Another Truck?! Third Time's the Charm TURBOCHARGED

It's a newer development haha

 

Well, last year I fixed the frame and painted it all fresh behind the front suspension... but then I ground the back a bit and welded in the shock relocate and made the mistake of spray painting it. So I went back now and gave everything a fresh coat of primer and paint. It is much nicer doing this in a climate controlled shop rather than hoping my ghetto ass garage at the last place would stay warm enough with a space heater. Thankfully it was mostly just the x-members and the shock relocate. But I did one extra coat of paint on the frame as well for good measure.

The forbidden Choco-pop


Spray paint clearly didn't do so well compared to the good stuff I used on the rest of the frame


Primed!


Painting stuff isn't fun without a beer or two


Nice and clean, I'll pop the cross-members and the tank back in and be ready to yank the engine out now.

 

Is brushing on the primer preferred over rattle can?

I've been curious how critical that rear cross member is. I never put mine back on and wonder if I should.

 

This primer and paint combo I really like only comes in cans, you can thin it and spray it out of an airless paint sprayer I guess but I find it easy (and less noxious) to brush it on using a foam roller and regular/foam brushes). I don't like how the frame feels without that crossmember, it adds a lot of rigidity.

 

I was thinking the same. Those frame ends can move around quite a bit even with the heavy swing out bumper. I think the next time the bed is off for repairs I'll reinstall that cross member.

 

Did cleaning the contact on the fuel level sender help with the cluster gauge readout at all?

 

Yeah it doesn't jump around 45mi into a tank anymore. It just does what it is supposed to. Soft pencil eraser took the carbon right off and a little alcohol cleaned it up.

 

Uh-oh I have been shirking my responsibilities updating this thread. I drove the old girl for a week after putting my rear back together again and then decided driving it was too easy and enjoyable. So I took it apart again, this time in front.

Mandatory picture before the murder


Removing the heart...


I went and got a new stand for the engine since my other was holding a Mercedes diesel engine


Grabbed the turbo kit out to take some measurements at first.




Then a tiny modification to a used ECU to fit my new standalone







And I'll leave it with a quick mock-up on the engine stand

 

I didn't really take pics of the valve cover gasket job or the turbo oil drain bung I welded onto the oil pan. Neither is anything new or unusual and you can find examples of either on TW elsewhere. But I cleaned up the oil nightmare from the leaking VCs and plopped the engine back in with much help from @Digiratus. This was a good time to do the clutch, so in goes the pinkest Exedy Racing clutch.



Then I swapped out the factory coolant temp sensor for one from a Chevy LS engine so I could have more accurate readings in the Haltech.





Took a small break and decided to weld on some coilover tower reinforcements.



Then sandblasted and used some JB weld to repair the sloppy pin fitment in my shifter turret.





Okay back to engine work. Installed some 650cc injectors and new fuel rail washers.



And ran the oil feed line for the turbo (wasted hours getting fitting position and routing decent)









Okay now we're caught up for a min I think

 

Started wiring my engine harness for the changes I want to implement in the Haltech.



One of the biggest changes was removing the ground splice for the crank and cam sensors. This is an undocumented splice in the Tacoma harness, no EWD shows this.



Got my tight radius full flow -10AN 45 fittings and made a drain hose for the turbo.





Made a new bracket to hold my igniter so it isn't on the fender anymore.





Tapped a hole in the intake for a new AEM IAT sensor (uses the GM calibration)

 

Okay, so since I started changing pinouts and needed to keep track of things I created a new reference sheet, probably not helpful for anyone else but I'll keep it here.

 

Huh, I guess I should probably update this... the truck is back together and man does it rip. It was tuned on just 4psi while I checked everything and now with the intercooler plumbed in it is pushing 9-10psi.

The intercooler needed a tiny bit of work to fit, so a buddy welded a 3" aluminum 90 to the output for me...


Nice tight fit...


Got some water lines, a pump, and a heat exchanger mounted




Packaged really nicely






And got a prefilter for the dusty regions, this huge filter is a for a 7.3L Ford Diesel but it fits minty and is only $60

 

what a fantastic truck

 

Thanks!

We just did some boost control tuning on it yesterday, forgot to post the vid in here.

https://youtube.com/shorts/hOgIfVGl5ZM?feature=share4

 

what CB are you/everyone using these days? I noticed you have a cobra 19 III right? is that all everyone uses, no high power stuff?

 

I have the cobra 19 III, my buddies are using the same form factor uniden models (pro 520xl). But I'm getting ready to dump it for GMRS, tired of low distance and poor audio quality. They're just not worth keeping around for simple comms anymore I don't think. My buddies all have Kenwood HAM radios too, but I'm not convinced I need one really.

 

Meh I blew up my Kenwood. Prefer hand signals now.

 

https://www.yaesu.com/indexVS.cfm?c...&currDiv=DescriptionDiv&ExpandID=330,Features

looks interesting

 

Oops...

Think I killed a shaft and seals on one front coilover and l most likely the seals on a rear one too, but not 100% on that. Time for rebuilds.

 

love this build!!!!