Builds Maroon 95 mild build... New shop truck/beach cruiser (1 Viewer)

[amgraham]

Finished up the rear brakes. The slide pins were pretty rough on both sides but especially the passenger side plus the caliper was sticking a bit because the inside of the rotor was worn super thin. The brakes feel a lot better now. I test drove it to the post office to mail off my seat belt and the pedal feels great and and it stops a lot smoother. Should be really nice when I do the fronts.

Heater still is acting weird. Only works if you slide it to cold then back to hot, then it goes luke warm after a few seconds. I'll need to take a peek at the blend door and make sure it's staying where it's supposed to.

After the test drive I cleaned out the back because too much stuff was rolling around back there. Pulled the 3rd row seats since I'll probably never use those and found a new Columbia rain jacket and some sunglasses folded up in one of the seats (score!). Vacuumed the carpet and it's in surprisingly good shape.

Started getting some quotes to fix the steering wheel. Craft Customs wants $299 + shipping and $35 to repair the foam. I called a local place and they seriously said, "Uh, that would be like between $400 and $900." Still weighing my options. Keeping an eye out for a used one but they all seem pretty ragged (even the LS400 wheels). I just don't want to waste money on a used wheel and not be happy and end up going with the restoration anyway. It's something that will be touched literally every time the truck is used.

Anyway, maybe next week I'll find the rack time to to do the axle work. In the meantime I'll probably pull the driver's seat and replace the gears and make sure nothing is missing there.

 

[FloridaCruiser22]

Finished up the rear brakes. The slide pins were pretty rough on both sides but especially the passenger side plus the caliper was sticking a bit because the inside of the rotor was worn super thin. The brakes feel a lot better now. I test drove it to the post office to mail off my seat belt and the pedal feels great and and it stops a lot smoother. Should be really nice when I do the fronts.

Heater still is acting weird. Only works if you slide it to cold then back to hot, then it goes luke warm after a few seconds. I'll need to take a peek at the blend door and make sure it's staying where it's supposed to.

After the test drive I cleaned out the back because too much stuff was rolling around back there. Pulled the 3rd row seats since I'll probably never use those and found a new Columbia rain jacket and some sunglasses folded up in one of the seats (score!). Vacuumed the carpet and it's in surprisingly good shape.

Started getting some quotes to fix the steering wheel. Craft Customs wants $299 + shipping and $35 to repair the foam. I called a local place and they seriously said, "Uh, that would be like between $400 and $900." Still weighing my options. Keeping an eye out for a used one but they all seem pretty ragged (even the LS400 wheels). I just don't want to waste money on a used wheel and not be happy and end up going with the restoration anyway. It's something that will be touched literally every time the truck is used.

Anyway, maybe next week I'll find the rack time to to do the axle work. In the meantime I'll probably pull the driver's seat and replace the gears and make sure nothing is missing there.

Have you looked into the different steering wheel covers? Some of them end up looking really good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QLYA3XS/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1UFVUFWJYZTKS&colid=2AW5DPFOKE30R&psc=1

Post 35421 has the picture attachments
What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?

 

[amgraham]

Have you looked into the different steering wheel covers? Some of them end up looking really good.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QLYA3XS/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1UFVUFWJYZTKS&colid=2AW5DPFOKE30R&psc=1

Post 35421 has the picture attachments
What Did You Do with Your 80 This Weekend?

I have. However I'm pretty sure the foam is all torn up on my wheel. It's got a bunch of tape on it and an aftermarket cover on it. I'll pull the cover and tape off Monday and see how it looks but just from squeezing around on it I don't think it's gonna be good news.

 

[FJP971]

Try setting the temp in the middle and see if it stays hot. Might just be a blend adjustment like you said. Also, the LS400 steering wheel seems to be a popular replacement.

I just picked up a steering wheel from a wrecked Lexus LS400 that’s in great shape and got it installed today. I got lucky on this because I was going to pull the steering to take it to a leather restoration shop to have it done for $250. This wheel cost me $11 plus an hour of my time.
View attachment 1611231

 

[amgraham]

Try setting the temp in the middle and see if it stays hot. Might just be a blend adjustment like you said. Also, the LS400 steering wheel seems to be a popular replacement.

That's a good idea. I'll play with it some more Monday.

I've been keeping an eye out for LS400 wheels. None of the local yards have one listed and there are a few on eBay that look pretty rough and are $100-150. I'm going to keep an eye out for a decent one for a few weeks before I pull the trigger on restoring mine.

 

[Ghostrider I]

Do you still have the rear taillight guards? How much if you are willing to sell with shipping to 28210? PayPal?

 

[amgraham]

Do you still have the rear taillight guards? How much if you are willing to sell with shipping to 28210? PayPal?

I'll keep you posted. I've been so busy haven't really thought about selling the extra stuff yet.

 

[amgraham]

Got some stuff in today:

My seatbelt came back from Safety Restore. Looks great and quick. I shipped it last Friday.

Got my seat gearbox thing from UAE today. That was super quick since I ordered Monday and they were a solid $30 cheaper than everyone else for the OE part. I put it on the driver's seat and lived the slides and everything worked great. I'll rebuild the old one from the driver's side for the passenger. Noticed the support bar was broken under the driver's seat and had been poorly welded before. Re welded that correctly and threw a quick coat of paint on it and bolted it back in.

Did the pin 7 mod while I had the driver's seat out. Found a bunch of wire taps in there too so thinking that may have something to do with my door light issues. I hope to figure that out.

Got some of my LEDs in for my dash refresh. Changed the cluster backlight to red. Still waiting on my neo bulbs to finish everything out. Also need to figure out what bulb my cigarette lighter takes. My key ring light isn't working either but I feel like that is related to the door light problem. I cleaned up my cluster with my headlight cleaning kit and that turned out really nice. It had some spots on it from someone cleaning it with the wrong stuff before.

Located and ordered a used door handle and scuff plate for the passenger side. Glad to save a little money on those.

 

[amgraham]

Rebuilt the passenger seat gear boxes today. Pretty straight forward and I hope it lasts.

The rest of my interior LEDs came in so I finished up the cluster and all the switches. I really like how the cluster looks however the airbag and open door light stay on slightly even with the vehicle off. They work fine and light up when they should, just glow when they shouldn't. That's probably due to my electrical issues. Worst case I will swap the old bulbs back.

In further trying to track down the electrical issues i found a corroded plug in the driver's foot well. I'm going to attempt to clean that up and hope that's what's causing the lighting issues. Found the glove box light doesn't work either.

Pulled the console for cleaning and found one of the knobs for the seat recline under it with a bunch of trash. Also tried to take apart the shifter to replace the bulbs under there. Will continue that and put it back together Monday when I am less fried.

I think that's about it for now.

 

[amgraham]

Tore into the front axle today. Got the driver's side cleaned up and ready to go together but had to stop because my moly grease didn't come in. Should be there tomorrow. I ordered 5 lbs so I hope that's enough. Someone has done the service before because it had Marlin axle seals in it but they weren't holding. Glad I went with OE. No surprises on that front so far.

While waiting I decided to tackle the front crank seal and oil pump cover. Got the crank bolt loose by bracing a breaker bar under the passenger frame and bumping the starter. Pulley slid off easily. Damn those stock oil pump screws though. I got 4 of them out and 3 stripped immediately. I had to pull tthe radiator to make enough room to drill them out. I'll stop by fastenal tomorrow for some replacements. While I have the headlights out I ordered some LED bulbs for them. I run them in my wife's 4runner and they are very impressive.

I swapped the warning light bulbs back out for the original incandescents. That got rid of the glowing issues. Starting to put the interior back together. Somehow broke my overdrive switch (or it was broken already, I'm not sure. Ordered a new one and a replacement antenna mast. Will have to wait to put the console back together until the switch comes in.

Put the new gamiviti gears in the passenger seat and it all works well. Hopefully it stays that way. One bonus is I found the lever for one of my seatbacks under the console so that's a bonus since they seem to be a little hard to come by.

My door handle and scuff plate came in. Look good although the paint is a little rough on the handle. Still better than a black aftermarket one.

My goal is to push through and get all the mechanical work done this week including the PHH and starter. Then I should be able to actually drive this thing a bit and try to knock out the stereo and some fun mods rather than just fixing stuff. A friend stopped by the shop today and asked how much I've driven it. I looked and I've done a whole 1.5 miles haha.

 

[amgraham]

Productive day today. Had my guys busy on other jobs so I could focus on the 80 some more.

Did the PHH. Getting the old one off was no big deal but getting the new one on was a pain. After tearing 3 hoses I finally got it on with some Vaseline. For future reference put the hose on the nipple first then work it on to the pipe. I kept trying the other way and I couldn't get it lined up. Anyway, done.

While I was in there went ahead and put in a new starter. Upgraded to the 2.0kw Denso reman.

My grease finally came in so I got the driver's knuckle back together. I had a hard time finding a definitive answer on how much grease to buy because I decided to use tubs since I have no desire to pump all that grease in. I used exactly 2 lbs of moly. I used regular wheel bearing grease on the wheel bearings and trunions. This side is done now I just have to knock out the other.

State of the union. Still have to put in the radiator and battery box. My headlight bulbs should be here tomorrow.

Here is the aftermath of the front seal and oil pump. I had to drill 3 oil pump screws. One walked on me so I had to use a helicoil on one. Turned out fine. After a fruitless trip to Fastensome for new screws (the guy said they "didn't do much metric stuff. You should tap the holes and use 1/4" haha) I found some Allens at my local Ace hardware. They worked fine. Should be solid now. I still have a ton of degreasing to do.

 

[amgraham]

Finally got the 80 back on all 4s yesterday. The passenger knuckle went together fairly quick. Then I put back in the radiator, new belts, oil, and put on my Dobbinson stabilizer.

LED headlight bulbs came in so I installed those, put the headlights back in, polished the amber lenses before putting them back in, and reinstalled the grille. Please excuse the mess from burping the cooling system.

Speaking of the cooling system I finally came to my senses and decided against the OE red. When I drained the rad and block everything looked really good with still a slight tinge of green. So, to minimise risk of mixing contamination I went the the global green that I stock. I'll try to return the red since I really don't see it at all nowadays so I'll probably never use it. I'm pretty sure I have all the air out. Ran it up to temp and back to cool 3 times with a lisle funnel and no bubbles on the last 2. Heat is still weird where it is hot when I initially slide it to hot then gets lukewarm after a few secs. Still on the list.

Now moving on to the interior. Here is a pic of how the red backlighting turned out in the cluster:

Should have my OD switch on Monday then I can start putting most of the interior back.

 

[amgraham]

Today at the end of the day I tore into the broken antenna. I ordered a mast the other day but now it looks like I will need the nylon cable too. Motor works fine. Anyone know a part number offhand? It's the smooth cable.

 

[B Todd]

Love this thread. Great color.

 

[amgraham]

Decided to button up a lot of odds and ends today and at least get it drivable so I can start shaking it down and see what else it needs:

Installed new OD switch then put the console and all back in after cleaning and vacuuming underneath. Put seats and dash back in. I'm going to check out a 95 being parted out tomorrow and hoping to snag some stuff including a hitch, hvac controls (in case that is my heat problem), and really anything else that looks good that I can use for spares as long as the guy is reasonable on price. We'll see.

Put spare back under the rear of the truck for now. Put away tools and cleaned up the back. Gave the seats another coat of conditioner trying to get a little more life out of them. Ordered a new cable for the antenna. Put it back together in the meantime. Threw in some universal Weathertech mats in the front. Fit surprisingly well. Put the driver's kick panel back in for now till I feel like digging into the dome light issue. Replaced the passenger outer door handle. Finished removing all the stupid wood from the interior. I still have a few spots to hit with adhesive cleaner but the bulk is done.

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow. Hoping to at least drive it to lunch or something.

 

[amgraham]

Wow, so I forgot to update this for awhile...

Installed the antenna cable and mast. Before I could get the cable wound into it tthe nylon drum snapped. For now I just stuck the mast in the top and left all the guts out of the motor.

Drove it around a bit the other day running errands. Got tags for it and while I had title in hand I went by the local Toyota dealership to get some new keys cut to replace my worn out aftermarket ones. Of course, their system didn't have the key code listed for my vin and they had me call Toyota to ask them to look it up and release it to them. That turned into a fiasco of Toyota saying the dealer had it and them saying they didn't. Finally ended up just handing my phone to the parts guy and letting them duke it out. They never did find the code. He told me that if I pulled the passenger lock cylinder it's normally stamped on there. So, I pulled the passenger door apart (again) and told him the code. He sent me a test key to make sure it worked then cut 3 new Toyota keys for it. Really good service on their part, not so much on Toyota.

Threw a set of blaupunkt 6.5s in the front doors that I had laying around. The grilles hit the dash slightly but they'll work for now.

Found a parts truck the other day and nabbed a hitch, spare ecu, and climate control out of it. I need to clean and paint the hitch. Will swap the climate control as soon as I can and see if that fixes my heat.

In the meantime I wanted to make sure that something wasn't broken in my front diff since it was making so much noise. Pulled everything apart (again) and this time popped the third out. Pulled it apart and checked all the bearings and races and gears and everything looked good. Put it back together and paint checked the pattern and it looks pretty awful to me. Hopefully the source of the noise is just a poorly setup diff. I'm trying to take this truck to the mountains this weekend so I'm going to try and find the correct shims and all to set it up tomorrow and get it back together. We'll see if that comes together.

Replaced a leaking trans cooler hose today with an awful generic one that was a pain to get on. Will probably start ordering a few hoses each time I order anything else to replace a lot of the rubber on this truck. Still need to get brake hoses too.

That's all I can remember for now. Here's some pics next to my wife's 4runner while I was doing some maintenance to it the other day.