Millenium Falcon Taco Build

Awesome thread! Read through the whole thing! I'm in a very similar situation with my wife's daily driver 1984 vw rabbit convertible. It's going to be a whole new car by the time everything works properly. About to replace the roof.... A project I've been putting off as long as possible.

I much prefer working on my Tacoma because it's actually by choice!

 

@WormSquirts Thanks for reading through and commenting!

 

I'm in the same boat. I needed something like this to watch since Overhaulin' stopped doing new episodes. Chip Foose never did a Tacoma, but I'd love to see what they could do to a First Gen.

 

So I might be throwing in some progress with my 4Runner as well.
1995 4Runner 4WD SR5 5 Speed Manual
I purchased this from the original owner (My wife's Aunt)
It has about 260,000 original Kms on it, aprox 161,556 Miles.
It's been undercoated every other year.
The interior is impecable.
The engine has never been apart, aside from the timing belt and water pump replacement.
It has been lady owned and driven.
In this case the lady that owned it cared for it like the most insane car guy would.
And she drives it as gently as your granny would.
When ever it needed something it was replaced. She was meticulous with maintenance. She knew that there are 13 zerk fittings to grease when that came up as part of the maintenance schedule and would ask the mech how many he greased and if he said less than 13 he would be back in there doing the ones he missed.
She had two original sets of factory 15" alloy rims. One for summer and one for winter. The summer ones look new. They are the ones I have on my tacoma now actually.

Just checked the plugs today and did a compression test of one cylinder and stopped because it came up below Toyotas service limit...

Here is a pic of the plugs

 

IIRC, compression test can vary based off what equipment you use. Generally the rule of thumb is if all cylinders match, you should be ok. Run all the cylinders before tearing down the block

That cylinder with the deposits and cracked insulation is probably due to overheating which is of concern; you going to need to check that cylinder for sure. If that bank has low compression, my guess would be head gasket failure (from overheating). After replacing that, you're going to have to find out why its overheating. White deposit is usually from running lean which will cause overheating; you probably need to clean/replace your injectors.

The plugs are a perfect reason why "maintenance records" don't tell the whole story. While single grounded plugs are ok to run on this engine, its recommended to use double grounded plugs as this motor uses a wasted spark design. To use a single grounded plug, you have to halve the recommended life cycle to take into account these plugs will fire every two strokes. The maintenance tech definitely did not know/understand this. Makes you wonder where/how else they cut corners.

 

Any of the interior plastic still remain? I'm looking for the bottom of the B pillar driver side. In tan. Mine is broke

 

Great info @StAndrew

I thought the scaily buildup on the right middle spark plug was caused by burning coolant.
I was not aware the 3L required the dual electrode plugs in it just like the 3.4L

 

If your looking for one for your tacoma I'm not sure. If I do have one it would be grey.

 

Ah bummer. I figured while its in the body shop I'd find all the little odds and ends so when I get it back I can fix all the little stuff and have a perfect truck again.

 

Oh. Didn't know it was the 3.slow. No, I believe it has a distributor. Its also known for blowing head gaskets; GL.

 

Yup that's the one.
I am battleing with the option of putting a 3.4 in or replacing the head gaskets in the 3.0.
Although the truck has been looked after very well and this problem was picked up before the usual signs of problems were evident I was concerned about the bottom end.
I may dump the oil and check it out.

 

A common swap; the 3VZ wasn't the most popular engine. You have a manual or automatic trans?

If automatic, get a trans fluid cooler; they tend to overheat. Especially on the highway as the lockup clutch doesn't stay locked a whole lot. Also, replace your radiator with a good all aluminum radiator. The OEM ones tend to corrode at the automatic trans fluid heat exchanger in the bottom resulting in your trans fluid and coolant mixing, creating the "pink milkshake of death" in your trans.

A good read on maintenance of the 3VZ:

http://www.yotatech.com/f116/what-everyone-should-know-about-their-truck-3vze-187741/

 

Not sure if it applies to the 3.0 but my 3RZ needed a valve adjust, I haven't done a compression test to tell the difference, but my emissions CEL would pop every long hill before the adjust meaning lots of junk got past the valves. Now it's rare to have it throw a CEL.

 

Thanks @StAndrews

It is a 5spd Manual. The Radiator has recently been replaced, not sure if it's all aluminum as your suggesting.

 

Great, that alleviates half of the headaches; the auto trans was terrible! Overall the 3.0 is a bit sluggish and has its issues but its an ok engine. The 5VZ is many time better on all fronts, power, efficiency, and reliability, but an engine swap is kind of extreme. One project at a time, right?

 

Exactly man.
I am going to make room for the 4Runner in the shop and pick away at the engine. I am leaning toward the swap route but I think I'll need to source a 5 Speed ECU out of a vehicle that ran a 5VZ. The engine I have came out of an auto, I don't think that eco is any good for this application.

I found the following link a helpful with regards to a quick summary of doing the swap:

http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-truck-4runner/137361-5vz-fe-5vze-3-4l-v6-toyota-swap.html

 

I just replaced the rear shocks in the truck.


What a difference!
I've been motivated to attack the drivers upper ball joint now.
I have ordered some moog sway bar links and locally they cost an arm.

I have come to the conclusion that EVERY part of the suspension system on this truck was junk and needed to be replaced. EVERY part!
That's abuse if I ever did see it.

I'm planning on replacing the upper and lower control arm bushings with poly ones as well.

I also have the drivers strut assembly to replace so it matches what's on the passengers side.

For those who are thinking of saving money and buying a vehicle that needs work please take a realistic appraisal of what it could possibly need and see if you'll still feel it was a good idea in the end.

For me it was worth it as I'm starting to see the light at the end of this dark long tunnel.
I can find good prices on parts and I do most all the work myself so financially it's been doable little by little.
Having said that it's been hard mentally driving a vehicle around that clunks, bangs and leaks for such a long time.
I can't stand that stuff so it's been a 'nerves through the cheese gratter' experience.

More to come

 

Valid points. I mean, if I were looking at buying a lifted truck, I would probably want to replace all the bushings and stuff anyway at a minimum. No telling how many miles are on all that stuff down there. Bushings are cheap, compared to struts and shocks and leaf packs.

I'm thinking you should simply SAS it now.


Avoid all the strut issues....just sayin....

 

Thanks Quinton
It the moment I am super happy with the truck. It's normal now.
The next time suspension needs to be addressed I'll consider SAS.

*Cough* What is SAS?

 

Rearranging the shop.
Pretty exciting. I love doing this and I especially love the results!

I moved the 3 bikes so I could get at what's left of the parts truck.

Conna chop it down.