MatosTaco's Build Thread

No worries lol

 

I've been making some progress with the brackets lately. Mostly just massaging them with a hammer so they sit straight. I've got the caliper centered almost perfectly over the rotor. Unfortunately, it is still at a weird angle. Looking at it from the front, the bracket tilts outward so I will need to fix that. I would love to just have one machined from a solid billet so it would automatically be true.
20210420_172159 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I forgot to mention that I welded the brackets this past week. Unfortunately, I didn't get any post weld shots, I just went straight to the bench grinder and smoothed them out. Here's my weld setup though.


I clamped all the metal parts in the vise and then cut grooves where they meet by using an angle grinder

20210416_180314 by Jose, on Flickr


Did the same thing on the underside

20210416_180330 by Jose, on Flickr


Here's a top part after welding the underside. I pretty much took this one, post weld picture because I loved the blue and purple colors that came out.

20210416_181333 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I got a hold of a spare MKIV Supra 3 spoke steering wheel, so I ordered a new leather wrap for it and did the install. The final product left a lot to be desired, particularly because the stitching was too close to the edges on some parts of the leather and I ended up with uneven stitching throughout. Overall, it does look good and I realize most people aren't as detail oriented as I am, so I'm sure most would like it. I also ordered an alcantara wrap for my other MKIV 3 spoke. We will see how that turns out.

20210422_105728 by Jose, on Flickr

20210422_170336 by Jose, on Flickr

20210423_182559 by Jose, on Flickr

20210425_202924 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Looks good man. I'm just dipping my toe into the water on the thread and I love what I've seen so far. Your truck is my truck's twin man. 96, 5 lug, Pewter Pearl, Xtra cab, Base model, Manual transmission with the chrome trim. Haha, the only difference I've seen is mine is the 6 cylinder (and mine is beat to hell, haha). Never seen one like it ever so I thought that was pretty cool. Really cool thread man. Love to see people taking the time to do build threads! Also good to see another fellow 3D printer on here!

 

Thank you! It's really rare to find someone else with a Pewter Pearl truck, I would love to see a picture.

 

I think it looks pretty good, i really think once the sun gets to it and the leather shrinks a bit it will be perfect!

Getting ready to rewrap my wheel too, redline has nice stuff

 

The real big issue for me is that the leather didn't fully close over the right side spoke. However, I have a small piece of leather I plan to lay in there while I redo the stitching in that area. It should look perfect at that point.

 

While I wait on my alcantara wrap for the other wheel, my truck does need to be driveable. For this reason, I went ahead and put the steering wheel in.

Here's the truck without a steering wheel
20210426_162025 by Jose, on Flickr

First order of business was to clean as the clockspring was filthy with dust
20210426_162236 by Jose, on Flickr

Here's the wheel installed
20210426_163119 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I need to give my interior a deep cleaning in order for it to match the wheel. However, I love how it matches my interior. The stitching is pretty spot on to the grey of the interior and the black of the leather goes with everything else.
20210426_163156 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Sure! Although she is not in the condition of yours. It was used as a farm truck for many years so its dented and banged up everywhere. Just bought it back in January and have been working on it a little bit here and there over the weekends. So far not much. New OEM plugs and wires, lower control arm, cleaned out the EGR valve and replaced the modulator, a bunch of vacuum lines were just falling apart, so I replaced those. Cleaned and redid the AC system to get it all working as it should. A bunch of wiring had been hodge-podged, so I have redone a bit of that as well. A bunch of other little stuff as well that's probably not worth mentioning.

Pulled out the front end a little bit so some things would line up a little better. Still needs a new bumper and grill.



Mine also doesn't have cruise control or steering tilt either like yours. She's pretty plain-jane, but I am not complaining! I have wanted one of these little trucks for many years.

 

Nice! Nothing a little bodywork can't fix. Mine is about due for some paint work since the clear has hazed up top somewhat. I plan to get it done by a really good shop and then drop it off for ceramic coat.

 

I told myself I wasn't gonna get carried away with this project, and not try to make it perfect like I've tried to do with all my other past project cars. I wasn't planning on repainting it and just letting it be, but I keep catching myself thinking like 'what if I just replace the hood and fenders and then have it painted?'. Haha it never ends.

 

Yup, the slippery slope leading to a black hole is quite steep in the car world lol!

 

Got a new helmet for autocross and track days
https://youtu.be/oRv_IOvBuC4

 

Made a video covering the process of the Supra steering wheel wrap
https://youtu.be/qkuEXlFkuD8

 

I ended up snagging a couple more steering wheels at a good price

20210505_164220 by Jose, on Flickr


This one is a MOMO off a Lancer Evo, I plan to leather wrap it and sell it to a friend

20210505_170701 by Jose, on Flickr

 

However, the Lexus wheel is the one that really has me excited. It's the same steering wheel as the Supra one, save for the Lexus emblem and steering wheel buttons! I'm going to use these to control the volume and change tracks on my radio. As you can see, the center section is interchangeable.

20210505_170552 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Lol u think like me my wheel is similar but the celica and I used the up / down button for my power windows! Hey they already say up/down lol

 

That's a pretty good use for them as well! Very convenient. I would like to see pictures/video of that.