MatosTaco's Build Thread

Well, the shaping of the steering wheels has begun. The 3D printed sanding blocks and 80 grit paper make short work of this. I will still need to build up more epoxy and fill in some imperfections, but I love how it's coming out so far.
20210729_115351 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Here's a video showing all of the steps I've taken thus far on the steering wheels
https://youtu.be/wlvXjRV91NE

 

Didn't make much progress on the wheels this weekend; house took priority. Oh well, the lawn looks great and the clean sidewalks and driveway really make it pop lol. I did manage to add some more epoxy putty and get them sanded down though.
20210808_204102 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Started the work of putting in the SC300 brake booster yesterday. The bolt pattern is exactly the same between the Tacoma and the SC booster. I knew this beforehand due to measurements I took within the footwell of my truck, however that is a tight space and I had some worries they might be slightly off

As you can see, the gasket off the Tacoma booster transfers to the SC booster perfectly
20210810_174022 by Jose, on Flickr

20210810_174034 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Unfortunately, there are some key differences between the two boosters. One, the SC booster is larger in diameter and getting it installed means removing the line from your clutch master to the clutch slave (as it is in the way) and scuffing the booster on the intake manifold. That's not the biggest issue though.

If you look carefully at this picture, you will notice the hole for the shaft to the brake pedal is offset toward the lower mounting holes. This is true of the SC as well, except it is inverted vs the Tacoma. This means that the SC booster must be upside down in order to be installed in the Tacoma. As a result, the tube for the vacuum line ends up facing down and will require a new hose in order to work.
20210810_213404 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Just spoke to my friend who did this and it turns out he has his right side up. Granted, his truck was automatic at the time he did this, so there was less stuff in his way. His motor was in at the time (it's out in this picture) so I can only assume that he still had to struggle with the booster scraping against the intake manifold on the way in.
IMG-20210811-WA0004 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Well, no matter what I tried, I could not get this thing to go in right side up. Even though I was able to get it past the intake manifold by wiggling the lines sitting below the booster, the shaft was hitting the upper side of the hole in the firewall
20210811_184058 by Jose, on Flickr
20210811_184045 by Jose, on Flickr

You can see here where the shaft would strike
20210811_184719 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Due to this issue, I decided to just install it upside down. Since a brake booster works by vacuum and not gravity, I can't see how it would matter. I simply bought some 3/8" aka 9.5mm fuel hose at the local autoparts and ran it from the intake manifold to the booster.
20210812_103621 by Jose, on Flickr

The most complex part is running the hose under these hardlines and onto the booster. If I were to do this again, I would install the fuel hose before dropping the booster in.
20210812_103631 by Jose, on Flickr

I test fit the master cylinder just to ensure the new vacuum hose won't be in the way. Looks like it will work perfectly.
20210811_203142 by Jose, on Flickr

 

It's hard to tell from the picture of my friend's install, but he left the brake line tee that was originally bolted to the Tacoma master/booster loose. This is a bad idea, Toyota bolted these down for a reason. Over time, the lines attached to that tee could fracture from all the vibrations. It won't fit the new master, but with a little widening of the center and some cuts to the bolt holes, you can make it work.
Here you can see how it doesn't fit
20210812_163719 by Jose, on Flickr

Here's how I modified it (I also painted it black so it doesn't rust where I cut it).
20210813_132851 by Jose, on Flickr

Here is the fit now. Note that you don't want to modify it so the bolts align better as you would be tugging on the brake lines that go to that tee.
20210813_132952 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Well, I spent most of today working on this project. I couldn't get a gasket for the brake master cylinder locally, so I decided to make my own. I noticed the one that came off the Tacoma booster was literally a waxy sheet of paper. Knowing that, I took measurements off the back of the master cylinder and then ran through three iterations of 3D printed parts. This was to create a proper gasket stencil. From there, I traced it out onto a sheet of thick paper and cut my gasket out with an Xacto knife. It fit perfectly and the only purpose of this gasket (that I can tell) is to isolate the aluminum master cylinder and steel booster from corroding each other (galvanic corrosion).
20210814_195950 by Jose, on Flickr

I ended up bending a couple of custom lines to replace the front and rear hard lines, mainly because I worried the factory ones might be compromised once I bent them to meet the SC master cylinder. Unfortunately, the bottom fitting on the rear line will not spin separately from the line and this means that the whole line has to be spun and collide with things until it comes undone. The spare one I took from a junkyard Tacoma was exactly the same situation (except that truck didn't have a motor so it was easier to pull off). I ended up just running a custom front line as the rear also fit up without too much issue/compromising its structure.
20210814_202403 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I added fluid to the master cylinder and added some paper towels below the fittings (I always bleed at the fittings that meet the master before I start on the brakes themselves). I'd had enough for one day though, so I will do the bleeding tomorrow.
20210814_212418 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Ended up not doing anything today. I needed a break lol. Actually, I did manage to do more sanding on the steering wheel project. That, and I cut the grooves that are used to tuck the carbon fiber and the upholstery.

 

Well, that rear line ended up leaking at the fitting. I was initially scared that the thread in the master was done for, but I decided to bend up a new line and try it anyway. So, I bent up a new line and zero leaks this time! I'm ecstatic to finally be able to bleed these brakes! Getting that line right was a major PITA! The only line available at the autoparts that was long enough was like 7" too long and I had to add extra coils to shorten it sufficiently. However, the coils had to be smaller diameter lest I remove too much length. Then, getting it to line up right at the master was a whole project. Basically, I had to take the line in and out of the truck and make adjustments like 100 times.
20210817_191436 by Jose, on Flickr

20210817_191445 by Jose, on Flickr

20210817_192510 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I should also mention that during this process, I put in a new OEM clutch master and slave cylinder. The wife and I just finished bleeding those and we will hopefully do the brakes tomorrow.

 

Here is the video of changing out my clutch master and slave cylinders.
https://youtu.be/Dn2WnaHlXfQ

 

It's been a while since I updated about the steering wheels. I had some small holes and such to fill once I finished sanding them. Unfortunately, I foolishly decided to use the marine epoxy I have as filler. Needless to say, it sucked for that purpose and I ended up doing a bunch of unnecessary sanding. I followed that by buying a proper glazing putty and filling in the holes/indentations. Then, I did another finish sand.
20210820_162011 by Jose, on Flickr

With that complete, I painted the flat bottoms in black. For now, this is so I can sand and easily spot any extra low spots. Later, it will be so no odd coloring shows through any small gaps in the carbon fiber(I will respray after any extra sanding). In any case, I fully expect to get to carbon by the end of this weekend!
20210820_165600 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Also, I should note that I had previously cut four grooves into each wheel. These go where the carbon fiber will meet up with the leather or alcantara on each wheel. This allows for both materials to be tucked into the groove, resulting in a rolled edge transition.

 

Way too much Tacoma projects lol. Since my ac was bad, I started replacing all of the o-rings in the system. Turns out the suction and charge hoses were bad and the compressor honestly looked done for as well, so I ordered a new Denso compressor and Four Seasons hoses off Rockauto. I already had a rebuild kit with a new AC dryer, o-rings, PAG46 oil, and a new expansion valve. The expansion valve came with one o-ring that was the wrong size so I couldn't get it to assemble, but the o-ring kit had several so I swapped it out and got it done. Now I just need to finish vacuuming the system and then charge it up. I'm praying I won't have any leaks.
20210821_184016 by Jose, on Flickr

The bolts that hold the expansion valve in are steel and they thread into an aluminum insert in this plastic piece that couples the lines. Needless to say, they corroded and one chewed up the aluminum threads on its way out. I fixed the threads on the bolt and hole using a thread repair kit (M6x1.0) and added antiseize to the bolts before putting them in. Major fail on Toyota to use a threaded insert made of a dissimilar metal.
20210821_191746 by Jose, on Flickr

Old expansion valve
20210821_200442 by Jose, on Flickr

New expansion valve
20210821_194244 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Old components shoved into the packaging of the new ones
20210822_123333 by Jose, on Flickr

New components on the truck
20210822_123341 by Jose, on Flickr
20210822_123402 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I vacuumed out the system for half an hour and then charged it. Unfortunately, I did not notice these worthless gauges from autozone don't read vacuum until I was too far along and just wanted this nonsense done. I tried charging the system and the low pressure side reached dangerous pressures whilst the compressor never kicked on. I really don't know what to do with this.
20210822_140805 by Jose, on Flickr

This is the same behavior I observed in the past, so clearly, I spent all that money on new parts in vain.