MatosTaco's Build Thread

Without the compressor running the pressures should be about equal, if the compressor is not coming on check the fuse first and then the pressure switch it may be bad. If you suspect the pressure switch you can get a piece of wire and bridge the plug and see if the compressor comes on.

 

Well, here's the latest on the truck. I quickly replace an interior door handle and then walk you through the things I have been working on.
https://youtu.be/4ddvcybqgrI

 

Well, at my wits end with the AC issue, I found a new OEM AC Amplifier and Pressure Switch on eBay for a good price. A local Toyota dealer sold me a thermistor for peanuts also and I swapped all three out. I started charging the system and sure enough, the compressor engaged. Unfortunately, I did not have enough refrigerant to finish charging the system, but I will get that done tomorrow and hopefully have my AC back!

 

20210830_182213 by Jose, on Flickr

20210830_182223 by Jose, on Flickr

20210830_182153 by Jose, on Flickr

20210830_182202 by Jose, on Flickr

20210830_182642 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I charged up my AC system today and am happy to report that it works!

 

With that done, I got to editing video and got the second video in my flat bottom steering wheel series completed. You can see it below:

https://youtu.be/gDEbUXhdytM

 

So, I did some light cleaning inside my truck and took her for her maiden voyage since the brake booster/master and ac installs. My brake pedal is rock solid with the truck off. The second I turn the engine on, there's magically 1.5" of freeplay in the pedal. I drove it and the pedal has nothing and then suddenly all of the brake. I can lock the tires up easily. It also seems like the rears are locking up before the fronts. I am wondering if my brake booster push rod is gapped too far from the master cylinder. I also noticed this booster doesn't have a built in check valve like that Tacoma one. I ordered a new one from Toyota, but I can't imagine that would be the cause.

 

Some good info:

http://www.4x4wire.com/toyota/tech/brakes/

 

Thank you, I will read through that!

 

I finally got around to wrapping the carbon fiber on the steering wheels. I painted epoxy on them first and then waited for the epoxy to tack up. I waited 2 hours, which is a bit too long based on what I found. It would have had better holding ability if I only waited 1 to 1.5 hours. Anyway, I wrapped the carbon fiber on there and trimmed the excess with some shears. I feel like this would have been way, way easier if I had used a lighter carbon cloth. The stuff I had is too thick and made it harder to deal with the excess. That, and it's not a tight weave so it comes apart quite a bit at the edges. I got it on as best I could and then wrapped it down with heat shrink tape. I left the adhesive facing out so the tape wouldn't attach to the carbon. I do feel that this tape is not very good quality; it barely shrinks when heated.

20210909_101811 by Jose, on Flickr


20210909_101808 by Jose, on Flickr


20210909_101805 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I left the wheels to harden up over night. At some point today, I plan to remove the tape and epoxy the carbon. Here's hoping the tape doesn't rip the carbon up with it lol.

 

I picked up the new check valve from Toyota and got it installed. As expected, it made no difference to the pedal feel. However, it does do its job of providing vacuum brake assist for a few pumps once the motor is off. This is so that if your engine shuts off while driving, you can easily brake to a stop. You can see the silver check valve on the vacuum line here:

20210909_133919 by Jose, on Flickr


Knowing that I will still have to remove the master and adjust the booster pin, I went ahead and made myself this adjustment tool. All the ones for sale on line cost $25-50. I had ordered a $25 one, but it wasn't going to arrive until the end of the month, and "ain't nobody got time for that" so I just cancelled the order and made my own.

20210909_133932 by Jose, on Flickr

 

On the ac repair front: Now that the system works, I need some good cooling fans. My old Flexalite setup had been getting weaker and weaker until the fans died. However, I like the shroud they come on, so I gutted the fans out of it. I will get some new fans and install them in place of the Flexalites.
20210906_212848 by Jose, on Flickr

20210906_214336 by Jose, on Flickr

There's so much room in here when the fans are out!
20210906_214354 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I was able to take the tape off and the results weren't half bad. So, I mixed up some epoxy resin and got to wetting this stuff down. It doesn't look perfect just yet, but I am sure that after several coats it will be what I want it to be. This is definitely too heavy a carbon weave for the application, so I will order something lighter and more tightly woven for the future.

20210909_182815 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Look what came in the mail...
20210910_105529 by Jose, on Flickr

I guess all it took for them to send me my order in a timely fashion was for me to ask to cancel the order smh lol.

 

I did some cleaning up of stray fibers and epoxy using a cut off wheel and sanding drum on my Dremel. From there, I sanded down the resin, cut new grooves in the wheel, and took off the excess carbon. Then, I wiped the wheel down with acetone and added another coat of epoxy.

20210911_160455 by Jose, on Flickr

20210911_160503 by Jose, on Flickr

20210911_160506 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I test fit an airbag just to get a feel for how this would look once complete
20210912_122112 by Jose, on Flickr

 

Being happy with the appearance of the wheel, I went ahead and sanded all the carbon using 120 and then 200 grit. The idea here was to get all the contours even so I could see all the low spots. I got that done and will be dabbing a bit of resin into each low spot. From there, I will do another round of sanding, one thin application of resin, another round of sanding, and a final coating with automotive clear coat.

Here is what it looks like for now. All the shiny areas are low spots
20210913_183838 by Jose, on Flickr

20210913_183842 by Jose, on Flickr

20210913_183845 by Jose, on Flickr

I can't wait to see the finished product!

 

While I was playing around with resin, I figured I would finally get around to filling in the steering wheel emblem I had made. I think it came out pretty good, but I will definitely make some process improvements before the next one I do.


20210915_110019 by Jose, on Flickr


20210915_110032 by Jose, on Flickr


20210915_110216 by Jose, on Flickr

 

I added too much heat into the batch of epoxy I was using to fill in low spots. Unfortunately, this means it started hardening as I was using it and it led to some waviness/high spots around the wheel. I mixed up another batch and used it on the smooth parts once the other stuff was dry. This will reduce how much I sand in order to even out those parts. Here it is as it sits now


20210915_132022 by Jose, on Flickr


20210915_195515 by Jose, on Flickr