iamsuperbleeder

My muffler and 2012 double din kit came in during the week! Every muffler shop is closed around here on the weekends but I caught the owner leaving the shop at the end of the day Friday and he said he'd weld it in for $30, so I'll be having that done Monday on my lunch break.

I did get the 2012 dash installed though. Have to finish off blacking out a spare climate control unit I have; the bezel will be gloss black to match the radio bezel, and the dials and buttons will be matte black. All in all I like the way it looks; everything literally just swapped right over!

before:




previous owner must have had something mounted down here; there's some screw holes...





Out with the old, in with the new!




Yes, you have to just about take the entire dash apart to do this...





All together!






Have some new switch blanks one will be used for a factory AUX input after I solder a headphone jack to the wires on it so I can plug it into an input on my Pioneer

iamsuperbleeder

Sanded smooth and blacked out, then clear coated the bezel for the climate controls today. Blends in MUCH better, but will be making some flat black dials to try and see if that makes it blend even better with everything else.

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Cool!

iamsuperbleeder

Had my Cherrybomb Extreme muffler (or as I like to call it, un-muffler, lol) welded on Monday. Haven't had a chance to get a video yet, but I'll put one together this weekend.

Sounds about like I expected it to. Nice and deep, not too ricey, and not too loud, be enough to turn heads. It's actually pretty subtle unless I hammer on it, THEN is screams It's no roaring V8, but I like it

Bucholz24

I love everything you have done on this truck. sexy!

iamsuperbleeder

Thanks

More to come soon too. Have a new audio system coming (head unit and possibly door speakers), and I also need to replace the 10" sub already... I think I blew it, it sounds like crap when I crank it , and hopefully those TRD wheels if I can track down a 4th. It is an EXTREMELY hard wheel to find... Apparently, Toyota's TRD department isn't putting them out right now? Which I find odd since they're still manufacturing the TX Pro they come on, as far as I know...

Also plan on pulling the headlights apart soon and blacking out the chrome frames in them for this look!





Would like to have a painted to match grill first though, but we'll see

iamsuperbleeder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnd0h...ature=youtu.be

iamsuperbleeder

Brought some more goodies home today

A pair of headlights that would have been trashed because half the mounting tabs on them are broken off...

I rescued them, because A) the lenses on them are IMMACULATE, which is going to be a HUGE improvement over what's on my truck right now... B) I can pull these apart and learn the process well before taking the ones on my truck apart and accidentally ruining them and being screwed, and C) I can get the inner frame painted black and have it fully cured before reassembly, which should make the down time of the truck with the headlights out shorter.

Did I ever mention how much I LOVE working at a scrap yard?

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Sounds good

iamsuperbleeder

headlight mod is under way

opened up the extra set a little while ago

also ordered some LED's that should be in tomorrow or Saturday; going to try something special, so stay tuned

iamsuperbleeder

Will have this little project finished tomorrow

iamsuperbleeder

headlights didn't turn out too well the first time around... paint did not want to set properly... so I got another set and will take a little more time with these over the week

however, I put a new head unit in yesterday. pulled out the D3 which has been glitching out occasionally and put an X930BT in it's place. so far I really like it!

iamsuperbleeder

my new radio greets me when I start it up

snobdds

Cool...

BigBluePile

iamsuperbleeder

She got an audio upgrade in the front doors yesterday. Some Rockford Fosgate 6x9's

WAY louder than the stockers. Will be ordered some matching rears this week; these outpower the stock rears so much that you can even hear the rears right now, lol

Might change the tweeters in the front doors after I change the rear speakers

iamsuperbleeder

so the first go-around with the headlight painting didn't go so well... the paint turned out horrible on both, and only got worse when I tried to fix them, mostly because I was just being impatient...

I got a second set from work, both with messed up lenses and back housings, but good innards, so I ripped them apart today and got the bezels painted. Spend a little more time sanding, and using some prep spray this time as well as starting off with lighter coats, and these came out FLAWLESS!

Going to let them cure, probably until next Saturday, then pop the amber lenses back in and put them in the truck!

Excuse my nasty looking oven


















I'm seriously considering grabbing a grill from work too and doing it the same way and seeing how it turns out looking. I think it'll look better with the headlights than the chrome one that's on it now, but we'll see. I'd much rather have a painted to match silver one, but I've never seen one come in at work and I'd probably never get the paint to match as good as an OEM one...

iamsuperbleeder

headlights are DONE!












And for an added kick









A assure you, they don't look that blue in person... my camera takes horrible night pictures...





Next project, getting rid of the rest of the chrome on the front. Brought home a grille today with plans to paint it silver!

iamsuperbleeder

OH, and in case you noticed the tires in those pics above...

The 20's are off! Currently running some all steelies with some BFG Rugged Trails. BUT, they're OLD tires and are only temporary; old as in age... they're all spares, pulled from under Tacomas actually, lol. All but one looks like they've never even been mounted! Shame that they're so old though... two are starting to dry rot and crack a little... The 20's are up for sale and as soon as they move, I'll buy the 4th TX Pro wheel (paid for the other 3 today when I paid for the grill too ), and I'll more than likely be placing an order with TreadWright when the time comes for some 265/75 BFG AT look-a-likes


I've washed them since (this picture was taken immediately after putting them on in the parking lot at work), and they look much better. With the black lights now, it actually gives the truck sort of a cool look

iamsuperbleeder

threw some HID's in it today

not too fond of the 10000k bulbs; a little too blue... but for what I paid for the entire kit from work, I have no issues buying some new 8000k or 6000k bulbs

at least they match the LED's in the headlights a little more now

iamsuperbleeder

Have some 6000k bulbs for the headlights on the way, as well as a full 6000k kit for the fog lights. Should all be here in the next couple of days. The 10000k is just WAY too blue...


Got my grill all painted up, wet sanded, polished, and installed! Looks SO much better than chrome with the blacked out headlights!

Scuffed up chrome looks like brushed aluminum!






Which gave me an idea for the emblem






2 coats of adhesion promoter, 3 coats of paint, and 3 coats of clear later:








Wet sand with 2000 grit (could have went a little further with sanding, but it's alright):








After the first pass with polishing compound (by hand mind you; no rotary buffer or anything... put about 3 more passes on it after this photo):








Before:






Old off with the new one beside it







And now it's the cleanest part of the truck, lol







Paint matches up pretty good. Looks a little lighter, but that's probably just because the rest of the truck is filthy right now, lol. All in all I think it came out great! Cost me about $15 and a little time and effort to do it myself



While I was waiting on paint to dry, I also pulled my climate controls out and removed the bezel that I smoothed and blacked out when I installed the 2012 dash center section. Hit it with 2000 grit sand paper and polished it too so it better matches the double din radio kit above it





For some reason I felt the urge to debadge the right side of my tailgate, lol







Also added another sticker to my rear window that I got with my last big order of LED's, just 'cause