Detailing Later…

But What About Those Wheels?!

I said earlier that this build was pretty straight forward and that nothing really interesting happened but that was so far from the truth it makes me wonder why my legs aren’t burnt from the pants I was wearing – but I digress. Nope, this build is definitely an interesting one because apart from having to create my own base I also had to create my own wheels after a bit of an incident involving some delicious custom wheels I had purchased.

Lots of Dish, But Even More Yelling!

What was supposed to be Hellasweet turned out to be Yellasweet when I attempted to feed my own axles through the tiny holes in the custom wheels I bought* What was supposed to be my moment of glory as I gave this Low-Lux that final touch of freshness turned into something like this…

So yeah that sucks dogs balls. Big sweaty hairy ones…. but being the optimist that I am I instantly knew that all was not lost. For whilst I had lost the inserts from these wheels I still had a shiny concaved dish outer rim with which to work with.
*Note that the issues I found with these wheels have since been resolved and I will actually be making them (there are 31 designs in total) available through my online store in the coming weeks. Stay tuned and of course make sure you are subscribed so you get first pick 😉

So I cued the music and took myself back – way back to a time when I was custom making my own deep dish wheels using MBX inserts… and #nekminnit…

And then…

With new custom made shoes and base it was time to put this Hilux where it belonged – back on the ground.

Hellaflush Custom Toyota Hilux

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