Give the Old Girl a bit of a Face Lift

My daughter backed into the front of my '96 Tacoma about a year or so ago and cracked the plastic lower front bumper valance, and I finally decided to fix it.

However I thought the new bumper valance would look out of place along with the remainder of the front that is 23 years old and has had 413,000 miles of wind and debris blowing against it.

So I decided to replace the grill, front bumper, bumper valance, both turn signal light assemblies and both front parking/marker light assemblies. Then replaced the rear bumper for good measure.

She turned out pretty good and wasn't too difficult. I did find it easier using genuine Toyota parts as opposed to aftermarket.

 

Is your 3rd gen really "B Tacoma"? that's awesome.

 

Looks awesome! Love the champagne color (I had the '85 mojave edition which I stupidly traded in for the first MR2) kids... lol

 

Great work! Dig the custom license plates, too.

 

Nice work. I'm about to replace my front bumper and valance along with my rear bumper. Have you any "gotchas" or advice on this "seemingly" easy installation?
Thanks.

 

It was surprisingly easy AFTER I got all the parts in good shape. I like to save a little as much as the next guy so I initially ordered aftermarket parts on-line. Even though a Corvette restorer buddy of mine warned me to never use 'aftermarket' body parts.

The below are photos of the "new" rear bumper and front grill I received. I sent everything back and ordered Toyota OEM parts from Toyota Overstock Parts in Lakeland Fla. Everything came in perfect condition and fit great. They were very helpful in seeing that everything I ordered was correct, were about 30% cheaper than my local Toyota dealers and I received orders in 3 or 4 days. They are real professionals.

The only other advise I offer is to purchase new fasteners as well rather than using the old ones. And to spray your bumper bracket bolts/nuts down good with WD40 a few days prior to actually replacing your parts.

"New" aftermarket rear bumper and grill I received:

 

Unbelievable the amount of tacomas that are getting to half a million miles without major repair. Great looking taco my friend

 

Exactly man. Now I get that in some cases, like if you really don't care about your Tacoma, sure, use the cheap crap. But if you really care about the fit and look, the OEM body parts are MUCH higher quality than most aftermarket body parts.

 

we should find out how many on TW have the custom plates on their 1st gens
i am fairly new member of the club (a few weeks now) after @Taco critter got me interested and I also saw one somewhere else on TW (before this thread) but i have forgotten where!

 

Two very nice looking trucks, each with their own strengths. Well done!

 

Thanks for sharing all the pictures. I have a front and back bumper sitting in boxes right now. I best open them up and see if they too are dinged and scratched up as yours were. I purchased off of Amazon...but they are supposed to be OEM. We'll see! Thanks again.

 

I ordered the above off Amazon as well. Hope yours are in better condition than mine were. If not, Amazon has a very good return policy.