What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Had the day off work and decided to spruce a few things up after updating a lot of the fuel system.

Was tired of looking at the cancer on my rear bumper so busted out the angle grinder and gave it a fresh paint job. I know rear bumpers are cheap but don’t have the chance to pick one up yet.




Is it pretty? No. Is it prettier than it was? 1000%.

Then decided to take a torch to the wheel arches (they were greying like crazy) and paint my top box after getting new hardware to mount it to the bed.




Now it’s time to start thinking about new front suspension, a new rear bumper, and pulling the bed to rust treat the frame.

Love working on this thing and excited to have it looking passable as if I actually spend time on anything cosmetic and not mechanical.

2k more miles to 300k!

 

Finally cleaned up this used but in good condition skid plate I scored from my salvage guy a while back(mine is shot w/rust). Had some purple power degreaser, a fine wire brush, and some naval jelly on hand so…then a couple coats of Duplicolor bed liner spray and a very light sand. Came out good enough for something going underneath the truck, I’m happy with it!

 

Looks great! Do you know what make/model it’s for? According to the website protech doesn’t make a headache rack for the first gen. so I’ve been trying to pinpoint other models that will fit our bed dimensions with no luck so far.

 

Put on new radiator hoses, which indeed fixed my coolant leak, and rerouted the microphone cable behind the A-pillar trim.

Thankfully, my fish tape let me skip taking out the upper dash.

 

And to add to my post - WAY easier to remove exhaust cam and pluck shims out than fight it with the tool. As long as you line up TDC and mark with paint/silver sharpie on both sides of cam gear, it’s easy to re-align when putting it back in so it’s perfect.

Most time consuming part is taking your time to loosen all of the cam bolts in the order the FSM says to do it in (so you don’t bend the cam and fuck it up). Always follow the FSM with this job and it’s a breeze.

Takes maybe 20-30 min tops then 5 min to pluck all the shims with a pic and telescoping magnet. All 8 shims!

For reference - it took me about that long to use the tool for ONE valve on the intake side… the tool can be a pain especially near back of the head at the Cyl 4 intake like mine.

#1 Note: Make sure to install service bolt in exhaust cam gear since it’s a split gear design that’s spring loaded - bolt keeps everything together during removal. See pics. Be sure to REMOVE this bolt once finished torquing down cam/caps properly to spec.

#2 Note: If you aren’t doing the job all in one day (waiting on shims like I was) be sure to cover exposed head, cams, caps, cam bolts, etc with some type of painters cover or something like I did to keep any debris off those parts. Cleanliness really matters here!

 

Stress tested my skid plate.
It works, rocks are unhappy.

 

Day off quick wash and dry before it rains again, drive away and it’s a re-do, think I’ll stay home today. It’s a constant battle.

 

The tools really aren't too bad as long as it's not at the back. I've pulled a number of threads out of the cam towers on my head so I'll weigh how many are out of spec if I should pull or get the SSTs out. This could be due to a poor quality aftermarket head. Very frustrating knowing you're almost at torque and then it gets easier.

There are also dots to line up on the backside of the gear at TDC.

 

Honda Odyssey spray nozzle mod. Pictured is the adjustable fan spray on the left, middle is a Dorman ford fusion (fan spray non adjustable), and OEM on the right.

 

idk super simply when factory everything.

As for TDC - marked the front because that’s what you’re looking at (for me) when re installing it. Dots are really for lining up initially to match crank IMO.

different strokes

 

New struts for the snugtop...

 

That's where my mic is and surprisingly knock it free with my dome more than you would think. Not a big deal but don't be surprised when it happens to you

 

40lbs lift support, that’s not too heavy?

 

Works great. Bought a prior set (same part number) in 2017 and they outlasted the 5 year warranty. They're only about $20 at the rainforest store and a 15 minute install if you've never done it before and like 5 minutes if you're familiar with the clip. Usually prop the door up with a piece of wood to the tailgate while swapping 'em out.

https://a.co/d/0uEMhVP

https://shop.suspa.com/mobile/c16-06874-gas-spring-p47.aspx

 

Brought a total loss back from the dead. These trucks are worth saving!





Harmonic balancer and fan clutch had to be replaced as well, it was pushed into the front timing cover.

 

What bumper is that?

 

You did that in one day???
*what have you done to your tacoma "today"

jk, looks great, and very well done!

 

Looks like the Chassis Unlimited Diablo winch bumper.

 

Makes sense, I'm tall and can barely lean over enough to see the dots.

 

for sure, I marked both sides actually with silver metallic Sharpie - visible from 6ft back lol. Kicks ass