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

Lol sorry to worry ya! you should be just fine with a good brake job. Ill be ripping my spindles out and taking them down to a shop and shelling out cash to have bearings pressed out and in. Not looking forward to that

 

Hello everyone. There are a few things I did to my Tacoma maybe not today but in the last month. Here are a few:

If you didn't already know my 96 Taco (Bernard) was a wreck I picked up for about $400. I've been trying to build it up back to street drivable under a budget (which I sometimes break due to poor self control).

One of the issues I had was that my clutch fan was locked and the blades were warped. I figured what a good opportunity to go electric. After doing a lot of research I decided to go with a 17" Hayden dual speed fan.

This is my first e-fan install so bear with me. But at least I plan on documenting my whole process.


First I needed a replacement shroud so I went Amazon for a

$53 DEPO 312-55034-301 Replacement Engine Cooling Fan Shroud (This product is an aftermarket product. It is not created or sold by the OE car company)

cheapo aftermarket version. . I also bought my

Hayden Automotive 3817 Ultra-Cool High Performance Fan

Hayden Automotive 3817 Ultra-Cool High Performance Fan from there too.

Here is how it fits within the shroud.




This fan is 2.6 inches thick so there should be plenty of room to fit it without hitting the engine. I plan on using abs to cover the gap around the outer perimeter of the fan and the shroud. Basically I'm going to fuse/glue the abs plastic sheet to the inside of the shroud and cut out a hole just for the area of the fan that moves air. This way it will look like a factory clean job.

Anyhow here are the specs of the fan. Its the 3817 model.



ABS showed up today, unfortunately I have things I got to do today but I should have a little time tomorrow to cut this to size, cut out hole and hopefully fuse it to the inside of the shroud. BTW I got this

$36 ABS Sheet - .177" Thick, Black, 24" x 24" Nominal

ABS Sheet at amazon for $23 shipped.



Here is the ABS fit inside the shroud with clamps holding it. There is a little gap at the top and at the bottom. I plan on sealing those up with my plastics glue to keep it sealed.



Here I placed the fan on so I can trace the outer edge of the fan so I know where and how big to cut the hole out.



Here is the outline that I will use to make a slightly smaller hole. Below is the second line that I will actually be cutting out.




This is the type of industrial plastic glue that I use. We use it at our shop regularly and I've found it to work very well.



Here is the panel with the hole cut out and glued to the shroud. I'm going to let it set overnight before I mount the fan to it.


After waiting overnight to let the shroud dry. I flipped it over to add a little load-bearing stability. A couple of 1" x 1/4" aluminum strips, cut to fit within the inside of the shroud to help with the weight of the fan.



You can see the oversized washers and bolts that I used to secure the bottom of the aluminum strips to the bottom of the shroud. I painted them black so they would match and not look obvious.



Inside look of how the fan mounts. Having mounted the fan this way allows the fan to use the entire shroud in the manner it was intended (pulling air from all across the radiator). BTW, none of the bolts excess threading will actually touch the radiator. I already checked the depth and they clear with plenty of room.



Side and overhead view of shroud installed on radiator. Plenty of clearance. P.S. No need to install lower shroud lip as it is just redundant and would serve no actual purpose.




I will get into the wiring later. I haven't even ordered anything yet. I plan on making all the wiring extremely discrete so it looks no different than any other OEM wiring would look.

Part 2 Wiring


I finally decided on my wiring. At first I was going to use a couple of the Hayden probes but I couldn't get two in there at a time and not leak radiator fluid out of the hose. Plus i didn't like the stiff springy wire, since it didn't make for good discreet wiring. So I nixed that idea.

I then researched online and found this setup:

$76 Mishimoto - MMFAN-CNTL-U18NPT Adjustable Fan Controller Kit, NPT, Black

Mishimoto MMFAN-CNTL-U18NPT Black Adjustable Fan Controller Kit


and

$28 Water Temperature Sensor Adapter - 32mm - Black Mishimoto

Mishimoto MMWHS-32-BK Black 32mm Water Temperature Sensor Adapter


I didn't like the inline fuse holder and I wanted to mount it all in a water resistant box so I got these:

$9 ESUPPORT Car Truck 4 Way Circuit Standard ATO Blade Fuse Box Block Holder 12V 24V

E Support Car Truck 4 Way Circuit Standard ATO Blade Fuse Box Block Holder 12V 24V


and

$32 BUD Industries CU-347 Aluminum Econobox 7.39" L x 4.70" W x 3.21" H, Natural

BUD Industries CU-347 Aluminum Econobox, 7-3/8" Length x 4-11/16" Width x 3-13/64" Height, Natural Finish


Yes I measured it all out so I knew it was all going to fit. Here is the early fitting process.



Painted the box flat black to match with the rest of the under hood items and I mounted it where I had the most space. Not to mention where a couple of pre-existing nuts were already in place.



Now this is where I mounted the sensor and sensor adapter. I did this fully intending to kill two birds with one stone. I didn't cut my hose I actually bought a section of hose to add to the length of my original radiator hose. I noticed that originally my hose practically hugged my alternator. Since I plan on adding a larger alternator I wanted more room so I inserted the adapter at the end of my original hose and added a 2 1/2" bit of hose to connect the adapter back to the thermostat housing. I also chose this area because this is where I want my probe reading temp at (after passing through the radiator and before going back into the engine).



After testing the wired unit and passing on the first try, I closed up the "fan box".



After thoughts:

This fan really pulls air. It was only on for at most 15 seconds before shutting down again. Even though the fan control unit is preset to 180 degrees on and 160 degrees off it is actually adjustable for different temps via a little screw on the controller. The presets were just right for me so I left it.

My fan is actually dual speed but I just wired it to full speed because with this particular controller you can't do two speeds due to the way it is wired via negative pulse.

The controller does have an optional wiring for a/c by tapping into the positive a/c wire. So when you turn on the a/c your fan will kick on no matter what the probe temp is. I haven't actually done this yet but I did test it via wire tap. A nice feature which I will definitely do in the future.

All in all I am very happy so far.

 

You may also notice that in the above thread I already had this done. I kinda did this in between but here is what I did anyways:

Well today I decided to swap out my busted up engine fusebox with a replacement I got at a yard ($50). Very same year and same numbers on the fuse box. While doing this I opted to also do a regular Big 3 upgrade with 4 gauge power wire from KnuKoncepts. I love their wire because it is so flexible and their prices are very reasonable.

These are pics of my busted up fuse box all three portions of it were heavily damaged/cracked but I'm only showing you the middle portion. I soldered and shrink wrapped every wire I spliced. The only ones left were the jumper wires that I didn't need to cut or splice.




Unfortunately when I ordered I ordered 4-0 gauge black ground wire. It was ridiculously massive. So I didn't get to complete the Big 3. I promptly ordered the correct wire today and it should be an easy fix later. But it sure did burn my feelings having to put back the original ground to the block.

Anyhow, here is what the 2/3 of the Big 3 looks like. Yes I removed the old OEM power wire because I hate old stiff ass wire. I did have to gently file the entrance hole to allow the 4 gauge wire to fit in. Only need a little filing. The exit portion after the 80 amp fuse required no filing and the wire fit like a glove (just barely).

 

Nah you're good, just glad I semi confirmed my issue. I'm upgrading to Tundy brakes soon anyways

But that doesn't sound fun at all ha

 

I'd like a simple solution to the old "I need more amps..." issue we have with these Tacos.

I have a 2.4l 4 cylinder 1996 Automatic Tacoma.

I've done this mod before with my 1990 Toyo Pickup, see here.


That alt has served me well all this time and on that truck was basically a plug and play. Since both trucks are 3 pin and Toyotas I assume that the wiring shouldn't be that hard. Not to mention that the mounts also look quite similar.

I expect having to get a new belt and possibly having to rework the adjusting bracket. Both are things I can deal with. I just want to get the wires correct. I imagine I could just buy a Denso pigtail and tap into the existing Taco wires.


CONFIRMED


Ok well I just confirmed that this works. Quite an easy install too if I say so myself.

Anyhow, I purchased a used 96 Jaguar Alt off ebay for $30. The guy said it charges but may howl (possible bad bearings). I figured I could rebuild it myself if I needed so I took it. Turns out after taking the alt to 3 different alternator shops they all said it was good, no howl. One shop said that the howl may have come from the Jaguar itself seeing that there was a little bit of rubber particles on the alt, suggesting that a pulley or something else may have caused the howl.

So anyways, I lucked out and got a 120amp Jag alt for $30. It's not all refurbished pretty but at that price I didn't care.

I started by taking my old Tacoma alt out. I placed it next to the Jag alt to look at the differences. The Taco alt mounts are inline with the pulley, while the Jags pulley is slightly offset to the right. It's hard to tell in the picture but the Jag alt is also slightly bigger.



Of course the plug in the back is different but funny enough when I was going to throw the box that the Jag alt came in I checked through all the newspaper packing and found that he also included the pigtail for some reason. That saved me $8-$15 from buying one off ebay. BTW here is what you will have to get from ebay (just search "nippon denso plug").




Now you only have to tap in two wires. With the plug facing you like the immediate above picture the red wire goes to the right side and the yellow wire goes to the left. The top wire is unused (white wire on your truck).

I then wiggled the Jag alt in there and totally expected to have to buy a new belt but to my surprise it fit on my original belt without issue. Turns out that the offset of the alt brackets allowed for a perfect fit. I didn't have to modify any part of the brackets or get a new belt. It just fit.

Here are some pics of it installed.





Here is a pic of the wiring splice I did. Pardon the brightness of the shot. But all I used were the yellow and red wires from the existing plug. Since I just tapped in I kept the original Toyota plug just in case but in the near future I'll be wrapping it up and hiding it better. I also need to add a cover for the charge terminal. The original Taco version doesn't snap onto it.




Now I have plenty of power (120 amps) to run my e-fans and anything else I want to add in the future.[/QUOTE]

 

Nice write up on the E-fan. Thanks

 

Nice! Ive been meaning to look into the tundra brake swap. Yet another thing to add to the mod todo list

 

That was my fault the shithead in the ecgs video called it a needle beating but yeah when he took it out it was a bushing lookin deal!

 

I'm with ya! He has very reliable info for just about everything!

 

Hey guys, I build a ton of stuff for first gens, if youre ever in the market its https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/croth-metal-works-light-bar-mounts-and-accessories.407136/ have a good one guys

 

@Mikerocosms

You should copy/past the entire post into its own post with its own header so it doesn't get lost on page 4736 of the WHYDTYTT page

 

Yeah... until he drills a hole in your washer reservoir.

 

It's finally done. Off to get powdercoated tomorrow!!

 

How much does it cost to powder coat that? Wouldn't it be better to bed line it?

 

Fair enough. I've always considering this a needle.



And this a roller.



Since usually rollers are two pieces that need pressed in and needles tend to be just one.

But yea basically the same

I like to leave my mark

 

You fab those summit bars your self they look fatter than relentless. I like it NICE

 

Got a guy doin it for $100

No they are from @RelentlessFab

 

Hmm ya you could put bed liner on to less then that.

 

Well then, you just proved yourself wrong. The ECGS bushing replaces a needle bearing in the drivers side of the diff.