Toyota Tacoma Forum banner

New from New Mexico

4K views 22 replies 6 participants last post by  Mikerocosms 
#1 ·
Hello all,

I am a fairly regular member of ToyotaMinis forum and had signed up on here some time back for research purposes. Well now I have a 1996 Tacoma that I plan on bringing back to life.

Cant post pic due to minimum post count. :shrug: Will be back with pics.

I got it for $400 with a clean title. Yes is still runs too. It had no bed because the guy had sold it. Thing is he said the guy he sold it to left his old bed and I was welcome to it for free. I will make a "Back to Life" thread soon. Wish me luck.
 
#2 ·
Other than bringing it back to life, do you have any other plans for it? Can't wait to see the progress.:waytogo:
 
#7 ·
Welcome dude! YEAH....... Me likes :waytogo:That's a great model, looks like mine. I love extended cabs. Sky's the limit with her, I wish you good luck with your future plans with her. Whatever you do...you cant go wrong! Good starting point. Any help I can provide, I'm here for ya dude:cool:
 
#8 ·
Well, work has been slow on the Taco (Bernard). Got hit with a lot of bills and needed a little time to catch up. So all I really got done was a few basic things like making a few pulls on the old radiator support. Removing the radiator support and fenders. Now just need to do a little more pulls on the inner fenders and bumper mounts, weld on the new support and so on. Here are a couple of pics.


Got a used oem hood off craigslist at aftermarket price, almost had a bumper/valance combo too but that didn't fall through.

Ughhh, the post limit for pic links is killin' me.
 

Attachments

#9 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ok it's been a while but and I have slowly been making progress on Bernard. It's got a new radiator support and a few panels replaced. I've been doing all this on a strict budget, which means getting parts off craigslist and other sources whenever possible.

But occasionally the custom bug hits me so I do something I probably shouldn't (while on a budget). Like install 2000 Celica seats.



Anhow, here is an updated pic of Bernard. I've got a bumper too just need to do a little work to it as well.
 

Attachments

#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Ok this weekend I've been flushing the radiator, changing the belts, changing the water pump, painting the rear half of the frame and installing bilstein shocks.

I finally got the radiator to come out clean after a whopping 8 flushes before being able to add Toyota Red.

Now I'm going to add a 17" Hayden two speed fan in there. Will update when I get it. I'll also add height and size specs. Also I'll try and take a bunch of photos.

Here's the rear end at the moment. Spiffied up real nice.
*Edit* forgot to mention I added a small area of bedliner to the back wall of the extra cab. We were spraying a customer's vehicle and I had a little left over so I figured "why the hell not". At the very least it could help with sound deadening.
 

Attachments

#12 · (Edited by Moderator)
Well today I decided to swap out my busted up engine fusebox with a replacement I got at a yard ($50). Very same year and same numbers on the fuse box. While doing this I opted to also do a regular Big 3 upgrade with 4 gauge power wire from KnuKoncepts. I love their wire because it is so flexible and their prices are very reasonable.

These are pics of my busted up fuse box all three portions of it were heavily damaged/cracked but I'm only showing you the middle portion. I soldered and shrink wrapped every wire I spliced. The only ones left were the jumper wires that I didn't need to cut or splice.




Unfortunately when I ordered I ordered 4-0 gauge black ground wire. It was ridiculously massive. So I didn't get to complete the Big 3. I promptly ordered the correct wire today and it should be an easy fix later. But it sure did burn my feelings having to put back the original ground to the block.

Anyhow, here is what the 2/3 of the Big 3 looks like. Yes I removed the old OEM power wire because I hate old stiff ass wire. I did have to gently file the entrance hole to allow the 4 gauge wire to fit in. Only need a little filing. The exit portion after the 80 amp fuse required no filing and the wire fit like a glove (just barely).





I think next up will be wiring my dual speed electric fan. Then maybe try my hand at a HO alternator solution.
 

Attachments

#19 ·
Things are starting to move again with this truck. I just registered it (didn't want to have to pay insurance until it was close enough to drive). Just changed out my carpet, I went with a charcoal grey which is just a tad darker than what the truck originally came with. I also sound deadened the back and floor before applying the carpet. Pics below:








Unfortunately while I was looking at the engine I noticed that I had cracks in my exhaust manifold. They were pretty large so I went ahead and ordered a pacesetter header and OEM gasket. Will show that update possibly next week.
 
#20 ·
The other day I was looking in my engine bay and through the circular hole in the exhaust manifold's heat shield I noticed a crack. I removed the heat shield and saw this:




So I did some quick research and bought a budget header replacement by Pacesetter. From my reading I understood that it was a better idea to order the OEM gasket instead of using the Pacesetter gasket. They arrived yesterday so I quickly went ahead and stripped the black shipping primer on the headers (there is even a note stating that this primer is not heat resistant and will burn). After stripping all the black that I could, I scuffed and applied 1300 to 2000 degree high heat paint on them. Now I'm leaving them overnight to dry and possibly put on tomorrow if I get the chance.







My roll pan also showed up so I got to test fitting that too. I'll probably install that after I finish up the exhaust work.

 
#21 ·
A few updates:

I got the Pace Setter headers installed. It really changed the sound of my exhaust. I may look for a quieter muffler as I don't want it to sound like a growling grizzly bear everywhere I go.





I also welded and smoothed out the rough on my roll pan. I think it looks good.




Lastly I changed my front shocks, rotors and brake pads. That took me longer than I thought it would. Not to mention it was greasier than I thought it would be too. Sorry no pics on that one. I didn't want to touch my phone with all the grease and grime going on.
 
#22 · (Edited)
Finally got around to working on the tailgate. It was kinda beat up and full of weird stickers. I considered getting an aftermarket tailgate but thought that it would be a negative with thinner metal. So for about $20 more I was able to buy a tailgate skin from http://modshopinc.net

A simple skin minus the tailgate handle and using 18 gauge metal sounded way better than an aftermarket gate.

I started by removing the tailgate and drilling out the welds and chiseled off the upper inner lip.




Then I ground both sides and the bottom of the gate until it cut through the folds.




With the old skin set aside (I'll be cutting that handle mount out later to put on the inside of the gate), I wire brushed all of the old seam sealant and ground the areas that I was going to bond with my metal-bonding adhesive.





Tomorrow (or as soon as I get another chance) when the metal-bonding adhesive cures I'll add a few securing welds around the corners and such. Then I'll smooth them down a bit and re-seam seal around the edges where the old sealant was removed. So far it looks pretty good.
 
#23 ·
Well I finally finished re-skinning the tailgate and relocating the handle to the inside. There is not a lot of info on this nor are there a lot of pictures either. I think I know why. The original Tacoma handle is built with the little raise above it in mind. When I tried to relocate the handle onto a flatter surface the top inside part of the handle (where it swings) actually juts out beyond the level where the handle sits flat. I had to lower the handle to the lowest part of the stamp that I could and then still raise the the lower part so the handle would slide in and mount properly. If I had to do it again I would just use our earlier model truck handles that mount flush and weld the pivot arm from the Tacoma handle onto it. That would have saved me a ton more time and it would have mounted flush. Anyhow, here is how I have it as of right now. Yes I'm missing 8 access cover screws. That is how I got this tailgate when I bought it with the whole bed.





Ok, ok, now lets back up a bit. While I still had this truck on the frame pulling rack I thought to myself, "Why not just jump into it and change the oil pan gasket?" It has had a really slow leak ever since I had the truck and I always intended to fix it. So I adjusted my pants in the crotch area and went for it.

While researching, a guy StockO_taco mentioned that if you just dropped the sway bar and the front cross bar, then remove the transmission dust shield you should be good to go. I found his tip valid. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of the dust shield (necessary to access last two bolts on rear of pan) as things were very oily and dirty at that point and I didn't want to even touch my phone. Here is the gist of what happened yesterday:







I used about an 8" block of wood to keep the sway bar down low enough to easily remove and reattach the pan. I decided not to use a standard cork gasket, especially since that was what was already on there and it was still leaking. So I chose to use Permatex "The Right Stuff" Black gasket maker. I was very pleased. It went on easily and I was able to put oil in within ten minutes. So far overnight no obvious leaks are present.




Now to finish degreasing the engine area to make sure there are no other leaking spots...
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top