i guess your moving up to the top end of your rebuild
What Did You Do To Your 3rd Gen Today?
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i guess your moving up to the top end of your rebuild
chandaman_05
New member
The escalation of general maintenance into becoming a project car continues.
So far "ball joints and maybe bushings" has turned into a complete suspension rebuild front to rear including removing and sandblasting everything.
I might put it all in a build thread sometime soon but I can't start one of those yet (long time lurker here but not a frequent poster so I can't make threads yet).
Anyways, here's how it started:
So far "ball joints and maybe bushings" has turned into a complete suspension rebuild front to rear including removing and sandblasting everything.
I might put it all in a build thread sometime soon but I can't start one of those yet (long time lurker here but not a frequent poster so I can't make threads yet).
Anyways, here's how it started:
chandaman_05
New member
Since everything was off, might as well sandblast it and repaint it... 240k miles and its time for some new paint underneath the body
Welded on the panhard correction bracket I've had laying around forever
... and the rest of the suspension components for the rear that got blasted
Welded on the panhard correction bracket I've had laying around forever
... and the rest of the suspension components for the rear that got blasted
chandaman_05
New member
Por15 + semi gloss enamel after the POR15 tacked up a bit.
Next step was the valve cover gaskets. My car has been caked in years of road grime and oil for years now and I finally decided to fix the issue and clean the engine and frame with oven cleaner to degrease everything.
First the degreasing:
A before pic of the VCs and after partially cleaning the engine bay:
And the bottom side after 4 cans of HD oven cleaner (The good stuff with sodium hydroxide in it):
I was honestly surprised to see what the underside of the car looks like when you clean off the 1" coating of grease/grime
Next step was the valve cover gaskets. My car has been caked in years of road grime and oil for years now and I finally decided to fix the issue and clean the engine and frame with oven cleaner to degrease everything.
First the degreasing:
A before pic of the VCs and after partially cleaning the engine bay:
And the bottom side after 4 cans of HD oven cleaner (The good stuff with sodium hydroxide in it):
I was honestly surprised to see what the underside of the car looks like when you clean off the 1" coating of grease/grime
chandaman_05
New member
VC Job:
Cleaned up everything with oven cleaner and dawn dish soap + some elbow grease to get it looking shiny again and got it all put back together.
I had to re-wrap the destroyed plastic bits on the fuel injector harness so I used some vulcanizing rubber tape, 3/4" wire loom from NAPA, some 3/4 loom clamps connected to the OEM bolt holes in the valve covers, and some zip ties to keep the loom tight and from moving. Looks pretty good to me and it stays suspended and not touching the intake plenum.
Threw the intake back, installed a new radiator (I still had the OEM radiator w/240k miles on it). I still need to re-route my aftermarket trans cooler to use the trans cooler portion of the new radiator and have them running in-line. I should be free from the milkshake for a while now with a brand new Denso radiator.
She started up just fine and ran great and it took about 10 minutes to burn off all of the gunk that got washed down onto the exhaust manifolds.
Cleaned up everything with oven cleaner and dawn dish soap + some elbow grease to get it looking shiny again and got it all put back together.
I had to re-wrap the destroyed plastic bits on the fuel injector harness so I used some vulcanizing rubber tape, 3/4" wire loom from NAPA, some 3/4 loom clamps connected to the OEM bolt holes in the valve covers, and some zip ties to keep the loom tight and from moving. Looks pretty good to me and it stays suspended and not touching the intake plenum.
Threw the intake back, installed a new radiator (I still had the OEM radiator w/240k miles on it). I still need to re-route my aftermarket trans cooler to use the trans cooler portion of the new radiator and have them running in-line. I should be free from the milkshake for a while now with a brand new Denso radiator.
She started up just fine and ran great and it took about 10 minutes to burn off all of the gunk that got washed down onto the exhaust manifolds.
chandaman_05
New member
While trying to replace some UCA bushings with whitelines, I cracked the UCA... 
So I ordered some JBA UCAs which will be installed later... They look great in person and will hopefully correct my caster as I've been driving with OEM UCAs on a 3" lift for about 70k miles now.
Moved onto the front spindle assembly and found the most stubborn wheel bearings I've ever encountered in my life.
Both front wheel bearings decided to explode themselves when I was trying to remove the wheel hub. Removing these required all that my friend's 20T press could deliver and I was using a floor jack handle to get leverage and apply force to the hub/bearing assembly. Not pictured is my friend hiding and myself wearing a face mask and hiding behind a piece of plywood applying pressure.
I ordered 2 new hub assemblies because the OEM ones got trashed pulling the bearings out and rebuilt the front spindles with all new OEM parts and installed the adaptor for the JBA UCA ball joints as well and got everything painted and ready to go. I also installed new brake shields which I'll have to cut later to clear my TBU and I'll just used my old ones as a template when it comes to re-installation time.
I also installed new whiteline bushings in the LCAs so we'll how they feel. Pretty much every single bushing is getting replaced as there was hardly anything left of any of the OEM bushings.
So I ordered some JBA UCAs which will be installed later... They look great in person and will hopefully correct my caster as I've been driving with OEM UCAs on a 3" lift for about 70k miles now.
Moved onto the front spindle assembly and found the most stubborn wheel bearings I've ever encountered in my life.
Both front wheel bearings decided to explode themselves when I was trying to remove the wheel hub. Removing these required all that my friend's 20T press could deliver and I was using a floor jack handle to get leverage and apply force to the hub/bearing assembly. Not pictured is my friend hiding and myself wearing a face mask and hiding behind a piece of plywood applying pressure.
I ordered 2 new hub assemblies because the OEM ones got trashed pulling the bearings out and rebuilt the front spindles with all new OEM parts and installed the adaptor for the JBA UCA ball joints as well and got everything painted and ready to go. I also installed new brake shields which I'll have to cut later to clear my TBU and I'll just used my old ones as a template when it comes to re-installation time.
I also installed new whiteline bushings in the LCAs so we'll how they feel. Pretty much every single bushing is getting replaced as there was hardly anything left of any of the OEM bushings.
chandaman_05
New member
My pinion bearing has been trashed for years now making the classic low whirring noise while coasting. Got a new ring and pinion from a donor that wasn't beat like mine and had the local driveline shop put it together for me. I'd love to re-build my own some day but this is one job that I just don't quite feel comfortable doing quite yet.
Cleaned out the rear axle housing, installed new rear wheel bearings and seals and got it all sealed up and put back together and then finished it off with 1 more coat of paint to give everything a nice OEM look.
The dog has been a good helper even though she doesn't know how to fetch me the impact yet...
Cleaned out the rear axle housing, installed new rear wheel bearings and seals and got it all sealed up and put back together and then finished it off with 1 more coat of paint to give everything a nice OEM look.
The dog has been a good helper even though she doesn't know how to fetch me the impact yet...
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
My pinion bearing has been trashed for years now making the classic low whirring noise while coasting. Got a new ring and pinion from a donor that wasn't beat like mine and had the local driveline shop put it together for me. I'd love to re-build my own some day but this is one job that I just don't quite feel comfortable doing quite yet.
Cleaned out the rear axle housing, installed new rear wheel bearings and seals and got it all sealed up and put back together and then finished it off with 1 more coat of paint to give everything a nice OEM look.
The dog has been a good helper even though she doesn't know how to fetch me the impact yet...
Amazing work, kudos!
2TH4IST
Member
They are all studs on the housing.
Just been driving him the last few months. Parts are piling up and I need to finish the e-fan swap. But I was dragging a$$ building the chicken coup extension. And paying the price now. But i just finished the coup today. Now they have a complete complex. Next thing I know they will have a key card to enter the coup lol. Got a bit of work to do on tug boat (chevy 3500 diesel) Front end rebuild.
I have Midwest injectors sitting, and I'm starting to notice a slight rough idle. 250k miles on oem injectors, I'd say they worked hard enough. Decided to ditch the pre-made power station dohickies as the ones I want are all over 1k$ now. No thanks. So I'll build my own "house" battery. Also got to start on the sleep platform thingy.
Hope every father is having a great Father's day now!
Just been driving him the last few months. Parts are piling up and I need to finish the e-fan swap. But I was dragging a$$ building the chicken coup extension. And paying the price now. But i just finished the coup today. Now they have a complete complex. Next thing I know they will have a key card to enter the coup lol. Got a bit of work to do on tug boat (chevy 3500 diesel) Front end rebuild.
I have Midwest injectors sitting, and I'm starting to notice a slight rough idle. 250k miles on oem injectors, I'd say they worked hard enough. Decided to ditch the pre-made power station dohickies as the ones I want are all over 1k$ now. No thanks. So I'll build my own "house" battery. Also got to start on the sleep platform thingy.
Hope every father is having a great Father's day now!
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Spiker Engineering
official vendor
I used it (or rather its winch) to move a fully loaded tool chest from the basement to its new home:
And here's the new home, no more being garage-less:
And here's the new home, no more being garage-less:
habanero
Senior Member
cool, and
COOL!And here's the new home, no more being garage-less:
chandaman_05
New member
Yup. Goldendoodle or "designer mutt" as I like to call them. She's a sweet dog and the no-shedding thing is seriously nice.
chandaman_05
New member
Yeah all of the diffs have studs. Most of nuts as you can see came off just fine. Some of them had some of the RTV or whatever gasket sealer material stuck in the threads and the entire stud came out. Wasn't a big deal. Cracking open the diff was a PITA and took a lot longer than expected with 2 chisels and a pry bar.
I had to file away some chisel marks and re-apply the gasket material before sealing it all back up. Hopefully the noise goes away but I'm probably 2-3 days away from driving this so we'll see.
Today's plan after work is to paint the front half of the frame after finishing the needle scaling and then work can start on re-assembly of the front as well as finishing the paint of the middle/back part of the frame.
Spiker Engineering
official vendor
I grew up working on cars in the driveway in PA rain snow and heat, but then have been lucky enough to have a garage for several decades. This recent move put us into a beautiful house with no garage, in rainy Portland. I forgot how much I hated that; luckily my awesome wife was supportive of adding the garage, so here we are.
It's back in the vehicle, it's in an 01 Double Cab Tacoma I reconditioned from the frame up. Not posting any of those pics with it not being a 4runner, fixed the rust issues their known for and improved the frame design at the same time so it should not have anymore rusting out issues.
fourfive
Senior Member
I only see one 3rd gen. Where are the other two?
Great looking garage to engineer more 3rd gen products like a mad scientist.
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