4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Hey Jake, thanks for the shout-out, and glad you liked the kit! Very clever approach to the temporary hood support, kudos! 
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"The Sequel"
- Thread starter Lamer
- Start date
BrianSD_42
New member
I was looking through your thread and noticed your troubles with SEM trim paint on plastic. I had similar issues and eventually stopped using SEM entirely. Not matter what I did to clean and prep whenever I tried to prime then paint on plastic the paint layer would curdle. I've been using Duplicolor since.
How was Scottland? My wife and I went to Ireland for 9 days in October and it was pretty awesome.
How was Scottland? My wife and I went to Ireland for 9 days in October and it was pretty awesome.
Lamer
New member
oh man those dash panels were not cleaned properly, thats on me. I really rushed that project. Gotta say it worked great on the bumper trim and fender flares after a good cleaning. Also, I never primed anything, just went with straight SEM.
Scottland was amazing, we had what the locals called the best weather that year. part of my family is from northern Scotland so it was good to see that part of the country. I bet Ireland was a blast.
Lamer
New member
Hood Latch Adjustment
Ever since I put the scoop hood on, I noticed that when i get to cruising speed (20mph+) the hood seems to lift up unitl the latching mechanism catches it. only a half inch or so, but today I finally fixed it.
upon removing the three 10mm bolts that hold it in place I was fooled into thinking there was OEM adjust-ability built in....but upon closer inspection, it the bolts. Just before the head of the bolt is a slightly tapered section which brings the mechanism back to the same position every time. not a big problem.
took my dremel tool (love that thing) with a milling bit and cut away some material to allow the mechanism to lower down.
I had the mechanism loose, and closed the hood all the way. with the grille removed, I could clearly see where the latch would need to be in order for the hood to remain in the "all the way down" position. From there just removed a little more material and tightened it up! good to go.
Before and after:
and the latch, you can see the old impressions from the original bolt positions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally removed the plastic just behind the hood, and the wiper arms to paint with SEM Trim Black. what a difference!
Before and after:
Ever since I put the scoop hood on, I noticed that when i get to cruising speed (20mph+) the hood seems to lift up unitl the latching mechanism catches it. only a half inch or so, but today I finally fixed it.
upon removing the three 10mm bolts that hold it in place I was fooled into thinking there was OEM adjust-ability built in....but upon closer inspection, it the bolts. Just before the head of the bolt is a slightly tapered section which brings the mechanism back to the same position every time. not a big problem.
took my dremel tool (love that thing) with a milling bit and cut away some material to allow the mechanism to lower down.
I had the mechanism loose, and closed the hood all the way. with the grille removed, I could clearly see where the latch would need to be in order for the hood to remain in the "all the way down" position. From there just removed a little more material and tightened it up! good to go.
Before and after:
and the latch, you can see the old impressions from the original bolt positions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally removed the plastic just behind the hood, and the wiper arms to paint with SEM Trim Black. what a difference!
Before and after:
T4topher
Member
Ever since I put the scoop hood on, I noticed that when i get to cruising speed (20mph+) the hood seems to lift up unitl the latching mechanism catches it. only a half inch or so, but today I finally fixed it.
upon removing the three 10mm bolts that hold it in place I was fooled into thinking there was OEM adjust-ability built in....but upon closer inspection, it the bolts. Just before the head of the bolt is a slightly tapered section which brings the mechanism back to the same position every time. not a big problem.
took my dremel tool (love that thing) with a milling bit and cut away some material to allow the mechanism to lower down.
I had the mechanism loose, and closed the hood all the way. with the grille removed, I could clearly see where the latch would need to be in order for the hood to remain in the "all the way down" position. From there just removed a little more material and tightened it up! good to go.
Before and after:
and the latch, you can see the old impressions from the original bolt positions
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I finally removed the plastic just behind the hood, and the wiper arms to paint with SEM Trim Black. what a difference!
Before and after:
Truck looks great, the trim came out good man! I restore my plastic trim with a heat gun, works good but have to be careful not to melt the plastic too much..
Last edited:
Lamer
New member
thanks, I don't have a heat gun, but a good cleaning with simplegreen and thorough drying seems to work well for me. no complaints so far.
phattyduck
Elite Member
I did the same thing last weekend! I also did all my black plastic flares and the rear bumper topper. Gonna install the Tacoma rubber trim on them before re-install. Looks so much better in a true black instead of dingy grey. I used a Mr. Clean magic eraser to clean the plastic beforehand.I finally removed the plastic just behind the hood, and the wiper arms to paint with SEM Trim Black. what a difference!
-Charlie
Lamer
New member
Ya I'm really pleased with how it came out. I should have done it when I did my flares and bumper trim, but was lazy.
What is the Tacoma Rubber trim you speak of???
phattyduck
Elite Member
This stuff:
Adding Rubber Flare Trim - 3rd Gen 4Runner - YotaTech Forums
I think there are threads on it here too...
-Charlie
Lamer
New member
ah yes, i've seen that before. I like the idea and if I were going to keep the paint I would probably do that too. but I plan on monstalining in the coming weeks/months.
Lamer
New member
Under Hood Lighting with Auto on/off
Today I installed my engine bay lighting, install was as follows:
Parts:
- 3' LED strip from LEDSupply - LINK
- Basic soldering equipment
- Pin Switch - LINK
- Flexible wiring conduit
Step 1: Install LED strip
- think about where you will be laying the wiring harness when you do this, I put my harness on the drivers side as it is closest to the battery. (some of you may have a Blue Sea fuse block somewhere on the passenger side that would sway you to have the harness on that side)
- I adhered mine just inside the rubber seal, after cleaning the surface of course
Step 2: Install pin switch
- There are two holes readily available for this. Shown below, the hole beneath the pin switch needs to be made a touch larger for the switch to fit comfortably. 7/16ths was the perfect size.
- Secure it with a self tapping screw. (there are two layers of metal here so the screw will really grab well.)
- The second hole which comes in handy, is also shown below, just under my hood lift strut (some of you do not have the hood strut, but you should be able to find the hole regardless)
- Once the hole is enlarged, the switch slides right in
- As the pin switch only protrudes 1" out from the plate, the hood will not contact it and press it down when completely shut.
- I shaped a small piece of plywood to the contour of the hood edge (contoured with sand paper - put the sand paper on the hood edge, and oscillate the wood until it fits right)
- Lower the hood to mark the position of the pin switch, and stick the wood in place with strong 3M double sided tape.
Before and after contouring:
- I painted the wood black with some high heat paint before sticking in place.
Step 3: Begin running your harness
- I started at the LED strip, soldering the connections, then heat shrinking.
- Using a steel wire, navigate it under the hood pad (if you have one) use it to pull the wiring through to the next section
- Keep enough wire to allow the harness to move/coil when opening/closing the hood.
- The "-" wire only needs to reach the pin switch
- The "+" wire needs to reach your power supply (mine is going to the circuit breaker I have installed as part of my Big 3 upgrade, this will be shown later on)
- I used black conduit to keep the wires in order, and make a cleaner engine bay.
- also used zip ties to secure the conduit to the hood just after it comes out from under the hood pad. (I did not run conduit all the way under the pad, it is a very tight squeeze. I stuffed about an inch of conduit under the pad and called it good to go)
Step 4: Connect your ground wire to the pin switch
- Here you can see the small black wire exit the conduit and go through the second hole mentioned in STEP 1.
- BE SURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH SLACK IN THIS WIRE. If you ever need to remove the hood, you will simply unscrew the pin switch, pull it up and disconnect the wire to feed it back through the holes.
- OPTIONAL - I also added a terminal connection on the "+" wire here as well in case I ever need to remove the hood. (Then I don't have to remove the entire harness)
- you can also see where I fed the conduit down next to the inner fender wall. This helps add the coiling feature (see video below) when closing the hood. (its a tight squeeze but you can rotate the conduit a bit to give the tubing a natural coil effect...play around with it and you will understand what I am talking about)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GinZ4dIT_ds" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Step 5: Feed and connect the "+" wire to the power supply
- I fed the conduit along the inner fender wall and up to my circuit breaker.
- When you make this connection, the LED should turn on (if you have your ground connected to your pin switch.)
- Push the pin switch down and the LED should turn off.
DONE
Before and after:
Now if you have the hood struts, you have an even more impressive engine bay!!!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3U0PHI_PrcA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Today I installed my engine bay lighting, install was as follows:
Parts:
- 3' LED strip from LEDSupply - LINK
- Basic soldering equipment
- Pin Switch - LINK
- Flexible wiring conduit
Step 1: Install LED strip
- think about where you will be laying the wiring harness when you do this, I put my harness on the drivers side as it is closest to the battery. (some of you may have a Blue Sea fuse block somewhere on the passenger side that would sway you to have the harness on that side)
- I adhered mine just inside the rubber seal, after cleaning the surface of course
Step 2: Install pin switch
- There are two holes readily available for this. Shown below, the hole beneath the pin switch needs to be made a touch larger for the switch to fit comfortably. 7/16ths was the perfect size.
- Secure it with a self tapping screw. (there are two layers of metal here so the screw will really grab well.)
- The second hole which comes in handy, is also shown below, just under my hood lift strut (some of you do not have the hood strut, but you should be able to find the hole regardless)
- Once the hole is enlarged, the switch slides right in
- As the pin switch only protrudes 1" out from the plate, the hood will not contact it and press it down when completely shut.
- I shaped a small piece of plywood to the contour of the hood edge (contoured with sand paper - put the sand paper on the hood edge, and oscillate the wood until it fits right)
- Lower the hood to mark the position of the pin switch, and stick the wood in place with strong 3M double sided tape.
Before and after contouring:
- I painted the wood black with some high heat paint before sticking in place.
Step 3: Begin running your harness
- I started at the LED strip, soldering the connections, then heat shrinking.
- Using a steel wire, navigate it under the hood pad (if you have one) use it to pull the wiring through to the next section
- Keep enough wire to allow the harness to move/coil when opening/closing the hood.
- The "-" wire only needs to reach the pin switch
- The "+" wire needs to reach your power supply (mine is going to the circuit breaker I have installed as part of my Big 3 upgrade, this will be shown later on)
- I used black conduit to keep the wires in order, and make a cleaner engine bay.
- also used zip ties to secure the conduit to the hood just after it comes out from under the hood pad. (I did not run conduit all the way under the pad, it is a very tight squeeze. I stuffed about an inch of conduit under the pad and called it good to go)
Step 4: Connect your ground wire to the pin switch
- Here you can see the small black wire exit the conduit and go through the second hole mentioned in STEP 1.
- BE SURE TO LEAVE ENOUGH SLACK IN THIS WIRE. If you ever need to remove the hood, you will simply unscrew the pin switch, pull it up and disconnect the wire to feed it back through the holes.
- OPTIONAL - I also added a terminal connection on the "+" wire here as well in case I ever need to remove the hood. (Then I don't have to remove the entire harness)
- you can also see where I fed the conduit down next to the inner fender wall. This helps add the coiling feature (see video below) when closing the hood. (its a tight squeeze but you can rotate the conduit a bit to give the tubing a natural coil effect...play around with it and you will understand what I am talking about)
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GinZ4dIT_ds" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Step 5: Feed and connect the "+" wire to the power supply
- I fed the conduit along the inner fender wall and up to my circuit breaker.
- When you make this connection, the LED should turn on (if you have your ground connected to your pin switch.)
- Push the pin switch down and the LED should turn off.
DONE
Before and after:
Now if you have the hood struts, you have an even more impressive engine bay!!!
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3U0PHI_PrcA" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Last edited:
apohl17
New member
Awesome, well photographed writeup man! Definitely makes me want to do this now. :cheers:
One thing though- want to share where you got the led strip and a rough lumen output for reference? There's a ton out there but yours looks like it sheds a decent amount of light on the subject.
Lamer
New member
a couple people have been asking me this, I just updated the post but here is the site I used
LED Strip (12V) with IP65 Waterproof Rating
I bought the standard density strip with 30 LED's/meter
540 Lumens
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Looks great Jake, very creative! I have to do that too!
One thing you might want to consider is adding a 5 or 10A inline fuse to the wire supplying power to the switch and the lights, unless I just didn't see it in the photos.
One thing you might want to consider is adding a 5 or 10A inline fuse to the wire supplying power to the switch and the lights, unless I just didn't see it in the photos.
Lamer
New member
I plan on adding one when I get a fuse block installed, hopefully sooner than later.
4Runner4Leon
Senior Member
Perfect! :thumb:
Lamer
New member
Garage set up (finally)
well, Just bought a house and finally have my own garage to work in. Up until now I have been doing everything in my apartment parking garage.
I know its not much, and certainly doesn't compare to some other garages out there, but I am in heaven right now with my new work bench, and work space!!! :reddance:
Every project I have done has been with these tools, I am resourceful, and creative when I need to be. And have used tools for jobs that they are definitely not designed for. but this is it, in all its glory.
not pictured is my jack and jack stands.
This is a simple work bench from Harbor Freight on sale for $70!!! and it has a built in light and power panel. For as cheap as it was, the drawers work really well and the light shines very bright.
well, Just bought a house and finally have my own garage to work in. Up until now I have been doing everything in my apartment parking garage.
I know its not much, and certainly doesn't compare to some other garages out there, but I am in heaven right now with my new work bench, and work space!!! :reddance:
Every project I have done has been with these tools, I am resourceful, and creative when I need to be. And have used tools for jobs that they are definitely not designed for. but this is it, in all its glory.
not pictured is my jack and jack stands.
This is a simple work bench from Harbor Freight on sale for $70!!! and it has a built in light and power panel. For as cheap as it was, the drawers work really well and the light shines very bright.
96RedRunner
Senior Member
Won't be long You'll be needing bigger bench more tool drawers then bigger garage. Congrats on new place.
Lamer
New member
in time my friend, in time... but I do already think the garage is a little small haha
Lamer
New member
General Maintenance
Had some time to kill this evening so I popped the hood and did some minor general maintenance.
removed, inspected and cleaned the MAF sensor. (that hood light is sure magical!)
and what is this connector that ends on the MAF wiring harness (just below my fingers in the picture)???
checked the brake fluid, is it supposed to be that dark???
and finally wanted to pull a (singular) spark plug to check the general condition, seems to be pretty good id say!
BUT then i had a gander down the tube and saw the top of the piston IT APPEARS BLACK AND FLAKY??....IS THIS BAD? WHATS GOING ON INSIDE MY CYLINDER??? (This is cylinder 1 btw, the only plug I pulled)
Had some time to kill this evening so I popped the hood and did some minor general maintenance.
removed, inspected and cleaned the MAF sensor. (that hood light is sure magical!)
and what is this connector that ends on the MAF wiring harness (just below my fingers in the picture)???
checked the brake fluid, is it supposed to be that dark???
and finally wanted to pull a (singular) spark plug to check the general condition, seems to be pretty good id say!
BUT then i had a gander down the tube and saw the top of the piston IT APPEARS BLACK AND FLAKY??....IS THIS BAD? WHATS GOING ON INSIDE MY CYLINDER??? (This is cylinder 1 btw, the only plug I pulled)
