Fightman's Build Thread

[LittleCaesar]

I hope you know how good of a wife Julie is. To go from a $8000 budget to being fine with a $900 Saturn is rare in anyone. I can't believe it would be good in the snow.

No offense to Mean Green but it isn't in need of a five digit paint job. My brother's friend years ago bought a Mini Cooper John Cooper Works Edition and then spend $12000 on a custom paint job. Why, no idea. And he recouped $0 from it after the accident.

 

[fightman80]

I'm not planning on paying 12g's for a paint job... those guys are out to lunch! lol!

I'm looking at other options, and might even travel the 7hours to my hometown to get it done... heard of a guy that does any car for $2500.00 (no rust repairs to do). Going to be calling him soon...

As for the wife... the $1000.00 car was her idea.... I wanted something newer... but she was happy with this... lol!

 

[Jungoes]

Hey fightman! that's about the same for a Paint job in the mac...
hey BTW i decided to go ahead with the tundra brake upgrade
I got the pair of Calipers from Bumper to Bumper for $449. and a pair of rotors and pads( Cross drilled and slotted ) for $117 from Max Advanced brakes.
I'll send you some pics when i do the install..

 

[Hepar]

Prep work is a big part of the cost. If you're willing and able to do as much of that as possible, you should see a good drop in cost.

 

[fightman80]

I would be willing to prep the truck... but being that it's a 20min drive down the highway.... I can't drive it without the headlights and tail lights in, etc...

I'm not too crazy about doing all the priming and sanding... as I want this paint job to look like glass. I'm no expert at bodywork.... I only do minor spot repairs.... and even that... is minimal.

The body is pretty solid... The hatch is the only real panel that is going to need work... and I'm even thinking of swapping it out for a new one.

I'd love to redo the truck myself.... if I could find someone to work with me, who knows what they are doing. I've done paint prep work before (my first car was done by my dad's friend, and I helped sand and then tape off the car), but that was years ago, and I never did learn how to mix the paint, or shoot it myself.

I've gotten pretty crafty with a spray can... but you can't paint a whole truck with one... unless you're doing camo.

 

[Scramble]

Alright! So for those who don't know.... Probably most of you... I've been searching for a scooped hood for my 1998 4Runner for several years.
In Canada, they were a very rare option, only available on 2000 - 2002 4Runner Badlands Edition trucks, and only came in black.

As a Canadian, aftermarket companies wouldn't sell me one, because the shipping costs are astronomical. If I lived in a border town, I could jump across to the U.S, but again, fuel, food, etc... Wouldn't make it cost effective.

I finally decided to bite the bullet, and although I let go of a good deal through someone here on the forum, I ended up getting one through a friend of mine who knew the parts guy at the nearest Toyota Dealership.

I'm still on the lookout for another rear hatch... as mine had a bondo repair done when I was rear ended a few years ago, and it cracked. I spoke to a collision shop owner today, he said that any repair to the hatch, with a tire vibrating on it all the time, will crack again. So looks like I'm looking for another hatch.

I located a brand new one at a collision center in the same town I got this hood... but the guy is asking $1200.00 for it. I might be able to bargain with him a little bit.... he's had it in stock for 3 years, and hasn't been able to get rid of it.


So, with all that said, I finally got my Scooped hood for my old truck! Phase one of her mild restoration has begun!!

In the mean time... here's a pic I snapped of her at sunset the other day...

I paid $400 for my rear hatch from a junk yard in perfect condition.
Then had a friend of a friend spray my aftermarket sport hood & hatch together.

 

[fightman80]

I paid $400 for my rear hatch from a junk yard in perfect condition.
Then had a friend of a friend spray my aftermarket sport hood & hatch together.

Rear hatches that are in good shape are rare around here.... most are rusted out. I've been looking for a couple of months now... even looking for parts trucks, that have decent bodies on them.... but most are in rough shape. :crybaby:

 

[fightman80]

thats a good looking truck. what kind of nerf bars were those. i want some. i like the tirecarrier too

Thanks for the compliment.... the Nerf Bars are from Westin... been on the truck since 2005.... good quality!

 

[fightman80]

I've been working on Julie's Saturn Ion this weekend, and installed some after market driving lights to help with the night time driving. We've got a lot of moose out here, and figured this would help out.



The Yota's are looking over the new whip... carefully plotting it's demise!

I also decided to clean up the engine bay on my 4Runner a little... and show off my revised Intake pipe.... I added a black TRD emblem, and painted the pipe with a textured semi-gloss black finish.






I just finished a late lunch... (2:35pm around here), and now going to go find much stuff to keep myself busy with!

 

[fightman80]

Why the new paint job???

Well folks, here it is... the honest, God's truth about my truck. It looks great in pics, but if you look closely... the paint needs some attention.

The hood has a good amount of road rash on it... from years of winter driving, and following transport trucks and such...



The Roof has a large amount of the clear coat peeling...



And finally.... after having the rear hatch repaired following a rear end collision (I was rear ended a few years ago, while sitting at a stop light), the body shop used bondo to fill the 2 dents that were left behind. The bondo cracked under the vibration of the rear tire carrier, and started to rust underneath. I immediately blobbed it with grease, and it's been like this ever since. You don't notice it, because it's behind my spare tire.



Not to mention all the little dings and small scratches you don't see in the pics. I know it's an 18yr old truck, but I'm planning on keeping this forever. Some guys have hot rods, other's buy new trucks every few years.... I want to be that old guy, with the old Toyota, that everyone wonders about... lol!

Sure it looks good from a distance.... heck.. it looks alright up close too.... I just want to make it look like new again.... with a scooped hood of course! :smokin:

 

[sportscarfan]

Well folks, here it is... the honest, God's truth about my truck. It looks great in pics, but if you look closely... the paint needs some attention.

The Roof has a large amount of the clear coat peeling...

The entire roof and hood of my 4runner look just like the worst part of your roof shot.
I would advise against new paint. The cost & effort can't be justified unless you park it in a museum when it's done. Inside the first year, you'll have minor blemishes all over again. This spring, I finished up a restoration on my 1986 CRX Si that I've had for 23 years. Day 1 coming home from emission inspection it got the first rock chip on the front end.
I'd agree that the hatch needs some kind of attention soon!

 

[fightman80]

I realize what you're saying, but being as meticulous as I am about my vehicles, I really want to have these issues corrected.

Honestly, the plan is to park this truck, and only drive it on weekends, and during the summer months. It won't be seeing any road salt anymore, and will be my dedicated toy, that I will wash, polish, and wax regularly.

Not sure if you guys caught that in a previous post, but I bought the wife a sporty little car:



so I could park this beauty, and restore it.



The Taco is going to be my new daily driver.....

 

[Scramble]

Hell yea! I hear ya! I retired the T4R from DD duties in 2005 because back then I knew I wanted to keep her for the rest of my life. The T4R only goes to work on rainy days & snow days. My last 3 DD's have been an 01' Corolla S (Silver), 01 Accord EX Coupe (Silver) & now an 09 Accord EXL Coupe (Black).
I still need the T4R for the bad weather days to get to work. Having the car as a DD saves me on gas money as opposed to owning another truck.
But that Taco is beautiful!

 

[fourfive]

I understand where you are coming from. For the sake of letting you know that you are not the only psycho that's thought about repainting a 3rd generation toyota 4runner which outside of a small niche of individuals, most people wouldn't see as anything special, I'll out myself a bit. A couple years ago I dropped about $7500 on a cosmetic make over. My 4runner wasn't in terrible shape but it showed it's age.

Work I had done:
-Repainted the exterior & door jams black (I was wanting the original toyota factory black but my body shop guy made an "executive decision" & used House of Kolor's black because it gave a deeper black look which I agree does have a deeper blacker look)
-Replaced all the weather stripping
-Replaced all the windows moldings
-Bought new toyota front and rear bumpers & color matched (originally had chrome bumpers)
-Bought a new toyota hood with the hood scoop & color matched
-New toyota fender flare liners
-Grill modification

I went this route because outside of some uncontrolled disaster, I plan on keeping this thing forever. There are some things I buy with the intention of keeping forever (guns, knives, certain tools, etc.) in which case I don't mind spending the extra $ & some things I buy with the intention of using until failure then move on. I realize I could have used the $7500 towards a new car but in my case, I felt it would have been more of a waste of money buying something newer & more "technologically" up to date & not like as much as my 3rd gen. Aside from that, the 3rd gen is what I like & I have a tendency to take much better care of things I like. Spending that kind of money to freshen up an old toyota 4runner isn't for everybody but it was for me.

If you know you plan on keeping it forever then I say find the best quality body shop you can afford without feeling like you're cutting any corners and go for it. If $ is tight then take your time and keep saving up. It's not like your 4runner is going anywhere if you end up having to save a little more money to get the paint job you want. I followed your 4runner build long before I ever joined. In my opinion, I think a new paint job would be well earned.

 

[fightman80]

Thanks for the encouraging words gentlemen! It's nice to hear from others that are like minded...

Today I was organizing my shack/garage trying to make more room for the work I'm planning on doing on my truck in the coming weeks / months. My wife was in the garage with me, and I thought I'd show her some of the detailing I did on under the hood yesterday. I thought my underhood lights looked pretty cool.... so I snapped a couple of shots!



They are so bright... they light up the whole front of my garage...

 

[JBurt]

I'm also getting ready to paint mine. However one of 7 of the PO's painted it Smurf blue (not a good paint job either), and I'm going to take it back to factory evergreen pearl.

Your rig played a big part on my color choice because it looks so good. Best of luck with your paint job. Settling on a color is hard.

 

[fightman80]

Thanks for the compliment.... I'm leaning more and more towards keeping it Evergreen Pearl... just something about that color...lol!

I'd love the red.... but thinking this is the most responsible approach. (Then again... who likes being responsible??) lol!

 

[fourfive]

My opinion that nobody asked for, only do a color change if you have the means or finances to change the color of the entire 4runner, exterior, interior, engine bay, etc. Otherwise sticking with the original color would have the best result.

 

[fightman80]

I'm looking for opinions.... and leaning toward leaving it Evergreen Pearl...

 

[JBurt]

You can't do it evergreen pearl. I want the only evergreen pearl with a sport hood!

What are your top the color choices?

I couldn't pick between that and white so I let my 3 year old son pick. He chose green.