Doc's Daily: a '96 T100.

[Doc_]

Update: Photobucket is no longer allowing third-party hosting, so all my pictures are now gone. I'm in the process of switching to Imgur, please bear with me.

To preface this, five years ago I bought what is now my project truck: a 1983 Toyota pickup that I'd been totally smitten by while cruising my Mechanic's shop. It was my DD for two years, and during that time it just had all the usual old, neglected car issues: bearings failing, u-joints binding, the tired L52's input bearing grenaded and took out the cluster gear. All the fun stuff.
Somehow, I'd gotten it into my head that I should go to a dealership and buy a new daily, and that somehow it would allow me to afford to fix up the truck in a couple of months and then I'd be off scott free.
Bad idea.
I bought an '05 Corolla. It was a good car, but it wasn't me, and it actually hindered a lot of my backpacking hobby since it would high-center driving over its own shadow. Let's just say that the honeymoon was a short one on that purchase, and I began frantically dumping nearly whole paychecks onto it to pay it down ASAP and free me to bring the truck back to life. It worked, I paid the car down this past August, and everything was rosy...

Not so much. This past Labor Day, a guy in a Tundra rolled a stop sign and t-boned The Wheelhop Special. The post date on the pink slip was 14 August.

The insurance folks totaled it out, cut me a check and tried desperately to get me back into hock for another new car. Instead I went down the road to the shop I frequent, Yodaman, and bought this T100.
For what I paid Larry did rotors, drums turned, calipers and pads up front, a clutch, timing belt and water pump, valve job, and a handful of other things. This deal was pretty much too good to be true, and I'm much more comfortable driving something that's been evaluated by someone I trust than just dumping my cash on a Craigslist special.

He'd been taking care of this truck since the original owner bought it off the lot, and has a big file on it to prove it. The PO was a perfect owner: regular fluids and oil, never wasted time on timing belts, bushings are in decent shape. There are barely any stress cracks in the seats for crying out loud!

Anyway, here's the tour:

Up front

Driver's side

Nice, clean cab.

Catbeast approval. She always likes to pop into the cab of whatever car or truck I'm working on.

It's nice to have a place to put my pack!

After the flash and panache of the Corolla's interior and a couple weeks of having my eyeballs boiled out of their sockets by fancy LCD screen doodads in rentals, this thing's simplicity is just so incredibly soothing and comfortable.

My plan is to make this T100 into a great adventuring platform; something I can take up to trailheads for hikes and backpacking trips, take car camping or kayaking, as well as just something that is just fun for going places in.

For the immediate future:
- Shocks and sway-bar bushings. She has some body roll I want to cut down on.
- 6-circuit fuseblock in the cab. Any suggestions on mounting locations would be greatly appreciated, the firewall of this truck is packed.
- Homebrew audio system. More on that later.
- Upgrade dash lamps to LEDS. I have the LED conversion bulbs in my spares, so why not?
- 4 additional 12V outlets in the cab.
- 24 hour clock and indoor/outdoor thermometer.
- "night technical" switch. This kills off any dash lights other than the cluster, in case I have to drive at night in foul weather or sketchy conditions. Got the idea from Saab and driving down a winding mountainside road in a torrential rainstorm.
- A Detroit TrueTrac LSD for help offroad.

 

[Doc_]

A box full of rampage arrived yesterday, augmented by some parts from the hardware store:

1 Blue Sea Systems 6-gang fuse panel
2 Blue Sea Systems 12V sockets
2 Ram Mount hardpoints
24 feet of 12ga copper wire
Ring terminals in two flavors
Mounting hardware.

I didn't have much time today, so I just installed the Ram Mount Hardpoints.
Driver's side:

I chose these spots on either door because they're out of the way, provide good visibility, and door panels are usually easier to replace than dash parts.

Passenger's side:

testing for interference.

Earthmate visibility test.

I'm feeling good about this.

 

[WillBeck]

Following this one. There's something unbeatable about a nice clean unmolested starting point.

 

[Arktikos]

Following this one. There's something unbeatable about a nice clean unmolested starting point.

Yes, so don't molest it too much.

 

[Arclight]

Doc, I did a very similar build with my T100:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...100-SAR-and-expedition-rig?highlight=t100+sar

For the fuse box, I recommend putting it in the compartment under the jump seat. There's a little hatch that lifts up on the driver's side that basically has enough space to store exactly nothing. It's a perfect place for your wiring stuff to go.

Arclight

 

[dman93]

I've been lusting in my heart for a new truck. The wear and grime of my 18 year old T100, not to mention hankering for access cab or even double cab access to the rear seats, ABS, better ride/handling/mpg etc prompted me to check out the 2016 Tacoma. Nice truck, very nice specs and features. And I'm sure it's well-engineered. But it really seems built to a much lower level of durability and ruggedness. I didn't feel so bad climbing back into my T and driving away. But I might be back at the dealership some day ...

 

[Doc_]

Following this one. There's something unbeatable about a nice clean unmolested starting point.

It is! The PO took such amazing care of this truck, it's actually inspired me to keep up the legacy. It's so hard to find a 20 year-old work truck that's such a survivor.

Yes, so don't molest it too much.

You got it!
Other than a few here-and-theres, I have no intention of doing much to this rig, it's just too nice.

Doc, I did a very similar build with my T100:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...100-SAR-and-expedition-rig?highlight=t100+sar

For the fuse box, I recommend putting it in the compartment under the jump seat. There's a little hatch that lifts up on the driver's side that basically has enough space to store exactly nothing. It's a perfect place for your wiring stuff to go.

Arclight

Thanks for the tip! I'll look into your suggestion. That little hatch is just about perfect.
Edit: I like that your rig is build for SAR work, that's one of my intentions for my '83. Now that I'm not working my fingers to nubs paying down that Corolla, I'm hoping to get more involved in trail maintenance, BSA stuff and some SAR training.

I've been lusting in my heart for a new truck. The wear and grime of my 18 year old T100, not to mention hankering for access cab or even double cab access to the rear seats, ABS, better ride/handling/mpg etc prompted me to check out the 2016 Tacoma. Nice truck, very nice specs and features. And I'm sure it's well-engineered. But it really seems built to a much lower level of durability and ruggedness. I didn't feel so bad climbing back into my T and driving away. But I might be back at the dealership some day ...

You know, I just don't think new trucks are worth it. The new engines have amazing HP figures, but they're just so much heavier and bulkier that it usually amounts to little. Plus, it's hard to find a pickup as honest as the T100 on the market anymore. The T100 and first-gen Taco are legacies of "old Toyota": the maverick company that made vehicles we needed, not what we wanted; now they're drinking too much of the luxury-connectivity-styling Kool-Aid and neglecting utility and practicality.

 

[Doc_]

These are the gauges I want to add:

12/24-hour clock, 2 1/4" diameter.
http://teltek.us/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=15&idproduct=602

Indoor/Outdoor thermometer, 2 1/4" diameter.
http://teltek.us/ProductCart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=15&idproduct=543

I've wanted to use these things since my first project back in my teens, but never had the chance. Now I think the stars are lining up.
The big problem is that I want this build to be as minimal-impact as possible; as I've mentioned earlier, this truck is just such a rare survivor, I don't want to cut it up if I can avoid it. I started digging trough my pile of spares, and hatched a plan.

This is a spare oil pressure and voltmeter gauge bucket for my '83.

It should attach to the plastic trim piece behind the shifter column easily, and allow for install with minimal damage. It also kind of looks like it belongs, once it's been painted to match of course.

Test fit of the auxiliary panel. I like having it by the main panel, it simplifies fuse work, and it means I can have the panel as close to the battery as possible, reducing resistance from wire length.

The part I'm most hesitant about: I want this to be as clean an install as possible, which means cutting into this little 1-1/8" hump in the firewall as a cable passage. I know that it's the best way to minimize excessive and thoughtless damage, but it's still kind of a bad feeling.
Nonetheless, I have grommets and wire loom to ensure that it's a clean, weathertight fit, and I also have anchoring cable ties to keep the added loom from the battery to the firewall clean. With careful effort, it's going to work out fine.

 

[Derek24]

Cool truck! My aunt has the exact same truck,will not die! I had a 98 t100 4wd and I still miss it knowing now what I've learned from trucks after. T100s have everything you need in a truck and all the crap you don't! I look for you coming down mark west. Also that gauge cluster from your 83 just doesn't look right, the color matches my 83 too well and I think it should be in mine instead

 

[Doc_]

Cool truck! My aunt has the exact same truck,will not die! I had a 98 t100 4wd and I still miss it knowing now what I've learned from trucks after. T100s have everything you need in a truck and all the crap you don't! I look for you coming down mark west. Also that gauge cluster from your 83 just doesn't look right, the color matches my 83 too well and I think it should be in mine instead

Thanks man!
I see what you mean, this truck has just such an honest down-to-earth vibe to it, it would be hard to move onto anything else. Toyota really hit the nail on the head with the T100 design.
You don't want this gauge pod, it's pretty mangled! Do you need one? I have another spare, shoot me a PM.

 

[Doc_]

24-hour digital clock and indoor/ outdoor thermometer install.

Updates!
My clock and Thermometer arrived from TelTek. Really nice folks there; they don't do online ordering, it's all over the phone so you get to talk to a real living person and not a boiler room or phone tree.
The prices for the units are fairly high, but the build quality is definitely there. I'm very happy with the purchase. Setting the clock is just a matter of simply tapping the H or M icons on the face, or taping the "Time" on it to switch between 12/24 hours.

These are the units in-hand. Powered down, they don't look more than an ordinary gauge.

Side view. You can see the little plastic nipple on the side, I suspect that's to prevent the rear electrodes from grounding out against a firewall or metal dash structure. Good designs!

Finally, the plastic buckets that hold them in place.

Anyway, enough schmoozing about those. When I left off, I needed a way to mount my '83 gauge pod into the truck, which came in the form of about $5 in 90-degree brackets, bolts, and plastic EZ-Anchors. I was able to re-use the factory mounting holes on the pod, and only had to drill four careful holes in the T100 center column valence it was being bolted to.

Of course, afterwards, I realized that it had been assembled upside-down (d'oh!) and had to adjust things a wee bit to fit.



Roughing up the wiring for a test. The clock is receiving direct power, and the thermo is wired in series. The finished product is a lot less messy than this, I promise!
Power is coming from the cigarette lighter circuit. I wasn't able to charge anything from it inexplicably, so I poked it with my multimeter and found that the wiring was sound, but the lighter assembly itself was not getting 12V out of it, only 5.7, so I cannibalized the wiring to run my clock and will install a fresh lighter in there on my planned expansion harness.

Successful test! The interior probe hasn't been wired in yet, I ran out of time n my borrowed electrical snake for the day.
You also might notice the hole and fissures in the center of the unit. I tried boring a hole into it for a 12V outlet, snapped the bit somehow and gave up. Most of the damage was covered with some glazing putty that looked a lot less crappy pre-paint, but the paint found these fissures. Lame.

Valence installed, wiring run, pod ready to EZ-Anchor in place.

The whole thing back together an working. I plugged the hole with a small switch from my spares.
You'll also notice a past mod in there: a Ram X-Mount bolted to the inside of that little storage pod under the radio, it's keeping my Zune (yeah, I still have a Zune. Long story.) from flying at me when I accelerate uphill.

 

[Doc_]

While I'm here, I guess I'll update some of the "little things" that are helping to make this pickup feel more like home.

The T100 has some impressive map pockets in the doors, perfect for:

A BSA Handbook, a CA Naturalist Handbook, and some hiking guides or...

Textbooks.
Man, I love this pickup!

 

[Nosferatu49534]

Very nice. I like it.

 

[seanpistol]

The outdoor thermometer is cool! I want that. I've thought about getting a used mirror with the probe off a Chevy or something like that from a junkyard. Doesn't matter what it's out of.

 

[Doc_]

Very nice. I like it.

Thanks!

The outdoor thermometer is cool! I want that. I've thought about getting a used mirror with the probe off a Chevy or something like that from a junkyard. Doesn't matter what it's out of.

I think that's a good idea. If you can scrounge up non-OEM mirrors that house the probe and look clean, you'd have a great advantage. The real bother with these was mounting the thermocouple in a place that doesn't get heat from the engine, gets air flow, and is out of direct sunlight. I can tell that at idle, I'm picking up a few degrees from underhood air at idle, but it seems to average out in motion. I think my next bit of fiddling will be to relocate it somewhere further away from the radiator.