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

Found a real nice 5 Lug up on Oregon last Spring...drove it all the way back to South Carolina (I learned to detest those 60/40 Bench Seats....I'm only 5'8" and the seats are too low to the floor...ass and back hurt like Hell when I got home). Put two new bucket seats in from a wrecked Scion TC, new carpeting, fixed minor body work (frame and undercarriage was spotless with 150,000 miles). Put an add a spring and front spacers which gave me about a 2" lift. 235/R16 tires and rims. Rebuilt the front end (Ball joints/tie rods, shocks..etc)...then had it painted in Quicksand Beige, spray on liner, new front and back bumpers and a bakflip cover.

 

He seems a bit underwhelmed

 

No rust in Tucson...so that's a plus. As an aside, my frame is perfect, lol.

How the heck did you do it so fast?

 

Cali, so no rust here either.

Was aware of the transmission dipstick tube removal; I've pulled the pan on both my A340s before.

The brake line bracket I had read about as well to pull through the wheel well.

Undoing those and the harness/plug took all but 5-10 minutes tops.

The tricky part was the multiple extensions I used to go over the crossmember to ensure I went straight forward with my socket (to remove the 2 bolts holding the starter). I did not want to risk rounding off these bolts.

Top bolt, only 2 extensions -



Bottom bolt, several more -



Once undone, dip the starter towards the rear and downward, then pull up and out through the wheel well.

Super cheap to rebuild -





Even faster to reinstall.

 

Knowing my luck, all the bolts would break off.

 

Ha yeah probably.

Stud extractor and an impact make quick work of that though.

 

They make a backflip for 1st gens?

 

They do, and it fit like a glove....installation took less than an hour and very straightforward. Here's the link..https://shop.redline360.com/product...6' Bed (73.0") (1996-2004) Tonneau 226403 × 1
I paid $880 for mine...now their listing it for $1069. I just got it a few days ago...I found them (Reline360.com) through a google search. Packaged well and it arrived in a week...free shipping.

 

Probably the coolest flatbed I've seen on a 1st gen

 

That receiver looks sketchy

 

It's the Curt universal one. Probably fine for what a Tacoma can handle

 

Are those method nv 305’s?

 

Yeah that's pretty clean.

 

That's pretty coooooool

 

Taking advantage of the summer and doing a front end refresh in and amongst other maintainence items.
Did an oil change and over the past week I replaced the original cataracted headlights with new ones (love the difference that made!) refinished the headlight filler pieces inside and out, replaced the dinged and rusty chrome bumper filler, (not a great fit but not awful and looks way better IMO,) and cleaned, prepped, primed and painted the faded to grey, no amount of Armor-All will restore it bumper cover back to matte black. New grille is on order to replace the plastic-chrome-peeling original and should be here tomorrow or Wednesday.
Reassembled pics forthcoming.

 

Replaced / relocated busted wiper fluid reservoir in preparation for aftermarket bumper
Thanks for the nice writeup Blackdawg
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...trail-rig-and-bs.159436/page-385#post-8802626


Replaced spray nozzles with drop in fan spread adjustable Honda nozzles

Cleaned contacts on master switch for intermittent driver window issues. Lots of small parts in this thing.... go slow and take photos!

New Plugs and wires. Driver side electrodes showed more wear than passenger side

 

out with clock, in with charger..

 

Yup. Gonna need one of those

 

Finished up a ton of work. Spc’s, lbj’s, por15’d the rear axle and bumper. Diffs fluid change. Mounted some S1’s on the rear bumper. Blacked out the canopy side glass with vinyl, and then ran power to the bed of the truck for my cooler.. ready for 3.5 weeks ripping through the Kootenays up to the Shuswaps, and then up to the BC/ Alaska border along the coast. Can’t wait!

 

Is it just me or the block of wood on the jack is a bit sketch? I don't see a safety jack?