[Icecoast]

Wanted to start by saying thanks to all the members here who have contributed tons of information and thus given me the inspiration to do something with this truck besides drive it into the ground. This endeavor will probably cost more money than I want but hopefully we can all learn a thing or two along the way.

The truck is a 2002 "base" 5 lug 2rz W59 with just over 55k miles but probably triple that in run time and as you can see not a bit of caution was taken around the body.

It was used as a maintenance vehicle for a small housing complex and when they discovered the massive frame rot, decided to get rid of it. I happened to be at the right place at the right time and made an offer before it was scrapped.

Originally my plan was to patch the frame and use the truck for trips to the town dump and going to Home Depot.

Thanks to you guys, I'll be doing a bunch more.

 

[Icecoast]

First order of business was a solid cleaning, something it probably hasn't had since new. Got the bed box out, power washed and did a quick polish with Meguiars 83 and sealed with Meguiars 21.


I can't seem to figure out how to add images to post replies so I'm gonna leave this as a placeholder.

 

[Icecoast]

Okay. Pics seem to be loading today so I'll try and update a little more.

Nothing like a good wash/wax to change your mind about a beater truck.

 

[Icecoast]

Prior to my ownership the truck rarely made trips beyond a couple miles, the furthest they had to go was to a HomeDepot or Gas Station in the same town, so nobody really noticed how bad the frame rot had become. I couldn't believe it made it 40 miles on the freeway to my house like this. The only thing holding it together was the bed and leaf springs.

Took the bed off to inspect the damage and make some patches. Needle scaler did a good job of exposing the problem areas and I had to cut out a pretty substantial section on either side.

I didn't take a picture of the patch repair as I ran out of daylight and needed to pack up for the night. It still needs more work but at least I can move without worrying if its gonna fold in half.

 

[Icecoast]

This is where the beater truck turned into a "fun" project truck. I started searching old threads on CT and TW to find inspiration. At first I wanted to do a "Prerunner" style truck or at least lift it a little but the more I read it just made sense to go lower. Being a 5Lug leaf-under axle is also the cheaper and easier option.

I made the lowering blocks from some scrap 2x3" tube, 1/4" plate and a U-Bolt kit from Summit.

Front was just a balljoint flip but I did make some changes and I'll post that info later if it works. Suspension drop should be 3/3" but I got rained out and haven't finished the front passenger side.

Wheels were a marketplace deal, Borbet 7x17 et38 with 215/50r17 tires.

 

[Icecoast]

I don't plan on registering the truck until next year when its free from emissions and can don classic plates. Currently I have new balljoints, tie-rods, shocks and struts ready to be installed but I'm holding out until winter breaks to install them. There might be some FI going on so stay tuned.

 

[Little White Taco]

Congratulations on a sweet Taco my friend! Truck looks awesome! Mine is a 2001, I’m in L.A. so frame rust is not an issue. The 2rz is a better and improved version of the legendary 22R/ 22RE. These little 2.4 Tacomas are bulletproof and will last forever.

 

[Icecoast]

Spent some time over the last 2 weeks working on the exhaust, both cats were replaced recently but the mid and rear pipes have seen better days. Ended up getting rid of the rear cat pipe and went 2.5in from the front cat to a Borla pro XS and over the axle. I initially wanted to just do a pre-axle dump but after installing the muffler and hearing the drone in the cab while at idle I knew it couldn't be left that way. Hopefully tomorrow I can grab some SS rod to make the hangers and finish it up.

 

[Icecoast]

http://imgur.com/a/qWsT0Lz

 

[Little White Taco]

Sounds bad ass! 🛻🔥🔥🔥

 

[Icecoast]

Still need to extend the exit and bend up a hanger but the exhaust is nearly done. My welds kinda suck, it's my first time using 110v mig on stainless with trimix and I don't think its hot enough to ignite the helium. Whatever, it holds and it's an exhaust for a beater.

 

[Icecoast]

 

[Icecoast]

I had some free time at work so I decided to play with a hybrid turbo. Hot side housing is from a Mitsubishi with a t25 flange and fits the 16g, I got it a while back on eBay and have no clue what its from. The core and cold side are for a Volvo v60 with the T6 motor, it's a k16: compressor 47in/65ex, turbine 49in/55ex. From the calculations I've made it should preform pretty close to an EFR 6258 but have a little more lag.

To mate the exhaust housing and core I needed to make a spacer/adapter and on the compressor side I made an adapter to go from the Volvo Electronic CBV to a previous generation of Pressure CBV.

I still need to make a bracket to hold the Wastegate and I have a new clamp for the center housing on order.

 

[Icecoast]

Messed around with a cheap Specter brand universal intake pipe. I had a gift card and some discount codes through Advance Auto and a length of 3" silicone from my Volvo. The pipe needed an indentation to clear the coil pack and I had to make a bracket to rotate the factory airbox/MAF to get everything to line up. I need to order some better clamps and possibly a reducer coupling for the pipe to TB just to clean it up.

 

[Icecoast]

Installed some AEM gauges I picked up off FB marketplace. White face cluster is from a 6cyl so the tach is off but I have plans to send that out and get adjusted along with correcting the mileage.

 

[Icecoast]

Made some changes to the intake, cheap MAF to 3" pipe adapter and an old filter from another car.

Most of this work is probably pointless but it gives me something to tinker on when I get home from work.

I made an attempt at welding up the turbo manifold but wasn't satisfied with the penetration from my 110v mig. Ended up cutting it apart, tacking it back together and sending it over to my brother to Tig. Hopefully he gets it back to me in a couple weeks and I can keep making slow progress.

The turbo itself is almost complete. I had to graft a couple different clamps together to make something that fit as the apex width with my spacer/adapter is much wider than standard sized automotive v-band clamps.

I used the inner clamping surface from the left-most clamp and the band on top. It took a bit of grinding to get everything fitting properly but it's tight and should work.

Without mocking it up in the truck I'm not 100% sure where the waste gate will need to be so its only bolted on one end and the other will need a custom bracket. The v-band flange adapter is a cheapy from amazon (I couldn't justify the extra $100 and time to make an ATP flange work).

 

[Icecoast]

Machined a lip in the Amazon turbine adapter flange to work with male/female style v-band flanges.

 

[Icecoast]

Picked up a blem/returned roll pan off eBay pretty cheap and moved the bed into my workshop to fit it. My shop is an absolute mess and I really should be working on cleaning it up instead of making room to work on this.

 

[Icecoast]

I took Fridays off for the month of March and it was pretty nice out yesterday so I finished up with the front suspension. Nothing crazy just replaced upper/lower balljoints, tie rod ends and installed new shocks. The only thing I did different that I hadn't seen mentioned before was to use the old upper ball joints as a spacer in the upper control arm when doing a ball joint flip.

Old joint cut and painted.

Back in its original location.

I feel a bit safer knowing its the exact size and all four bolt holes are tied together vs stacked nuts and washers.

 

[Icecoast]

I also installed an LCEngineering short shift kit, no pictures or anything but I wanted to note that the rear most bolts are much easier to access from underneath the truck than through the small tunnel opening.