04 Extra Cab SAS

That’s a nice 80!!

 

Figured it was time to breathe a little life back into this thread!


Now that we have been back from Moab, and the Landcruiser is done(for now) I can think about the next steps on the Taco!



The next thing that makes the most sense, is to get the core support straight so I can get the grille, headlights, markers and what not mounted. Then I can modify and install the bumper, get a radiator in, and power steering lines made so the ol' girl can move under its own power.

My cousin who helped me with the frame will be coming over in a couple weeks to help get the core support proper again. For now, I have gathered a combo of free/used and new parts to get it going.

Small update, but its progress!

 

Small update,


I got a little motivated to drag her out from under the carport and giver her a bath, then roller her into the garage. There was about 6 months of dust and pollen that was caked on thick.




One of the first things I wanted to look at was this spot under the battery tray thats wrinkled. I pulled the wiring out of the way and washed it up a little to get a better look. My cousin is pretty busy so I may try and tackle this myself. I only have the month of September to work on her, since I am taking on a bit of side work(to help fund this) so I am hoping to accomplish something of substance within this window.

I was able to look at a buddies truck(who is also undergoing a SAS too) and confirm how much this spot was damaged.

For now, I will fart around with it and get some juices flowing in my noggin for a plan of attack. Ideally, having my cousin help get it all straight would be my preference but we shall see what happens

 

Looks fine to me. What do you mean wrinkled?

 

Its difficult to see with the lighting and dirt, but below the headlight, between the core support and battery support its all folded/wrinkled. So that means the core support directly behind the drivers headlight is pushed back. Which leads me to believe things wont mount properly

 

Not much progress, but some progress is better than no progress.

Life has been uncomfortably busy lately and I still don't see myself having any large chunks of time to myself, until mid November unfortunately.

Recently I stumbled across this tread and it has re-inspired me to get some stuff done. So I am hoping to chip away at things, even if its an hour here and there.

https://expeditionportal.com/forum/...j45esk-gm-land-rover-crazy-concoction.154652/

The next step is to get the core support and body damage repaired. With my cousin being busy as hell too, I figured I would take a stab at it. After all, I repair a lot of broken/bent metal at my day job. Even if its not legitimate body work, I am hoping I can make it all straight and presentable enough for everything mount fine.

I needed to tug some of it out. The space under the battery, between the battery back of the headlights had a significant wrinkle. I rigged up this totally safe contraption to pull on it some while I nailed it with some hammers.




Its really hard to see the damage in these photos unfortunately. I got one from underneath and it shows it a little better




After spending a couple hours with misc Hammers, wood, brass drifts, a body hammer kit, a floor jack, and a C-Clamp... I was able to make the space under the battery look less bad. I still have work to do, but I am waiting on more photos of a buddies truck for reference.

I did spend time pulling other parts of the core support straight while I was in there.




With some things more straight, I figured I would start attempting to hang things and see how close I am. It certainly helps light a fire under my butt to keep plugging away. There's definitely a fair amount of work left, but it is exciting progress

I think the hood might be tweaked a little so I am hoping I can get that figured out. It wants to sit higher than the fender on the drivers side, and its not contacting the rubber bumper on the core support. So there will be a little head and ass scratching to figure that out.



One other thing I did was dig out the damaged radiator so I could see how far down it hangs. I figured it would be good to get some measurements and see what I want to run for a radiator.

The stock one hangs below my "new crossmember" 1.375" and I am contemplating just making a guard for it to allow maximum cooling, or get a shorter one. Time to do a little homework. My current radiator is about 24.5" tall so I have some choices to make.

 

You can get the 2rz 2.4L radiator and it's the shortest one that ever came in a 1st gen. I replaced mine with that one and it gave me the clearance I needed between it and my bumper. Have had zero cooling problems.
I'm a 4cyl, but I know 6cyl folks that have done the same thing and had no problems.

 

This. Crawling in 90+* heat with the AC blasting and this tiny radiator keeps my 6cyl nice and cool. I also have a winch, a huge steering cooler, a 2x3 front bumper/frame rail and the bottom blocked with a skid plate. The fan clutch is basically locked from March till October if my truck is running, but it stays cool!!

 

Hmmm, I have a buddy doing an SAS and TDI swap on his quad cab, and he mentioned this radiator. The one he got seems thinner in the core which had me wondering if it would be enough

 

This is the one I got. Not sure about core thicknesses, but it seemed to be the same as the one I took out to replace it from what I remember.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=3758700&cc=1375321&pt=2172&jsn=1

 

Buy a denso. There's a big core thickness difference between Denso (~1.25") and your local auto parts radiator (0.75"). Years ago, I bought a bunch of different brand radiator to verify core thickness.

 

Looks like this one is a 1 core rad. Ive been looking and comparing specs on rock auto and 2 core is what I will go with for extra assurance.

I tend to lead towards OEM stuff when I can. Good to know. I also use Koyorad as well and have good luck

 

Welp, you read further than I did when I bought it

 

I got a single core Denso, plastic tank radiator. Nothing fancy, works great. It has a trans cooler, but I don't use that, 5spd.

I'm with you I tend to go OEM parts, my Tacoma seems to reject non OEM (parts store) components. I know there is debate on the Denso stuff and where it's built, but I ignored all that.

 

Good to know that a single core will work. After looking around on Rock Auto at a bunch of options, it looks like the only one with 2 core are the tall boys.

Looks like this unit is affordable. Now I am thinking I would need to get a different fan shroud to go with

https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=4722837&cc=1429062&pt=2172&jsn=859

 

I was able to modify my OEM shroud to fit. It was the same mounting holes, just a bit taller. I just cut off the bottom part that was hanging below, but I've seen some others do a better job than I did. Chop a bit out of the bottom and then splice the 2 pieces together so that the bottom is sealed to the rad surface like OEM

 

Good info to know. I appreciate it!

 

This is all I did. I didn't even seal the bottom up.

 

Can't have mud and shit accumulate at the bottom of the shroud if it's cut open

 

Fan shroud? Who has one of those?