MTFirefighter’s 1st gen build “Annie”

Alright so I’ve got to start off with a little backstory here. I had an uncle that I was super close too that passed away. He taught me a lot of what I knew about vehicles and wiring. When he passed I was supposed to get his 85 k5 blazer... it was a BIG mean rig. Enter family drama here.... needless to say I didn’t get it. So after some buying and trading I finally got one of my dream trucks and my second Tacoma! Intro to “Annie” my 1999 Toyota Tacoma! She is a 3.4 V6 with the 5Spd trans and 4WD. Her name is Annie because since I didn’t get the blazer I still wanted to do an homage to my uncle. He had a little red dog That was his life and she just went and went... guess what her name was....

So I got this rig about a week ago now and have been obsessed over it since then. So far I have detailed and started painting things to make it my own...

So far the truck really only has an ARB bumper and a broken tool box.

this is a picture I was sent when I first heard about the trade I made for her.

She didn’t have a working stereo, she had a hot start problem, she had plenty of scratches and dings, and she was pretty dirty. That being said she is a blank canvas to me!

So starts fixing problems! First I had to fix the stereo issue! Mind you I told my wife I wouldn’t spend money on it for awhile.... we shall see about that lol. Luckily a good friend of mine happen to still have the alpine radio he took out of his Supra and he gave it to me... no picture of this yet.... cab is still dirty lol

Next was to deal with some of the body damage... the grille was peeling bad so I sat down and peeled it all off and painted it matte black


I also painted the bed rails and toolbox with some rattle can bed liner... no picture yet it’s too dark right now.

I know priorities. Make it look good then make it run better. So naturally I had to see about the hot start problem. I did some research and came up with the tb and iac. Ripped them open and gave them a good clean! So far since I’ve done that no problems. We will see when I run the ce light tomorrow.


So that is where I’m at right now. She is gonna be a slow build but I want to do it as right as I can. Also will be a budget build as my wife stays at home with our son and soon to be daughter (should be born any day now). Thanks to everyone in advance for any advice and appreciation! mph yeah here are the rest of the pictures I have of her up to date.

these are some more I was sent when I traded her for my 1200 dollar Subaru.




this is her after I painted the grille


This is the engine bay when I started work on her




Here she is as of yesterday

 

Plans for her in the future:
Camping/hunting rig
Topper with a RTT
New motor with a super charger (maybe)
Small lift

I will get a more realistic list when I get some more time! Thanks again all! See you on the road or trails!

 

Nice rig, had a 4 runner with that motor and never had any trouble.

Don't forget to change the timing belt though

Best wishes on the new baby too!

 

Thank you!

yes timing belt is a must soon. I don’t know if it was ever done.

 

Nice rig OP, love the color
Welcome to the forum. You are gonna love the platform.
As mentioned the timing belt is a biggie-I think it is supposed to be replaced every 70K and keep a close watch on the operating temps, depending on mileage there can be leakage at the plastic tank-aluminum core seams. A good start would be to check/change all the driveline fluids, then keep up your service intervals. They are good rigs as you know, so keep it up and it will run for a long time!
Cheers

 

Alright so I’ve gotten a couple small things done to the pickup. First I changed the tps as I had a code for it. Starts a little bit easier but I’m still having a problem when it’s 90+ so more to come on that

after I got that changed I decided to mount my department radio on the dash so

then my luck I broke the e-brake cable So I had to fix that
Old parts next to the new one
This is were the cable broke... right at the handle. Also eeewww it was caked with nastiness
So cleaned it all up and put it all back together.

next project was to finish the radio. I decided to tear the whole dash apart and run the wires and cable through the dash( cleaner that way) I cut a small notch in the vent and basically ran it straight behind the radio. And yes I’m a goob and I have an Eaton fuller 10spd shifter. I had it sitting around since drivin truck for a farmer and I wanted something different than everyone else.
I next decided to cut up a magnetic vent clip phone mount and mount it straight to the dash. I LOVE this for driving down the road and changing songs on my phone. And then finally the last two weeks of one on one time with my son while mom is feeding baby has been dirt road driving in the evenings. It has been a blast and we’ve seen some cool sights and found a couple cool places. In the distance you can see a small group of elk. It’s the one herd in the area that I’m aware of.

 

Digging the Eaton Semi Shift knob.. now you have to rig up something cool for the 2 speed axle button to do