This is the way….Little yota build

After changing the oil today, debadged the tailgate and the sr5 decals, then replaced with the Toyota tailgate sticker for the retro look.

 

I attempted to heat up and remove the front door emblems to take off and paint black, and of course ended up heating one up too much as seen below.

after further research I just decided to buy some 2nd gen black Tacoma emblems that are already painted to avoid all the hassle. $17 ftw.

the old adhesive was a to get off but managed after a lot of heat gun work and some goo gone to get it at least presentable. Still isn’t 100% but I have bigger fish to fry.

I do miss the first gen style emblem but I love the blacked out look.

The dechroming rampage continues on.

 

Turkey season has got it all dirty. It’ll get a bath in 2 weeks.

 

Was cruising through eBay and ran across replacement license plate lights. I was intrigued by the design and decided to grab them. Had no idea that the stocks would have felt apart like they did when I took them off. It was time. Small mod but def nice to add to the truck.

also purchased a Boss head unit with apple car play to install. Waiting on the harnesses to arrive.

 

Well when I bought the truck last year, I decided unlike my first…first gen I bought a few years back, I wanted to keep the stock radio rather than change out the unit. Rocked the Bluetooth fm transmitter for awhile until I stumbled across apple car play on our 2020 sienna. My mind was then quickly changed.

ended up getting a boss elite be62cp off eBay as an open box red hot deal. Finally got all the harnesses and Bluetooth mic in today and threw it in after work in about 30 mins. While I do miss the oem look, man I love the unit.

I was able to push the Bluetooth mic in between trim pieces near the e brake without needing anything adhesive. Overall love the look and the decision.

 

Installed the usb extension for the apple car play. Still have some tweaking to do and need to figure out why the dang microphone isn’t working but other than that, head unit install is done.

 

Today finally tackled painting the rims. I’ve wanted recently to get some oem spare black steelies but decided to use the paint I had already bought to paint my existing rims.

I got our 16 year old who is a great artist to paint black and red the center caps. She nailed it.

Overall, took around 3 hours to do prep and all coats including 4 coats of actual paint and 4 coats of clear coat. Sanded with 180 grit, wiped down with odorless mineral spirits, used playing cards and painters tape to protect from overspray and went to work. Only hiccup was not finding the lug nut key to remove the wheels. in the end just ended up painting them on the truck.

 

Looks fantastic! Love the rim color and red paint!

 

Thanks!

 

noiiiiiice!

 

This thing is looking sweet.

 

Had a mod party this Saturday. Did some chrome delete and gave it a good wash after getting her jeep decals on and doing some painting.





removed the seat covers and did a deep cleaning inside. Missed the stock seat look.

 

Nice sunset on Lake Michigan.

 

Next in line…..REAL leds for the cap and flush mounts for the rear bumper. Tough to see when backing up in the dark with the cap on.

 

Tailgate cables finally came in this week and got those changed out. One was totally rusted through and the other on the fringe of breaking.




in other news, the lbjs I installed with the lift less that 5k miles ago already are clanking and the boot broke. Never going with aftermarket again on those parts.



went ahead and ordered oem lbjs today. Should be here mid week.thanks @DashMaple

 

Got the lbjs and tie rods in. Hopefully can get to them tomorrow.

 

Didn’t get to the suspension just yet due to lack of time to dedicate properly to it. But I did have time to intermittently sand and spray the rear bumper in between things this weekend.

First I cut holes for the flush mount led pods with an angle grinder. Then sanded with 60grit till it was pretty well scuffed up, primed with self etching rattle can primer with 3 coats, then 4 coats of matte black. Topped it with a clear coat for extra protection.

love how it came out. Last rattle canning to do will be the front grill. Plan on color coding that one jade mica color.

to do list:

LBJs
Outer tie rod ends
Wiring and switches
Mount aux fuse box in engine bay
New battery terminals

 

Tackled a few more things in between working.

finally got the aftermarket lbjs off and put the new oems on. I did get outer tie rods in as well but the outers are seized to the inners. Hoping to get the inners in in a couple of days and knock that out. For now got it hooked back up and driving.

 

Got a chance to knock out the last of the chrome. Went and got a rattle can of duplicolor to color mat he the grill.

3 coats of def etching primer and 3 coats of paint topped with a clear coat protective enamel.

still have some suspension things to tackle and the aux fuse box along with the bumper lights and new strip lights in the cap, but overall it’s sitting pretty good.

was skeptical about throwing the fenders back on but I’m digging the rhino lined look.

Side note: i need to work on my picture taking.

 

Got the new cap strip lights hooked up. Need to move to the bumper lights and rig a switch now

overall, love the strip lights over the cheap battery powered ones.