NeonTaco's build log

Thankfully the you could hop on discord and talk to people to see what recommendations they had. All hail @the_dau whose googlefu was strong that evening.

 

certified google mechanic!

 

Hello! I have been MIA for a while, busy with life, not much time for mods. However I have done a few upgrades in the past few months. Updates to the build log are always in my head "man I need to get back on TW and post again" but I always get distracted LOL!

Anywho...Here's the money shots!

I finally ordered the oil drain valve and installed at an oil change.

VERY happy with build quality, no complaints after a month, feels skookum as frig.
Link:https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003UT822G/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Once the drain plug was on I needed to re-finish my skid-plates due to a few rust spots and looking a little weathered. I hit them with some scotch-brite and wiped them off. Flat black outdoor spray paint went on them after that.

Cleaned off real good

Painted and installed!

Drain plug is nice and protected now!

I Replaced the incandescent bulbs in my interior overhead light and my reverse lights with LEDs.



No pics of reverse lights, I lost a few of the skid plates too. I'll take some in the dark soon.

Links:

$10 SIRIUSLED Super Bright 3020 Chipset Canbus Error Free LED Festoon Bulbs for Car Interior Lights License Plate Dome 1.25” 31MM Festoon 3175 DE3175 6000K White Pack of 2

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01AHVND32/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

$13 Alla Lighting 912 921 LED Bulbs for Back-up Reverse Lights, 6000K Xenon White CAN-BUS 4014 30-SMD T10 T15 906 W16W 921K 922, 360° Light Backup, Cargo Lights Replacement, Extremely Super Bright

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072FHNZKW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Steering wheel cover was stitched on one weekend (took nearly 2 hours! )

Also added Velcro phone mount to dash.

Came out nice, Good quality leather, better grip, Perfect fit.

TIGHT stitches.

Link:

$11 AULLY PARK Universal Genuine Leather Car Steering Wheel Cover Stitching Style (Size M, Gray)

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018FM55UE/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I3AVPGFE2RP91D&colid=2EGBS78WQLTDP&psc=1

Finally the best mod I have done lately...
Custom aluminum transfer case skid plate!!!

Compare to the OEM 1/16" steel plate....



1/4" 6061, doubled up on the face for a total of half of an inch of aluminum on the bottom, TIG welded at 350 amps, inside and out, 2 hours of fabrication and fits like a glove!

I'm very proud of this mod and really love the way it looks. I would build these and sell to friends if I had the time/money to do so. Super easy and fun to make.

Update unrelated to my truck and more my life:
The future is a little uncertain right now as I'm moving jobs up near Austin and live south more than 60 miles so I may be MIA again for the fact that we are looking for somewhere else to live closer to my new job. At least I'll be more active in the Austin group now! I cant wait to move up there.

Thanks for reading!

 

Subbed.
and...Carry me.

 

https://youtu.be/hSd-ED52w7s?t=120

 

Na, I'll be fabricating other stuff, PM me on discord and I'll tell ya abt. it!

 

Update time!

Last weekend I did the Diff breather mod, It was an...experience...

Parts:

I found these in a random tool box with my tools, Free parts!


Ordered this from Amazon:

$5 Differential Vent Breather

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XHBY38X/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Picked up 6' of rubber tubing (not fuel line) for $6 @ Orileys

Install:




I made sure to give tube some slack for flexing and dropping suspension parts later, followed brake line to wheel well with zip ties.


Went up the fuel tank neck and then poped off the cover and took a 5/16 drill to it.....

Hole drilled, pushed in the breather and hose on the interior, clamped it.....

Wait.....

....Shit.....The door bracket hits the breather and you can't close it at all......

Ok...I'll relocate...

90 degrees over on the other wall.

I went to put it in and it conflicts with a metal bracket thats hidden behind the finder panel.....
It will NOT fit again

SHIT!

ok. well I'll get it eventually.....

Finally got it right...

I'm an idiot sometimes.

 

One day last week I could not start my truck... The only way was the clutch start cancel button...So I knew something was wrong with the clutch start plunger switch...

Ahhh, there is the problem the switch was pushed out of it's self while driving....

The white rail and clip broke off allowing the entire assembly to separate and disassemble.

Price online:$30-50...

For a simple plastic plunger switch that cost less than a dollar to produce.

NOPE!

I took all the parts and scrubbed them with a old toothbrush and alcohol to remove the grease, then re-assembled after mixing up some epoxy to keep the body together.

Fixed!

 

Aww shit...


Foam sprayed out of my A/C today.

I'll need to research what I need to fix. I know nothing about the duct-work of the system or where this came from.

 

Thanks for all the info and knowledge!

If you plug in a LED bulb into your stock incandescent Dome mount, does it create any error code? I am in a 2006, 2nd Gen if that would make any difference? And i don't want to spend $5-15 on a bulb IF it's going to make issues... Thanks!

 

I have 0 issues with my LEDs, but I have heard that useing LEDs for blinkers causes them to blink fast due to less draw detected and your truck thinking a bulb is out. As for the dome specifically I doubt there is a problem with useing LED. Take what I say with a grain of salt however, our trucks are very different and I would suggest searching for it here on TW to see if anyone has issues with their 2nd gen dome light LEDs.

It's definitely a cheap/useful upgrade!

 

I don't believe the 2nd Gen Tacomas have error codes for Dome lights, but the simplest way to check without getting a replacement you may or may not want to keep is to try pulling a bulb out and see what happens. If you get an error code, then you're going to need Electrical Load Resistors if you want to replace them with LEDs. If there is no error code, you should be good to go.

~Robert

 

I get those foam pieces every time I turn on my AC lol. They are the gaskets that connect each piece of plastic duct together. Nothing is really broken, they are just old and falling apart. It just means that you will have some air leaking behind the dash now. Some of the connections are easy to get to, like the one at the back of the vents, but there are more deeper in the dash that really are not worth it.

 

I Figured is was not a big deal but I just want to make sure that I get *all* the sweet A/C in this Texas heat

 

OH no...I did a thing:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...ith-matching-trucks-now.558557/#post-18242817

Will update ASAP!

 

OK!

These past few weeks have been crazy. I have knocked out a HELL of a lot of truck mods in the meantime, just too lazy to update the thread and transfer the pics to the PC...

Here is a list of the stuff I did:

1. BOUGHT A 2ND TACOMA!!! (for the wife)
   
2. Replaced my solid rear window with a single slider.
3. Fabricated a custom solid steel grille and re-painted my trim black.
4. Completed the "Dog mod" to add a platform and storage to my back seat.
5. Added crappy tube side steps for minimal trail protection. (temporary until proper sliders)
6. Added tie-down "D" rings to the bed
7. Replaced front hood seal

I'll be updating with a stupid amount of pictures shortly.

I also have a few mods in the pipeline now for the near(ish) future.

1. Used Flowmaster 40 series muffler swap. (soon)
2. "new" headlights/corner lights w/ custom lighted trim.
   
3. Bed-mounted Hi-lift jack. (Hopefully soon)
   
4. Custom DIY fabricated rear bumper with many features. (early design stages)
5. Custom DIY Rock sliders 2" square tube, frame welded. (further off)

I need to get to bed but I'll be editing thread with images soon.

Thanks for reading!

 

First of all: I bought My wife a 2004 TRD off-road 4x4, 4dr, automatic in mystic gold.


We found it at a dealership and bought it before it went up for sale. My wife absolutely loves it.

It came with a few mods installed. 17" Moto metal wheels (I know, we hate them too), 33" new Nexen wheels, 1.5" of front spacers (ehhh), K&N intake, Aftermarket cruse control, limo tint (applied by a 4 year-old, gaps everywhere), Pioneer touchscreen stereo (WITH NO BLUETOOTH WTF!?!?)

Regardless of the mods done to it, We both love it and plan on keeping if for a while.





So far I have done a valve cover gasket job, replaced the aftermarket valve cover with OEM on the passenger side, and cleaned spark plugs. It was my 2nd valve cover job and everything went smooth. Got it done in about 3 hours taking my time and having to re-do the entire vacuum tubes to/from the air intake/throttle body. The previous owner really had no idea what they were doing when installing the K&N filter and mixed the lines up and used the wrong hoses...



Yes, Yes that is a water hose going to a water bottle and not back to vacuum...no, I have no idea what the hell he was thinking... It ran a little weird and had a lag to it when driving...I wonder why...

Once fixed my wife noticed an immediate difference in the throttle.

Plans are to slowly replace the crappy things the previous owner did. (wheels, turd stereo)

I'll be posting this truck here in my build log too. The wife has no interest in forums or socializing with others much at all regarding trucks so I'll have to post for both of these trucks now.

I barley post about my own due to laziness...

 

Work on my truck has been getting done like crazy, I have put about 20-25 hours of work into it the past three weeks and I'm really enjoying the directing it's going.

Junk yards in San Antonio/Austin and have been really good with stuff these past 2 months. These are all my finds.

I scored a pristine sliding rear window and replaced my old solid window. (for sale)


Installed some Westin tube steps as a crap temporary alternative to real sliders.


Also found in a 4Runner with green display dash bulbs, valve cover (Both for the wife's truck), front hood seal (missing when I bought mine), Auto-darkening rear view mirror with temp/compass, 2 spare MAF sensors, and spare bolts/belts.

Not a bad haul for a total of about $80 for everything.

As for DIY mods, I completed The dog mod and a custom steel front grille. I will update this thread with other posts detailing my process for those projects with a bunch of pictures.

Like said in a previous post, I have a few things in the pipeline for the coming weeks, Muffler swap, new (to me) headlights, and a few other smaller mods I can do in the meantime.

Thanks for reading! I hope to give ideas to anyone that needs inspiration or where to start and how to do things on the cheap.

Cheers!

 

I just wrote up the build log for my new grille!

Check it out here: https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-look-at-the-grille-mod.567297/#post-18657297

 

I replaced my rusted Dynomax muffler with a Flowmaster 40 series today.

The old:

Rust was eating the seams and if it didn't leak...it was about to.

I picked up a full exhaust from some dude on the Letgo app.


It cleaned it up good with an angle grinder brush.


I welded on some hanging bar.


Then cut the tubing from the old muffler and welded it on.


Cleaned the welds good, and put a thick coat of high-heat pant on all welded surfaces.


Install was easy enough, I just made sure to copy the hanging locations and keep it level and straight.


Just now test drove it, Here are my thoughts.

It's very quiet at idle and at light throttle with a deep bass but still not too loud at all.

A nice low growl comes out at medium revs with higher tones in the background.

At a good peak around 4k-5k RPM there is a bit more noise and an even deeper tone that is met with increasing higher raspy tones but still not loud enough to wake the neighborhood.

Performance seems to be the same as my old one, there is no noticeable increase in HP from the few launches I did. I wasn't expecting there to be so I'm not disappointed at all.

It was more of a maintenance job (due to rust) and minor upgrade in sound aesthetics.

Overall, I'm very happy with it, not too obnoxious and loud with a nice volume, however not the exhaust system I really want.

There are plans for a proper full stainless exhaust rebuild with wrapped manifolds and a cat back system in the future. Right now there are more pressing things to maintain however.

Thanks for stopping by and looking!