'96 Repair and Build by Cat Taco

Hey all, I am finally getting around to making a build and repair thread on my Tacoma. As is tradition with the 90's, I wrote up a long post and it got deleted

The truck was built in 11/95. It is a manual 5 speed 2.4l 2WD with about 130k miles on it. I've owned it for 15 years and it has not had an easy life. I am looking to fix that now and do the truck justice.

Funds are going to be slow for the project at the moment, but I will document as I go along.

Initial projects are as follows...

• New tires
• New brakes, lines, fluid
• Coolant, oil, filter
• Replace dead bulbs
• Replace belts
• Check vents
• Spark plugs
• Air filter for turbo inlet
• Compression test
• Fix main hood latch
• Fix front sway bar
• Suspension
• Check for other areas of concern

That's not inclusive or in any order.
I have one picture currently of the truck. It's in a messy garage, so there is blur around it.

 

Following. I’ve had my ‘04 for a little over 3 years. It was not abused or neglected before I bought it but here’s what I’ve done pretty much in order. The *’s indicate things that provided a noticeable improvement

Added tonneau cover (Lund)
Changed to NGK iridium plugs *
Cleaned MAF *
Cleaned TB
2x Mobile-1 synthetic oil change
2x Replaced air filter
Greased U joints
Replaced carrier bearing (OEM)
Replaced coil overs (Monroe) *
Upgraded to touch screen head unit (Jensen)
Added backup camera
Replaced rear shocks (Monroe) *
Added USB charging port/volt meter
Replaced wiper blades (Michelin)
Replaced AC idler pulley
Replaced PCV valve
Replaced differential breather
Replaced aftermarket mud-flaps with OEM
Replaced window latch hinge pivots
Replaced battery (interstate)
Upgraded halogen headlight bulbs (Sylvania)
Upgraded to Honda windshield washer nozzles
Replaced washer fluid reservoir
Added Weather Tech floor mats
Replace steering rack bushings (Energy Suspension)*
Replaced sway bar bushings (Moog)
Replaced AC compressor and drier (OEM Denso)
Replaced alternator belt (Dayco)
Upgraded to braided steel brake hoses (Stop Tech)
Brake fluid flush
Fixed hood latch
Cleaned evaporator and fan
Differential drain and refill (Fram synthetic)
Replaced AC (Dayco) and PS belts (Carquest)*

Up Next
Replace brake pads (Akebono)

To do:
Coolant flush and replace
Inner and outer tie rod ends (Moog)
Upper and lower ball joints (OEM)
Upper and lower control arm bushings
Sway bar end links (Moog)
Check/replace U joints
Clean IAC

 

Thank you for the great and detailed reply! This will aide in things I will check over as time goes on.

I went to start by taking off the wheels tonight but a lot of the lugs are seized. I don't have a breaker bar on hand, but I will try power tools tomorrow when it's not so late at night.

 

Sub’d. How’s it had a hard life? I did a compression test on my 2.7L a month or so ago, found issues, checked and adjusted valve shims clearance, and it helped a whole lot.

 

I started driving the truck when I was 15, so it's lived through my early driving days and ambitions. It's been crashed and dragged during recovery (someone else borrowed the truck), loaded without care and damaging paint with trees/shrubs/yard debris, turbo'd and raced, wiring botched together, missing interior panels (or temporarily not installed), ran and rusted in the salty winters of Michigan, etc.

I suppose the truck could be much worse off. I'm very happy to still have it and the opportunity to bring it back into a better working condition.

That's good to know! If my compression is funky I'll start with that. I do have a spare head gasket lying around in case I need to replace that/resurface the cylinder head. If it's something like piston rings I'll figure it out from there. Or maybe the compression is good, not sure just yet!

 

Not much progress has been made as I've been very busy with work and side projects. I've been repairing an old quad for my friends to ride up north. I'll ride it too, but I also have a TW200. I would love to have the truck in use for bicycle and dualsport transport. Not to mention my daily driver has been out of commission for a few months.

I am placing an order for parts tomorrow to start repairing and rebuilding, though. So that's exciting.

Parts list so far:
Set of 4 tires
Complete gasket set
Head Bolts OE
Thermostat, Gasket, and Seal
Fuel Filter
Fuel Injector O Ring Set
Distributor Cap, Rotor, and Wires
Spark Plugs
Alt/Fan, Power Steering, and A/C Belts
Front Parking/Turn Signal Housing Left/Right
Tailgate Release and Support Cables
Front Left/Right and Rear Brake Hose
Front Rotors, Pads, and Calipers
Rear Drums, Shoes, etc.
Parking Brake Bell Crank
Parking Brake Cable (Front, looking for rears)
Brake Fluid
Radiator
Coolant
Radiator Upper/Lower Hoses
Horn
Brake Light Bulbs Tail/High
Dome Light Bulb
Dashboard Bulbs
License Plate Bulbs
Turn Signal Bulbs
Motor and Transmission Mounts
Oil, Filter, and Drain plug/gasket
PCV Valve + Grommet
Heater Core + Hoses
Brake and Clutch Pedal Pads
Hood Release Cable
Stabilizer Bar Bushing + Metal bits
Shocks Front and Back
Lug Nuts and Studs
Windshield Wiper Blades
Power Steering and A/C Pulleys
Rear Sliding Window Latch
Brake line and kit to replace the old busted lines

Looks like $1.6k in total for everything listed and a few spares of certain things. I am going to look back over the list and see what I may or may not need right now.

While my wallet is crying, this has been a long time coming. I'll update as things come in and I start to put parts on.

 

How is the frame holding up?

 

I'm going to do a hammer test on it as I go along. Even if parts are rusted out, I will weld on/replace what I need to. I'll post with the assessment when I get along to it

 

Hopefully it wont be too bad. Looking forward to some pics of the progress.

 

Parts are rolling in. I haven't done much as I was on a much needed vacation. All I've done is replace the rear window lock and start removing old brake parts. Finally was able to get new rims and tires too. Going from 225/75R15 to 31x10.5 R15 on some 15x7 rims.

 

I'm working on taking more of the front end apart while bolts/nuts sit in some PB blaster across the truck.

A quick look at the frame shows lots of rust. It's a Michigan truck and has seen its share of salt. So far with the hammer test everything seems good. No soft spots or anything thin, but definitely surface rust. I'll get some more photos in the next few days hopefully.

A lot more progress should come in the next week

 

What’s kind of rim is that black one there?

 

The black rims are American Racing AR172 BAJA 15x7 with a -6mm offset. I'm using 67.1mm ID to 83mm OD hub centric spacer rings to make it fit nicely. Seems to fit perfect from initial observations.

 

Took off the distributor cap to replace with a new housing and rotor. The old rotor has some wear on it, so it was likely due for replacement. The housing was fine other than some grime.

Tested some degreaser on the valve cover. Seems to work great, although it'll be easier to clean once removed. I want to get a lot of the gunk off prior to removal of parts.

The front end is coming apart. Bumpers and grille are off. I did not get a new radiator or heater core yet. Decided to flush this system and hope it works, but still replace various bits and pieces of it. It also gives me a good view of how I want to mount the intercooler that I had lying around. It seems like it'll fit perfectly between the bumper mounts. To be fair, it was once on this truck so it should fit at least somewhere.

I dug out my old wideband and boost gauge. The wideband sensor is already in the exhaust downpipe, although I'm not too sure if it's in a great location. I'll need to research that again, especially if it seems to give erratic readings. I thought I had mounts for these gauges, but the mounts were for a different car. These will start to get wired in, although where I want to final mount them is not known. I also need some new nylon tubing for the boost gauge, as it is mechanical.

A long time ago the tach and speedo stopped working. I'm guessing it's from when I tried wiring in some fuel management a decade ago. I'll be looking over the wiring harness that I can see, specifically where I messed with it before. I'll solder in new wire where needed for starters.