Canman’s build and misadventures

Picked up the stud and nut yesterday. We’re less expensive than I thought they would be. Started raining yesterday afternoon, so didn’t get into it. Also a 40% chance of rain today, so will try to install them this morning. Then it will be making new SS staos fir the catalytic converter shield.

 

Also, found the Krylon paint (I hope). Went to Home Depot and they said Krylon was only sold at Crappy Tire. So, went there, and no luck even though they sold some Krylon paint. Then get out the Googler, and it shows that Rona (was bought out by Lowe’s) had some. Will see if it matches the downpipe section. If it does, then I’ll add a coat to the catback section

 

Ordered these as well to try to beautify the truck before I post it for sale. Should be here tomorrow.

 

First SS strap made. Didn’t help that I welded one of the studs on the wrong side. Only three more to go. D’oh!

 

I don’t know why I didn’t realize sooner, but I’m missing two of the other heat shields for the cats. One on the DS, and one on the PS. The only other remaining one is on the DS first cat. It is also held on with plumbing strapping. Going to remove it, and not put back the one I’m fixing. Would rather have them either all on, or all off. Damn! What a waste of a morning futzing around with these straps.

 

What are you gonna sell her for?

 

Not sure yet. Gotta see what they’re going for in this condition/year.

 

The nut they gave me for the manifold stud was the wrong one. Was heading back into later to attend a cruise night, so not a big deal.

This is the correct nut.

 

Not really liking the colour. Almost an exact match of the factory stuff which was not the goal. Lol!
Of course after I laid the first coat, a bug landed in it, and as I was futzing with it, I managed to drop it. If that wasn’t enough, I dropped it two more times after that. Think that is a sign…

 

The iForce badges arrived this afternoon. Of course, it’s been raining again on/off.

 

It’s the little details that matter.

She’s already faster…Lol!

 

Zoom zoom

 

I hate to say, but isn't it supposed to go on the fender?
So I've been looking at the final exhaust pics you posted. Weird how that truck seems to be quite clean from rust to the back in a lot of areas, just that
you did all that work on the front and yet other areas seems quite good.

 

Haha! I was wondering that as well. I just used this pic. Post #83.



https://www.tundras.com/threads/oem-black-emblems.33954/page-3

 

There is rust pretty much everywhere on the frame. It’s starting under the under-coating which is starting to peek/flake off from the rust. It all needs to be removed, rust cleaned/removed, and a new coating applied.

 

Finally got around to installing the new stud and nut to the manifold flange. Went on easy, but can’t say same for trying to get the connector to “click” for the first O2 sensor on the downpipe. Pushed with all my might, but to no avail. Again, BFS(screwdriver) to the rescue. Found a lip/edge on the connector and had to use brute force to get the connector to snap onto place. There are no words to describe how pi$$sed I’m at the Toyota design engineers. Watched a recent TCCN vid where he digs into a Lexus RX350 and literally tears out the ENTIRE dash/steering column to replace a NS servo-motor in the HVAC assy. Not only that (if that wasn’t bad enough), he had to purchase a whole new AC module C/W the servo-motor(s), because he said he had no way of testing it once removed from the vehicle. This is just plain and blatant disregard for servicing/replacement. Toyota should be so ashamed of itself. That vid, and the one where he had to remove the entire interior of a Highlander just to replace the sun/moonroof seal once again show cased Toyota’s total disregard for servicing. These two vids alone should open the eyes of anyone thinking of purchasing a Toyota/Lexus product.

 

I had servo issues with heater on my '07. They had been badly abused but the whole criteria for troubleshooting
and repair was really frustrating, had I known the heater was an issue I would not have bought it.
In the end, ironically it was easier and cheaper to buy an ENTIRE heater assembly from a wrecker for $200
and spend the 9 hrs to remove and 9 hrs to install the entire dash. I agree Toyota has engineering problems,
but that being said it was the most accurate piece of engineering I've ever dealt with and was a heck of alot
easier than a classic land cruiser in the end. LOL

 

Tried out some paint I had custom blended last year when I was supposed to fix a scrap on the bumper when my daughter ran into a pole at a drivethru.
Couldn’t remember if there was a specific colour primer I was to use, so I tried two from the same store. One was grey (left), and one was black (right). I used the black primer on the DS front fender on my LX because I remember that, but never got around to applying the top coat.
Seems the grey primer is closer to the OEM (Slate Gray), but still seems too dark. Really hard to tell in person, and worse with a pic on the phone.

 

Yeah. I only have one reference point, and that is my LX450 which is from a time where vehicles were simpler, and I feel, built better. I know the big three all have issues with their pickups, but I have no idea how they compare to the Tundra overall. Just as I said earlier, being a mech Eng, and a design engineer for much of my career, those two vids point a massive failure in their design engineering process, and overall engineering. It is certainly indicative of a wider culture of disregard for their customers, dealers, and service technicians.

 

Back to paint. Just applied a layer to some white masking paper. Still not a match. Might go to another place in town where NAPA has a custom paint store.

 

Go to a proper auto paint store. Ask at local auto collision repair place and ask them where they get their
paint mixed, go there.

 

The store I’ve been going to is an professional automotive paint store. Last time they mixed a can for me, they explained how difficult it was to exactly match a colour. They have a DuPont colour matching/paint code machine. Can’t remember all the details, but it came down to minuscule amounts of different “colours” which were hard to accurately measure out. Anyways, I’ll see if the NAPA store can help out. I really want to touch up the visible rust areas before it goes up for sale to maximize the selling price.

 

Proper paint store here have the paint cameras. They take a photo and can colour match from
that. But it does help to have the original paint code. Silvers and Greys fade bad, hard to match

 

Stopped by NAPA this morning. They had 4-6 shades of the Slate Gray (1F9) paint code. He went with the colour basded on the VIN. Can will be ready tomorrow. We’ll see how close it is. Was CAN$49. Asked about getting a quart and was told unless I had a $20K paint both they “legally” couldn’t sell it to me as they or I could be fined. Lol! I’m all for protecting the environment, but it makes no sense when all the stores sell millions upon millions of “paint bombs”. Also explained to me how the “colour” can change with different techniques. Interesting…

 

Stopped by the “Dent Dentist” to get an idea of how much it would cost to take out a couple of dents. Told him I was planning on selling it, and he told me it wouldn’t be worth it in his opinion.
The small dent in the DS rear door would be about $400, and the larger dent above the DS rear wheelwell was about $600. They wouldn’t touch the dent on the PS rear quarter which had some rust, and another small dent onbb no the front PS door which also had a bit of rust. I can understand they don’t want to touch anything with rust.
He said if I wanted to address some of the rust along the bottom, to have a “bed liner” type colour matched coating applied to the bottom. He said there was a place in Quebec that charged about $400, but didn’t know the name. That seems really cheap, but something to consider. He told me to just to have the interior detailed, and exterior waxed and leave it at that. Probably right…

 

Might drive out to check this puppy out tonight. Lol!

 

Those Blazers are cool but even more rust prone than a Tundra! The 5.7L badge was on the fender for 2007 to 2013 trucks, then the door on the 2014 to 2021 trucks.

The truck is coming along nicely. Whoever buys it is getting a lot of under the skin repairs that most won't see.

 

Thanks for the tip about the badge location. It’s something I had wondered about, but was too eager to slap on. Lol!
Yeah, even ones I’ve looked at in Texas are rusty. Nothing could have been worse than my IH Traveler. They used low quality steel, and some of the body design just invited dirt/debris/water to accumulate.
Turns out the location of the Blazer was not where FB indicated. It’s actually about 3 hrs away, so will give a look see hopefully on the weekend.
Thanks for your comment about the the Tundra. I’m torn about selling it, but I think it is best if I can pass it on. When I sell stuff, I try to make in appear as best it can, and sometimes I can lose focus. Haha!

 

NAPA colour is too light (on top of paper). Damn! The correct colour would be something between the two. Not sure if I should even attempt to address some of the rust now. Nothing looks worse to me than a rust/repair attempt where the colour is mismatched.

 

Checked out the K5 Blazer this morning. It’s somewhat solid (was a BC vehicle that he brought to ON), but a basket case. Missing the orig front seats, interior removed (he has most pcs), but far from “mint”. Looks like it was painted black with a brush or spray bomb, and it had been gray previously. Orig ext paint was red with a blue cloth interior. Supposedly, it had the orig 350 that had been “rebuilt” and bored/stroked to 383 cu. in. He took me for a spin since it’s been over 5 yrs since I drove my std Subaru Legacy GT wagon. Didn’t want to bugger anything up. It was a real wake up call to drive around in a 50 yr old vehicle, especially a truck with a 4-sp manual, with a granny first gear, on leaf springs. Your looking at probably at least $10K to clean things up with new interior, seats, carpet, trim, etc, clutch, bearings, brakes, etc., another $5K - $10K in fixing up the body, and then another $10K - $20K for paint. So, when it’s all done and said your easily into it for $50K - $60K. Theres’s a mint one for sale for US$95K. Just crazy! Still need to think about it.