[65type1]

lol... Couple of weeks ago went for a cruise with a buddy...first thing he said when he got out of his car, you look like a dumb ass wearing that Toyota hat while driving a Ford.

What can I say, I love my Tacoma 😁

 

[65type1]

Getting some minor things done on the truck, not a lot that show progress but it's getting there.

Wrapped the cab in some insulation and finally got my jewelry that I ordered 2 months ago from summit...eventually cancelled my order and grabbed the last one Jegs had.

 

[65type1]

Summit box showed up today..so some joy followed by slight sorrow. When I estimated measurements for my Hilborn style scoop I was mostly focused on height and I forgot about depth...damn thing won't fit without hacking up the firewall...sigh

 

[65type1]

I'll grant you that... it's less than ideal

 

[65type1]

Couple more fail points and then some interesting and positive developments

Rear brake lines designed to fit 68-72 Chevelle...fell a little short. My ARP bolts are fine thread and the balancer on my BBC is course threaded...fail

Followed by some good news... when I mocked the driveline up the first time we ended up raising the trans 2.5" to get an approximate drive line angle. When the truck went back together this last time the angles and the numbers seamed out of wack so I ditched the 2.5" riser block.

Today I put the blocks back in the trans mount and viola.... all my little fitment issues went away. Steering column clears, the recess for the passenger side valve cover slides in and out easily, room to get at the distributor.

With enough room for my scoop to fit with some minor trimming of the rear carb mount... Win!

 

[65type1]

And the last day of decent weather...so couple more items got a lick of paint

 

[65type1]

Little bit of this and a little bit of that going on...

Spent way to long modifying the electrical wiper motor arms to fit the truck... actually just the first one took a lot of measuring and trial/error to get the right length time.

Started to put some of the interior bits in place... rear cab backing

Mounted the grill and started the hood lace

 

[65type1]

Fitted some more of the interior bits, gauge bezel's will need to be painted black so they blend into the background a little better.
Current struggle is getting the new rear window rubber around the glass and into the frame. Ended up taping the rubber to the external frame in an attempt to get the twist out of the new rubber...will see if it works

 

[65type1]

Progress is slowing due to a string of parts arriving that aren't the right part or the right part arrives "according to the manufacturer" and then simply doesn't fit.. and making the parts either from scratch or modifying to fit is slow and annoying at the least

 

[65type1]

Some minor updates.. most of which can't be shown. Updated the carbs to 50cc accelerator pumps and added dual quick change covers for the vacuum secondaries. Changed out the thermostat housing for a straight unit.
Rear brake lines installed, used the TItan tool for flaring the lines...highly recommend it.
Connected and ran the choke and hand throttle cables through the firewall, just need to cut them for length. Nice part about having dual carbs with manual chokes is I can utilize the original dash controls.

 

[65type1]

Got a couple of hours out in the garage. Coil mounted and made a bracket for the fuel pressure gauge.

Used two of the original firewall rubber grommets to isolate the coil bracket from the sheet metal

 

[65type1]

Took some time off as winter hit, but I've slowly started back at it. Working on the fuel lines the last couple of days... decided to make life more difficult and use a combination of 3/8 stainless lines with -an fittings.

Using a Rigid 37 Degree flaring tool for stainless and a Jegs tubing bender. Thankfully I don't have a lot of line to run as I find stainless is a pain to bend.

Also got some parts back from the plater... mounted the top hat and that's about it for now.

 

[65type1]

Getting some more small items completed.... finished the fuel lines, brake pedal assembly is in, started mocking out the floor for the shifter and parking brake

 

[65type1]

Thanks for the taking the time to share your knowledge, much appreciated.

I do have the spring kit and the quick change lids with nipples. The nipples are there but don't really show up in the pics... connecting them is on my to do list.

 

[65type1]

Worked on the truck the last couple of days... mostly running brake lines and finishing the rest of the fuel lines from the pump to the tank. Got the master mounted and managed to scrounge up some vacuum line to connect the carbs. Followed that up by reaming out the valve cover holes to align with the head and polished it for good measure..

playing around with some of the refinished trim pieces...

 

[65type1]

Spent some time mocking up the rad and the grille pieces... Need to make some adapter brackets for the rad and will be raising the rad a couple of inches from where it currently sits.

 

[65type1]

 

[65type1]

Worked on the passenger side windlace …kind of a pain to deal with. Ordered some mix and match jewelry for the truck that I'm hoping to get mounted this week. The math says they should fit but it's going to be tight and/or might require some minor modification to the bed side

 

[65type1]

Got my tires/rims mounted... Happy with the look and it will make a nice change to switch them out with the steelies every now and then.
Also figured out that my shiny new alternator wouldn't clear the top frame rail due to it's body size...so out goes the power master and in goes the alternator from an 85 samurai...not that it matters since it's mounted low and out of sight...still sigh

 

[65type1]

In a word, mostly.

I'm using the Powermaster 890 low mount bracket and the only issue is that the since the bracket now sits between the ears, the original spacer is a touch long, so the arms are slightly bent inward. A light skim off the spacer and the bracket arms will be aligned correctly.

The tension adjustment arm also moves from the front to the rear on this alternator but that's an easy reconfiguration of spacers and arm placement.