"The Sequel"

[Lamer]

after returning from California, I was finally able to install my AirRaid intake tube. simple install. next is my snorkel.

Also thought I would show off my cousin's incredible home built 1972 (i think) Fummins Highboy. 12 valve cummins in that puppy. on 40" tires. custom flatbed and pretty much custom everything. not pictures is his home built dessert racing trophy truck, and his suped up thunderbird. he is a true DIY'r and master mechanic.

 

[Lamer]

pick n pull heaven

went to some pick n pulls around town to look for a few things,

- hood w/ scoop (not likely but I have hope)
- rear cargo pull cover
- rear window wiper blade rubber

only found the rear cargo pull cover. its from a blue interior, but I can paint that to match pretty close i think. after it clean it of course

I also think I am going to go another path, away from the 4:30 rear e-locked axle. I have started to look for a 4:10 rear e-locked axle from a tacoma. that way I dont have to mess with the front diff. and will give me better mileage, and if I ever go bigger tires, I can re-gear both diffs to a higher gear at any time.

so, if you are in the Houston area, I may have a locked 4:30 rear axle for sale. locking motor works great, axle works great.

 

[Lamer]

after dropping the GF off at work, I took advantage of the drive and washed it. I really only now just realized how well this color hides water spots. I really only needed to dry the windows and the chrome! love it.

also, for the few of you that actually follow this write up, Ill share some of my pinstriping practice I did the other day, very proud of these two.

instagram: #8linepinstripe

 

[Lamer]

last night was a good time, snorkel installed! very impressed with the build quality, and installation was just alright.

awesome advise from @Moonglowrunner really helped. heat gun on the rubber elbow.

 

[Lamer]

Strong Arm Lift Supports

Strong Arm Lift Supports part # 6815 - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W8QBA30/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AZUEGS6F7RLJ5&psc=1

upon installing these today, I was unpleasantly disappointed. they did nothing. after a pleasent call with LiftSupportsDepot customer service, I did a pressure test on both of them. (put my body weight on them). one passed, one failed.

They are sending me a new one via express mail, and I dont have to send the bad one back. love it! :whoo:

the nylon spacer proved to be valuable. if you have a steady hand, you only need one. just cut it in half and its the perfect fit. - http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-g...placed-their-lift-supports-rear-tailgate.html

my method for holding the hatch weight. (borrowed from my apartment closet)

unfortunately I do have a gap between the nylon spacer and the bracket, but the nylon should last a long time regardless.

and installed

 

[Lamer]

Sound Deadening

Started the sound deadening process, woke up late, and only got one section done before it got to hot.

got in as far as I could behind the wheel tub. I really want to get it on the inside of the outer door sheet metal, i think that will make the most difference. one little step at a time!

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EDIT: got the other rear quarter panel done, and the cargo area, next is removing the seats and fwd carpet! might have to order some more in order to get the doors done.

and a video of the passenger rear quarter area (seems to work quite well)
https://youtu.be/TddyBWRjk58

EDIT: made more headway on hte interior. back seats are done, and half of the front. I ran out of material so waiting on more to arrive. should have enough to finish the floor, and complete all the doors.

 

[Lamer]

gift from the gods

this morning, as per my usual craigslist check for any new 4runner part/pieces I found a newly posted 4runner, posted by a pick'n pull yard. (they post the "more complete" cars on craigslist). I immediately called and said I'm coming over right now, can you hold that hood for me!!!??? .......... they did!!!:hungry:

I am the proud new owner of a hood with scoop ($200)! not a perfect color match, but I plan on painting/monstalining in the near future.

I also noticed it has the windshield spray nozzles with LED's on the front. never seen those before, pretty cool.

Also picked up 3 of the steel wheels ($100), the 4th was trashed in a bad kinda way. 16"x7" steels wheels ready for prep/paint/tires. gonna go with a 255/85/16

I am curious about these holes though....on 2 of the three wheels, these two holes next to the air nozzle are oblong, but not on the third. is that because of the TPS sensor???

and finally, I picked up these two rear mud flaps ($20) from a very clean bronze 4runner also in the yard. the frame was clearly taken car of, and the interior was so spotless the owner of the yard took it for his own 4runner.

all in im at $320 and perfectly ok with that! what a day!:first:

 

[Lamer]

installed the hood this morning, it looks so good!! pumped.

its odd seeing the bulge when driving, but its great! and now I have the underhood heat pad(?) noise pad(?) thing too!

 

[Lamer]

Rear Dust Vent

After being constantly annoyed with the musky dusty smell and feel every time I opened my door in the morning I finally removed the rear left bumper corner and inspected the vent

the little black flap is gone, and there is plenty of dust sitting in there. pictures are after I "cleaned" it. ordering a new one today.

also noticed that my bumper is slightly askew and lower on the pass side evidenced by the corner bumper being about a 1/2" lower than it should be. you can the bumper angle relative to the hatch

any recommendations on fixing this? maybe use the floor jack and push up on the outermost bumper mount?

 

[Lamer]

new vent arrived!

very happy this arrived before I leave for Scotland. a very quick install and the bumper corner went back on just as fast.

Don't forget to move the Sunroof drain hose clip over to the new vent!

and for anyone that is wondering in the future, there are 4 bolts holding on the bumper corner, circled in red below.

you have to remove the black plastic step (simply pull up) to get to this one.

 

[Lamer]

today I removed blower motor and cleaned the fan, boy it was a mess. made a decent attempt to remove the fan from the motor but that sucker is stuck on there. the ring clamp comes off easy enough, but there is a lip on the motor shaft which requires the plastic to be spread out in order for it to come off.

good thing I keep an old toothbrush around for cleaning, worked like a charm.

 

[farmerjon]

I like this restoration build! Very practical and I see you're getting down to the nittygritty (no pun intended) of various aspects of your rig (like the blower fan or the rear vent), more so than most other owners I've seen.

Keep up the great work!

 

[Lamer]

I like this restoration build! Very practical and I see you're getting down to the nittygritty (no pun intended) of various aspects of your rig (like the blower fan or the rear vent), more so than most other owners I've seen.

Keep up the great work!

hey thanks, I've had a break from work for a while now and have been trying to work on the smaller things (more so cheap than smaller). I do have big plans though, that wish list in the second post keeps getting bigger!

 

[apohl17]

Awesome build. A scooped hood for 200, ready to bolt on? Jealous, I am!
What tires are you planning on going with in 255/85?

 

[Lamer]

Awesome build. A scooped hood for 200, ready to bolt on? Jealous, I am!
What tires are you planning on going with in 255/85?

thanks! ya really scored with that hood. a buddy in town just scored one for his 4runner. not sure what he paid, but it was ready to bolt on.

I haven't decided on which tire yet, but leaning towards the "Cooper ST MAX" or "Toyo Tire Open Country M/T All Season"

 

[Lamer]

Big 3 Upgrade

for a long time I had been confused about what the big 3 mod did, and how it was installed. so today I spent the better part of my morning reading THIS POST by BigFishAllDay. it has all the information needed to do the mod, including parts list, but I still had to read it several times to fully understand the wiring (what was kept, what was removed, and what was added.) I am a visual person, and an artist, so I drew it.

Below is my depiction of the Big 3 Upgrade. Top half is OEM wiring, bottom half is inslucive of the Big 3 Upgrade. (The alternator in the top half is incorrectly drawn showing 2 POS terminals. The WIRE #3 is going to the POS terminal. the other terminal is NEG.)

So I have all of the materials to finally complete this upgrade.

A = Grounding wire from Battery to fender - I made this long in case I change batteries in the future and need to be able to reach the far side.
B = Grounding wire from Engine grounding point (alternator mounting bolt) to fender
C = From Alternator + to 150A circuit breaker mounted on top of fuse box
D = From 150A circuit breaker to battery +

All terminals will be the 5/16" hole size other than the battery connections and the engine ground terminal on wire A.

I found a kit on amazon that provides 5ft of red and black (AWG of your choice, I chose 2AWG) wire, heat shrink tubing, and 8 matching terminals; 4 with a 3/8" hole, and 4 with a 5/16" hole to allow for different mounting locations/diameters. it also comes with 10ft of 10AWG wire with terminals. not needed now, but maybe in the future for other projects. LINK

Also grabbed this 150A circuit breaker made by Bussman. LINK seems to be really good quality. (150A is the safe circuit breaker size for 2AWG wiring)

the terminals I bought came with some copper terminals, but I will use the tin covered terminals that came with the wire kit. LINK

and finally some generic battery terminal protectors from autozone. figured it could only help. so why not.

using my workbench, I got all my wiring terminated, with solder, and heat shrink. came out pretty nice I think.

In efforts made to enlarge the original engine grounding cable that connects to the battery, I went a little fast and ripped the terminal apart. No worries though, I had an extra 3/8" terminal. Before and After.

Alternator wire and grounding wire in place. the Alternator wire was able to be placed below the stock terminal, and the plastic cap was still able to snap back on! stoked.

Was also able to install the new Military spec battery terminals, and covers. Here you can also see where I mounted the 150A circuit breaker. Bolted into the fuse box lid. Also not sure if you can tell but somehow I made the + alternator wire way too long. so I had to find a place for the extra length and ended up running it under the fuse box, and then around. Ill change it later when I pick up a new 5/16" ring terminal. I will also add some wire loom.

 

[tturbocar]

loving how this one is turning out, wish my local yards didnt charge an arm and a leg for the hood w/scoop.

 

[Lamer]

loving how this one is turning out, wish my local yards didnt charge an arm and a leg for the hood w/scoop.

thanks! means a lot. those hoods really are hard to find

 

[Lamer]

Whitson Metalworks Roof Rack

I was able to pick up this awesome Whitson Metalworks roof rack today from [MENTION=101060]Spunk[/MENTION].

he has a got a great work space here in Houston. and I cant wait to see what he does with his 4runner. gonna be a mean machine to say the least.

first I removed all my stock roof rack crossbars and cleaned the roof. unbeleivably there isnt any different between the paint under the crossbars, and the open roof area. kinda woulda thought some paint fading would have occured.

then with the Help of Spunk we put the new rack on top. an awkward task if you have never done it before.

 

[Lamer]

LED Reverse Lights

the old halogen bulbs just weren't cutting it anymore. ordered some LED's from amazon - LINK

******IMPORTANT*******

the plug for the "brake light housing" bulbs changes from 99 (i think) on. the early models are plug size 7440, late model are 921.

I ordered the 921 bulbs by mistake.
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below are the 7440 (LEFT) vs the 921 (RIGHT) bulb

these particular bulbs are from different manufacturer, and have considerable differences. (# of LED's, size of LED's, placement of LED's) here is a picture of the end of the bulbs. the 7440 has 3 LED's while the 921 has 6 smaller LED's

here is the 7440 against the stock halogen.

and the install complete.

the pictures don't to the LED's justice. ill try and upload a nighttime picture if I remember. I could tell a difference during the middle of the day.