What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

I meant like all the posts, all at once ha.

 

Tossing this out there as I don't remember which 1st gen has done this:
Manually operated cabled engaged locking rear diff.
It takes the electronics out of the failure rate and no air lines...

 

I saw a write up from someone that had done that over on Pirate I think it was, or maybe Ih8mud. Don't think I've seen anyone on here with it but there might be

IIRC they used the handle/cable for the e-brake

 

Should CV joints click when turning the wheel when it’s off the ground?

Just installed a CVJ axle and it clicks when I rotate the tire when the truck is on stands. Doesn’t make noise when the tires are on the ground though.

 

Finished my horn install. Works like a champ!

 

As we ticked away the miles, there were two things going through our minds: first - how beautiful it was down here at bottom of the canyon. A bit further north, the sun was now out again, the temperatures were in the 80°F's, and the many-greens-of-spring were all around us. Second - where was this horrible road that we'd been warned - and become so excited - about?!

It's all covered in the full story, complete with photos: Hells Canyon Part 3 - Dug Bar, "Gold Mines," and Horses

read about it in: Hells Canyon Part 3 - Dug Bar, "Gold Mines," and Horses

see the whole trip report: [part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4] ​

 

I wished they had a better shifter, that thing is HUGE!

 

Used some DEI cool tape to repair some tattered ends and otherwise clean up the heat shield. It started getting dark and I will examine in the morning before calling it done. The trick to using DEI COOL tape to repair the heat shield is to wipe down the body and the heat shield material with acetone so both are squeaky clean so the tape will form a good bond between the body and the foil material.



DEI Cool Tape Demo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8YnjooSn_o

 

Installed a new rear main seal. Putting it in the freezer for 30 minutes before installation with a thin film of grease on the metal contact surface let it slide into place like magic.

 

Bought some tail lights from a wrecker to replace the crappy aftermarket ones I've had on for years. So far, got everything working except the left signal...

 

Dropped in the new engine today. On to finishing the details and reworking the wiring harness tomorrow and through the weekend.

Way up on the boom and over the hump.



C'mon baby, let's do the twist. They always like to face south when I need them to face east. I twisted this one into position.



As soon as I lowered the engine and bolted it up to the bell housing, I changed the engine brace position from rear to front. That let me send the hoist back to the garage.



Torqued up the bell housing bolts. The guide pins made mating the engine to the transmission go smooth considering all of the opportunities for things to go wrong during an engine drop.



After bolting up the bell housing, I set the black bolt in the torque converter. It became dark outside so I called it a day. To be continued tomorrow.

 

I use their sleeves a lot. Insulated the LP line on my AC, cleaned up wires near headers, etc. They make a good product

 

Is there something specific you need to do with the flywheel and torque converter when mating them? Looks like there is based off of your last picture. I'm going to be swapping in a new engine in a week or so and wasn't aware of this.

 

Here's a video that explains the different bolts black vs gold and why the black bolt should be the first to be installed.

Once the black bolt has been installed first, the other bolts will line up for easy installation. The eight flywheel/flexplate bolts and the six torque converter bolts are "one time use". Be sure to get your order in early. I had trouble getting the flywheel/flexplate bolts. Get a tube of RED thread locker for the bolts.

I use paint to mark the bolts that have been properly torqued. You'll see how the factory does that when you remove the old engine.

Here's a video about the black torque converter bolt and their purpose.

https://youtu.be/O80aTszV3hc

Here's a video about clocking the torque converter. Be sure you rotate the torque converter back and forth until you get two alignment clicks and the torque converter sets back inside the bell housing as shown in the picture below.

https://youtu.be/g3wcwAdkdK4

Once I got the torque converter clocked, I used a metal bracket to hold it in place so I wouldn't lose my clock position. I slid out the metal bracket after I knew the torque converter was mating with the crankshaft. Note that a flat/straight piece of metal works better than the one that I used.

It helps to get the flex plate aligned with a bolt hole in the torque converter in the 6 o'clock position before installation so you can start the black bolt without having to move the torque converter around. Note that I scuffed up the bell housing to engine mating surface with sandpaper so it will be clean and promote good grounding with the engine.

 

Outstanding photos, and it looks like an awesome adventure. Thanks for sharing.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...to-challenge-june.613274/page-5#post-20806433

 

Thanks a ton

 

My bed rack from @turbodb arrived via Greyhound and I picked it up yesterday. Here is the first test fit from this morning. Looks good, and feels solid. Needs to be cleaned up and painted. Was considering powder coating, but if I want to make mods, then painting allows me more options. Looks great. Thanks Dan.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/turbodb-fabbed-bed-racks.508173/



Oh yea, and my new KM3s (from TireBuyer) were dropped shipped to my local tire shop today and get installed tomorrow morning. After over 50K mike, still plenty of tread on 2 of my old KM2s and will go to my M416 when I convert it to 6 lug, and one of the worn KM2s still has enough to be a full size spare for the Taco.

 

If you can afford it, PC it. Easy to grind off and paint over it if you weld something on. The PC will be way better and way lower maintenance all around.

 

Yea, but will paint first, then once/when mods done, take to the local PC shop. Both my rear bumper and front bumper are powder coated and I love it, just wish my welded on sliders were. The whole truck will get repainted soon - all bumpers removed, de-badged, glass and trim removed, etc. - sliders will get repainted then, and will ask about the frame too.