High mileage owner, mod mileage truck

Hi all, I'm a 74 year old kid and this Tacoma is my 6th straight pickup starting with a used 1974 Mazda B1600. I drove it 115,000 miles before I bought a small camper trailer and needed a bit more power. A new 1983 Toyota SR5 with the 2200cc motor lasted another 135,000 and so on. The 2004 Ford (bought new) that I traded for the Tacoma had 262,000 on the clock. The 2009 Tacoma I bought in 2014 had 61,000 and had been bought, serviced (like clockwork), and traded in to the same dealer. I've added 54,000 miles to the total so I am a bit over 3/4 million miles total. This was a real BASE model truck and now I'm looking to make some small improvements to it (i.e., intermittent windshield wipers, a backup camera to the tailgate, etc). Nothing big yet, but I thought it would be good to get some inputs from other owners. I know both the wipers and camera were available but thought there might be a better way than "stock" parts (which my dealer seems to think are gold plated - $$$, LOL). So, I'm off to the "Search" feature for my first Toyota adventure in quite a long time.

When I'm not driving the truck, I could be racing my 100cc 1964 Honda motorcycle at the Bonneville Salt Flats (Utah) or El Mirage dry lake (SoCal). I am also rebuilding a 1973 Opel GT right now and am detailing my 1952 MGTD (with special coachwork) so I can enjoy driving it again (12 years in storage). The TD has a 2300 cc Ford engine in place of the 1250 stock version from MG and it sports an automatic trans (in place of the 4 speed) along with a wheelbarrow full of other upgrades! If you are realy bored, I can supply some pics but want to stay "on task" at first! When I wasn't playing with my own cars, I designed a few cars and a motorcycle for friends to play with at Bonneville. I'm a retired aeronautical engineer so I design the outer body panels (not so much with the mechanicals).

Looking forward to learning more about my current vehicle!

Doug (aka slracer)

 

Welcome aboard

 

Welcome to TW Doug

post some pics

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld!

 

OK Bigdaddy, here is a first try. The 1952 MGTD was originally a roadster (cut away doors and removable side curtains). It also had a foldable windshield. Prior to WW2 the factory offered a Drop Head Coupe version which had special doors and windup windows along with a fixed windshield for 40% more than stock! These were called Tickford DHCs and the company that built them went on to build for Aston Martin (more big $$$). I always loved them except there were "too many '0s' in the price". I had a parts car in my shop so decided to build my own! The pics show how it looks now. I was in CA when I built it (AZ now) so it got Burled Redwood rather than the more traditional Walnut. With no further ado (I hope) here are some pics! thanks for asking! -- Doug

I hope this works as I was getting some strange results!

 

Looks great. Got the TW picture deal down.

 

LOL I thought I was just sending the thumb nails!

 

Welcome to TW!!

 

Welcome!

 

Welcome to the forums!

 

Thanks to all for the "Welcoming Parade"!

 

Welcome to TW!