This is what my current truck looked like when I bought it for 1k - '88 4runner, 4 cyl, 5 spd - windshield broken - trans shot - clutch gone - no RF rotor (brake pads were actually squeezing the cooling vanes) - rear drums seized - wheel bearings shot - interior mildewed & wet (rear window stuck open) - rusted fenders all around - god awful conversion van graphics down the side





graphics removed (heat gun & oven cleaner for the residual adhesive) - chrome grill epoxy painted Black Gloss - ford turbo coupe reversed hood scoops - ford focus antenna up on the roof - interior cleaned - new shifter boot sewn up (the old one was crusty mildew & mold)



a few months ago at Hungry Valley OHV - MarlinCrawler HD rebuilt W56 trans - Marlin rear diff armor - 4.56:1 V6 third members - home fab F & R bumpers - used 32x10.5-15 BFG A/T ebay tires on used ebay rims - 7MGE Supra swap - home fab lower control arm brace - now to start the expedition travel mods (I think tire/can carrier might be next fab job)



almost looks factory, doesn't it? next week we'll see if the Smog Referee likes it



some of my fancy exhaust work to route it down the driver side

 

Got my reverse lights on today. I used a relay for the lights so that the reverse switch on the transmission doesn't burn out trying to pass too much current. The first pic explains the wiring, which was easy. For power, I tapped off a 12 gauge wire that I had run for my trailer socket adapter. The lights I decided to use were cheapo Pilot driving lights I picked up from some parts store awhile back for $20.



Mounting for these lights is pretty standard, so I just welded a 1.5"x5"x1/8" tab onto my bumper. I recessed them into the tube work fairly well, so I don't expect they'll break anytime soon.

 

Home fab front bumper - 2" OD tube ~.120" thick (just under 1/8") - I'm going to run 3 driving lights on the front & I may try to retro fit a winch tray on there yet - under the front bumper mounts I also have the Front Range Offroad front crossmember reinforcement welded on, it's 1/4" plate that'll prevent the crossmember from bending if hit and also prevent the bumper mount nuts from pulling through the factory sheet metal if



mounted with 3 bolts from the front on both sides + the 2 tow hook bolts under the front frame, all mounting plates are 1/4" - the verticles off the front bracket needed to be "squeezed" a bit then cut flat to fit between the 2 lower bolts, the front mount plate extends up and covers the body cross member (in a frontal collision the mount plate will hit the crossmember) - the bottom brackets are bent and the tubes welded on from the side to fit in the body mount pocket




Home fab rear bumper - 2" OD tube ~.120" thick (just under 1/8"), 1/4" mount plates (same as most receivers) - mounted with 3 bolts from the side & 1 underneath on both sides - future plans might include side guards and dual swing outs (one for fuel/water cans & one for an extra spare) - originally I copied the pattern for the mount plates from a tow receiver and just extended it to "capture" the main tube, after a 1" body lift to accomodate the radiator for the 7MGE I needed to raise it to get rid of the bumper gap - thats why the side plates are in 2 pieces now, when I get time I plan on welding some bar to bridge the 2 and prevent the whole thing from rotating downward when I tow




edit 5-25-08 - Got a bit of work done to the rear bumper to finish it off.
Added side hoops
[img width=800 height=600]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/100_0512.jpg[/img]
linked both side plates with some small square tube

previously I had a 90* bracket bolted onto the side plates that bolted onto the bottom of the frame rail - now it's welded 1/4" with gussets at each end

finished product

 

I know Total Chaos sells one, but I wanted it flat on the bottom so I could bolt a skid on later (and link to a Budd Built cross member, which is another future mod). I know Sonoran Steel makes one, but it looks like major overkill (and I'm trying to limit how much weight I add). I had one from Front Range Offroad on a previous project, but they don't make them anymore & I didn't like the way it bolted on. I didn't want a weld on truss because I'd like the option of unbolting it to make dropping the front diff easier.

This is what I came up with, design is based on the Front Range truss, but with weld on mounts. Fab time + install was only ~4 hrs using 2" x 1/2" channel and 2" 1/8" flat bar.


installed and painted - everything was assembled & both mounts drilled & bolted with it off the vehicle. I tapped it into place between the lower arm perches & welded up the mounts. that way I know there is no slop in the mounts and everything is a nice tight fit. It's strong enough I can jack up the front of the truck with no visible deflection on the truss



Since I spent so much time on the radiator and fan getting them to fit, a bit of pretection was in order. I built and installed an expanded steel grill to keep the rocks out of my radiator. used 1/4" square rod on the sides to keep it from bending as easily, it's the gloss black bit under the factory grill



Roof rack was swiped off an Isuzu Rodeo, the cross bars were shortened so it would fit between the rear windows. It's mounted with 8 6mm stainless bolts through the shell with brake line cut to length to prevent the walls of the shell from distorting when everything was tightened down. In addition to the factory rubber gasket under the side rails I used just a touch of RTV to prevent and water leaks, so far I've had none.

 

Another project presented itself when I found a Northwest Metal Products auxiliary gas tank on ebay for $170. These retail for $600 + shipping when new, so this was too good of a deal to pass up. It mounts above the spare tire and adds another 14 gallons of gas to the truck. Incidently the spare tire will sit ~ 4inches lower than stock, so until I plan and build a swing out tire carrier I'll have to be careful not to drop the rear end off a ledge


CARB legal, but not California legal (?!?) - so install will have to wait till I pass at the Smog Referee Station

The exterior of it was completely rusted, however the interior looked nice and clean (the only rust inside was where the side mounts were welded and the galvanizing was burned off). I was too excited to get started to take a before pic, but this is after I was done prepping the outside.




I got all the rust off first with a wire cup brush mounted onto my 4" grinder. When it was clean enough I painted the outside with POR-15, which is my favorite rust killer. After letting it bake in the rear of my truck with the windows closed for a week (90+ degrees outside), I layed on 3 coats of spray truck bed coating and put it in the back again to "cure" for a week in the So Cal heat.

This is supposed to be a gravity feed system supplying the main tank through a fitting screwed into the main tank drain plug. However, I don't like the idea of having a fitting on the bottom of the main tank - the main tank is already low enough & I don't want to worry about hitting a rock and draining both tanks. So my plan is to use a cheap gas pump to transfer fuel from the aux tank to the main tank through the filler neck vent hose. The only downside to this set-up will be that I have to remember to turn off the pump when the aux tank is empty or I risk burning up the transfer pump which is not designed to run dry.

 

Since I spent so much time on the radiator and fan getting them to fit, a bit of pretection was in order. I built and installed an expanded steel grill to keep the rocks out of my radiator. used 1/4" square rod on the sides to keep it from bending as easily, it's the gloss black bit under the factory grill

 

Had a good junkyard find a couple weeks ago - I was looking for a cylinder head to P&P, but instead found an '82 Celica Supra with an F303 axle code, which means it had a 7.5" LSD differential which would fit nicely on the front of my '88 (F=7.5" differential, the 3 at the end designates it as a 2 pinion LSD). This thread has all the pertinent info, except it fails to mention that you need to grind 1/4" off both stub axles before sliding them into the differential (if you don't, the passenger side won't seal and the driver side will push the bearing in the halfshaft tube out 1/4") - The *official* 7.5" Supra LSD into a IFS diff thread.

out of the Celica Supra housing - I ended up reusing the original Celica bearings, even though they had 205k miles on them they still looked good


Disassembled - I ended up shimming the LSD springs ~ .075" to add just a little bit more bite. Not shown, but the side gear clutch material still looked really good for the mileage on this unit


To me, this looks like it should have steel plates splined to the side gear for better torque biasing - the 8" LSD does, still researching options on this


I didn't take any pics of the install and set up as that is covered in the link. I was able to get the same exact backlash as what it had using a combination of the Celica Supra shims and the shims that were in the 4runner housing. One word of caution, when I called a Toyota dealer to order a shim, they told me that the part number was good but has been discontinued.

I still need to test it out (maybe Hungry Valley this weekend as it's right up the road) and after I put a few miles on it change the oil.

*edit* tested and works good - make sure to use GM LSD additive in the gear oil (at the recommendation of the local Toyota dealer)

 

After swapping engines I’ve had cooling problems pulling my trailer on long grades. The cooling system works fine the rest of the time in stop/go traffic or at highway speeds, I just needed a bit of extra cooling on long steep grades or in the desert. This could also work to help wash off the radiator for those who like to play in the mud (the washer motor I got really is that strong).

Hayden has a product called Rapid Cool Radiator Mist System, but it usually retails for ~$ 80 (click me-> Radiator Mist System). I built my system for $10 plus a few spare bits I already had collecting dust. It’s a pretty simple system and only took a few hours for a nice clean install. Now I won’t have to worry about desert temps or cross my fingers that the head gasket will last pulling a grade.

Here's the major components. A junkyard windshield washer motor that I swiped from a Mercedes, a “large” size universal radiator reservoir, 4’ 7/64” rubber tube, 20” 5/16” brake line - you'll also need a momentary switch and some wiring to run run the pump along with an anti-siphon valve to prevent the system from leaking down.


I had to modify the reservoir a bit to mount nicely where I wanted. Using a heat gun I heated the bottle where I wanted it to change until the white plastic turned translucent. Then I pushed in on the corner with a block of wood and held it until the plastic cooled and hardened (cools much quicker if you run water over it).




The spray bar needs to have a directed spray pattern so it doesn’t just shoot one solid stream at one part of the radiator. Using my mighty Dremel and a thin cut off wheel, I made 4 verticle slices in the brake line – 2 offset above centerline and 2 below centerline for more even water distribution across the radiator - if you use the heavy duty (thicker) cut off wheels, the spray may be weaker and use more water, the thin wheels keep the pressure in the spray bar up


Close up shot of the slots in the spray bar - I used a pair of vice-grips to pinch the brake line closed and just for kicks soldered the end on top of that


I mounted the spray bar in the grill behind one of the thicker horizontal sections by cutting 2 half circles and recessing it back in, this will help keep it from shifting around. I decided to use plastic zip ties to hold it in place, although a more permanent solution would be JB Weld (once you're happy with the spray pattern)


When I run the water without the fan on, you can actually see it coming out the backside of the radiator. The pusher fan whips the water around fairly well and completely saturates the radiator. Although it shouldn't be an issue, I made sure the water didn't spray directly onto the fan motor. I timed about 40 seconds of continuous use with the 2.5qt reservoir, but figure I’ll only need to use this for 1 or 2 seconds at a time, so it should last.


Washer pumps are not self priming, so they must be located slightly below or even with the bottom of the reservoir. Because they’re mounted below the water level, you’ll need an anti-siphon check valve to prevent all the water from just leaking out constantly. These can be found on most rear washer hoses near the actual rear washer spray nozzle. Locate it as close to the spray bar as possible to prevent having to refill the entire water hose every time.
- water flow needs to go in the direction of the arrow -



For wiring I’m running a push button momentary switch that supplies 12V to the pump. The pump ground goes to chassis. This little washer motor draws ~ 5 amps! but the biggest momentary switch I could find was 3A, as long as I'm only pressing it for a few seconds at a time there should be no issue.

That’s pretty much it. When I see the temps start to climb, I push the button for a couple seconds, wait half a minute and push the button again until the temps start to drop.

edit 6-19-2008 finished the install

finished mounting the washer motor - welded a bracket together and secured the motor to it with a hose clamp

bent a piece of lexan to mount the momentary switch to and wired it up

 

In my compulsive drive for new projects to accomplish every weekend I though I'd slap on some MSD lovin'. I already had 2 MSD 6A's, but needed the 8910EIS adapter (small red box) to make it work with Toyota's coil igniter. I got one off ebay for $20 and set out to mount everything . . .


I already had the MSD Blaster 2 coil installed previously (another $3 junkyard find), but thought I'd mount it on the passenger side since everything else was getting upgraded.

 

a little bit of exhaust work this weekend in preparation for the smog ref - It's 2.5" all the way back with the pipes slid together and 3" wide band clamps sealing everything (antiseize on the pipes where they slide in so I can take them back apart and band clamps because I like them better than u-bolt clamps)

old exhaust and tiny MagnaFlow cat - it has so many flanges because originaly the cat was further back, but everything got moved around after the first smog visit to get the cat closer to the engine


old tailpipe


new cat - looks much bigger, so hopefully the increased capacity and surface area will scrub the last remaining bit of bad exhaust gas


new pipe from the cat back to my FlowMaster Delta 50


new tailpipe - I made the tailpipe before throwing the 32" spare underneath and before the new cat and pipe was installed, now I have to move the tailpipe a bit further away from the spare . . . who knows, I might have to redo the tailpipe when I put my aux tank on.

 

a little bit of cylinder head work this weekend to correct a coolant leak between cyl 1 & 2 on the exhaust side, there wasn't any fluid mixing and I didn't find any signs of cylinder leakage on the gasket when I got it apart


but before the actual work there is much prep. I sourced a Pick-A-Part 7MGE cyl head to prep so the whole job would be just swapping parts

after a thorough cleaning this is what I was left with on the intake side

originally I just wanted to smooth out the air flow a bit (take out some of the sharp edges by the valve seats, ect)but it turned into this with the help of my trusty Dremel

exhaust before

and after - the exhaust side was a PAIN because it's so much tighter

combustion chamber
valves all cleaned up and organized so they go back into the same holes

most of the power you can get out of an engine will come from the cylinder head, and being who I am, I pay attention to the details. after getting a cylinder head surfaced it will have these ridges or burrs along any opening . . .

which need to be cleaned, or it could lead to preignition from glowing hot metal fragments. I used 200 grit sandpaper. to give a nice round edge. the combustion chamber has "squish" all around the circumference, so I wasn't worried about undercutting the headgasket. I also cleaned all the head bolt holes and coolant passages

all back together and ready to go, the exhaust valve seats were touched up at the machine shop to remove some minor pitting but the valves were all perfect so I left them alone


this is kinda neat. the 7MGE cams and sprockets each have 3 holes and a removable dowell pin. when you get the head machined the distance from the crank sprocket to the cam sprocket is reduced, so if there is no cam adjustment the intake and exhaust timing actually become retarded. these holes are spaced slightly different from cam to sprocket and allow you to advance or retard the cam timing as needed. I didn't mess with it at this point because I lost my degree wheel . . .


I also found my vacuum leak, which I am pretty sure led to high NOx readings and my failed smog (likely did that one myself when I installed the EGR last year)

any repair is an excuse to upgrade, right? the 7MGe weakness is low head bolt torque (58 ft/lbs) with the ARP studs it is recommended to torque to 80ft/lbs using ARP lube or 120 ft/lbs using 10w-30 oil

the biggest pain of the whole job was valve adjustment. I had shims from 3 different engines to choose from and was able to get everything in spec except 1 exhaust valve (.001" too tight, all other exhaust valves are on the tight side). I'll need to go back through valve adjust again once everything settles in

I did have a problem starting it once everything was together, and I spent 1-2 hours going through distributor set-up, ignition, and everything else . . . until I saw the vise grips on my rubber fuel line that I had put there to prevent gas from siphoning out of the tank while I worked. After that though it started right up. a wide open throttle test drive up the I-5 Grapevine will have to wait till this weekend

 

I made a junkyard run the other day, and for lack of anything better decided to snag a new pair of bucket seats. The 'runner already has buckets, but, being the American I am, I wanted something a bit sportier with more bling and adjustments.

Here are the old seats -- FOR SALE


and the new seats, neither has any tears and are pretty mint for being nearly 20 years old. The passenger seat has the pretty standard recline & slide and also headrest height/tilt, but the driver side also has electric lateral and lumbar adjust along with seat bottom angle adjustments. The car I got them out of rhymes with 1st gen Cellica AllTrac Turbo (I felt so bad for that car . . . it was in good shape and I hated to tear it apart, but it looked like someone already took a ball-peen to the turbo)


In order for the seat to slide forward far enough for anyone to get in the back I had to match the rear seat mounts. The Cellica sliders are longer than the 4runner's, which meant I had to pull off the front mounts (make them semi-custom mounts) and also remove 2 bracket that were hitting the floor pan (just the bracket that held the spring which pulls the seat forward). I also removed the seat mounted belt buckle, preferring to use the factory belt buckle mounts on the body of the truck.


The seat itself sits just a hair lower, but that's OK to me. I took the seat back off and unbolted the seat bottom to make lining everything up much easier - it won't slide right unless the rails are parallel. If I decide later to raise it, the front mounts will get custom mounts (2 diagonal verticles and mount tabs bolted on) and the rear mounts will just need a spacer


Here's how I did the front mounts - I basically removed the mount, flipped it 180 degrees and drilled a new hole in the verticle section (the hole was originally in the 45* angle part). When I drilled out the rivet and spot weld that held them on I was left with (2) 6mm holes on each side, so I just used these holes with 2 grade 8 bolts


I reused the outside rear seat mount, but the inside rear mount didn't line up at all. I didn't really feel like welding a bracket on to use the original hole (not mention I would then have to worry about making the seat side-to-side level)so I drilled the floor and used a nice wide washer on the outside of the floorboard to prevent the nut from ever pulling through the sheet metal.


Both done. I didn't really have to worry so much about the driver side being able to slide all the way forward so install was a bit quicker. These do provide alot better lateral support and are very comfy, but I'm gonna hold off on my final impressions till I get some seat time on the driver side.

*edit* much better for distance driving and better support for the fast stuff

Here's the power lumbar and side wing adjust switch in its new home

 

time to make a stronger CB antenna mount. the old one worked fine, but after the fiberglass whip got bent over and shoved into the rear window to give enough clearance to drive into a parking garage (not me) it was too broken to fix. I did try removing the old mount and filling the backside with JB Weld, but the cracks would still open up whenever the antenna moved (with winter coming, I could just imagine water getting in there and breaking it up more)

this is what I came up with. it's 2" x 1/8" flatstock with a small piece of 90* angle for the actual mount. I snagged the antenna mounting stud and plastic insulator from an extra "trucker" style mirror mount that I had laying around. from the point where it mounts to the truck it has a zig in it for extra tailgate clearance, and all the corners have been rounded to prevent any scratches or snags from happening. I bent the 90* angle to a bit tighter of an angle to better follow the rear sheet metal and give an evenly spaced look


finished and mounted with (4) 6mm bolts & washers on the backside to distribute and minimize any bending force the factory sheet metal might get - you can also see where I ran the antenna feedline, a small notch in the sheet metal behind the taillight and some plastic trimming with my dremmel on the taillight housing did the job perfect


I filled the holes from the old mount with JB Weld and used some touch-up paint to make it look semi-pretty again

 

update on some minor projects I've been working on lately

Rear window switch to be able to lower or raise the window when I'm in the back. It's wired into the tailgate key switch wires, so the key doesn't have to be on


Added a slight tint to the tail lights, but not on the reverse light part and not enough to make the local cops worry about it. VHT is self leveling, but I switched the spray nozel so it would come out in a spray and not a stream. I lightly sanded the lenses with 1000 grit, wiped them down with rubbing alcohol, taped off the clear lens and back side, hit it with the VHT, wiped it off and spread it even with a paper towel and clear coated it after it was dry.




My home made idler gusset, you can probably guess where I got the design idea from, but like usual I had to change it a bit. I also tapped the idler body (6mm x 1.0) and added a grease zerk on the front of it (the gusset doesn't travel far enough to hit the zerk)

note the wrap-around part does not hit the steering stop and limit the turning radius

(just have to add a 1/4" u-bolt to snug it all down, though there is no side-to-side slop anyway)

 

time to upgrade the Master Cylinder in preparation for my T100 caliper swap - the bigger pistons on the T100 calipers need a slightly bigger MC bore. The '90s T100 1 tons have a 1-1/16" MC bore vs the popular 1" bore found in many mid 90's 4runners and LandCruisers - bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to the MC bore. A bigger bore moves more fluid, but produces less hydraulic pressure with the same amount of force on the pedal. In this case, I wanted to match what was available on the T100.

here's my $50 ebay master cylinder, brand new - note the 1-1/16" cast on the side

out with the old 7/8" bore MC

in with the new (and the aluminum looks much prettier than rust )


it was a simple bolt on swap, no drama. The front brake line needed to be bent a bit to match up with the T100 MC port. I didn't bother to bench bleed it, prefering to do it on the vehicle with a rag under the lines. Initial driving impressions are good with pressure building and the pedal firm very near the top of it's travel, though when I get the T100 calipers on it should soften up a bit. I would not recommend this size MC with the stock 1st gen calipers as it could get tiring to drive with the extra firm pedal. On a 2nd gen with the "S12W" calipers though, it might be a nice upgrade that would give a better pedal feel.

I cannot personally vouch for this cross reference:

Brake Master Cylinder for the following 1 TON Models:
1994 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC
1994 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-2958 3.0L SOHC
1995 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1995 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1996 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1996 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1997 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1997 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1998 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
1998 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS

 

before

rear suspension height (rim to wheel well)

the old and the Old Man Emu - the original spring pack was 3 mains + 1 overload - the OME pack is 4 mains + 2 overloads (main leaves are about the same thickness as the originals)

Energy Suspension bumpstops, Marlin U-Bolt flip (note the excess trimmed off the top of the u-bolts)- this pic was with the weight of the axle pulling on the springs, I need to get a longer rear brake hose yet (just a slight pull on the hose like this, but add the weight of tires though and it'll probably get pulled on too much) I'm also not sure how I like the bumpstop placement, I think it might get destroyed by the u-bolt nuts. I may end up welding a shallow platform on top of the u-bolt plate for the bumpstop to bolt to and let it contact the factory strike plate. I'm also not ecstatic about how the e-brake cable is being pulled on (maybe a transfer case e-brkae in the future?)

shock mount welded on, while doing the install I measured and mounted everything for 11.5" stroke Bilstein 5150's.

after

new height - I guess my old springs were really sagging, the OME springs should have only given me 2" (+ my shackles from the old springs give another 1.25") - I got about 5.5" total


Well, this is more height than I wanted, it looks downright goofy like this. I don't have the shocks on the back yet either, the dumpy Rancho's will bolt up to the mounts, but I'll have 0 down travel. Once I get the Bilsteins on, the back end will come up a bit more too (gas pressure). So I'm thinking I need to put some stock length shackles back in to drop the height a bit and hope the springs settle.

made a new set of shackles - 4" eye to eye out this "muscle car" shackle kit ($15)

took the bottom overload leaf out - it didn't look like it would do anything anyway, just acted like a spacer or 3/8" lift block - I left the top overload leaf in to help control axle wrap. You can't really tell it, but I also added an extra gusset to the lower shock mount to get more surface area on the axle tube (probably wraps just under 1/2 way around now)

moved the Energy Suspension bumpstop down to the bottom by welding a perch onto the u-bolt plate (left over 1/4" flat from shortening the shackles)

and lost about 2" . . . which means I gained 3.5" from the OME's

This I can live with, a little bit of rake and it doesn't look nearly as goofy anymore

 

Got my T-100 calipers on today. I already changed out the master cylinder, so I don't know how the brake pedal would feel with the bigger calipers and stock master cylinder. Here's the rundown:

Here are the original calipers, note the S12+8 casting mark in the second pic. Toyota uses standard calipers on several different models, the cast mark identifies which ones are identical (no difference in the cast mark to indicate left or right side though)



Here's what happens if you try to use the T-100 (S13WB cast mark) calipers with the stock rotors.

BTW, when I was getting parts I told the parts guy it was a '95 T-100 4wd.

So I got a pair of T-100 rotors to go with the new calipers and pads - the only thing that needs to change for the rotors is to push the bottom of the backing plate away from the rotors about 1/8" to keep it from rubbing - otherwise everything just bolts on


Here are the '88 4runner rotor specs:
# of Bolt Holes:6
Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
Diameter:11.375"
Height:2.535"
Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
Thickness When New:.79"
Discard Thickness:.709"
Vented / Solid:Vented
Center Hole Diameter:3.942"


here are the T-100 rotor specs:
# of Bolt Holes:6
Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
Diameter:11.41"
Height:2.59"
Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
Thickness When New:.985"
Discard Thickness:.905"
Vented / Solid:Vented
Center Hole Diameter:3.942"

So the only real difference is thickness and overall diameter - if you saw the "height" is also different, that's only because the rotor is thicker and the height needed to change to keep the rotor centered in the caliper.

The calipers are a simple bolt on affair, the only thing necessary is little bit of trimming to the backing plate


Finished product (kinda finished, I didn't have the rotors on yet in these pics)



for some other caliper options look here
Here's the thread where I did the master cylinder upgrade

*edit*
Got it rolling this afternoon and burnished the pads/rotors nicely on some back roads . . . it's an improvement, but I think I need to go after the rear brakes now. The pedal feel with the bigger calipers is better, before with the stock S12+8 calipers and the 1 1/16" MC the pedal was rock solid. It's just not stopping the way I want it to and I have my doubts about the rear LSPV (I did move the rod up when I did my lift). I may have to spend $30 on a manual proportioning valve and ditch the LSPV in the near future - here's why: I got back from my hell ride breaking in the new pads, the fronts were definately toasty with some very slight discoloration on the fringes of the rotor (i.e. not in the swept area of the rotor) and the rear drums were only luke-warm, my coffee from this morning was still hotter than the rear drums. I know the rear drums don't get smokin' hot, but they should have been a bit warmer than that.

 

Wilwood manual brake proportioning valve - the shiny fittings are SAE standard for 3/16" brake line, the only metric (Toyota) fittings are the rusted ones that I re-used on the master cylinder, the Toyota fittings worked perfectly with the 3/16" line and mixing them on the line made it easy to adapt
(note: all brake lines where bent with a tool, brake line doesn't bend very nicely by hand - it has a tendency to kink)




Took the LSPV off. The line that needs to get bent down to the flexible brake line is the one at the top of the LSPV - there is an -> next to the brake line on the LSPV. The line with an "F" next to it ties into the front brake line and can just be bent back or cut off . . . .


. . . . once you plug the front "T" I just took a fiting and put a big puddle of weld in the middle of it to make my own plug.


Speedway Motors has manual valves for $33 here. Summit Racing or Jegs also carries them and you can probably find them in any respectable hotrod or racing equipment store. Just look for the knob style like I have in the link - they're all the same and brand name doesn't matter much with a simple part like this.

You might be able to get a plug, but I don't know where. I think the plug threads are 10mm - 1.0. Or you can forget about messing with the "T" and try to find a 90 degree brake line adapter from the same location on another toyota truck, like the one on the left in the pic below


Another option, if you can flare a brake line:
- cut the original Toyota ends off at the "T"
- slide new 3/16" SAE sized nuts over the bare ends
- flare the line and use a male-male adapter like I had to do in on vertical part next to the brake booster to adapt the proportioning valve to the stock lines (but do this at the "T" in the pass. wheel well)

 

Since I got my 1" body lift years ago I've been embarassed by the gap between the gas tank and the body. Actually no, but I was bored today so I raised the tank 1" to match the body lift. Originally I had 17" from the ground to the bottom of the tank skid plate and the tank hung ~4.5" below the frame rails. So I dropped the tank and spent way too long cutting off the front mount. This is what it looked like originally

then after much effort, mostly with my Dremel because that was the only thing I had that could get in there to cut the metal next to the welds - it is of course welded to the top sides and bottom (before I painted it)

the rear mount was much easier. I cut it on an angle to get more weld between the 2 halves. I also used a 90* square to mark the 1" I was cutting out to make sure I didn't change the mounting angle

I still need to cut and remount the tank skid plate, but here's where the tank is now

giving me a bit more ground clearance (should be 18" by the time I get the skid back on)

 

So I decided to bomb through some water at way too fast speeds and got about an inch of water covering the spark plugs. On the 7mge, the spark plugs sit between the two valve covers with no where for water to go so I developed a massive misfire (took ~10 minutes for the water to leak past the plug wires though). Massive misfire dumped gas into the exhaust and cat, cat got hot. Actually the entire exhaust system was glowing bright orange from the cat back (including the entire muffler).

this crappy cell phone pic was taken ~ 5 minutes after I shut the engine off I'm lucky the cat didn't completely melt down and clog the exaust


Since I can't make a drain for the "valley" and the original cover worked just as well and not having anything, I thought I'd seal off the engine bay from the wheel wells a bit better.

I started with an old racing slick my roommate had from his racecar and cut the sidewalls off with a utility knife (pattern already cut out in this pic)- I also thought about using a truck tire innertube, but the one I found had too much "memory" in the rubber and wanted to curl up too bad to use + the rubber is too thin and flexible


just over 3/16" of nylon belted high speed soft compound rubber (should suit my driving style)


since I have a 1" body lift I left the original fender rubber in place and marked the distance from each edge I wanted to extend the new rubber guard. I took off the original, traced it to the slick, extended the edges where I wanted to and cut it out with a utility knife. I also used the original to mark and punch the hole ("hammer" type hole punch set from HF for <$10). Original one on top, new one on the bottom


A few weeks ago I got a "Riv Nut" set from HF also. I used the 10-24 thread Riv Nuts in the original holes in the inner fender, they fit perfect and let me use stainless machine screws w/ fender washers to attach the rubber guard - I plan on tucking the the front in on top of the frame rail in front of the idler arm and using an empty bolt hole to secure it