My Big Can of Worms Build

Now would be the time while it's stripped down for the cage, but I got you - I wanted to get one of these rubber mats instead of washing all the dog hair out of the carpet and re-using it, but I want to upgrade my brakes to the tundra brakes. Vinyl mat will have to wait...

https://www.carid.com/configurator/...ta&model=Tacoma&year=1996&productid=187854295

What shocks do you want - I see tons on CL, RD, and Offer Up for links.

 

Yeah a new viny floor is on the list. But later. I’m ordering from downsouth when the time is right. Put it like this, the whole truck is going to be like new when I’m done.

 

Not yet it ain't I still see the factory deadening which is known to harbor moisture under it

 

Not in my hood. Lol. Seriously? How tf is that melty tar sh*t supposed to get removed? What a mess - torch / heat gun is the only way I could think of. May not be worth it in this arid climate. There's zero body rust and this wasn't even a SoCal truck until I bought it.

 

It just cracks off when people smack it with a hammer/mallet usually. I don't think the other stuff sticks to it well either

 

Sonuva!

 

Thanks to the unsolicited input from Zane, my interior is now ready to be sound deadened.



Not a fun project in the least. The perfect tool for the job seemed to be my "her first tool kit plastic chisel."



Aka . As far as it coming off by hitting it with a hammer - the only way I can see that happening is if you're outside at night during a record setting cold snap in Maine or some other God forsaken arctic climate.

The way I could see moisture being trapped is that the material was too stiff to conform to some of the stamped valleys in the floor and kind of kept stuff like sand in my case stuck under there. If you got enough water from other sources like super rainy days getting in and out a bunch or a leak in the firewall, I could see the tar mat keeping it from evaporating quickly from preventing air from circulating over the water. Anyway I agree that the job should be easier with the factory stuff out of the way. Luckily for me, Zane stepped up and butted in when no one asked him.


@Speedytech7

 

Been a busy couple days! Went to Santa Ana yesterday and picked up new springs.




Also got some used 8" coilovers.



Cleaned them up in the ol' parts washer.



Borrowed parts from my other coilovers.



Bought some 16" springs late at night and it seems like the 18" springs from my other coilovers were a better fit than the 16's.



Then today I assembled the new diff.



Almost hurt my wrist when I tried to muscle it into place and forgot I had a solo mechanic's best friend.



Good ol' ratchet straps.

Then I test fit the engine and got all 4 mounting bolts in - it was a tight fit with those solid motor mounts!



Gotta take it back out and put on the y pipe and torque all the motor mount bolts and mount up the transmission.



And another little project in the works



I'm hoping this works lol

 

Started out today with a forearm workout cleaning the new axle. Got all the mounts off the bottom.



Tried to get as much surface rust cleaned off of it. Going to have to paint it so this was the easiest way to prep it. Flapper disks for the win!



Finally, the last time I need to put the engine in. Everything is loc-tited and torqued, now I need to get the jig I made for the trans to be lifted back closer to its center of balance. Right now the adjustment screws are torqued too hard against the moment created by the transfer case. Worst case scenario I'll just have to remove the transfer case while I install the trans.



One of the engine mounts didn't fit flush to the block. Bonzen said run it, but my neighbor who's an engineer said I could make a shim out of a soft metal. He helped me find some copper shims on Amazon and I formed one into something that seemed like it should work.



Finally, I replaced the torx head bolts holding the jack shaft to the the clamshell in the front diff with some M12x1.25x25 bolts so in the unlikely event I'll ever need to trail repair the diff I don't have to worry about having non-standard tools.

 

Are you copying me, bruh?

 

Yessir. I know a good idea when I see one lol

 

I'm jealous of your non-surface rusted jackshaft.

 

Hit a lot of snags in the last few days: First I figured out I left the metal plate off that goes between the flywheel and the block. Luckily I had a set of flywheel bolts lying around from an accidental order. Thankfully I also had the clutch alignment tool! I found a convenient way to torque the flywheel.



After that it was time to install the clutch fork. The one part I think I've misplaced during this whole project ended up being the little spring clip that holds the fork to the pivot ball in the bell housing. And of course that spring is a part of a clutch fork assembly and you can't buy it without an entire clutch fork. Trying too keep the show on the road with my truck I bought two forks trying to get them asap. Not satisfied to wait until the next day, I started calling transmission shops. They gave me the name of this place called Michel's Place a mile away. They tried to give me 2 clips for free since they weren't sure if they were the exact part. I tipped them $5. I really liked the messy vibe of this place.



So then I got back home and realized I had a clip from the fork from my donor trans that was in one of my parts piles



Well I got the trans lined up with the bellhousing and then I started to tweak it to get the dowel pins lined up and all of a sudden, I heard "snap!" The press board I used for my trans lift jig snapped as I had changed how the transmission was situated on it and now it had too much torque on it.



"Quick" run to HD and I replaced the pressboard with plywood.



I finally got the trans in by finger tightening the bell housing bolts and wiggling it towards the block with my feet and re-tightening the bell housing bolts. Otherwise I couldn't get the dowel pins to both stay in the bell housing.



It felt good to see this sticking through the floor



I had a diff pad that was a little tore up. Found

Arm Bushing Differential Mount Febest TAB-338 Oem 41653-60030

this one on the forum. It was a little larger than the og one, but it works.



Then it was time to replace the knock sensors that I've heard can wreak havoc on a diag when one of them or the wiring harness goes bad. What I didn't know I'd need were these

$72 FEL-PRO MS 95898 Intake Manifold Gasket Set

gaskets and o-rings for the injectors that were a little worse for wear.

While I was in there I cleaned out the intake ports




All ready for the intake



Growing some squash I found this flower that was opening up all night as I worked. Though it was cool.



Started putting the dash in - just enough to drive the truck with - still gotta sound deaden the truck before I put the interior in.



So the slave cylinder wouldn't bolt up and I got really scared I did something wrong installing the transmission. I ordered a new slave cylinder and it turned out the previous one was seized up and this was the cause for it not bolting up.



Painted the

$33 AISIN CRT-014 OE Matched Clutch Slave Cylinder - Compatible with Select Toyota 4Runner, T100, Tacoma, Tundra

new slave cylinder to match the transmission.



Did the ol' one-man-bleed on it - the pedal still not as firm as I'd like it to be I think - I'll have to test it out more.



This guy jumped me when I was under the truck - luckily he didn't get smooshed so I gave him a better home




Picked up some Tundra brakes



Couldn't resist throwing the sc on there just to see what it would look like



Whaddya think of my diy alignment? lol

 

Killing it bud! Nice work. Up Those plates between the flywheel and motor are all different thickness. I learned that the hard way. Not really hard but I did have to remove, order the right one and put it back. But the motor was still out of the truck

 

Thanks! Also thanks for the heads up on that - luckily one thing that went right with this swap is that more or less everything is identical from the truck I bought the engine and trans from. I used my existing plate because the guys removing the other engine bent the one that went with it, but I measured and they're each 1/10" or so. Maybe the plate width is really different between ones on autos and manuals?

Spent some time squaring away the coolant and vacuum connections for the sc - still got a ways to go on that.

Found out I had to knock some burrs down on my pulley and key on the sc pulley shaft.



Finally got the pulley to slide on smoothly.

Little glamour shot of my painted timing cover.



And after a good 3 hour degreasing session of the power steering pump and AC compressor and torquing most of everything left to fasten, there are no more ratchet straps in the engine bay!

Sunrise and time to call it a 'day.'

 

Pushed through the heat. Getting a little delirious from the temperatures and I haven't slept in about thirty hours. lol Made some progress!

Replaced plastic junk with 3/4" loom and 1" insulated clamps





Got almost all of the wiring harness put back on and almost all of the vacuum hoses! I took everything apart and it took a bit of looking around the internet to see where everything goes.




Put the hood back on after dusting off 11 months worth of dirt.

 

Pulled another long day

Spent most of the night / early morning finishing the wiring.



Found out yogurt cups make the perfect size diff plugs so I could add some oil to coat the diff.



Brought my spindles and hubs over to Solo to get the hubs machined and studs pressed in - they were really helpful.



Spied Travis' @2002 tacoma s/c LT truck with a lot of big time projects happening including a brand new third gen. Solo still is cool with my budget diy style. I truly appreciate that.



Next stop was Total Chaos.



Bought the odds and ends I needed to complete the used stuff I bought for my rear setup - again great customer service.



They told me to go to a hardware store down the street to save money on not buying hardware from them. This place was awesome!



Could have stayed in there a lot longer, but I had to go get some sleep - it was 10am and I hadn't slept since the day before.



Got a good deal on all the hardware for the shackles.



Took a couple hour nap and went for a hike in some hills around Corona until a suspicious sound rattled in the nearby bushes...



Super foggy / smoggy day - almost as humid as the east coast in the summer - pretty unusual.



I was almost falling asleep on the way to Ramona when I finally made it to cooler temps in Temecula.



Met up with a guy I was buying a center console from - saw this tiny little thing...



Just need the manual shift part of it - this one came with an auto.



Also picked up another ds.



Overall a great day.

 

In other news there's a couple vacuum lines that are giving me a run for my money trying to remember how they are supposed to go...

In the Timmy to the Toolman video this hose was plugged into a barb on the rear of the supercharger - I know it was a 4runner, but I'm confused what's supposed to happen to the barb on a Tacoma. Put a vacuum cap on it?



And then this hose with the tape on it:

 

Making good progress! Can't wait to finally see this thing up and moving

 

Happy to help

Thank You for the support

TOTAL CHAOS
WWW.CHAOSFAB.COM