TPF racing's '04 tacoma build! Picture heavy!
#61
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Well, it might not look like much but spent the weekend doing more cycling and checking clearances. I buttoned up the upper control arm mounts now that I'm certain the coilover will clear and I got the passenger side in place. The lower shock mounts are perminant and welded up. I've got the first templates for the upper mounts done and if all goes well I should have the first of those mounts in place tonight and then I can start building the rest of them. Kind of a slow process but I'm taking my time making sure everything is clearing where needed and that the shocks are working the way they should be.
Anyways, pass side with uppers mocked up in place.
Anyways, pass side with uppers mocked up in place.
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Well it was bound to happen eventually! I can honestly I haven't scrapped a single tube or plate other then a bit of reasonable trimming here or there. Well I screwed up yesterday. Not paying attention and a little distracted I messed up on working with my templates and well, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped last night. Whoops... Kinda too big to fill the gap on! LOL
But I did at least still make some progress with what I did have that was usable... And I never claimed to be a welding god!!! I'm sure it'll hold though...
But I did at least still make some progress with what I did have that was usable... And I never claimed to be a welding god!!! I'm sure it'll hold though...
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Khris is taking a little weekend break from the truck but has been working hard to finish up the upper shock mounts. Still needs a little more plating but very close to being done...
#64
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A little more progress last night boxing in the shock mounts. Should finish them up tonight I would imagine and also hoping to maybe get the hubs back on the front end and all finalized.
Random super messy workbench with more goodies waiting on me! Hoping to have most of them installed by the end of this weekend if things go smooth.
Random super messy workbench with more goodies waiting on me! Hoping to have most of them installed by the end of this weekend if things go smooth.
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#66
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Huh, 8 days since I've updated this thread... Whoops... Some stuff.
Got Safety Wire?
Got bump and limit straps?
Kinda scary but those jackstands aren't actually doing anything... It's sitting on the ground for the first time in a long time!
Some droop preview...
Brakes? What a novel idea!!!
Just a little trimming necessary!
Oh, we also got dash action started!
Got Safety Wire?
Got bump and limit straps?
Kinda scary but those jackstands aren't actually doing anything... It's sitting on the ground for the first time in a long time!
Some droop preview...
Brakes? What a novel idea!!!
Just a little trimming necessary!
Oh, we also got dash action started!
Last edited by sirhk100; 09-14-2012 at 06:52 AM.
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Oh god I hope it runs again someday! The wiring harness lost some substance over the weekend and still has a bit more to loose before wrapping it all back up and making it look good again!
Also over the weekend I got everything center facing to finish boxing in the upper shock mounts and upper control arm mounts tacked in place and started welding. The truck is back on stands again and the whole front suspension is stripped off to protect it from any weld splatter.
Oh and here's a generic aftermath picture of the engine bay from last weeks fun. Plans are to box in everything center facing, get the brake lines ran, brace up the shock mounts and bumpstops, fill in any unused firewall holes, paint everything up front, redo the bumper tubes a bit, install skidplates, install headers while the motor is out, do final engine cage fabwork, reinstall motor with front end fully prepped and ready to go...
Also over the weekend I got everything center facing to finish boxing in the upper shock mounts and upper control arm mounts tacked in place and started welding. The truck is back on stands again and the whole front suspension is stripped off to protect it from any weld splatter.
Oh and here's a generic aftermath picture of the engine bay from last weeks fun. Plans are to box in everything center facing, get the brake lines ran, brace up the shock mounts and bumpstops, fill in any unused firewall holes, paint everything up front, redo the bumper tubes a bit, install skidplates, install headers while the motor is out, do final engine cage fabwork, reinstall motor with front end fully prepped and ready to go...
Last edited by sirhk100; 09-24-2012 at 07:35 AM.
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BTW, that bucket of wires consists of everything running the ABS system, air bags, heater/ac systems, interior lights, stereo stuff, rear diff lock, etc... Basically we're keeping the engine management stuff, exterior lighting is staying in the harness and we'll just hook it up to our switches, keeping the power windows and power locks. But other then that, basically it's going down to bare minimum.
Thanks for the compliments!!! It's cool for me to see people appreciating my work cause this is genuinely a hobby. This isn't my 40 hour/week career and is an afterhours project that I'm doing in exchange for drive time. I'm not really making a dime persay. Or well, I'm not getting any cash in my hand. I've got some free meals, some racing gear, and way back in the beginning of things I think I traded the bumper for a set of shocks. LOL, so basically my payment is seat time and just the fun of doing it and wanting to be able to race. I saw this as my means to make racing a reality cause eventhough my truck is close, I just can't take it up to the next step of racing.
LOL, me too!!!! And I'm not joking!!! I've gotta a TON of work into this and Jason has a pretty decent chunk of change in parts tossed my way to make this thing hopefully an absolute blast!!!
We've been talking and he's possibly going to be out here in early Nov so I'm actually really excited for him to see the truck cause last time he saw it in person we pushed it into my garage and started stripping the interior out on memorial day weekend at the beginning of the summer! If he makes the Nov trip the truck should be VERY close to finished by then so it should be a pretty fun sight for him to see in person!
Thanks for the compliments!!! It's cool for me to see people appreciating my work cause this is genuinely a hobby. This isn't my 40 hour/week career and is an afterhours project that I'm doing in exchange for drive time. I'm not really making a dime persay. Or well, I'm not getting any cash in my hand. I've got some free meals, some racing gear, and way back in the beginning of things I think I traded the bumper for a set of shocks. LOL, so basically my payment is seat time and just the fun of doing it and wanting to be able to race. I saw this as my means to make racing a reality cause eventhough my truck is close, I just can't take it up to the next step of racing.
LOL, me too!!!! And I'm not joking!!! I've gotta a TON of work into this and Jason has a pretty decent chunk of change in parts tossed my way to make this thing hopefully an absolute blast!!!
We've been talking and he's possibly going to be out here in early Nov so I'm actually really excited for him to see the truck cause last time he saw it in person we pushed it into my garage and started stripping the interior out on memorial day weekend at the beginning of the summer! If he makes the Nov trip the truck should be VERY close to finished by then so it should be a pretty fun sight for him to see in person!
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Not using the toyota rear end. We've got a currie 9" housing, explorer disc brakes, 35 spline axles, strange 3rd member with 6.0 gears and a spool that I'll be swapping in.
The housing we picked up. It originally was under a FJ that was built as a rock crawler but was stepping up to something even bigger cause of a LS swap and even crazier suspension they're doing now so we picked it up for a great price.
This is after a few hours of grinding and clean up on it. Also have a truss that I'll be welding on to it too...
The housing we picked up. It originally was under a FJ that was built as a rock crawler but was stepping up to something even bigger cause of a LS swap and even crazier suspension they're doing now so we picked it up for a great price.
This is after a few hours of grinding and clean up on it. Also have a truss that I'll be welding on to it too...
#76
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Let me get Jason (jprich) in on this. The tacoma rear end with the e-locker has been geared and it's on my list of things to check tonight by pure chance cause we just started discussing a fair sell price. I have means of putting it on a pallet and shipping it freight too so it's not out of the question to get it to you. I'll get him to chime in here in the next day or two once I get the gear ratio that's in it figured out and that info to him. We think it's a 4.56 but that's just what the previous owner told us. I want to actually physically verify it before we tell people wrong you know...
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I jacked up the rear of the truck last night and spun just a single tire. One turn looked to be just about 2.5 turns on the pinion and two complete turns seemed to be just short of 5 turns so without pulling it apart and actually looking at the gears my best guess is that it's got 4.88's in the diff right now. On 35s or 33s with the 3.4L and the auto it does great. I told jason about you being interested and he's going to chime in eventually when he gets a chance.
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Well, no pictures but the work hasn't stopped! I've got the supports for the upper shock mounts tacked in place and got all the welding done on the upper control arm mounts, engine cage tubes, and most of the engine compartment. In the next night or two I'm planning to get the bumpstops finished up and look everything over one more time with the welder to make sure I didn't miss anything. Then I'll start working on skidplates and I want to redo/change a couple things on the bumper setup. I also have a small laundry list of other things to knock out this weekend as well.