El Taco Diablo... Mall Crawlin, now with LT for tall curbs

Installed some ditch light brackets this weekend. Now I've got to figure out what ditch lights I want, and order them.

 

I’ve really like my Cali Raised with the side kick light. I know there are some other variations now that can strobe and cut on/off the side beam, but mine have worked really well. I have mine on a 3 way toggle. They can either be always on, or most of the time I have it to where they come on and off with my high beams.

 

Did the valve cover gaskets this weekend.
Write up on it here

 

Re-arranged some of the stickers.

 

Replaced the Toyota flasher with one of these.


$12.99 at O'Reilly's... Plug and play... No more hyperflash from the new LED turn signals.

 

My kid bought a 2nd Gen this past weekend

 

Added some ditch lights and window shades this weekend.

 

Who makes the brackets?

 

https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/292288182889

They a really well made, great finish, and designed to use your hood mounting bolts. You don't have to take the hood bolts all the way out and the brackets are counter sunk for the bolts.

Seriously nice brackets.

 

Have never been a fan of the covers... Like this. So I painted them matte black and added some (grey) stickers I found on eBay for a more subdued look.

 

Picked up a project last week. 8000# Warn Winch. Got it for 100 buck of FB marketplace.

Seller said there was 1 or more bad solenoids. We looked it over yesterday. Tested the solenoids. They all tested good. Realized none of the solenoids were grounded... Fixed up a temporary founding Daisy chain and this bitch fired right up, forward and reverse.

Will disassemble the motor and clean it up. I'm also going to re-wire the entire thing.

But at the end of the day... An 8000# working Warn for a hundred bucks ain't half bad.

 

Ordered enough cable to rewire the power and ground leads on the winch.

 

Started getting in to the nuts and bolts of my 100 dollar Warn Winch.

Since we found out all the solenoids are good, and the only reason it wasn't working (for the guy that sold it to me) was that it was wired wrong... Figured it would be worth it to crack it open and clean up the motor.



Soaked the drive shaft in rust disolver.

Polished the contacts with come 800 sandpaper

Hosed everything down with electrical cleaner.

Overall, it was pretty quick and easy. I think it's looking pretty good.

I'll let it air out overnight before I slap it back together.

 

Making more progress on the 4x conversion

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/the-el-taco-diablo-4x4-conversion-and-maybe-some-b-s.562405/

 

Got some goodies from the Postman.

 

Lots of progress happened over this past weekend.

El Taco Diablo is officially 4wd!


Lots of info on the swap in my conversion thread.
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ap-w-twin-stick-and-shift-kit-and-b-s.562405/

 

Also worked on my project winch.

Re-wired all the solenoids, mounted the solenoids, and wired the power wires.

Mounted the winch and fairlead.

Mounted the remote plug in a more convenient location.

Also wired and mounted battery voltage monitors/chargers for the starting battery (red) and auxillary battery (blue). Wired them direct so I can charge while the truck is off.

 

Clocked the winch so the lever clears in engage and freewheel.


Spliced the Flatlink and loaded the line.

 

Did part one of the dash color convert. Not doing the instrument cluster tonight, that looks like a pain in the ass.

Also, my new headlights arrived today.

 

Part two of dash color convert complete.