JasetheDamager's build thread for a 97 SR5 4x4

[JasetheDamager]

thanks for the info- where are you located?

I want to do the taco whip mod too my antenna motor is shot.

any prep work for the tow hitch prior to the sem paint?

I'm living in Capo Beach near Dana Point where I mostly work around boats. I noticed you're also down in SoCal. I hardly see any beefed up Runners around here, just Jeeps, Fords, Chevys, Dodges, and of course Tundras and Tacomas are everywhere. Of course there's tons of stock 4th and 5th Gen Runners, but in all honesty, I'm not a big fan, which may be sacrilegious to admit on this forum, but they look like everything else on the road, all plasticky and such.

Taco Whip Mod is cool. I like seeing the antenna bounce around as I drive. Looks much better than the busted antenna I had 2 days ago.

I love the SEM paint, but it's a bit more expensive, 14$-20$ a can. I personally think it's worth the money, at least for me. All of my exterior trim now has the powder-coated look. In fact, when I do eventually get an Outdoor Logic bumper or sliders, I'm going to skip the pro option cuz of the touch-up issue and paint everything myself. That's how much I like the SEM.

As for prep, like SCRunner mentioned, everything needs to be clean. Soap and water, or Simple Green, any basic cleanser is good. Then I sand with 400 grit to help the paint adhere. I clean the metal with mineral spirits, acetone, or denatured alcohol, depending what I have lying around the shop. I do prefer denatured alcohol over the others though.

 

[JasetheDamager]

Thats sweet, its very nice up there, like scrunner12 said let us know if your every up this way and we can take a trip to Hollister hills!

I will probably be painting them in the next couple weeks. need to see what kind of prep i need to do.

Depending on my work schedule, I'll be visiting my parents sometime in the next few months. I'll definitely let you guys know! I'm curious to see how your flares will turn out. I've been talking to Spitvenom about buying flares if he can get enough interest in his product.

 

[SantaCruzRunner]

Depending on my work schedule, I'll be visiting my parents sometime in the next few months. I'll definitely let you guys know! I'm curious to see how your flares will turn out. I've been talking to Spitvenom about buying flares if he can get enough interest in his product.

sounds good, im debating on the bed liner or just regular paint. the regular paint is easy to touch up as aposed to bed liner. and if i want to try and find 99-02 bumpers to swap out or paint mine now. or leave the chrome. so many decisions!!

 

[JadatheRottweiler]

I'm living in Capo Beach near Dana Point where I mostly work around boats. I noticed you're also down in SoCal. I hardly see any beefed up Runners around here, just Jeeps, Fords, Chevys, Dodges, and of course Tundras and Tacomas are everywhere. Of course there's tons of stock 4th and 5th Gen Runners, but in all honesty, I'm not a big fan, which may be sacrilegious to admit on this forum, but they look like everything else on the road, all plasticky and such.

I was in Dana Point last week on a charter fishing boat, I am in Tustin at the moment, soon moving to LA.

You should connect with C.O.B. he is near you in Mission Viejo.

 

[JasetheDamager]

I was in Dana Point last week on a charter fishing boat, I am in Tustin at the moment, soon moving to LA.

You should connect with C.O.B. he is near you in Mission Viejo.

I spend 20-40 hours a week down at the harbor, working on boats as a side job/volunteer gig. Plus the harbor is only about 5 minutes from where I live. I'll definitely have to drop COB a line. I've learned a lot from his thread and I'm not sure if I've given him enough thanks. Good luck on your paint project!

 

[JasetheDamager]

Here's a random pic of the blue LEDs at night:


Here are 2 pics of my tow hitch, which I painted with SEM, and some glimpses of my chassis/undercarriage, which I painted with an automotive rust primer, then top coated with Rustoleum:



Of course, now that my engine bay and chassis are so clean, I plan on going camping and taking fire roads, which will just dirty everything up again, but at least this will be my dirt, not the PO's.

 

[farmerjon]

Here's a random pic of the blue LEDs at night:
View attachment 65042

Here are 2 pics of my tow hitch, which I painted with SEM, and some glimpses of my chassis/undercarriage, which I painted with an automotive rust primer, then top coated with Rustoleum:
View attachment 65043
View attachment 65044

Of course, now that my engine bay and chassis are so clean, I plan on going camping and taking fire roads, which will just dirty everything up again, but at least this will be my dirt, not the PO's.

Your rig is looking awesomer and awesomer! I really like what you've done with the SEM paint, and your chassis looks super clean!

Did you have much rust on the undercarriage? How did you get it off? if you did sand some rust off, can you recommend a specific tool or product/method for how you did it? I bought an Ohio T4R and it's now in a rust-free (read: very dry) area, so I'd like to get that rust off and paint it with some chassis paint...

Again, really nice work with the SEM paint, love how it's looking - you've REALLY transformed that truck!

 

[SantaCruzRunner]

WOW dude that really looks great!!! now you make me want to clean all the mud and crap off my undercarage!!

 

[BrianSD_42]

hey are you planning on attending the Sat. June 2nd trip that 4RunninDaily is trying to setup? The trails are about 1.5hr east from OC or 2 hrs NE from San Diego.

I may go but I have to get my skid plate and new ear bumper back on. It would be nice to have a 4x4 and camping trip.

Btw, have you considered removing the front plate? I haven't had one for years.

Also, if it was me I would probably black out the hella covers or something to make them less bright white. Only because they really pop out in the pic.

This is just an idea: Paint the whole cover white including the letters HELLA. Let it dry for a day then tape off the letters so the paint color is preserved (might be difficult), finally paint it all satin black then remove the tape. You will have black covers with light letters (just like PIAA lights)

 

[4Running Daily]

hey are you planning on attending the Sat. June 2nd trip that 4RunninDaily is trying to setup? The trails are about 1.5hr east from OC or 2 hrs NE from San Diego.

I may go but I have to get my skid plate and new ear bumper back on. It would be nice to have a 4x4 and camping trip.

Btw, have you considered removing the front plate? I haven't had one for years.

Also, if it was me I would probably black out the hella covers or something to make them less bright white. Only because they really pop out in the pic.

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/so-cal/115309-socal-meet-trail-run-june-2nd-3rd-5.html#post1077882

 

[JasetheDamager]

Your rig is looking awesomer and awesomer! I really like what you've done with the SEM paint, and your chassis looks super clean!

Did you have much rust on the undercarriage? How did you get it off? if you did sand some rust off, can you recommend a specific tool or product/method for how you did it? I bought an Ohio T4R and it's now in a rust-free (read: very dry) area, so I'd like to get that rust off and paint it with some chassis paint...

Again, really nice work with the SEM paint, love how it's looking - you've REALLY transformed that truck!

Thanks Farmerjon! I appreciate the kind words. At this point, I've spent most of my big initial money I had saved up, so now I'll be spacing mods out. I have a couple of smaller projects in the works, so I'll try to post some more pics next week.

Regarding the chassis you can go about cleaning and prepping it several ways, depending on your time/obsessive compulsive behavior. If you have a DIY type car wash in your area, I recommend spraying off all the dirt and grime, then cleaning as best you can with a solution, like Simple Green or soap and water. I don't have a DIY car wash in my area, so I did most of this work by hand, which took about an hour or so. Depending on the severity of your rust, you can work your way through sandpaper. I started with 150, 220, then 400 as a finishing grit and wiped everything as best I could, at least on the chassis itself. I didn't sand the axle or exhaust system or any other mechanical part. That I just cleaned and painted. I figure I'm not going for looks, but trying to contain and prevent any further rust.

When I bought my SEM, I also purchased an automotive type primer the salesguy recommended for my chassis (I'll post pics when I go to my shop and grab the can). I bought a brush-paint application, which I regret in hindsight as it takes forever. I used that as a primer, then decided to spray over it with Rustoleum to hit the spots I missed.

For the exhaust system, from the headers to the pipe, I used Rustoleum high heat primer 2000 degrees, and Rustoleum high heat top coat satin 2000 degrees. Then I painted the exhaust pipe itself with Rustoleum 500 degree semi-gloss, so the pipe better matched my wheels.

I have a few stubborn spots I missed tucked up behind the tow package and spare tire, which I probably need to get rid of at some point anyway. One of the reasons I did such a fastidious job is that my lift and tires showed off some rust and I figured taking care of the chassis was yet another way to show people how much we care about our rigs.

 

[JasetheDamager]

WOW dude that really looks great!!! now you make me want to clean all the mud and crap off my undercarage!!

The mud is cool! It means you actually took your truck offroad. My truck will be dirty soon enough, don't worry. Like I mentioned earlier, I'm going through all this work just to get it dirty again, but that's the nature of the beast. Rinse, muddy, repeat...

 

[JasetheDamager]

hey are you planning on attending the Sat. June 2nd trip that 4RunninDaily is trying to setup? The trails are about 1.5hr east from OC or 2 hrs NE from San Diego.

I may go but I have to get my skid plate and new ear bumper back on. It would be nice to have a 4x4 and camping trip.

Btw, have you considered removing the front plate? I haven't had one for years.

Also, if it was me I would probably black out the hella covers or something to make them less bright white. Only because they really pop out in the pic.

This is just an idea: Paint the whole cover white including the letters HELLA. Let it dry for a day then tape off the letters so the paint color is preserved (might be difficult), finally paint it all satin black then remove the tape. You will have black covers with light letters (just like PIAA lights)

Hey Brianemc2, when you say front plate, do you mean skid plate? That's my noob question of the day. Check that. I'm doing a self-edit. I'm pretty sure you mean front license plate. You already have a front skid plate. I remember this from your thread.

Actually my plan is to remove the covers all together and buy mesh guards for the lights, but thus far I've only found one place that sells them on Ebay and the seller wants 45$ for both covers, so I'm waiting for a better price. Also I have a style/aesthetics question for you: Would it look stupid if I kept my Hella running lights and installed PIAA ion crystal fog lights in the middle of them? Basically I'd have my Hellas on the outside, and PIAAs on the inside. See my eventual plan, after I get my truck a fresh paint job, is to remove the brush guard installed by the PO, and install some kind of light bar that can hold up to 4 lights. For the foreseeable future, I'll have to pass on buying a more expensive Outdoor Logic-ARB style bumper. That will my down the road gift to myself.

As far as a trail run, I'm helping my grandmother move to NorCal over the next 3 weeks or so, which will drain all of my free time. Thanks for letting me know, but it might be a while before I have any time for fun.

 

[farmerjon]

Thanks Farmerjon! I appreciate the kind words. At this point, I've spent most of my big initial money I had saved up, so now I'll be spacing mods out. I have a couple of smaller projects in the works, so I'll try to post some more pics next week.

Regarding the chassis you can go about cleaning and prepping it several ways, depending on your time/obsessive compulsive behavior. If you have a DIY type car wash in your area, I recommend spraying off all the dirt and grime, then cleaning as best you can with a solution, like Simple Green or soap and water. I don't have a DIY car wash in my area, so I did most of this work by hand, which took about an hour or so. Depending on the severity of your rust, you can work your way through sandpaper. I started with 150, 220, then 400 as a finishing grit and wiped everything as best I could, at least on the chassis itself. I didn't sand the axle or exhaust system or any other mechanical part. That I just cleaned and painted. I figure I'm not going for looks, but trying to contain and prevent any further rust.

When I bought my SEM, I also purchased an automotive type primer the salesguy recommended for my chassis (I'll post pics when I go to my shop and grab the can). I bought a brush-paint application, which I regret in hindsight as it takes forever. I used that as a primer, then decided to spray over it with Rustoleum to hit the spots I missed.

For the exhaust system, from the headers to the pipe, I used Rustoleum high heat primer 2000 degrees, and Rustoleum high heat top coat satin 2000 degrees. Then I painted the exhaust pipe itself with Rustoleum 500 degree semi-gloss, so the pipe better matched my wheels.

I have a few stubborn spots I missed tucked up behind the tow package and spare tire, which I probably need to get rid of at some point anyway. One of the reasons I did such a fastidious job is that my lift and tires showed off some rust and I figured taking care of the chassis was yet another way to show people how much we care about our rigs.

Thanks for the reply! Did you have much rust under there? I'm torn between sandpaper and a grinder, I don't have a whole lot but am not sure how hard it is to sand down the rust... Guess I'll be doing some experimenting...

 

[JasetheDamager]

Went up into Cleveland National Forest to camp, hike, and play around on old fire/service/truck roads. Nice to get a bit dirty. I only snapped a few pics, none too crazy.

 

[JasetheDamager]

Thanks for the reply! Did you have much rust under there? I'm torn between sandpaper and a grinder, I don't have a whole lot but am not sure how hard it is to sand down the rust... Guess I'll be doing some experimenting...

I used a random orbital on the straighter parts of the chassis, but then I sanded by hand to reach the tighter angles. If you don't have much rust, I personally don't see the need for a grinder. Others might disagree.

I have access to a full woodshop and we have a tool called a Fein tool, which is multi-type tool. Dremel, Rigid, and other tool companies manufacture them these days, though I still prefer Fein. It's a variable-speed tool that comes with triangular sanding pads, which is great for reaching awkward angles. I even used that tool on a few spots. Honestly, I didn't have much rust, just dirt, so I once I cleaned the chassis as best I could, I waited for it to dry and started painting.

 

[JasetheDamager]

Since I have a few minutes today, I'm posting pics of projects I've recently completed. These help to pay the bills and pay for my truck as well. I work across several mediums and disciplines, though my preference tends to be woodworking.












I'll get back to posting truck stuff again soon, I promise.

 

[fightman80]

Nice work man!

 

[4Running Daily]

Since I have a few minutes today, I'm posting pics of projects I've recently completed. These help to pay the bills and pay for my truck as well. I work across several mediums and disciplines, though my preference tends to be woodworking.


View attachment 65264


I'll get back to posting truck stuff again soon, I promise.

Purple Heart and Walnut? Awesome man!

I do a little wood working myself. I stick to cabinets, cutting boards, and shift knobs though.

 

[PitbullRescuer]

At the risk of sounding like a big a-hole, I wasn't expecting much when I first read this thread a few weeks ago. You have definitely put me in my place. Good work man, truck looks awesome. Very impressed with your work and your attention to detail. Your woodworking skills are mighty impressive too. Looking forward to watching this thing continue to progress.