Better Late Than Never Build Thread

[Speedy]

You do excellent videos just like Tim and Sean do. There are slightly different styles of video. You all do excellent work.

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Thanks! I have fun doing them and it gives me a reference point for down the road as well.

The steering wheel honestly came out better than I expected. For what it cost and how easy it really was I'm super happy. Upholsterer quoted like $600 to do something like this and it's definitely something you can do yourself if you take your time. I knocked it out in 1.5 afternoons.

 

[Speedy]

I've started playing with some colors to see what it might look like. I don't think the chrome bumpers go to well with the Inferno Orange or Solar Octane, so those would need to change to gun metal to match the wheels I think.

These colors are hard to replicate for tests though....

 

[JoeT4R]

Nooooo Speedyyyyy don't dooooo itttt!

The millennium silver is a great color

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[brillo_76]

I personally try to keep them the same color. But it's Speedy rig. He can paint it any color he wants to.

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[Speedy]

Well, I have a thing for orange and thought it'd be cool to have a modern Toyota color on an older 4Runner, but it's proven very hard to find someone to paint this thing, and when I do it's crazy expensive. Was quoted $25K by a local restoration shop. I can't justify that so it may have to stay silver. I was thinking like $5-7K for a nice paint job.

Four other places said they only do insurance repairs and not re-sprays.

May have to come up with a plan B.

 

[Speedy]

Anyone have info on how to remove the SR5 "fat" style flares? I've checked a couple articles from this site and pics are gone, or it was a limited with the side cladding, etc.

I'd think it's straight forward, like remove the wheel liner, push on some pins to release the clips, and remove the flare? One article I saw had you remove the rear door panels which doesn't seem right to me. I don't mind replacing a few clips, but I don't wanna break the flares prying on them in the wrong spot.

 

[poisedforflight]

Anyone have info on how to remove the SR5 "fat" style flares? I've checked a couple articles from this site and pics are gone, or it was a limited with the side cladding, etc.

I'd think it's straight forward, like remove the wheel liner, push on some pins to release the clips, and remove the flare? One article I saw had you remove the rear door panels which doesn't seem right to me. I don't mind replacing a few clips, but I don't wanna break the flares prying on them in the wrong spot.

I can't help you with your question but I can say that I've had luck finding pics for the posts they're no longer available for using the Wayback Machine.

 

[Speedy]

Happy Independence Day everyone.

I'm ashamed to say it has probably been 6 YEARS since I hand washed the 4Runner. It's been through the 100% touchless car wash and been sprayed off with a pressure washer, but not a good detailed clean in a long time. I used to detail it once or twice a year using Griot's products and polishes but got busy with other stuff so it was time.

Went by a local detailer as I thought about just having it done, but was quoted $700 (WHAT!?) so back to my old detailing days I go.

You can see in previous pictures it wasn't too bad, shockingly. The touchless does a decent job, but the door jambs were black with dirt. I wish I'd taken before pictures but just got to it.

I expect this will be round 1 of 3 to getting it detailed back to my standards.

Foam bath with foam gun and Gtechniq G Wash, pressure rinse with hot water, hand wash with Meguire's Crystal using two bucket method, pressure rinsed with CR Spotless filtered water. Polished chrome.

Good news is there are very few swirls and scratches, guess all those years of not hand washing it there was no rubbing on the paint :lmao:

The flares are pretty beat up. I'm gonna have to pull those and shoot them with fresh paint and clear.

 

[Dezert4Runner]

Well, I have a thing for orange and thought it'd be cool to have a modern Toyota color on an older 4Runner, but it's proven very hard to find someone to paint this thing, and when I do it's crazy expensive. Was quoted $25K by a local restoration shop. I can't justify that so it may have to stay silver. I was thinking like $5-7K for a nice paint job.

Four other places said they only do insurance repairs and not re-sprays.

May have to come up with a plan B.

Sounds like a vinyl wrap is your best bet. Can’t be more than a couple grand from a reputable shop. If/ when you get tired of it, it’s easily reversible.

 

[Speedy]

Sounds like a vinyl wrap is your best bet. Can’t be more than a couple grand from a reputable shop. If/ when you get tired of it, it’s easily reversible.

I looked in to this briefly and around here for the 4Runner it looked like about $4,000 and the vinyl is said to only last 3-4 years. Seemed like a lot for such a short time before it broke down.

 

[brillo_76]

I looked in to this briefly and around here for the 4Runner it looked like about $4,000 and the vinyl is said to only last 3-4 years. Seemed like a lot for such a short time before it broke down.

At 4k. It's probably cheaper to just repaint the entire rig than vinyl. Good grief. It is not very economical at all, especially if the life cycle is just 3 to 4 years.

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[Speedy]

Paintless dent repair guy just left and now the 4Runner is 100% door ding free

 

[brillo_76]

Paintless dent repair guy just left and now the 4Runner is 100% door ding free

Those dent repair professionals are amazing.

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[Speedy]

Got shipping confirmation on the leather interior. Should be here next Tuesday.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Anyone have info on how to remove the SR5 "fat" style flares? I've checked a couple articles from this site and pics are gone, or it was a limited with the side cladding, etc.

I'd think it's straight forward, like remove the wheel liner, push on some pins to release the clips, and remove the flare? One article I saw had you remove the rear door panels which doesn't seem right to me. I don't mind replacing a few clips, but I don't wanna break the flares prying on them in the wrong spot.

The flares are held on by both clips and adhesive. The clips are easy enough to remove although most will break due to age. The adhesive is a whole other story. It doesn't like to come off and instead will rip the gasket leaving little bits all over. Go very slow and use a plastic scraper to gently get it to come off on the vehicle side, not the flare side. Once off you can scrape it off the flares and buy new 3M fender flare adhesive and new flare gaskets if Toyota still sells them. If not you'll have to get creative with something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/3M-08001-Wea...-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&psc=1

You'll have to remove the interior door panels to gain access to the rear fender flares that are attached to the door. The front flares I found to be difficult as the mud flap and fender liners also have to come off and I always have a real fight with those fender liners. Toyota put these things on pretty good and they were never really meant to come off. An alternative would be to tape things up and paint them right on the vehicle. I did something similar for my rear license plate frame on the hatch as removing those is a nightmare.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Paintless dent repair guy just left and now the 4Runner is 100% door ding free

How much was that? I have 4 dents on my driver's side I'd really like to get rid of.

 

[Speedy]

How much was that? I have 4 dents on my driver's side I'd really like to get rid of.

Thanks for the info on the flares. Interestingly the FSM just says "remove flare" lol and no mention of removing door panels or things like that. Just some rivets and screws. I found new "pads" as they're called for the gasket between flare and body available from the dealer and it's pretty cheap. Seems to come colored to match paint color as well. I'm doing research on all this now as once the interior is done I'll be on to the exterior. My buddy has a paint shop I may swing by there and see if he has experience with these. I plan to use his paint booth to paint them to avoid any debris getting in the finish.

Paintless dent repair guy charged me $150 and was done in a shocking 20 minutes. You can't tell any of the dents were ever there.

 

[gamefreakgc]

Thanks for the info on the flares. Interestingly the FSM just says "remove flare" lol and no mention of removing door panels or things like that. Just some rivets and screws. I found new "pads" as they're called for the gasket between flare and body available from the dealer and it's pretty cheap. Seems to come colored to match paint color as well. I'm doing research on all this now as once the interior is done I'll be on to the exterior. My buddy has a paint shop I may swing by there and see if he has experience with these. I plan to use his paint booth to paint them to avoid any debris getting in the finish.

Painless dent repair guy charged me $150 and was done in a shocking 20 minutes. You can't tell any of the dents were ever there.

$150?? Does he do house calls to CA??

I'll have to check the local ones around here.

 

[phattyduck]

$150?? Does he do house calls to CA??

I'll have to check the local ones around here.

They most often charge 'per panel' for each you want to do, at least those that I have seen here in SoCal. Can be expensive if you have a single dent on each panel... but cheap if it is a few on one door.

-Charlie

 

[Speedy]

My guy did three dents on three different panels (all doors) for the $150 so I assumed it was per dent ($50), but YMMV as they say. Money well spent in my case, I was tired of seeing the one in the driver door.