Introduction

[spectre6000]

Spectre6000's Build Thread

Until Tuesday evening this past week, I drove a '62 VW Bus. Due to my recent move to the high rockies, the two wheel drive combined with the thin tires, carburetion + extreme daily altitude changes, and lack of any sort of safety features to handle winding canyon roads in the cold weather wasn't going to cut it. I got stuck in my driveway in the dry (it's very steep and composed of decomposed granite gravel/sand) and it had to go in favor of something better suited for the location. I was very sad to see it go, but chose the replacement carefully in an attempt to get as much fun as I can. It also doesn't hurt to have a nice chunk of change left over...

I found a 138K mile Natural White '99 SR5 with a 5-speed manual and it looks like pretty much every option available at the time... Leather, actual wood trim (as opposed to the faux burl), e-locker, factory/dealer option security system. The most interesting thing is also the most useless: an aftermarket CD player that allows you to go to the manufacturers' website, enter a starting point and a destination, burn a CD, load that CD into the CD player, and the little LCD screen (with the fixed blocks that can be lit to make various shapes) will give you turn by turn directions. You have to burn a CD and load it for every trip, and since the manufacturer has gone under, it's pretty useless. Neat, but useless.

It's been garage kept its entire life and the outside looks maybe 2 years old; every panel has its VIN sticker in place and is clean as can be save a few small dents in the rear bumper (which will be gone soon anyway). It came with a thick folder of service records going back to '06 (when the previous owner got it), and the maintenance booklet was actually used prior to that. All major maintenance items (timing belts, water pumps, etc.) have all been taken care of according to the receipts, and even the tires were rotated within a month of an annual schedule like clockwork. Inside is a different story; the leather is worn a bit thin in places, there are some tears in the dash pad (which seems to be common given what I saw in a few salvage yards yesterday), the floor mats under the pedals are completely bare, and the wood trim is showing its age.

Here are the photos from the CL ad. I haven't taken any photos myself yet, but that will come.

 

[Sherwood4Runner]

Looks like a nice find! Welcome to t4r!

 

[spectre6000]

Since the truck is so clean outside, it bothered me that the inside had so many wear issues. I did some research, called dealerships, looked online, contacted interior shops, etc. to see what could be done about some of the more egregious flaws in the interior. Additionally, it bugged me that the map lights weren't functioning. Despite having a nice chunk of change left over from my bus, I didn't want to blow it all on things that are ultimately not much more than eye candy, so I spent yesterday touring local salvage yards, dealerships' parts departments, and Japanese autoshops. It was an extremely frustrating day...

Toyota wants far more than anything is conceivably worth on its best day in a good market, so that was extremely frustrating (though having the option to just go to a dealer to get a part is pretty cool). The salvage yards were pretty picked over for 3rd gens, and what was left was in seriously rough shape. I did find a dash pad that was in better shape than mine, but it turns out you can't replace just the pad really, and it involves removing the entire inside of the car to get to it... Not what I had in mind, and not what I'm prepared to jump into right now. I talked to an interior repair place that does vinyl, plastic, and leather, and it looks like I can pretty much have the entire interior made as good as new for something on the order of $250. Not bad at all. I'll probably go that route, but likely a little further down the road for the time being.

All in all, yesterday was nearly a complete bust...

 

[spectre6000]

After getting home last night, I was quite frustrated with the map light issue and decided to just do it my way, Toyota design philosophy be damned.

I pulled the overhead module and broke out my automotive multimeter. I tested everything and discovered that the fault was with a design flaw in the unit. The ground half of the light circuit (for both sides of the light) relies on aluminum rivets going between the ground plate, the plastic housing, and the reflector plates. I'm going to ASSUME the lights worked when the truck was new, and that some corrosion in the reflector plates was to blame for the loss of connectivity in this particular assembly. Even if it did work when new, it's a horrible design. I invested in some 1/8" pop rivets, and this morning got to work rectifying things.

I drilled out all of the rivets holding the ground plate, plastic housing, and reflectors. There was some corrosion on the reflector plates (the sort that seems to be common to all of those types of reflectors), so I cleaned it down to the metal, treated it with phosphoric acid, then hit them with some "Mexican chrome" (chrome colored spray paint).

While the reflectors were drying, I shortened the ground wire and moved it directly to the ground plate to be secured with the replacement rivet. I see no reason it wasn't there in the first place, and it makes a much more direct connection that is far less likely to suffer from silly manufacturing errors or poor quality chrome. I crimped on a small ring connector, then riveted the whole thing back together. Once installed, it works like magic.

I considered making a sort of photo essay, but it doesn't seem to be that common of an issue. If anyone is having a similar problem, I could probably be convinced to take it back down and take a photo of the final product (it's pretty self explanatory when you're looking at it).

 

[farmerjon]

Welcome to T4R.org! We're glad to have you!

I myself have a '98 Natural White - see pictures in my build thread linked in my signature... Looking forward to see what you do with your rig! I've had mine for a short time as well, and I LOVE mine.

I relate on the VW Buses, that's an old one though! My parents have a '93 VW Eurovan, which, as you probably know, is the more modern version of the VW bus, and we like it a lot... (It's been totaled 3 times!)

Again, welcome. VERY nice rig on the outside, any rust?

 

[spectre6000]

After this morning's project, I decided to take the scenic (aka 4 wheel drive required) route down into town. My check engine light came on, and the reason and reaction can be found here.

Once I got back and had gone through that whole thing, I proceeded to see what I could do about removing the gaudy gold badging. Despite it being quite cold this afternoon (there was a brief spat of frozen precipitation toward the end of my activities), the emblems came off quite easily though not in one piece.

If you don't have the luxury of warm weather or a hair dryer (I shave my head and my wife is 1000 miles away right now with hers), a plastic scraper will get things off. They may not come off in one piece, but they'll come off.

What was left behind was some gray tacky mess. I got out a fresh razor blade and some lemon oil (used to condition guitar/bass fretboards). By rubbing some lemon oil around the residue for use as lubricant and holding the blade at a very low angle, I was able to scrape off the entirety of the residue leaving behind just a touch of dirt from the edges where washing was not really possible. A touch with a buffer and some fine rouge will take care of the rest of the ghosts. It's not visible as is unless you're looking for it (especially not once it gets dirty again).

I also removed the Toyota badge from the front with a stubby screw driver without removing the grille. I'm sure taking the grille off would make it easier, but I couldn't figure out how the tabs work, and having an appropriate sized screw driver made it easy anyway.

I've painted the two Toyota emblems with some black enamel (3 coats, and I may go for a fourth since It has all night to cure), and will be reinstalling them tomorrow once I get some screws to replace the corroded ones that came off the front badge.

 

[4-Ripcord]

In your first 6 posts, I think you have typed more words than some people do in their first 100 posts.. lol

Welcome!

 

[spectre6000]

Looks like a nice find! Welcome to t4r!

Thanks!

Welcome to T4R.org! We're glad to have you!

I myself have a '98 Natural White - see pictures in my build thread linked in my signature... Looking forward to see what you do with your rig! I've had mine for a short time as well, and I LOVE mine.

I relate on the VW Buses, that's an old one though! My parents have a '93 VW Eurovan, which, as you probably know, is the more modern version of the VW bus, and we like it a lot... (It's been totaled 3 times!)

Again, welcome. VERY nice rig on the outside, any rust?

I've never been in a Eurovan. Their owners seem to have a similar sort of loyalty. I don't want to think about what would happen were a split to be totaled 3 times... You need your "crumple zones" to walk away from the accident; and if the bus is totalled, the driver probably isn't much better off. The tradeoff is that you're like a minor celebrity; a bus is far more than just a car.

It's a Colorado truck from the beginning, so it's clean as a whistle. The only corrosion of any sort I've seen so far has been on the reflectors, the screws holding on the front badge, and the screws that hold the license plates in place. I'm sure I'll find some more as things continue, but it's clean where it counts.

 

[farmerjon]

Well, it was hit on the front passenger side headlights twice by a deer and then a Jeep Liberty with an empty tire rack on the back backed into on the driver's side mid-panel... It's not worth much, but yes, their owners are very loyal and a small community. Still drives great, starts well, etc.

Toyota 4Runners seem to have somewhat of a similar community, especially here. It's really neat to see what members will do for each other... again, welcome!

 

[spectre6000]

In your first 6 posts, I think you have typed more words than some people do in their first 100 posts.. lol

Welcome!

:artist: Just trying to fully paint the picture I'm trying to convey.

 

[spectre6000]

At this point, plans for future development include:

-Repair the leather and vinyl for the relative short term
-Weathertech DigitalFit floor liners
-LED lighting throughout
-Replace the wood trim with something a bit less fragile (black plastic most likely)
-Aeroforce Interceptor in A-pillar gauge pod
-a newer audio system with iPod hookup, blue tooth, and hopefully GPS if I can find one I like
-LED Tail lights and other outside lighting (clear or smoked lenses as I feel is appropriate)
-Projector headlights
-Plate front bumper (I'm thinking ShrockWorks, but maybe ARB)
-Sliders (again, ShrockWorks)
-Rear plate bumper (likely custom since I haven't found one with the features I want)
-Mild lift/tires/regearing if necessary
-CB radio
-Roof rack
-Dual transfer case
-Winch
-RTT
-TRD supercharger
-Auxiliary fuel tank (in place of the original spare)

This is all subject to change as I learn more about this stuff and as new needs and desires arise, but that's the plan for now. I'm going to set about doing the things that are inexpensive and aesthetic until I get the hang of Japanese engineering and just get comfortable with the truck as a daily driver. Once I'm convinced that all the kinks have been worked out (it seems squeaky clean, but you can never trust a previous owner), I'll start in on the more involved modifications.

 

[farmerjon]

What's this about your T4R having an "original spare" fuel tank? Did it come with one? I'd be very interested to see how this work, would love to have an auxiliary fuel tank.

 

[spectre6000]

"(I)n place of the original spare" as in where the spare tire goes from the factory.

 

[farmerjon]

"(I)n place of the original spare" as in where the spare tire goes from the factory.

Ohhh, that's an idea... Smart! Then I could put the spare tire on the back or on a roof rack...

So if you got an aux fuel tank there, would/could you hook it up to the engine and switch between or something?

 

[spectre6000]

I haven't figured out the logistics yet, it's fairly low on the priority list at the moment. I want it to be as low maintenance as possible. That means it must use the same filler neck as the original, must not affect the fuel gauge, I'd prefer not to have to bother with any switching... An aux tank is/was an option for Australian market Land Cruisers if not Hiluxes, so I'll have to look into what they did for them to see what big money comes up with. My spare won't fit in the spare spot, and the best way to make use of that space is to put something heavy there (lower the center of gravity).

Meanwhile, I sold my running boards for $100 this past weekend, which means they've been removed. It's not really worth posting photos just yet because there are plenty of photos of otherwise stock trucks with the running boards removed.

I had the oil changed and switched to a recycled/synthetic blend and a 3 micron filter. While it was up on the lift, I asked the guys doing the work if they had any insight on these trucks off road in terms of heavier duty sway bars (with some disconnects). When it was on the lift I noticed that both of the swaybar linkages were broken... That might explain why it felt like it needed a stiffer sway bar. I had them remove the linkage remains, and I'm just running without them for now. A lift is in my near future pending a little cashflow, so if I were to replace them now, I'd just be doing it again soon.

 

[Nashvegas34]

Like Ripcord said, those were some seriously informative first posts. Well written, sir!

I had a similar issue with my map lights. They just quit working, I assumed just due to age and a short somewhere. I replaced bulbs, checked fuses, and nothing. I finally disassembled the whole console to examine the wiring and contacts, look for a water leak from the sunroof, and couldn't see anything that was wrong. I didn't have a multimeter at the time. As I was putting it all back together, bummed out that I might never have working map lights again, I got to the last part, the center screw that holds the whole thing in place. I tightened it up, and BAM!, lights. The screw completed the ground, and all I had to do in the first place was tighten it. It had just worked itself loose over time. It was a :ybrick: and a :banana: moment at the same time.

 

[spectre6000]

Finally took the 4Runner on its first off road adventure. My friends from Dallas came into town on vacation with their new to them '05 Tacoma. Since I finally had someone up here to go wheeling with, I did some research on Traildamage.com and found myself a nearby trail that looked like it would be reasonably challenging without breaking anything or taxing our non-existant skills beyond the point of discomfort.

According to traildamage, the Caribou Creek trail was about all that some stock 4-wheel drive trucks could reasonably expect to handle, I knew exactly where it was (I've been to the ghost town at the trailhead a few times), and it was close to the house. We went down to Nederland, got some lunch at the grocery store, then headed up to the trailhead. Lunch was had in one of the ruins (super cool!), then we headed off down the (busy) trail right behind a small group of heavily modified Jeeps.

The only issue we had was related to the recently installed topper on the Tacoma: it looks like a wire was pinched between the bed liner and the metal of the bed, which shorted out and blew the tail light fuse causing it to not want to shift out of park without pulling the tab and pushing the release button. It was raining pretty hard (we even got a little hail at the end), and the trail was VERY muddy. The trail consists of some rocky stretches, a water crossing, and a LOT of mud and fairly deep puddles. It was raining really hard and my wife didn't feel too good about getting her expensive camera moistened, so pretty much all of the photos are from inside my truck.

There might be some additional photos when my wheeling buddies get back to civilization. The wife of the other couple is a photography MFA, so I have high hopes for some of those.

 

[spectre6000]

This weekend I was able to find a little time to work on my truck a little. I didn't get a lot done in the grand scheme of things, but it was motion in the right direction. I removed the SR5 flares, cleaned up some of the residue (didn't bother with all of it because there are bigger problems afoot), and removed most of the interior wood trim. The flares did a number on the paint, and it's through to the metal in a few places. I'm not completely sure how best to address it (I'm not a paint guy), but it's single stage white so that should make things a little easier. I'll probably start a thread on this as this thread doesn't seem to be getting a whole lot of traction. I should probably start a true build thread... We'll see.

 

[spectre6000]

I guess I forget to mention somewhere in there that I debadged the whole thing retaining only the two Toyota badges front and rear. I painted those gloss black.

Today I finished removing the wood trim. It's nice and all, but it's fragile and in my mind this is an off road bulletproof monster, not a luxury car. To me, it's a liability and just something to worry about messing up.

I also did a fun little project that I saw someone do somewhere (don't remember where exactly, probably on here though). I'm not all that tall and when I get to it, the truck will be. I went to the salvage yard yesterday between meetings and picked up a few things including an upper grab handle from the passenger side of a similar interior to install on the drivers' side. The holes and captive nuts are in the proper place for RHD markets, and if you look closely (though it might be difficult to see in the photo) you can see where the holes are through the headliner.

In case you, like me, are curious what the inserts that cover the screws look like this on the inside so you can remove them easier without damaging anything when you go to fiddle with this sort of thing:

With my razor knife, I just cut two little exes there the holes are and screwed the handle on.

I didn't take any photos of the finished product, but you all know what that looks like.

Finally, I thought I'd share a neat little find.

I am in no way affiliated with this company, and the website isn't much to get excited over, but here's the link. It all fits into the little pouch and I will eventually remember to put a few appropriate 1/4" drive sockets in there. I keep it in the glove box and it has come in handy multiple times. When in the high torque position (perpendicular to the handle) it's shorter than any commercially available stubby screwdriver and gives you a lot more torque. You obviously don't need all of the drivers it comes with, but a few extras can be swapped in and out. It's pretty sturdy too, and for $16 including shipping, you really can't go wrong.

 

[spectre6000]

How do I change the title of a thread? I thought I did it, but it shows up in the forum itself under the original title... I don't want to create a whole new thread with identical content just because the title isn't accurate anymore...