Yota Build

JAN 20
1999 Tacoma 4x4 TRD V6 manual
400k miles Zero rust, lots of corrosion.

This is a Project truck being used as a winter truck for my wife who only has a Corvette. Lol

Posting will be at least weekly.
The end goal is an almost complete refresh build, anyone would be proud to call their own.

First up is the initial buy and some cleaning photos to get a better look.

Enjoy

 

UPDATE1
Windshield, seal and blades all replaced.
My mileage guess was waay off. Its just over 240k. Engine runs fine, some high revs after driving to sort out but its good. Next after I re- look everything, is the smelly old nasty inside. Gonna pull out everything and see where to go. Hint, I have already pulled and put back this past week and finished today. Pictures to follow on another update. But, first I had to get after the passenger door not opening from the outside. Turns out the outside handle is all plastic and there are two tabs that push down on the inside of the door mechanism that are very bendable metal. Mine were bent so they would not work. I pulled the interior door cleaned and bent back the metal. Not hard but, it was a mousetrap.

 

Clean truck for 400k miles!

 

The miles were incorrect... sitting at 240k.

 

UPDATE2:
Radiator was flushed, new thermostat, upper/lower hoses and fluid.



It was cold and raining.

 

UPDATE3
Tearing out the interior. Plan is to pull all the aftermarket wires, panels, headliner, seats, etc... Putting down some insulation, new carpet, scrubbing the seats (new and recovered will be next year), new radio, and scrubbing/ cleaning everything. The pic is after the pulling the carpet and seats. Next update will have the front seat mounting bracket repaired. It was cracked when I pulled the carpet. Having it re worked and welded. A crap load of speaker wire and these two items in the back. Already sold them.

 

UPDATE4
No pix. Researched until my eyes were red all day, new suspension.
Decided on TOYTEC, out of Colorado. They have a new updated coil over set up out in March. A shop in Portland will be doing the install. So, its Toytec 2.5 shocks, new UCA, OME Leafs in the rear. Gonna try to run up to a 33”. Anything close is cool.

 

UPDATE5
Interior was taken out. What a mess. There was a several miles of extra speaker wire, a cb, radio, 2 amps, a pa speaker, a siren speaker, hot wired to battery hitch hookup and weird connections throughout. Also, included an old first gen remote start and alarm. All removed and back in order. Working on adding the insulation throughout. My eyes are on an updated radio that will fit into the old radio and tray slot. Any ideas?? Carpet was ordered this morning.

 

UPDATE6
Seats were going to re-done, but the cost was just shy of brand new seats with frames/ sliders. So, decided to wait and my wife scrubbed and cleaned them, including all fabric pieces.

 

UPDATE 7

started the install,(after a long inside cleaning) of some insulation to help deaden the sound. Alot of the panels’ plastic keepers have broken so that is gonna have to be looked into as well. Oh, did an oil change too.

 

UPDATE8: Interior is all done. Same seats, just steam cleaned, all insulated, and new carpet.

 

Looking good!

 

Nice. However, id be afraid of water getting trapped behind the reflectix and floor. Why not use true auto sound deadening? Inexpensive and sticks directly to floor so no worries about water intrusion

 

I thought about going the route if sound deadening, but saw other posts that used the same material I have and went for it. The truck seals great inside, and not planning on this being crawler or fording rivers, as I have other toys for that.

 

UPDATE9: Its been awhile, (work) and two other projects. So, the truck developed two problems. One is it is running crazy hot. Temp gauge about max’d during any amount of driving. Two, it idles high after warm up to over 2k. I’ve already flushed the radiator, and going to re-flush the engine again this week. All the rad hoses were replaced and new fluids. See what happens after the next flush, but already have a new radiator on order. Currently, I have taken off the TB and am cleaning everything and putting nee gaskets on. I have cleaned the MAF already as well. The pix show how bad the last owner neglected this truck. Sat for years. As a pre-curser, we are going for a full on rebuild of the engine. What are your thoughts on a re-build vs. a new long block aside from the costs?

 

UPDATE10: Logistics and plan now taking place. Front end stripped down for some body work and hood prep.

 

UPDATE11: Rear bumper and aftermarket hitch with two sets of rigged wires removed. A few key notes are; get an impact drill and sockets, and don’t try to remove the welded on nuts. Lol I tried and lost. The removal is more prep work (labor) to get the body ready for some repairs, and then removal from the frame for media blasting a paint. Lastly, the bed was not lined, it was cheapo rubberized spray canned, including the inside of the tailgate. Line X will be used down the road.

 

UPDATE11.5 Can you guess what year this never used spare tire was made?

 

1999?

 

UPDATE11.5 1/2 Tire was made march of ‘98. Crazy... 22 year old tire, never used once. It is going bye bye.