The Black Beater!!!

Holy Cow.... 10,000+ views.... WOW... I never figured that my beater rebuild would be that interesting...

 

OK, Update time... So I have been working on the Tacoma the past couple weeks.

As you might remember the truck would not run, I ended up having to change out the entire cab wiring harness because the cab was off a newer truck. So the interior was gutted for that... Well, except for the carpet on the back wall of the cab.

Here is the interior as it sits now...

Glove box is just a clover to nothing, until I find one off a 95-97, I will not have a real glove box. Got a Kenwood head unit and Kenwood door speakers. New carpet fit great, just gotta keep the truck closed up so the cat does not piss in it again.


Got some nice 4Runner seats. Had to cut the mounting tabs off the old seat and change them over and weld them up. They ended up fitting great and feel great...



I got a grey center console out of the junk yard and painted it to match. Nothing really matches, but it looks a wold better it did before. BTW, the center console is kinda a pain to take apart and put back together....



Then on to the under side... I got new leaf springs... They came out really easy... until I realized the shackle was stuck in the old springs... Well, I have no torch of my own, so I borrowed one, turned out it did not have a cutting head, so I was F'ed. I grinded the head off the bolt, and beat of the damn thing for about 2 hours before I got both shackles off... Went and got Grade 8 bolts and saved my OEM shackles. They for $110 for new ones. Bolts were $10 with nuts and washers.






Then on to the front... 5100's.... Got them on with a little help of my wife standing on the rotor/caliper to allow me room to push them in.




Now on to the next problem... Tried to bleed the brakes... Well, that went great until I started the truck up... Pedal went to the floor.... DAMN.... when you pump the brakes the engine starts to die out... Clamp off the vac line and its fine... Any thoughts????

 

There might be a vacuum diaphram missing that goes to the booster.

 

what bout the one on the floor

 

Wow!!!!! this looks great can wait to see it when your done good job on the truck and the lady"LOL" but on the real great work it took me some time to read through all of this but I was hooked afters seeing what you sarted with so I had to read the whole thing.... best of luck and will be waiting to see how it looks once finish

 

Its evidently a newer Tacoma Glove box door. It will not clear the dash, heater blower motor or even the heater duct work.


Glad to see your still around. You have been a big help to me when I was trying to get the stuff under the hood right...

 

Thanks man... I really appreciate that. It has been a lot of work, but I feel its all going to be worth while once its done. I have learned to stay clear of any future basket cases....

 

Looks awesome man you have done a great job. I've got a buddy that works at Toyota as a tech I'll text him today see what he thinks on the vac/brake line problem. Keep up the good work can't wait to see a pic of you working that beast on your land. GREAT JOB!!!

 

well that sucks i hope you can find one that fits right

no prob man if you need anything that i can help you with you know im right here to offer my expertise

 

truck looks good so far dude

 

Anything been done lately?

 

LIVE TRUCK, LIVE!!!

 

The truck is on jack stands in my garage... I have a new master cylinder sitting on my work bench, waiting to be bled. I am thinking the brake issue might be with the Master Cylinder. Planning to bleed the brake out again this weekend.

Front bumper has been a nightmare... It is said to be an ARB off a early 90's 4Runner. All I know is we had to do a lot of cutting and welding, but we made it fit. I am hoping my buddy will have that part of the deal tied up today, if so I will be painting the bumper this week and bolting it on for the final time this weekend.


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I am at the point where i am looking to get a Plasma cutter... I have no idea how far this project will end up going. Part of me is regretting making the interior as nice as it is... I would like to take the doors off and make half doors. It might end up there before its all over.

Once the brakes and front bumper is done, I am planning to get the Tacoma Road Legal. Once I get the state inspection sticker on it were going to start cutting and making a rear bumper for it, and skid plates.

 

Another Update... I am pretty excited... I was trying to gravity bleed the brakes and it was taking almost 3 hours for the bowl to get half way down. So tonight I bench bled the new master cylinder. Once i put it on I gravity bled the brake another hour or so and ran through almost a full bottle (big one) of brake fluid.

Then I got my sexy wife to help me pressure bleed them. It was getting tighter each time until I got to the passenger front then it would get soft again, yet no air was coming out of it. So I started the truck and yet again... pedal went to the floor once the truck started... So I tried bleeding them with the truck running... Got the the front passenger side and it was like an explosion of brake fluid when I cracked the bleeder. Three times of bleeding it and it was still just exploding everywhere... So I am really thinking part of the issue is there...

So tomorrow I will be ordering a new caliper and with any luck I will be changing it out Thursday evening. I am hoping and prying this fixes all the brake issues... It seems like everything right now is pointing to that caliper.


*****



Also... I should have my AAL by the weekend... If all goes well, I am hoping to pull the truck out of the garage this weekend... Alignment, state inspection and she will be road worthy...

And then it will be picture time....

 

Honestly guys... I can not even begin to tell you all how much I appreciate you following my battle with rebuilding this almost dead truck... It gives me that little extra drive to make time to work on it... and it makes me even more excited when I make progress, not to mention the ambition for the finished result.

 

You are an inspiration man!!

 

this whole build and all the updates are just amazing... It is also nice to hear that your wife gets in there with u too. Sweet deal you have for sure. Keep up the great job posting. I am excited to see it completed!

 

I finally got the brakes figured out. I negected to bleed the rear proportioning valve... So I started all over... Started at the valve then on to each wheel... The brakes work perfect... I took the truck on its maiden voyage tonight... Took my wife and dog for a ride with me too... My Tacoma is ALIVE and RUNNING!!!!



Still have more work to do, but its little things now...

 

sorry the i thought this was a nazi party

 

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