99 Mystic 3RZ and Adventures Build

Pretty limited on time at the minute, so I'll be just chipping away...

First order of business is the rear bumper. I put that out to inspect. Looks stout!



Another angle:


Grabbed the old bumper bolts for test/fit, mockup and dragged it all out to the truck:




That's as far as I got before the trick-or-treaters started rolling in. Other bonfire and
beer related duties had to be fulfilled as well!

Didn't get back to it until the next night, which ended up being all in the dark.
Enlisted some help for lifting it roughly into place. It fit tight to the frame. Used
a dead-blow and a 2x4 to gently motivate it until mounting holes lined up.

I think it looks good, but I can't really tell by headlamp. I'll take a look and post
some pictures in the daylight!

Chipping away...

 

Nice truck! I like the color.

I can’t imagine the 3rz with 3.58 gears. You’ll be amazed when you get around to re-gearing.

 

It's as fast as a glacier! Yeah I'm looking forward to that phase for sure.

 

Some shots of the bumper in the daylight. Looking good. Need to align slightly better yet:










Not much room for a step:


Out with the old, in with the new:

 

Thinking about tires.

Not sure where I'll go with this in terms of tires between MT and AT. Thinking BFG KO2 or KM3.
I've had very good experiences with BFG and I'm a big fan of known quantities...

I'm all but certain I'll go with a 33" tire, I'm not sure what sizes, widths are available in those so
I have some homework to do. I've liked pizza cutter tires in the past, especially for these light(ish)
trucks, but I'm not leaning that way at the moment.

In any case, here's a shot of the tire that's currently on it:


I dragged out a 256 70 17 that I pulled off another truck when I replaced these tires. Still 6/32s"
left, so will possibly run these as spares for other vehicles or on the Mystic if I go crazy and decide
to run a 17" wheel on this truck.

These "fit" well in terms of how they are proportioned based on this very non scientific test. But
I'm pretty sure I'll do 33" and run the stock wheels if I can find the right tire size/width for old school
15" wheels. I really liked these the OE wheels, just good honest, simple styling... but everyone has their
own taste.

Anyway, here's the 265 for grins:

 

Finally getting the truck inside so I can get into it more (and lay down in the mud less!)...

 

Finally getting more into it! Getting a few things done by getting the truck up on stands and pulling the
coilovers out.

Looks ok - light surface rust on some things, shocks turned to crap 50K miles ago, fasteners look
manageable...


Little extra breaking force needed. Thanks old pile of parts...


Not too bad with assembly out. I've seen this area get gnarly on some trucks from rusty states,
this is a Colorado vehicle, very happy with what I continue to find... Antijinx!


Coilover out...


Not bad for a quarter million miles!


Need to get the middle washer and middle bushing from Toyota unless they are cost prohibitive parts.
I'll be making a stop at the local parts dept to check on it tomorrow...

Quick comparison between the shock bodies:


Aaaand out of time! Chipping away!

 

Couple more quick updates.

Had a couple of things to figure out before I could assemble the 6112 coil-
overs: One was the OE top hat, which had to be removed from the old coils
and re-used on the new assembly. The second was a bushing and washer
that Bilstein calls for being OE. These fit immediately below the top-hat.

Ran over to Toytec for the bushings (great that they are local!) then I mocked
everything up in order on the shock body. Not having a spring compressors
is a great excuse for not compressing springs myself! So I swung by a local
shop that I highly recommend to have them compress the old coils, take apart
the assemblies, put the top hats on the new 6112s, compress and tighten...

Japanese Auto Service in Wheatridge CO has always been great for me. They
have a new rig that makes compressing springs easier and safer.



Removed the stock UCAs without any drama. I forgot how long those UCA
bolts are! Had to remove a handful of bolts in the engine bay to allow the
long bolt to slide forward for removal, but nothing crazy.

Gear Ties are the best for holding things like spindles in place... UCA out:



Went with the Total Chaos UCAs in the end anyway. Got a screaming deal on them
and decided I couldn't pass it up...

Of course since then I've had a bunch more feedback similar to you guys on here
about more reasons to run SPC and other brands... noise being a chief complaint.

I guess I'll see! Hopefully this won't turn into something I regret. Anyway, they
sure look like nice units. Packaging and instructions are excellent.

Pressed in the bushings and sleeves this afternoon, have work to do on the driver
side to catch up. Then work on the upper balljoint removal and UCA installation.



No more time! Keep making a little forward motion!

 

Got a little more done. One more nice day with the doors open yesterday. Weather changed last night!

Working all day today while the snow piled up.



Here's my shop light. Helmet with night riding light rockin' Super bright. Can put it down, can
wear it, great light actually!



Had a little more evening time to press out the upper balljoint on passenger side. I greatly
underestimated that job. I tried to do it the "right" way and press everything out perfectly.
I was ultimately successful, but it was not worth it. As soon as I have more time to make a
little progress, I will just cut-of-wheel the joint off the driver side ball and press that sucker
out.

Couple bad pictures of UCA in and spindle with no balljoint in it:

 

OK, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way. The first upper ball joint took me hours to get out
cleanly.

The second was probably 30 to take out and press in the new TC UBJ replacement sleeve.

Cut that bad boy off and brute force press it out. Don't try to take it out intact... don't know
why I was hung up on doing that.




Stack of press tools to press in the new TC part:




New part in, driver side:




New part in, passenger:




That's it for now, out of time. Changing the world 30 minutes at a time!

 

Not much to report. Been very busy with work.

Did get a little time to install the coilovers into the stock LCA and new UCAs. Little bit, okay a
lot, of shifting and prying to get them in and good to go. I found that running the lower shock
bolt the obvious way from the front of the vehicle towards the back is easier, but not ideal as it
is more difficult to torque correctly (though it looks like it can be done). So I ran the bolt from
the inside of the mount towards the front of the vehicle so the nut is exposed towards the front
in order to make it easier to access so I could torque correctly.



A little progress here and there on cleaning up some old wiring under the hood. Also found time
to drink a beer in the garage! Life continues to be good. Progress, however, continues to be
slow!

 

Great looking truck! Have you had a chance to try out those 6112’s yet? I am thinking about getting some for my stock ‘97.