The Professional Hand Model Reinvestment ‘Build’: A Chronological Story.

Installed some rear speakers yesterday and fished some wiring for the sideview mirrors turn signals mod.

 

Loosen top nut. Remove 2 bolts and drill new holes. Push track and reinsert bolts and tighten. Window track rattle fix. Really firms up the jiggles. Just make sure when you push the track tight to not push it too tight as the window will bind up and cause problems. Test the window before buttoning the door back up. Grease the gears on the window lever while you are in there.

 

Added some LED Strip Turn Signals into the Side View Mirrors. Modern!

 

Fabbed Up and Added a few Redundant Grounds to the battery and firewall existing OEM connections.

 

Cleaned up the AC Compressor ground. Harder than it looks.

 

Bought an OBD reader. Pretty cool little device that attaches via Bluetooth to a phone. Also picked up a little USB charging port.

 

@Coupe sent this battery hold down bracket to me for feedback. This thing is nicely made and looks sharp. I customized the Aluminum prototype by coloring TRD with Toyota Red and then finishing off the entirety with the same Clear Coat used on my Aluminum wheels.

 

Went out for my bi-monthly feather dusting inspection and discovered my wire harness going behind the accessory belt was being cut by it. I must have pulled the wire loose slightly when I was cleaning up the AC Ground a few weeks ago. Shoulda circled back and double checked a few days later after messing with it to check on the mojo.

Caught it in the ‘nick’ of time as only one of the wires jacket was rubbed off partially. Zip tied the wire tight to the AC Bracket.

Ended up thinking outside the box and cleaned up the harness jacket and then loaded the wire hole with conductive electrical grease. After that I put some Fuzeit on some Gorilla Duct Tape and wrapped it over the hole/wiring. She should be water tight and good to go. I’ll clean it up when I do the Timing Belt Job. ***Might add some tinfoil (Interference Shielding) over the repaired area and use electric tape over the wiring to secure.

***Ended up discovering that this wiring should be routed behind/through the A/C Bracket. Reason its this way currently is the prior goofy mechanic that performed the Timing Belt Replacement in 2012 wrongly routed it. In the end, its my fault for not zip tying the wire down when seeing how close it was to the accessory belt. I probably made this happen when cleaning up my A/C Ground.

 

Timing Belt Job Parts are arriving.


Its the Aisin Fan Bracket ($109) and Heavy Duty Gates Accessory Belt ($34). The Bracket feels quality. The Belt is much stouter than the Basic Duty Continental ($21) one I put on 2 years ago.

 

Big Gurrl Aisin Water Pump/TB Kit came in today. High quality feel and finish on all parts. The WP is even stamped Aisin even though the description said it would not. Came with a nice instruction manual and a TB Stamp for putting under the hood for better resale tingles.

 

Fan Clutch

 

Pretty cool clip system for these new water hoses. Looks like you slip them on and then pull the clip hold back clamp and they snap on to the spot you choose.

 

The new Accessory Belt Tensioner looks redesigned.

 

Reman’d Alternator.

 

gotta be koyo bearings

 

This is full commitment brother.

This is how I plan to be with my 2014 as she gets older. My goal now is to make this puppy last forever! Toyota did their part with this kick ass reliable beast. You've influenced me for sure, to be honest what your doing I think it is more rewarding then spending 60k on a new rig

Gonna be following this reinvestment build! Love the detailed steps to perfection

 

Operation Timing Belt started today.

1) Removed skid. 3 of 5 bolts were already broken by prior goofy mechanic. Will be ordering more.

2) Banged out dents in skid. Cleaned and painted both skid and side skirts. Removed/Cleaned and Fuzed the old foam back on.

3) Grease Rubbed open area now that skid has been removed. I’ve never removed it so there are areasthat needed attention. Sprayed some Lithium PB Penetrant on the backside of front bumper and used my grease sponge all up in there.

4) Removed Thermostat and drained coolant. Goofy mechanic had thermostat in upside down as wobble bleeder was at bottom. Added flush product with distilled water. Engine never got over 140° withThermostat removed. Water is turning a slight brown color. Old coolant was pretty clean at around 1 year old. Engine Horsepower is lower with abnormally cool engine. Will keep product in for another day or two.

 

Accomplished much today:

1) Successfully Tapped 1 of 2 skid bolts. 2 for three ain’t bad?

2) Final Fabbed and dry fit the Alternator Ground.

3) Second drain and fill of Prestone Flush. I was calling BS this morning as the cleaner put in yesterday was slightly colored and not much changed. Figured I wasted $5 on 2 bottles and $8 on distilled water.Anyways, drained the fluid which looked similar to coolant. Added only pure distilled water this time. Took her on a drive and man the HEAT is cooking like the old days! The heat wasn’t bad lately, but itreally bumped up 20°-30° degrees. Can barely keep my hand on the vent! I do have the heavy duty package heater core.

4) Picked up the bolts ordered yesterday. Fast lead time from stealer. Couple of sales guys out front were really digging the 02. They were amazed how good it looks.

5) Bunch of other crap like paint an OEM battery terminal cover from red to black scored from @lsaami. Did notice how very noisy the truck is on the highway without the factory skid plate. I can feel some unusual buffeting at 70mph, as well. Can’t wait to get it back on.

 

Finished the TB Job. Having never done this before, I was apprehensive to do the first key turn. Like magic she started like nothing happened. Didn’t even miss a beat! Took her on a couple shake down drives and everything works. Every button and light and A/C works. 4WD works. Every bolt and nut was accounted and put back. No extra parts except for the one Bolt not needed on the New Style Tensioner for Accessory Belt.

In total, I have about 30 hours invested into this project (including 6 hours collecting parts data and acquisition).

1) Timing Belt

2) Water Pump and Toyota 1282B Sealer

3) New Alternator (checked brushes and they were about to fail).

4) New Fan Clutch

5) New Style Tensioner and Heavy Duty Gates Accessory Belt.

6) New Radiator

7) All New OEM Coolant Hoses and Spring Clips

8) Conductive Grease at Alternator to Engine Mountings.

9) Painted Skid Plate.

10) New Oil Dip Stick at Oil Pan O-Ring and FIPG’d the top grommet.

11) Added Bottom Rad Fan Cover missing piece.

12) Prestone Flushed/Cleaned the Cooling System prior to work. 3 Flushes.

13) Added Foam Seal Strips at Top and Bottom of Radiator entry to facilitate better flow and eliminate hot blow back from engine being recirculated into the radiator area.

14) New Cam and Crank Seal(s).

15) Cleaned Throttle Body.

16) New OEM Neg Post Cap.

17) New Fan Bracket

She sounds really nice. Not sure if its a combination of things, but the Engine really pulls air now from the front grille. I‘ll post up some pics of the Foam Sealer Trick that definitely makes a difference later tomorrow. A small thing that really helps!

 

Good work! Standing by for your foam sealer trick....

What radiator did you use and what criteria did you use to select? Asking because there was a(t least one) discussion about upgrade options a while back on the WHYDty1stGT thread, but I’m not sure there was any kind of consensus on what would constitute an upgrade. I’d like to upgrade the cooling system in my 2002... thinking a radiator with more volume would keep the truck cooler when keeping up with newer trucks on steep grades, at high speeds, and at high altitudes. I figure you’ve done some thinking before choosing your replacement components; I hope to learn from you.

 

Thank you. I used Armaflex (rubber insulation from BigBox HVAC aisle) and glued it to the shrunken original foam strip at the bottom. At the top of the Radiator, I stuffed the Armaflex where the Original OEM Foam was removed by prior mechanic. Both areas are prone to hot air being recirculated back into the front of Radiator and the reason for the OEM Foam when new. The foam really helps especially when idling or at slow speeds.

I chose Denso Radiator ($150) due to never having any problems and its OEM Fitment. My Coolant temps are 10-15° lower averaging 185°ish vs 195-200°. The prior removed Radiator was a NAPA Brand with no problems other than running hotter than the new one. Having just purchased an OBD Reader a few months back has allowed me to compared the two.

In fairness, I did replace the Fan Clutch and other items that may contribute to the new lower temps.

Mishimoto makes a super nice all Aluminum Radiator ($500) which I might try next time a few years down the road. It has a lifetime warranty and lessens the potential of Denso Radiator plastic cracks some others have had reported here. I’ll keep my eye out on the Denso and swap it in a few years?

 

Thank you for posting pics of the foam; without the pics it was hard for me to imagine what how this works— looks like it creates a barrier to prevent engine-heated air from reaching the intake side of the radiator-? Seems logical.

Thanks especially for the info on the radiator you chose, and an alternative (and why). You rock!

I’m not excited to spend an extra $350 but I’m very rough on the truck (picture anything you can imagine that would crack a Denso) AND not nearly as responsible as you are about preventative maintenance — so I think a lifetime warranty sounds good; I’ll look into the Mishimoto. Hmmn, will it fit in the existing space...?

We’re planning to add an electric fan at the same time. Replace hoses, what-not. Any other suggestions for a cooling system upgrade?

 

Not sure what else to recco other than keeping your fluids fresh/topped off and use the proper Asian Red/Pink Mix.

Keep us posted on your Radiator Selection and its fitment. Thank you.

 

Installed the ‘Silencer Pads’ aka Isolator Pads on the rear leafs (8 total). Finally got rid of the Jack Leg Shims I installed some of the tips last year. Greased up between each Leaf Layer whilst they were wedged open. Rear end is smooovvv handling. Guess the grease frees up the rusty bindings. New pads are all fresh and slick/thick. The oldies were worn pretty thin and all beat up! Couple were missing.

PB Silicone with Teflon’d the seat belts for slippy slappy action. Wahh Pop!

Stoked on the leafs action. I feel I can dismiss needing new leafs in the near future like I was planning before this fix.

 

13 Day Update on spring ‘Silencer Pads’ and Greasing: No more clunk clunk on slow speed turns going up a small incline and the rear end feels real loose/smooth handling at all speeds.

Tooth brush scrubbed a few drops of 3in1 Oil on the Power Steering Pump. Looks new again.

 

Tooled around on the truck today:

1) Cleaned out debris from door channel. This pic is about 12 months worth since last cleaning.

2) Tightened up a rattle on the driver rear door that happens with loud bass thump. Was a loose door tab so fixed it by flaring the probes.

3) Posted a pic of a small tear about 6 months back on the aftermarket CV Axles. The outer pass side rubber/neoprene boot tore about 1/4”. FuzeIt’d the tear.

4) In the process of examining the boots, discovered/solved the mystery of a scrubbing sound I have been hearing since about 6 months after front end rebuild. It could only be heard with windows down and passing parked cars or riding next to a wall/fence. Happened with wheel rotation.

Saw the bellow folds had a shine where they contacted each other at their angle of the dangle rims. Hand Model connected the dots and slathered some Silglyde on the rubber. Took her on a test ride and yes! No mas scrubbo.