Caution: I make my own stuff. Sometimes it's a good idea and sometimes it's a bad idea. But always bring popcorn.

My rig is a 3rz 4wd 5spd that I purchased in October 2010 as my wife's ride. I tried to teach her but she had a couple of bad experiences while driving by herself and now she has a Scion XB. I found a picture of how I bought it originally.



First I replaced the stereo and added a CB in the ashtray slot. Since I don't smoke I didn't feel it really subtracted anything from the vehicle. I used Outdoor Logic's mount for the antenna which is still amazing to this day. When Mstudt did his group buy I bought a passenger side one for a future addition of a HAM radio (in progress).





I didn't really modify anything else in my 4runner till the fall of 2011 when I did the entire exhaust and CAI. I wish I had pics but my phone was stolen around that time and lost the photos. However I do have a picture of my headers from LCE.



Honestly the sound/drone is a little much and sometime this will be replaced by something else a little more civilized. A lot of people ask me what kind of v8 I have in her. It's fun to tell them to divide in two. Anyway I dabbled in fiberglass for subwoofer boxes but they now sit in my garage. I won't ever use them as they took up way too much space imo.




Eventually I will do another sub box but it is not a priority for me at all. I do have plans to do mounts on the doors for 3 way components and a sub enclosure for a single 12 but it's a luxury item for me.

I took a long time off trying to build my 82 pickup and ended up selling her when I found out I was having a kiddo. Now that I have another kiddo on the way as well I am very glad that I sold her. I was also glad I experienced building one of those trucks. If I ever get a shot at it again it will be a first gen 4runner ;) lol. That cab was tiny for me.




At some point I changed my tires out for General Grabber AT/2 265/75/R16 and I upgraded rims as I wanted to clear the way for Tundra brakes. They are slightly oversized for my little 4banger but....didn't really tax it all that much being only an inch over size. They did rub a tad bit though.



Next up on the 4runner was a combination of things. The 4runner needed paint after being beat on in the desert for 3 years so after reading a lot and my experience with bedliner before with the 82 I decided to paint mine with bedliner completely. At the same time I added the RS2000 (doesn't play well with 5spds but it's keyless entry all the same), satoshi grill, limited cladding, and 99 springs all the way around.






Limited cladding complete and before and after shots for the 99 springs.





I did a few interior mods at around that time as well. I pulled the mirror from a Denali and my buddy found the sunglass holder for a non-sunroof 4runner (how he found it I will never know....but it was cool that he picked it up for my birthday)

So to continue I ran out of pics for the first post so here it is continued in the second. I had to leave out the Monstaliner pics as they were way too many. Honestly I think the Monstaliner is my favorite mod and you would think it would come out looking rough and redneck like but really the finish is quite elegant IMO. It's made me money anyway as I have done a few projects for other people.

Last shot of the old runner:


If you think that I did this lightly....think again. I was hoping and praying that this would come out well.



Final prep with cheesecloth and all dust removed. I was fortunate enough to have a paint booth due to horrible weather the day I was going to spray:



All done. 2 gallons did 5 coats roughly.



What monstaliner looks like right before you spray.


What I did that was a little different was I used the stock tint from Toyota (anthracite) mixed in the Monstaliner. The metallic did not come out well imo however it came out well enough that I did not have to worry about doing door jambs and detail work like that so that's good enough for me. It does
kinda shine....but not a lot.

I rolled out the fenders at my house to finish off the job. I did not feel like blocking off the rest of my truck for a 10 minute spray job.






Around this time I aquired a few items that weren't quite anticipated but I got them for good deals none the less.

E-locker:


Tundra calipers:


Mustang GT brakes:


Montero Rotors:


A few more interior mods. I added bluetooth and an aux input and replaced the broken cigarette lighter with dual 2.1 amp usb ports.






Next I modified my axle to take the e-locker which took a couple of days. Never realized how heavy that axle is.....till I had to lift it up on a workbench.

This was a fairly easy mod but it was surprising that it was to me. This takes a solid 2nd place for most nerve-racking mod. I had an extra axle tube but it was an ABS-elocker tube and my axles would take modification to fit that.

So now the project list expanded to include the rollbar mod as well as rear disc brakes (still in the works but on the back burner). In the meantime I painted the calipers and modified the rollbar to fit.






In the middle of doing the e-locker I started working on the lights but I know I didn't finish them until after the e-locker. I went through a vendor over on Pirate 4x4 for the led lights and am very pleased with them. I also picked up a set of driving lights off of another member here.












Then if I didn't have enough unfinished ideas I found this little guy in an 81 F250 (I think...it may have been older)




So for now my ongoing projects are currently a 1st gen rollbar with a shelf (dirtco's shelf is the inspiration), rear disc brakes, and a roof rack. Most of these projects are waiting on my acquisition of a welder and for my welds to become good enough to actually be pretty. All of my detailed threads are over on UltimateYota.com.

Here's a pic to give you an idea of the Top rack I have designed. It's ultra low profile (or as low as I could get it without bending tube) and a full roof length.




The big thing on top is my rocketbox pictured earlier. I want to retain the use of that as a waterproof storage.

My long term goals are to build an expedition rig with some flair and room for the family in relative comfort. I would like to build my own trailer (although modding a pop-up is not out of the question), armor, flat belly, and a diesel conversion. Most of all I want to design and build every bit of it myself.

Hey, I don't think ive seen you around, but I'm on base too. Your truck is looking good, hit me up if you ever need a hand

Thanks! Lol I've been out here for a while baking but main side is bigger than it used to be. If you need a hand definitely give me a shout. I'm always down to wrench if I can. I've got another buddy who is slowly working on his 3rd gen.

saw your rig at the hobby shop yesterday but i missed you, whats the new project?

I'm curious about that fuse/relay box. Is it Bussman? Where did you get it?

I figured that might be you with the white 4runner. Saw your Satoshi the other day. Looks good man.

I was helping one of my guys with his datsun 280zx actually. He has a leaky oil pan that is giving him problems. All my projects are on hold till tractor supply gets another hobart 140 in stock. They had them on sale for $450 but they were out by the time I got there.

The rear Cargo shelf will be the next big thing and after that a roof rack with some more lights.

It is a bussman. Part number 15303-5. There are some bigger and smaller than this one. I might end up upgrading before I get done with this build. He location of the fuse box hopefully will not change.

I bought all of my parts from Waytek wire. Www.waytekwire.com is their address. Great prices and awesome quality connectors. You do have to order in bulk but at least then you don't get stuck in the middle of a harness when you need more of a certain connector.

haha yeah that was me, thanks but the satoshi is really a rough job, about half way through its restoration i realized it had been plastidip'd not painted so its not pretty up close. i did the tundra brake upgrade that day (199 on stock powder coated 16s)

yeah man that tractor supply is great to have. the area has really been improving especially with the new home depot/walmart. ill be excited to see how your shelf and rack turn out!

I have spent thousands of dollars with Waytek over the years. I've seen the Bussman stuff before, but never used one. I've been using Blue Sea fuse blocks forever.

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&key...l_4xdtggrmx1_e

Thanks!

Small update. The hobby shop said no more welding for marines so.....construction will continue as planned.



Now I have to practice a lot. This top rack design has a little bit of thin wall to save weight so I don't want to tweak it.

the hobby shop has been really disappointing the past few years. especially the new rate system, while still being subject to lines at the counter, tool room, and waiting on techs. i could rant for a while about the changes to the shop.

get good practice on your roll bar, i might commission you to do mine!

Nice choice as far as 110v welders go. I just picked up a Millermatic 140 recently myself out of frustration with being limited on my truck projects. You planning on running a gas setup on it or flux cored wire?

Roll bar is done.....but it wasn't pretty. That was the first time on chromoly.....yeah that's all I have to say about that lol. It would go better next time with flux and a propane torch to preheat the chromoly. Or at least that's what I read.

It's not the people that run the place. Rich and the crew help those who don't come in with a stick in their ass. They don't get paid jack for what they're worth and they hook people up when they can. Mccs expects the hobby shop to turn a profit which is ludicrous. It was put in place as a MWR program....not a mccs profit hog. But that is completely out of our control sadly.

I'm working on a welding table and a cart for the welder this weekend God willing after I practice a bit. I've never messed with flux before but I am strong with the YouTube so I should get the hang of it. I should also get to my cargo shelf for some progress there. Also I'm calling on a better welder than I to come haze me till I get it right. Should be lots of fun and lots of holes in my overalls lol.