I dunno what happen to my post? Nothing but 3 photos. I had a bunch of little updates. That sucks! I'll update later, just got back from the yard helping a buddy strip a T100 He just got one yesterday for a trade - piece of crap 70's era rv unit for a 96 V6 (5vz), but the guy really wanted it so he must've had a use for it.

Gotta do mother's day stuff now....be back later

 

Try this post again....this is some small updates over last month or so. Truck has been running great so not much to do, and I've done nearly everything I've wanted. Just in time also, as the fishing season is going to kick into gear and that's where I'll be spending most of my time now until it starts getting cold.

Went to the So Cal Toyota fest in Long Beach. It's sponsored by TORC, most guys who restore pre-1985 yotas. If you're into yota's this is the event to show up at, they even get out of country participants. This is the place to check out to see some awesome restored cars. They have some later model trucks and 4runners, but they don't get much attention. Unless you're entering a Stout or an old jeep style landcruiser, there were some cool hilux's also. If you didn't do a classic restore, you needed to have done a really unusual engine swap to get some attention.

Some loot...







This was my favorite and had all kinds of attention throughout the day.











More Pics

Awesome Crew Cab Hilux, was just parked in the lot.





Original early 80's celica



Check this hilux out...







Celica



Forgot the name of this car...looked like a ford escort...hahahaha...there were two of them



JDM Twin Turbo Soarer...1st Place in the Camry/Cressida Division





This guy is Charlie...real nice helpful guy who answered all my questions when I was restoring my camry. He took 2nd Place in the Camry/Cressida division with his 88' All-Trac w/3sGTE swap



This guy LOVED his Tercel 4WD! couldn't stop talking.





Cressida Wagon





ToyoPet!!!! for the win! hahhahaha





Stout



Badass landcruiser











Landcruiser



The only 1st Gen Runner...but fully restored and nearly all original except the wheels. It was super clean.



3rd Gen Hilux Surf...cool ladder in the back from Australia








Some updates....

Finally replaced my old 21+ year old dash cover! Looks brand new underneath, highly recommend one of these things. Plus it keeps thing from rolling around on top. Look how much it faded, started looking blue after about 17 years or so.

New compared to old



Brand new underneath



One of the reasons I changed it out also was because I wanted to finally install my 85' inclinometer I had found at the yard for $12.99! I also purchased an 85' dash cover for the specific reason of cutting the clinometer cover out so it would look custom fit on my dash.





I hated that vehicle image on the clinometer, everytime I saw one it reminded of an outline of those old corolla FX's So I grabbed the template off marlin crawler's forum, and then I customized it even more and added the "TOYOTA" to the tailgate just like my truck. No one's seem to have posted even the basic template on this before on this site, but maybe I didn't search hard enough.



Finished my kayak and fishing rod rack setup. I'm using ski racks for my rod holders, works great!



Installed a 120 amp alternator, a distribution box, and did the Big 3 upgrade...actually added more ground wires than that though. Used 4 gauge all around and left a few of the original connections in place also.





Do NOT buy those GE Nighthawks....I put them in just over a year ago and one went out already. Found other posts complaining of the same thing. Finally upgraded to Hella H4's...so much nicer and brighter.





A cool find at the yard...a metal TEQ oil cap. From what little research I did they are pretty rare. Something about they use to use plastic triangle shaped with TEQ stamped on them, then for a year they went to round metal with the TEQ, then went back to round again but plastic. Going to polish it up before install, the 2000GT had one on it's engine but chromed!



Some old toyota wrenches I bought for $10 for 3 at the show! Some guy was selling them in the parking lot, he sold out in a matter of minutes. Some guys got ones with the TEQ stamped on them, but I was the late comer who was just trying to see why everyone was huddled around this guys landcruiser, apparently the old cruisers came with these?



I think that's it for now. The only thing I'll be doing is waiting for Ray to finish his headlight harness so I can copy him and maximize my new headlights. Other than that, I might be MIA for a while....be on the water fishing!

 

Just getting caught up on your thread. I am glad to see you have such a clean looking truck. Would like to see more like yours. I like restoring, but orginals are better.

Bet that was a great time at the oldie show. There is a Stout in my area that is for sale and looks to be in great condition once you get past the ugly of the paint fading. I got plenty to keep me busy, but it does look tempting. It would be different. Seems like it was only $750, which I didnt think was a bad price on it.

 

Nice job on the upgrade. I never really researched it but what do you get out of upgrading the alternator?

 

Updated the post with more pics.

Thanks Terry, I really enjoy restoring, I want to do a 70's pickup. I have a buddy who is thinking of getting rid of his 79' long bed 2WD. He says it needs work and has 5 other vehicles so he's really thinking of unloading it, I'm 1st in line to pick it up. If I get it, I want to restore to enter it at the Toyotafest.

The alternator? more amps for more stuff! You'll probably need one when you put a winch on Richard. Several reasons I got a new alternator: a little rough idle when I turned my lights on, all the little extra gizmo lights I added, was upgrading to the H4 lights (and Ray's harness), want to run an electric water heater to heat up my 17 gallon wash down tank, want to run an inverter to run a coffee machine, want to buy/run a little 12v cooler for road trips, and that my little original 21+ year alternator was probably being pushed to the limits in use and age wise. Plus I got to keep my original so I still have that as a spare. Oh yeah, I had this buzzing/whining noise I couldn't figure out...it's now gone? maybe the alternator pulley was making the noise.

I'm suppose to get a little less than 70amps at idle with this one, I have to verify with the electrical thing that Ray told me to buy.

 

wow that is such an awesome event. too bad i live so far away. sweet inclinometer and if i wasnt so lazy i would mod the picture on mine to look like my runner lol

too bad there isnt any cheap easy alternator i can throw on the 3.0 for more amps

 

Will this one work? Free shipping and keep your core. $105 for a 130 amp. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1988-Toyota4Runner-PickUpTruck-Alternator-6Cyl-130Amps-/190581833752?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item2c5f900018
That is where I got mine (Ace Alternators). Whittier is less than a half hour away from me, so I knew I could return fairly easy because they have a brick/mortar store. Of course I can't vouch for them because I've only had it for a couple of weeks. But send him a message with any questions, he's pretty responsive. I asked him about the amps at idle and that's why I decided to get it.

 

wow that is a sweet price for 130amps. i will watch for your updates on it and def gonna give ace a few questions. wonder if i have to upgrade any of my wiring

 

Thanks for that link man. That sounds like a really good deal. I might not be runninf as many things as you but you're right looks like I might need it with all the extras I plan to get.

 

grego,


I just have to let you know, I have been a mechanic for 29 years.. alldifferent dealerships Porsche, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen, GMC, Ford and forthe past 14 years for our local power company (PG&E) working on the bigtrucks ... with that said, You did a GREAT job on your truck, the attention todetail is awesome... you can just see the pride in your workmanship! I canreally appreciate all the hard work you did and keep it up :-) You kind ofremind me of ME it’s not worth doing over, just do it right the first time...GREAT JOB!

 

Blu, that was very nice! He's a very good dude with a keen eye for detail! I have enjoyed watching his truck over the time that I've known him... And I'm no 30 year mechanic, but I've been impressed with everything he's done as well.

hey Greg, what do you think of this one for our little beast?

http://item.mobileweb.ebay.com/viewi...id=61056537052

 

Hey Blu (Todd) thanks for stopping by and the compliments!, I ALMOST had you squared away today! Went by a junkyard today and found both a 2nd Gen runner and a 2nd Gen pickup...in your blue interior color, BUT all but one of the vents just disintegrated when I tried to remove them and the seat belt ends were a crumbling mess of plastic, even the belt material was frayed. This is what I got saved for you at the moment, just a matter of time for the rest:



Hey Mark, that alternator is cheaper than what I paid and I only got a 120amp, but that place is further from us. I was asking Ray about them and he said only time will tell if they last. So we'll see. I still need a better battery, I have a cheapo 4 year old Sam's club energizer with 600 CCA and I don't know about the Reserve Capacity, probably very low. I'm looking at a sears die-hard platinum that has 840 CCA and a reserve capacity of 135 minutes.

I'm sure with yours and Richard's new setups, winches, lights, etc.... your going to push your battery to the limits and a good alternator would be a good piece of mind to quickly get that thing charged up and ready for multiple times of use.



Here's a cheapo mod I put in the junkyard thread on the open forum. This has got to be one of my better interior junkyard mods....cheap ($7 + double sided tape cost), fast (45 Min), easy (screw driver, pliers, dremel tool), and a long term driving comfort benefit.

When my window is up with the AC running I like to rest the right side elbow/arm while driving and have noticed that our center consoles are too short to do that without putting a crook in my back.

98' Camry Wagon center console arm rest pad.





Just placing the original pad inside the new pad so you can always revert back if I wanted without any permanent damage. But after driving around a bit like this, this thing is staying in PERMANENTLY!!



Cut out the plastic so it fits inside and removed the locking tab.



Use some double sided 3M tape



Placed it inside



Looks a little unclean/funky from underneath, but nobody sees that anyhow. I might clean it up later.



Pure comfort!!! my arm is at shifter level now. This kinda helps my lower back out also because I can relieve some pressure while leaning on it, like sitting in an arm chair.

 

Hey great job on the arm rest, nice and clean and very clever .... thanks for looking for the vents and seat belts :-)

If you ever come across a couple side moldings for my truck let me know... see picture

 

I had my condole lid custom POOF'd, and it is one of the most practical and comfortable mods I have done,....especially for those long trips! Here's mine....



GREAT JOB, GREG!....... You're stuff/work is sooooooo clean!

I will find out if I need a higher output alt and battery soon enough....
I will likely be adding a removable mounting tab for a compressor but I will also have wiring coming to... This might help not only for tearing up and down on trips but also would be necessary if I ever went to an air locker in the rear.... Toyotech has been just fine with his wench & stock alternator.... I'm not sure if he has any serious apps going to his tunes or such... Some of that might make a difference. We will see, but thanks for the input. Just look like a good deal I have no idea about the company or anything.

 

Hey I like that one too!

 

I just bought the hella vision plus....today at the yard I find hella ecodes!! for $2 each! unbelievable. Not sure what to stick with...vision plus are DOT approved, ecodes aren't.



And my new seat covers came in. I liked the neoprene, but it just didn't "match" my interior I gotta have matching stuff, it irritates me

These were $140, caltrends, oem velour grey. Custom fit. I couldn't get the head rest on without removing the stock covers first, so just foam underneath the covers.



And my truck work for the weekend...repainted my mud guards "4WD".

 

If I were you I would go with the hella ecodes, Great deal! whatever one you don't use I will buy from you If you'll sell them :-) The seats look really good! Just like factory!

Todd

 

Just an update for those who follow it to know I'm still alive and the truck is running great. Not much to do when it's running good!

Here's a pic of my buddy john....this is what I've been hunting for and everyone BUT me seems to have gotten their fair share already! When is my turn to hook up?!



Also, started a new project to help another buddy out. Rebuilding a 5VZ-FE from a 96' T100. Some of you got some PMs from me about gaskets....long story short, but he's now convinced to do it right with the OEM kit!

Took 3 stooges to pull the engine in 8 hours and I was the only one with any experience pulling/building an engine. It is so much quicker when you have extra help, just being able to take a break and the others can step in and keep pulling bolts, being under the vehicle and not having to roll out and go grab a socket or wrench or extension that you forgot....makes a world of difference!

Me getting at those tranny bolts....



On the stand....





Nearly ready to send the block and heads off to the machine shop.....

 

Woot! "Transplant surgery, Dr. GREGO, STAT! SURGERY, STAT!" ....."HOLD ON! .....I gotta get one of these fish first! !!!!!!! "

Haha. ... cool update, thanx for sharing.

 

Saw a post on the open forum and after digesting it for a few days I figured out this is what Ray (RAD4Runner) was doing! I'm a little slow electrical wise! I figured out this would compliment my new Hella lights. So I checked with one of our local yotatech electrical engineer gurus (Ray - RAD4Runner) the other day to make sure this was what I needed, and then ordered it yesterday...and it came in today! Fast shipping, but granted the guy is located only about 45 minutes from me.

Here's the post, scroll toward the bottom where "RSR" posted his ebay harness find:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f131.../#post52106589

Here's the ebay post, Manufacturer Part Number: 7X6-CR-9003-1. The price is now $49.99??? I got it for $29.99 and $7.70 shipping,

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330813121438...84.m1497.l2649

It's seems pretty easy, everything plug and play, I labeled the photo to show where everything goes.







Some initial notes, the power wire is 12 AWG, the rest of the wires seem to be 14 or 16 AWG, the in-line 30amp power fuse holder is cheap (but I'm snipping that off and connecting to my fuse distribution box), the end connectors for power and ground are kind of thin but at least protected by heat shrink wrap (I'll probably snip them off and put better ones on and also solder the connections before putting heat shrink wrap on again.

Hopefully get a chance tomorrow to hook it up.