Standard's 03 DC OR - Rusty returns

Lol I JUST posted the link over on the NOVA thread too.

 

Wow!!! This Taco looks brand new now. The restoration must have taken some time!!!

 

Thanks! The truck took about 5 months of mostly dedicated work to get back into nearly new form. As of right now I only have 58K miles on it so it should last a very long time.

 

Installed some engine splash guards from Gear Tech Customs today. @cnote4l hooked me up. My old splash guards were virtually non-existent. Here's what the wheel well looked like before:


I pulled out what little (very little) remained of my existing ones:

Getting the old mounting clips on was not easy - the few that were left had been painted over with a couple coats of POR-15 (in my case) so it too a little bit of time with a blade screwdriver and heavy needle nose pliers to convince them to get out. I think I managed to recover 3 of the original clips in usable form.

The PROTECH 1st gen splash guards are nice thick rubber, far better than what originally came with my truck (I assume):


Just a quick thickness comparison:


Installation on a first gen is a little bit of a challenge - there are specific driver / passenger sides and it's not immediately obvious which is which. In addition, one of the front areas on either side wrap around the coil over tower which--since I didn't have existing ones to use as a reference--took a while to figure out.

Once you know where each one goes, just push the clips into the holes in the new guards, then it's ready to install:


For the most part you just line up the top part of the splash guard, push those in and then follow the lines around. You may have to use a small hammer or mallet to convince some of the clips to go in. I also had one hole (front bottom, driver's side) that didn't line up properly - everything else lined up great. Here's the finished product:



Overall I'm very happy with the splash guards. Should help keep things a little cleaner and definitely makes the wheel wells looks more complete.

 

Looking good! Are the mounting holes in different locations for the driver/passenger side? They were identical for my 2nd gen.

 

Different - the two sides each have pretty different patterns.

 

Nice write up! I PMd you more in depth but would like to paste this here for others to reference too as well.
(Driver side below)

I went thru and pin pointed all the mounting points that are intended to be used on the driver side splash guard.

Above you'll notice a Blue, Orange and Yellow Arrow:

Orange is pointing to the mounting point on the frame that is intended to be used (you should see 2 holes on the frame there, you'll need to use the higher hole of the 2)

Sidenote* You may've noticed a couple holes that were slightly offset. This is intended to "force" slack into the splash guards to accommodate for body/frame flexing.

Blue is just pointing to another mounting point that is hidden behind/around the UCA.

Yellow is pointing out another mounting point on the shock tower that should be used to let the guard wrap around and fasten too.

1st Gen Tacomas and 3rd Gen 4Rs have designated drive and passenger side splash guards. This is due to the mounting position of the factory fender liners on those models. 2nd and 3rd Gen Splash Guards are universal like you mention, each piece fits either side

 

Hey just curious after all this done to the truck, what do you put a dollar value on it? Beautiful truck btw!

 

Mentioned this in the PM but so others see it, I never noticed that hole higher up! That pic with those mount points called out will be important for anyone with an older 1st gen that probably doesn’t even have any splash guards left. Thanks @cnote4l!

 

Realistically? No idea. My intent is to keep it forever. If someone walked in today and offered me $30K for it (which someone would have to be insane to do) I’d think about it for a few minutes and say no. It would have to be enough to buy a new TRD Pro and those things aren’t cheap. Plus I love the lines, size and capabilities of the 1st gems too much.

 

Nice rig Standard. Good call in going with a CA donor vehicle.
It would kill me to see rust on my truck... being from CA, I have none to speak of.

In regards to your not selling the truck, good for you. You simply cannot replace the 1st gens. Like you, I will never sell mine.

Great work and I applaud your efforts.

 

Thanks @Ritchie, I appreciate that! Restoring an older vehicle and using it on a daily basis is pretty damn gratifying. We’ve lived in this disposable society for so long it’s nice when you can keep something around for a while.

 

OK, so I bought a tool holder for my

Smittybilt 40505 Defender 4' X 5' Rack Bolt Together Roof Rack, 1 Pack

Smittybilt 40505 Roof Rack - the

Axe & Shovel Mount & Adapter

D8138 Axe and Shovel Mount (also from Smittybilt). Got that installed and rather quickly pulled it off and returned it. Why?

The Good: Super heavy duty, lockable, matched the fit and finish of my roof rack perfectly
The Bad: Expensive
The Ugly: Impossible for one person to use for two tools, which it is designed to handle.

Bottom line was it just didn't work for me - trying to get two tools into that mount and not have them fall down on to the side of my truck or crush my skull was impossible. Worked fine for a single tool but since I want to run an axe and a shovel, it wasn't worth it. Took it off, sent it back, got the refund. Instead I decided to go with two pair of

$15 END OF ROAD Original Quick Fist Clamp for mounting tools & equipment 1" - 2-1/4" diameter, 2 Count (Pack of 1) - 0010

Quick Fist Clamps.



These rubber clamps are heavy duty, under $11 / pair, had excellent reviews and are made in the USA

They are single screw / bolt in clamps so you do need to buy a little hardware for them. I picked up some #10-24 1" flat head machine screws and nylon lock nuts at Home Depot:


After putting the mounts on both my axe and shovel and using that as a guide I was able to determine the two places they would mount up on the side of the rack. I put a piece of masking tape on the rack side wall (since it's black) so that it was easier to mark for drilling:


Drilled the hole and then mounted the rubber bracket. The bracket comes with a small nylon insert that sits between the screw and the rubber base:


Only problem with this is you torque it down very much (it's going to be holding a 4.5lb axe after all - don't want it coming loose), the little nylon insert snaps in half:


Bad Ju Ju. So I went commando since the rubber base is actually pretty tough and the screw head flaring out didn't penetrate at all into the rubber base.


Once mounted both the axe and shovel are really easy to attach and release, yet feel very secure when mounted:



Only downside is that since this cannot be locked, I can't keep my tools on all the time. Probably better not to carry them around everywhere because of the extra weight (that's what I tell myself anyway) but I'll likely find some way to lock these guys into place because they are nice to have handy. In the meantime the grips can just lock down and don't look odd:

 

Quick fists are da bomb! I think I have 4 different kinds on my truck (when my rack is installed). Regular quickfists, quick fist mini, long arm, and the super quickfist.

 

I think I saw every single one of those Bruce Lee movies.

 

Ba dum tss

 

They are not very theft deterrent!

 

Had to detail Rusty today, too nice outside.

 

Getting about time to document some UCA and driveshaft maintenance.

 

Sweet build! I just finished the Safe-T-Cap install on mine. Overall happy, jealous of a complete swap!