Polishing a turd

recently came into possession of an '08 DCSB PreRunner.

Paint is shot, even if it does buff the hail dents in roof and hood and ground in grime on doors and bed sides negate any real paint resurrection.
It was a fleet truck, 255k on it, 160mile round trip daily for over 6 yrs. not really hauling much, occasional 500-700 lb load in bed. Run on synthetics most of its life, engine is surprisingly quiet once it's warmed up.

Dirty, I don't think it was ever really cleaned under hood save for maintenance points. I did change plugs the other day, was surprised it had been done, recently let alone at all though after having talked to the driver, he did regular maint. Just not much cleaning under hood.

Which brings me to my first question, spray it down with Simple Green and hose it off, then blow out nooks and crannies? I'm going to blow out the loose crap first, just not familiar with this engine enough to know what's not so water proof and all.

Had several 22R/REs trucks and Runners, have a third gen Runner currently, always been reasonably clean. No need to hose it down. Same with old lady's a Camry SE.
your opine?
Pics of the Elderly

 

Looking at this on my phone but that really doesn't look that bad...

Congrats on the truck!

 

Nice! Yep, sounds good, got a car wash nearby? Dont spray directly on the fuse box etc. Can you get it on a ligt for a good underbody wash? Then you can clean the bottom of the engine/diffs and check for leaks.

I'd still give it a good solid wax, maybe a bar treatment first. Looks pretty good.

 

Where the inner fenders meet the cowl there is a metric crap ton of leaves, pine needles, probably animal carcus of some sort. Everything else has an inch of general dust and road grime.
Underside is pretty clean. Crawled under last week to inspect, new drive line, new tires, new windshield, no leaks to speak of, need to pull rear drums to check axle seals, been there with my Runners.

 

LOL, I like that. Better than saying 'Shitloads', more fun your way. A metric ton is more than a US ton.

1 US ton: 1
1 Metric ton: 1.10231131092

 

hood looks like a golf ball, as does roof,

200k on the '97 SR5 Runner and it still looks reasonably decent

roof dents, on seams both sides, and I don't think it's ever been washed

It's a 50 footer for sure. interior is dirty, grease and general use grime, driver seat has hole in it, looking for seat cover or full replacement seat.

AC works well, all power windows work, did the seat belt alarm disable last night ( thanks for that, annoying as f*** )

this is the newest Toyota truck I've had so lots to learn.

rebuilt rear diff, rebuilt front diff, replaced all suspension over the last couple years, replaced head gaskets on the 3.4 in my Runner last fall, will probably do clutch soon, I've had the parts for a couple years, it still works so why rush ?

 

ScanGauge installed and programed for trans temp, pair of Anzo BHLM headlights installed, cross bed tool box installed, trailer brake control mostly installed ( need to remake harness, the one supplied with controller is to short for the location I want, will cut end off and add Toyota supplied harness as extension).

also found a used set of Bilsten take offs from a '13 TRD Sport, cheap is good, only replaced the rears so far, but good night the ride is soooo much better

need to either order a set of Wheelers AAL or break out a bit more and get some Firestone bags.

have done nothing to the paint yet, too damn hot to be out in the sun busting ass like that, besides, I do that all week for work anyway.

 

Other than the hail damage I would say it looks pretty good for a fleet vehicle of that age and miles.

I have seen worse including under the hood.

Drive it and enjoy it.

 

some mods and improvements,
replaced shocks and struts and front springs with '13 TRD Bilsten take offs, MUCH better ride.

from @Swank 's Tacoma Parts Test Center & Clearing House I was able to replace the headlights with new ANZO Sport style units, found new hood in body color that wasn't golf balled

replaced HVAC lights with LED's, let there be LIGHT !

LED reverse lights, the Philips 921 White Vision, huge improvement.

installed brake control for camper in center console

installed Firestone Ride Rite airbags to hold camper up

 

Nice job, Blkvoodoo. I need to replace my backup lights. The OEMs just don't throw enough light to suit me. I'm guessing all I have to do is swap bulbs.

 

yeah, they aren't exactly cheap, but they're bright. Just be sure to seat them well in the socket, one of mine fell out, was fun trying to fish it out of the lens housing.