So this thread is the result of me getting a little over eager watching the Copart auctions after realizing how expensive, and used up, cheap trucks are in the south.
The rant starts here - https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/can-we-talk-about-toyota-trucks-for-a-minute/176323/page1/
Instead of tacking onto the end of that thread I started this one. I now own three cars and none of them have "clean" histories. That's how I ended up looking at the salvage auctions. So I figured it was time to share how these "simple" little builds go.
So one day a week or so ago, this came up when I was working from home.
A few days later it shows up and is EXCEPTIONALLY clean. Someone really took care of this thing. Tires are in good shape. Brakes are good. Most importantly, zero rust and the underside is exceptionally clean.
Yesterday I took about an hour to disassemble the front end and asses the damage. I'm not sure what the truck hit but the front right headlight/grille area took the brunt of it. Directly behind that area is the condenser, drier, and a headlight bracket that is spot welded to the rad support.
A couple of wacks with the hammer and dollie set and I've straightened everything out. AC still works fine and shows no sign of leaking.
All done and ready for reassembly.
Found this had just been done by the toyota dealership as well.
Toyota confirmed that the t-belt, water pump, and a new set of iridium plugs have just been installed.
Today I gathered some parts.
Found a good off of a 2004 Sequoia for $100. Paint cade was the same as my truck but it was a white with pearl. Oh well. There were no other white options locally so I'll just have to paint it. Hopefully I can get a match without too much effort. I've done paint and body a few times but I'm no expert.
I also picked up the metal front bumper from certifit. It looks ok, but the fog light mounts look like they were put in place by the blind intern. That will likely take some persuasion. Found out that one of the plastic fog light mounts is also broken. Might address that now, or I might hold off.
$100 for the hood
$180 for the bumper.
So I've got most of the parts in and started to fit up some items. Spent some time Sunday fitting up headlights and a few other small things. Driver's side is fine. Passenger side is giving me issues.
Looks like the rad support got pushed in some and the fender is misaligned. That's the only thing I can think of.
Drivers side es bueno
Passenger Side not so bueno.
Doesn't seem to be a hood alignment issue as everything looks right on the driver's side. The fact that the passenger side is where it was hit so I'm going to spend some time pulling on the radiator support (not sure how I'm going to do that) and I'll loosen up the fender and try to realign it. I DID notice that the fender to door gap is tighter on the passenget side furter reinforcing my theory that the fender has moved. Thoughts?
Looks like some fender fiddling should do the trick.
I like that generation of Tundra, they're just the right size. The newer ones are huge!
Pretty nice score. That motor will last longer than the frame
damn that engine compartment is clean! looks like a really nice buy. also looks like you've got a pretty nice stable going there.
You stole that for $2100.
So after messing about a little tonight it turns out the core support on the passenger side is a little tweaked. Luckily I can take the airbox out and have lots of access from that side to hammer. I'm pretty confident I can get the bracket that is misaligning the headlight pushed back out but getting the core support where it mounts to the apron to come with it I'm not so sure. Somehow it seems that area got pushed in, which I can clearly see now, but it also pushed the mounting for the fender away from the hood at the same time, which I can't readily tell. Hence the passenger fender to hood gap. Probably need to pull the fender. While it's not as easy as I thought it was going to be it shouldn't be insurmountable.
In reply to Nofive_0 :
For inspiration on possibly moving that core support, here is a picture of me doing some "driveway frame straightening" to my previous salvage Montero.
My goal here (only slightly achieved but still slightly improved) was to pull the front bumper steel bar more forward.
This left me with generally a lisence plate that is not quite straight and I was okay with that look on a, at the time, 16yr old truck w/ 200k. Upon closer inspection, also a grill that is not flush at the bottom and missing fog lamp trim.
I had them hosted on google, but looks like that isn't working any more. I'll fix it.
Worst case scenario I'll need to replace the core support. That would do two things for me. Pull the apron in to help with the mounting of the fender, and possibly put the headlight bracket in the "more right" position. I don't want to have to do that, but I do "have the technology".
Replace the front lower ball joints with OEM immediately.
Also be careful, the 2000-2003 tundras/sequoias have some slight differences from the 2004-2006 ones. Found that out when I bought a newer steering wheel for my 01. Looks like the hood worked out though.
Awesome score though, looks in good shape!
Made some progress today, but still not done. Might shoulda just replaced the core support from jump.
Light hole is still kinda gnarly now, but that can be cleaned up. I could give a crap less as long as the headlights line up, which they don't quite yet. I also realised that there is only up and down adjustment and not any side to side adjustment. So it's going to be really obvious if everything isn't aligned correctly come night time.
So after lots of hammering and banging I've mangled the headlight bracket/rad support into place close enough for my OCD I hope. The new replacement front bumper is utter crap. It was a mega pain to fit. I have a few more hours of fit up to do and then it will be time to paint. I will likely need a new skid plate as well but that is unrelated to the accident and not necessary to make it whole again. At some point I'll probably take the 2" lift off. All of that will come after registering it.
It is a salvage GA title.
However I live in NC and they seem to have some fairly archaic rules when it comes to the process. I basically have to take the vehicle to be inspected when it's done. Really they just look under the hood, check the VIN's, and run it through the NICB to make sure it says it's not stolen. They're supposed to ask for receipts, but they've never done that for me. They fill out a 1 sheet paper and send you on your way. At that point you take the salvage title, and the form, to the tag office like a normal car.
You can run VIN's through the NICB yourself here. https://www.nicb.org/vincheck Handy tool for people like us that like to buy cars of dubious origin.
About %50 of the time the title will come back clean. I don't know why, it just does. I once fixed up a ranger in a very similar fashion. It came with a salvage TN title and by the time it was said and done it had a clean title. Come to find out it had been totalled twice.
I bought an 09 BMW wagon in June, and the title came back in a matter of weeks clean. I bought a Corvette last December and I have still not received the title for it yet. My guess is that it will be branded. However that is not a $2k Toyota truck or similarly priced wagon so maybe that is the determing factor. That car also havd to be bonded because the police officer that did the inspection was a total jagweed.
Anyways..... Picked up a quart of white basecoat today. I want to spend some time this evening fitting up the last few parts. Then maybe this weekend it will come back apart for a garage paintjob. At that point all I have to do is the process above and i'll be legal.
BTW. I didn't realize you could buy OEM filters at walmart.!? I went to get some 220k mile "old truck" special oil, because I have no idea of the mileage on the current oil. Lo and behold they had one of these badboys on the shelf.
They also had AC/Delco, Nissan, Ford, and even Hyundai OEM filters.
Got %90 of everything back together except for one.... Damn..... Side marker...... I'm not sure if it's alignment issue or a manufacturing issue. My guess is it's alignment. All the lights are working at least. If it weren't for that I'd be done and ready to paint this weekend. Unfortunately I'll have to wait until I sort this out. At least I was able to pick up paint and some oil for an oil change. I'll work on getting some better photos this weekend.
Last night I changed the oil and remedied the skid plate with some new hardware. I ordered a new side marker after breaking the last one and within 5 minutes of trying to fit it..... broke it in the same fashion. It's because of how the side marker is mounted. It basically wedges itself into the fender and is mounted to the headlight to secure it. Therefore it's very prone to headlight misalignment. It's incredibly frustrating that everything is lined up and looking good, and I could be done this weekend, except for the fact that I'm being held up by a side light. I was kicking myself last night for not just replacing the core support, but there is no guarantee that wouldn't have introduced it's own host of other issues.
Yay sanding.
I finally got the side marker to fit. It looks like I'm going to have to prime the hood. I thought I could get away with sanding the existing clear but there are too many spots of clear failure.
Nice! I love these trucks. My brother had one that looked identical to this, down to the pinstripes - though his had the captain seats and leather. I think I actually technically owned it for a week, I know it was my DD for about a month. Now my dad has one that lives "up north" at the lake house; same generation and the same interior as yours. Very comfortable trucks, and to me, the perfect size.
Look forward to reading this thread through!
Got some paint on the hood and filler panel today. It came out pretty good. One base coat run on the filler and a couple of clear spots where I kept sweating on the hood. It looks like I got one sag as well. Oh well. It will give me a chance to practice my buffing skills. Good enough for a garage job and something that is going on a 20 year bold single stage truck.
Primer
Sorry. It's hard to show details on white.
I'll get the truck put back together in a few days and then just to register it!
Paint match looks good. I'll get everything assembled this afternoon. In a few days I'll pull out the 1000 and 2000 for a wet sand and buff once the clear has setup more. I think it will match the "patina" of the truck fine. I'm also going to pull out the detail gun and spray some base on the places paint is missing on the core support.
this is awesome, great work. Love these trucks and love the 4.7
Reassembly took about an hour. I'm pretty happy with it. It certainly needs a wash and I have a car play unit coming for it. It's first duty as a truck will be to take all the mangled parts to the dump/recycle center. I'll keep this thread updated as I use it and service it, but it's needs are minimal.
Not bad for a $3700 truck.
Now that we're on page 2...
Before:
After:
Looks great. Seems like a very nice truck!
