PyroTaco's slow burnin' Taco build thread...

Hello, Everyone!

PyroTaco here. Did my intro thread a little while ago, but figured why not make a build thread for my Truck (Paige) to watch her slow, but hopefully steady progress. So back a few years ago I wanted to get a Tacoma. Sadly at the time and up until recently it just simply wasn't an option financially. However, lurking here on the forum was. Gave me tons of time to figure out what I wanted exactly. I gotta say, the wait was well worth it. I'm not new to Toyota by any stretch of the imagination so I pretty much knew what to expect, QUALITY! Anything was just about better than what I was driving and traded in... A 2011 Smart Fortwo. It served it's purpose for the time, but it was time to move forward. So began the search a few months ago. Then on June 17th, I found the one I wanted. The right price range and all in Riverside, CA.


There she was online.

Went down and haggled the crap out of the salesman. Walked away with an awesome deal.


Just before driving her off the lot. You can also see the Smart car in the background. Anywho got her home, showed the wife, then the ordering began.


Started off straight away getting a bug/rock deflector for the hood and a bunch of misc bits for the interior. Went from stock interior color to black for the most part with little accents of the original color to tie it all in. Given my job, the lighter color on the seats would dirty too fast.

before

after

Then it was 4th of July weekend which means I'm hopping doing tons of pyro shows. That doesn't mean I can't stop to take a pic of her on the runway at one of the main shoot sites.


Then once the shows were all complete, time to start more small projects. When I bought the truck, you can clearly see it was used by a local bug spray company. The bed was in poor shape. Discolored and crap all over it. Time to handle that.

before

after

Dyed the bed back to a nice solid black color. While I was at it, I made some homemade tiedown points for the rail system in the bed. All i need to do with those is coat them with rubberization material. Did other minor things like front mudflaps and such. Nothing major, but started giving Paige a bit more "personality".

Lastly, it was time to tint.


Give her a nice clean sharp look.

There are many more plans in the future. Replace the bumpers with something a bit more beefy, 2.75 lift/level kits, taller tires, regearing, OBA, need to install my ham radio gear and the bed LED kit I have, replace the tailgate plastic to metal, and some minor light/headlight upgrades to LED's across the board. In the meantime, I leave with 1 last fun pic at one of my jobs.


Till the next update... stay hot, stay crunchy!

-PyroTaco

 

BedRug Mat came in today. Naturally had to install it immediately.





What a world of difference. Looks good, feels good (can kneel in the bed or even lay down), and super easy to install. Now just waiting for all my mobtown tailgate items to arrive. Slowly moving along.

-PyroTaco

 

The tailgate kit came in from mobtown off-road this morning. It was time to replace the plastics.



Done:


Looking sharp, clean, and done. I'll put the stainless hardware on it another day. The complex frowns on doing ANY work to your vehicle so have to be fast.

-PyroTaco

 

Another weekend means more projects. This time around it was to install locks on the bed storage compartment doors. A trip down to Home Depot and less than $20 later.




Ordered some more stuff as well. Hopefully it'll all be in by next weekend then more installing will commence.

-PyroTaco

 

It's been a little but since the last update, but have completed several things. I installed the rostra reverse cam with the harness to make it go to the HU. Works great! Also, installed my ultra gauge, yaesu ham radio, and gps. Zero holes drilled!



Then took cue from tacodane. Not trying to step on your toes, but wanted to thank you for the idea. I made my own bed lights using similar items that he puts into his kit, only brighter!!!



I think I may have spent $15 on the total light install and an afternoon! More to come.

-Pyrotaco

 

Been awhile since the last update. I have been rather preoccupied with work to post, but have done several small mods to the truck.

A few months ago I ended up doing the black box mod and while in there getting all the trapped debris out of the corners behind the liner in the wheel wells. It's amazing how much stuff gets trapped. Looking to now replace the liners from a 6 lug instead of cutting the existing ones and having issues with them down the road.

Finally got around to properly mounting my ham radio to a back wall board I made for the back of the cab so I don't have to drill on the truck (bottom right of the board - Yaesu FTM400dr). I utilized existing factory holes in the back rib to mount the board. Soon additional radios along with an inverter will be mounted to the board and all wiring kept clean. The board also still needs to be carpeted, but I'll get to that sometime in the future... not a real high priority.


Mounted an external speaker for the ham radio into the center console and also mounted up the mic holder utilizing VHB tape. Makes for a very clean and hole free mounting solution.

Installed a hitch on the back and the wiring was primarily all part of a plug and play kit. However, we will be wiring in 7 pin and a controller (yes I know, I shouldn't tow anything requiring those, but better over prepared than under just for that SHTF moments).

We also installed a Fatbob's lift and got the truck aligned. Looks good, rides a little rougher than stock, but honestly, I like it all around. Plan to install some helper bags in the future just for that in the case of a butt sagging load. Also, am looking to get some larger tires and a possible regear on it.

I don't know how I managed to skip it on previous posts or maybe I did post but didn't see it, installed cruise control. Pretty simple and straight forward. Have used it a ton without any uses which makes those long drives to pyro sites a breeze.

All the other little things are too minor to list and a majority of them are performing small repairs to correct anything from the previous owner (bug spraying company). The truck has been an absolute godsend and has helped out greatly with everything from home use to my job. Heck, she even got to spend time at El Centro NAF on the flight line with the Blue Angels while we set up fireworks for the team. (You can see the Tacoma in the distance and the planes across the way. We get to go right up next to them).

Future plans are looking to include a backrack so I can remove the mag mount from the roof, onboard air by Viair (probably the 2 compressor and single tank setup), and possibly some sort of tonneau cover. I'm sure other stuff will come with time like plate bumpers, LED bars, and such, but I'm keeping my eyes on things a little more in reach with the current budget.

-PyroTaco

MallCrawl Pic just for fun...

 

It's been awhile yet again. Haven't done a ton, but have purchased a Snugtop shell used. Got a crankin' deal on it to the tune of $550. It needs a little bit of work which I'm slowly doing. So far I have replaced the dome light in the shell with a LED panel, fixed the wiring, made window blackouts, upgraded the mounting hardware and did some cleaning, replaced the 3rd brake light, fixed the rear door to prevent it from shifting around, and tightened a few things up with the locking system for the door. Planned projects are to replace the screen on the driver side where someone broke it out with the previous owner and eventually paint match to the truck. The painting portion is a REALLY low priority. I'm also considering installing rotopax mount over each window or an interior metal molle panel over each window. This will enhance security a little bit.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/ff46/castmem/IMG_0429_zpsa5vsqzli.jpg

Other than the shell, nothing else has really been done that is major. I did install LED hood lights and that's about it. More items are in the works like 31x10.5x15 tires on cragers, pocket style fender flares, along with a bunch of other little items.

-PyroTaco

 

Its been awhile, but finally, have some new stuff I've done to the truck. Ended up putting a roof rack basket (Surco)on a few months back. Looks great, holds a crap ton of stuff, and better yet I haven't noticed any mpg loss or wind noise. Also, installed some 30x9.5x15 tires. Gave a much better looking aggressive stance. Now that certainly affected my mileage and a little power loss, but overall not bad.



This last weekend I decided it was time to finally carpet the back wall I made a while back on the inside of the cab. So, pulling it out and got right down to it.



Please pardon the carpet that very badly needs to be vacuumed.

The next big project is a complete redo of the rooftop DIY canopy. V1 of the canopy worked well over 4th of July, but I have some tweaks and a better revision coming up. Stay crunchy!

-PyroTaco

 

It's been quite awhile since the last update. Pretty much have been working on electronics for the truck. Tossed in a cb, 4100a dual bander, dmr ht, and a 220ht all connecting to an external antenna via a switch. Also, installed a pa/siren into the truck for being able to play music at work sites... and antics. Beyond that I added in a Sirius XM radio tied to the factory unit. Today I added 4 scene lights (ditch pods) to the top of the camper shell. That should be sufficient for my needs for the moment. Can't think of anything else except a new battery and oil changes lol.

-PyroTaco

 

Loving this build, little changes that make a big deal!

Sub’d

 

Thanks KTR. When I have a free moment I'll have to get updated pics. Ohhhhh I forgot to mention that I also installed a hardwired dual channel dash cam.

 

Very nice, u have link? How was the install

 

It's a viofo a129. Bought on Amazon. Learned the hard way that the longer cable is needed for the rear cam if you plan to install in a shell. I don't have pics yet, but I'll hopefully take some by next week. Crazy busy ATM prepping a pyro show for the Navy.

 

Oh nice Military? Im prior army and i hung out with bunch of navy dudes working joint ops

 

I'm a sub-contractor Pyro Tech for an outside company hired to put on a show for the Military. Tried going Military, but due to physical issues was disqualified.

-PyroTaco

 

Little updates here and there. Installed some sumo springs in the rear for load support and will also be installing roadmast active suspension in the weeks ahead. With the shell and the drawer slides, the rear is a bit lower. The RAS will lift it back up. Pics to follow soon.

-Pyrotaco

 

Good looking build. When my Scion dies , if ever and am in no hurry, I'm going to try and find just about that exact truck. If you want some decent performance gains look at a company LCE they make a direct bolt in header for the 2.7 and AFE makes a dry drop in replacement filter

 

Thanks! Did the afe drop in when I first got the truck. No interest in the headers though. If money was no concern I would do a diesel swap. However, living in CA I'm very limited on anything like that or even some direct bolt on parts for the current motor due to smog related bs which the headers would probably fall into the catagory unless CARB approved.