My 2001 TRD Access Cab Repair/Modify Thread

Yea the Tacoma was a rabbit hole I dove head first into.

the tundra was a side project

 

This is too cool. Very impressed. Can I come over to your place and work on my truck? (J/K).

 

Are you using por15 on the frame?

 

Absolutely! Thanks for the kind words. You’ll spend a fortune on gas though...

 

I was deciding between POR15 and Chassis Saver, and I went with the latter. The reviews I read were all very positive. Chassis Saver is used a lot on commercial vehicles and Semi Trucks.

 

Not too much accomplished today. I got the bed turned around and started removing the remaining damage. Spent some time applying the Fluid Film and Corban to the rear frame sections. Alsogot a coat of Chassis Saver on the finished repairs on the bed floor.
Little by little its getting there...

so, on to the photos.

the rust on the rear bed floor isn't as bad as i was dealing with before, so it hopefully will go quicker.
Heres after the damage was removed on the right side



And from the bottom side



The remaining rust should clean up and remain within limits..

Not that you can tell, but here's the truck after coating the frame with inhibitor. The whole neighborhood smells like fluid film now...



So, tomorrow I hope to have the remaining damage removed and start fabricating the repair panels

More to come...

 

Couple of questions:

1) Whats/why the clamp thingy on your muffler?

2) How easy were those (6) bed hold down bolts to remove? Did they snap on you or come out ok?

 

The muffler and tail pipe came in the same OD, so the kit came with a butt joint clamp. It actually worked out well.

I got 4 of the 6 bolts out with minimal effort, other than heat and Kroil penetrating oil. 1 bolt broke the head off, but I was able to use an Easy Out and backed the remainder out of the threads after getting the bed off.
The last one I buggered up the Allen head and ended up welding an Allen wrench to the bolt to get it out.

so, I'll need 2 replacements eventually...

 

Quick update here...

I've finished removing the damage and cleaned up the surface rust around where the repair will be installed.

Got the repairs done on the right side bed floor, and will start on the left side tomorrow after work. It was 103 in the garage today, so I just didn't get very far.

On to the pictures....

Here's the completed repair on the right side



Lots of sealer on the area..

Back side of same.



Damage removed on left side and ready to start mapping out the repair







Ive got some repair work to do on the lip just outboard of the hole, but it shouldn't be too difficult..


More to come..

 

Time for another update....

The bed work is done. I ended up painting the bottom of the bed with some Gray that I had that I thought was darker, but after finishing, I'm happy with it. The bed floor repairs came out about as I expected them. Again, it's not a show truck. I just want it to be functional.
The rear bumper Was pretty rusty on the inside, and I got it cleaned up and painted, but its thin. Real thin... Kind of reminds me of the "lightweight" bumpers that were used on old factory race cars in the 60s. It'll have to be replaced eventually. The bed is back on the frame, and I've ordered a couple replacement bolts for the 2 that were no good.

The truck looks pretty good the way it sits right now, but it'll be better once I get the bed liner sprayed in.

ok, on to the pics;

Here's the bottom of the bed before I dropped it back on the frame


The Tundras best friend... Anti-seize





Here's the bumper after painting. I must have pulled 4 pounds of rust out of it...




Dropping the bed down onto the frame. Felt good to see the truck back in one piece..




A quick look under the back end. Looks pretty good from about 10 feet away!



The red wire/yellow RCA connector is for the back up camera install.

Out of the garage as a complete (90% complete) truck for the first time in about 3 weeks..



looking at the rear. I cleaned and painted the bumper caps. They look better now.



One more shot from the left side. There's still a boatload of work to do. Paintwork, interior stuff, timing belt, fluid changes, and the list goes on....



Not sure if you can tell from the photos, but I started touching up the plethora of scratches on the bed while it was hanging in the garage. I'll go back over all those spots with some 1500 probably next week.

More to come...

 

Awesome progress! Your bed removal/restoration inspires me to have mine removed so I can address rust underneath as well as the frame.

Regarding the bolts that held it down, did you have someone help you turn them when you were torching the nuts from underneath? Did you use an impact wrench or hand tools to initially turn them?

Love how you are using a 2x4 on the rafters to hold up one end of the truck bed, and a pitchfork to hold the other!

Are you going to put your spare back into place? I'm afraid to take mine apart, knowing full well I may have to replace the component that holds up/lowers the tire:
https://parts.toyotaofcoolsprings.c...kcmEmeT0yMDA2JnQ9bGltaXRlZCZlPTQtN2wtdjgtZ2Fz

 

Thanks KT. The bed wasn't bad to remove. I used a T55 bit and a breaker bar and was able to heat it from the underside, and then break them loose from the top. I had one bolt break and one where I messed up the head, but I was able to get them out.
I've been flying solo on this project, except for a few minor painting projects I had my wife help with. My son helped me with initially getting the bed off and hung in the garage.

Yeah, I used a few interesting things to support the weight of the bed from the rafters!

No plans for purchasing a spare hanger. I'll just put the spare in the bed. and attach to the side wall or something. We'll see..

 

What is your methodology in applying Chasis Saver, and Fluid Film?

I've come across this Eastwood rust "encapsulator" spray for spraying inside frames. Anyone here have experience with this?

 

After getting all the scale and rust off every reachable part of the frame, I cleaned it with Naphtha, and applied the Chassis Saver, mostly with a brush, but some areas I used a Preval Sprayer and mixed the paint with reducer and sprayed it on. Worked like a champ.

The Fluid Film application was done with a 24 inch spray hose adapter which has a Brass fitting on the end that fogs the spray for better coverage (just like in the Eastwood video) That too works very well.

 

I don't know anything about that product but I'd like to do the same thing with wool wax or fluid film. I've sprayed into the box portion of the frame as far as I can, but I'm planning on buying the wool wax kit or similar, to get all the way in there. I have some rust I can see with a flashlight when I look in there.

 

If you don't have one, you can find that spray adapter on Amazon for the Fluid Film can. That allowed me to reach as far as I needed to reach inside the frame box sections.

 

Woolwax® 24" Aerosol can Spray Wand with 360° Nozzle

This one?

 

Looks like the one. Just make sure you clean it out after each use. That stuff will seal it up tighter than a Ducks bottom...

 

I just replaced that on my sequoia and also did it on my old T100, it's really not bad as long as you have a ratcheting wrench, not much room on the top.

 

Super easy with the bed off... I just didn't want to spend the money on the part. On a Sequoia I can only imagine how difficult.

 

Awesome thread thanks for posting

 

I've used the eastwood encapsulator on my old truck and as with anything make sure you clean out the frame really well with to get all the dirt, rocks, and loose stuff out. Then be sure to put something underneath where you're painting and be ready for some cleanup. It is very runny before it dries, but I was happy with it overall.

@N84434 great work so far. That is inspiring.

 

You are welcome! I'm doing this as a running log of what I've done, and to share with other members.

Much appreciated. I have to say, the truck has come a long way in the last 9 months. I really am looking forward to just getting in this thing and driving it. I brought it home back in January, and it hasn't been out of the driveway since

 

Nice work! So what's next?

 

I have a little paint work to do on the right fender, then reinstall that flair and then I need to start going through the tailgate and straightening it up. It's pretty beat up on the inner side. I'm thinking about replacing the tail light assemblies as one of them is cracked (left) but that can wait. I have to install the mud flaps on the rear after I clean/paint them, then it should be at a point where I can start driving it. It'll need an alignment. The interior work will have to wait for now...

 

I got some cheapie tail lights off big gurl (I think that's a euphemism for Amazon, still not sure) and they work great.

 

There's a Copart here in Milwaukee that I need to call to find out the price, but yeah, those lights on Amazon may be about the same price.

 

How often have you applied eastwood encapsulator, have you had to re-apply?

 

I've only applied it once. My old T4R spent some time in the northeast before I got it and there was some frame rust, but where I live they don't salt the roads so I wasn't worried about new rust forming on the truck once I treated everything.

Just as an FYI: I know Eastwood makes the rust encapsulator in green and black, I went with black so I didn't have to clean or paint over it once applied. The green would be nice to see where all it is sprayed and if you missed a spot, but it seems like it bleeds out of the frame and has to be painted over.

 

Time for an update:

Ive started cleaning the paint and filling in the scratches that pretty much cover this poor thing. There were 2 spots of surface rust on the right front fender, right in the radius of the flare. I removed the flare and cleaned up the rust, primed it and touched up the area by hand. It was supposed to match, but it's slightly off. Oh well....

I had to purchase the little clips that hold the flare on, and for some reason I bought 100 of these things, so if anyone needs some please let me send them to you!


I also got the new Jensen CDR462 HU installed and both the front cam and rear cam set up as well. Although I still need to install the rear mounted camera. The head unit install went very well. Soldered and heat shrinked all the splices between the HU connector and the new Scoshe adapter. The original amp had to be removed, so again, if anyone wants it, I'd be glad to send it your way. Worked fantastically before I removed it.

On to the pics....

Heres the right front fender after paint/polish and flare reinstalled



Like I said, you can see the paint touch up, but its better than it was..


Here's another shot of that fender. I was able to bring a lot of the shine back out



The new head unit installed and working. The camera I bought is the same cam as for the rear, so it has the guide lines on it, with no ability to shut those off. Usually theres a wire that you can cut to defeat the guide lines. Figures..... I got the cam that you can't eliminate them on... Oh well...



One more shot of the center stack with new radio. Its got DVD capability, BT connectivity, even AM radio!



I started cleaning the seats, so tomorrow I'll continue with the paint cleaning and see if I can bring the leather back to life...


More to come....