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

SHOENICE

 

Anybody have any pics of a white first gen with bronze wheels? My wheels need repainting and I'm not sure I wanna do gun metal again

 

^^ I don't have a pic, but I'd say do it they'd be sick

 

Today I finished putting on the bebuilt head and new exhaust manifold. Truck started right up with no issues. My ’97 2.4L Tacoma with 240K miles wouldn’t pass CA smog. Turned out cylinder #3 only had 30 psi and had a cracked exhaust manifold. I removed the head and took the head down to discountcylinderheads in Colton (909) 825-8631. For $363 I got the head tested, the 8 exhaust valves reground and a complete head gasket set. The rest of the head looked really good with no obvious wear on the cams. I always change the oil and filter so no surprise here. I got a new exhaust manifold with heat shield from http://www.partsgeek.com/ for $100. Total cost of the fix was less than $500 with my labor. The lower end looked very solid, no wear on cylinders. I expect to get another 100K plus miles on my ’97 Tacoma and my ’97 Tacoma gets 30mpg. No new Tacoma gets this mileage so I thought it worth fixing. BTW I haven't replaced the clutch yet so that will be my next project if I ever get around to it as the clutch still works OK.

Don Clement
Running Springs, Ca

 

Washed waxed and detailed, all mud/dirt finally removed from the underside, and working removing surface rust. then I'm going to hit it with the undercoating. I want to cherish this moment, I dont think shes ever going to be this clean again.

 

Under the hood lighting,perhaps?

 

did you go back with the stock cast manifold or did you get an 01-04 header style manifold??

 

i was able to 'spin' mine so that they were parallel. loosen the lock nut just enough to allow movement and i used a long pair of needlenose pliers to grab the back, black part of the bulb to rotate them, then lock them back down. probly not a prefered method but it worked for me. yours seem to be tilted down pretty far but your factory adjustment knob may just need to be backed out for that

 

I got the whole kit from www.theretrofitsource.com there is a group by no here it's a good deal. I pretty much did what u explained above this morning and it worked but now they are slanting the other way, ill have to do it tonight up against a wall.

 

Anyone know if its a good idea to paint my rims? there chrome right now but there are some peeling spots on them. does spray paint hold up good? if so for how long?

 

I spray painted mine January of 13' and I've touched them up maybe two times needing a third touch up now but for the most part I don't regret doing it. The only real problem I've had is when using the pressure washer it will chip the paint off a bit, but you can just buy another spray can and touch it up

 

I know you asked for a white taco. When I test fitted for 35s dude let me use his bronze rim. SICK! If I didn't have trail teams I would get some bronze.

 

does the paint look good when you touch it up or is it sloppy?

 

I went with a $100 Dorman clone cast manifold that included a gasket. Anything but Toyota dealer parts that are quality and affordable is what I went for. In fact the San Bernardino Toyota dealer does everything it can to make it hard to buy parts from them. They essentially don't want you to fix your old Toyota and are trying to sell you a new one. First off you can't just phone in an order for parts using a credit card. You have to physically visit the dealer to order parts. Then they have filled up all the parking spaces near the parts dept. with new vehicles. It is as if they are giving older Toyota owner the bird.

Don Clement

 

Older picture of my rig, and its not white, but I painted my stock wheels bronze.



I used dupicolor wheel paint, and spent a lot of time cleaning and wet sanding before painting. Only issue I've had with chipping is on the plastic center cap. Power washed them countless times and never had an issue. Just be prepared to spend plenty of time prepping, that's the important part.

 

Here's the first one I did, did no prep other than wiping it down with a rag... if I like how they look when there done I'll redo them when they start to chip

 

And yes the color came out way brighter than I thought it would...

 

Pro comp



Rock Crawler Series 87 Steel

• Wheel Size
• 16 x 8
• 6 on 5.5 Bolt Pattern
• Backspace=3.75
• Finish=Gloss Black
• Part number PCW87-6883T is a Non-Stock Special Order part
• Minimum Order Quantity of 4 with No Returns
• 6-8 Week ETA on all Orders

http://www.4wheelparts.com/Wheels/S...&t_s=209&t_pt=100021&t_pn=PCW87-6883T&step=2b

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pcw-52-6173/overview/

 

looks good. thanks

 

Dang. I'm selling my 305 70 16s. Less than 2000 miles on them. Wish you lived closer!