1996 4x4 V6 Cobalt Blue Pearl restore

My father gave me his truck, a 1996 3.4 V6 4WD AUTO with 129k miles, which I intend to fix up and restore the appearance to close to how he had it back when I was a kid. It's currently at the body shop getting new bumpers, body work, paint, and rust mitigation on the frame. Once I get it back, I'll take it to the shop for a tune-up, new fluids, and any recommended replacement parts. I had a new timing belt, water pump, tensioner & pulley installed a couple thousand miles ago. Planned work:

• HWSTAR headlights (recommended by forum member)
• New liftgate decals
• New badges
• Hood deflector and window deflectors (the way my dad had it)
• BFG A/T tires
• Repair driver seat upolstery

 

This makes me so insanely happy to know you are giving this truck the love it deserves.
What are the miles? Is it a 3.4 v6? I see some rust on it, hows the frame?

I just inherited a 1997 Cobalt Pearl Blue Extended cab 4x4 M/T from my grandfather. I grew up with a 1998 Mystic Purple Micah extended cab 4x4 M/T that I learned to drive in. My dad gave it away at 250k+ miles as I was more interested in WRX's at the time. After 1 year I regretted letting it get away and spent the next decade looking for another one. The ones I could find were waaaay out my price range. After searching on and off all that time, my dad called me a few years after my grandfather had passed and let me know that he had just remembered that Grandpa had a purple Toyota sitting at a relatives house in the desert. He didn't remember exactly what it was. After some calls, some relatives went and took pics of my beauty. I can't describe how excited I was that not only another 1st gen had come into my life, but that it had been my grandfathers! It had/has 120k on the odometer. I had it towed to me where I have been working on it myself for the past few months. It sat since 2005, but my grandfather had topped all of the fluids off before setting it to rest. After putting a new battery in and cranking twice, it ran with no issues on 17+ year old gas. I topped the tank off with some premium to help that, but I was blown away. I've done a decent amount of routine work to it, and the paint is pretty rough, but now I'm just working on some paperwork to get it registered. I can't wait to see updates on yours as you go! I'll be finally putting a thread together for mine soon enough!

Here's my dad's '98


Here's some shot of my Grandpa's '97:


Me and my dad wrenching on my Grandpa's truck:

 

Hey bud, thanks for sharing your story! Amazing how things worked out. I’m a little jealous it’s a manual transmission! Mine is a 3.4 V6 at 129k miles. Frame is a little rusty but I’m having it treated. Here’s some pics.

 

Wow the North East is not kind to vehicles. I was super lucky and mine lived in Arizona and Utah all it's life.

You could do a manual swap somewhere down the line (especially if your trans ever kicked the bucket) though it would be a lot of work.

Do you plan to off-road/adventure with your's much once it's stabilized rust-wise? The first few months of my restoration I've been telling myself that I want to take it back to compete stock, but I keep seeing nice things like 2 inch lifts, bull bars, manual hub swaps and so on it's got me thinking.

Also, how are your's seatbelts? The mechanism in mine is quite shot (slow to retract).
I've been following this guy on YouTube doing a restoration on his '97 4x4 (single cab), and he sent his seat-belts to this place.

Sorry for all of the questions, but I'm so excited to see another truck that's so close to mine, at the same time!

 

Hey Onside,
First of all I wanted to say I love what you are doing saving an old tacoma.
A 2” lift can range from $350 all around to however high price you want it. I would suggest if you want the truck to be practical, then don’t worry about winches, snorkels, and manual hubs. I thought about manual hub swapping my 01 but the only place you can get the manual hub setup is from another tacoma. Other than gas mileage, manual hubs do not really change any driving experience. Light bars are up to you, you can get a decent setup for about $50.
The seatbelts can be replaced pretty easy, just a few bolts and you have it. Seatbelts usually go for $150 a piece, so if you can make these ones work that would be best, especially the backseat since you likely won’t be needing it often. I have 2002 tan seatbelts if you would like to buy them, or I found blue or gray seatbelts online.

 

Thank you for the wealth of information! There are so many things that I would like to do that I have to prioritize them with my budget. Thanks for the seatbelt offer, though I just sent mine into Safety Restore to have it rebuilt.

Once I finally get mine registered and with new tires, my first plan is to take it out and enjoy it. I want to do some trails and get an idea of just how far I want to take it and what would help me with what I'm wanting to do with it. (Also helps that for now while the paint is absolutely wrecked on mine that i don't have to worry about scratches on it. I've just sanded off any rusty spots and sealed them for now). I've got a thread covering my restoration in more detail here if you are interested.

 

Before you take it out offroading, are the skids still on the truck? Even the slightest offroading could cause some damage to your gas tank and front end if not protected. Skid plates are notorious for rusting or ripping out of the truck. I see you have a gas tank skid plate but I have no idea if the front one is still there. When I bought my second Tacoma it did not come with a gas tank or front skid.

 

What treatment is the body shop doing for the frame rust?

 

Yeah, I have both of my skid plates. Mine have very minor rust that I’m going to brush off and then reseal. Also have a gas tank. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Except the receiver hitch, that frame is almost spotless! All you need is a grinder and a wire brush and you can clean that off yourself easily.

 

They will be grinding off the rust and treating it with some undercoating. I did not ask about the brand.

Manual swap sounds intriguing but costly! Transmission is smooth so far.

I do not plan on taking it off roading. Mostly for light duty truck bed usage; picking up home improvement materials, furniture, etc. I prefer the stock look since I'm not planning on doing any major off roading.

I have not tested the passenger seatbelt or rear seatbelts but the driver one works fine! I'll check them out when I get the truck back. Thanks for the restoration link!

This is great news! Thanks!

 

A lot has happened since the last post. The body shop finally got the truck back to me a few weeks ago. They fixed the body, removed the bed, sanded the frame and sprayed it with undercoating. It's back in the shop now for a few other issues they missed, but i was able to get a mechanical inspection beforehand. It needs a lot more work. More on that later.

1/5/24 - Body work in progress




3/8/24 - Rust removed from rear frame and undercoated





4/24/24 - finally picked it up and put on some new wheels and tailgate decals

4/30/23 - interior detailed and new seat covers

 

My God what an update! It thrills me to see how well you've had it done. Mine is cosmetically the same, but mechanically humming along as a daily.

I'm so stoked about this man! I hope you have lots of fun with it and make lots of memories.
How much did all that work cost you? (body work, frame work and coatings)

 

Thanks bro! Glad yours is running well. Mine still needs a bunch of mechanical work to run better.

Labor for body work & frame was 3k about 1.4k for the rest of the body.

Heres a list of everything else:

Windshield & Front Window Ceramic Tint 253.14
New battery 256.84
Front brake pads, rotors, calipers @ Busy Boots Auto 1071.53
Mount 4 tires 53
Gas cap replacement 16.25
Door emblems 36.68
Tailgate emblems 36.42
Front bumpter 129.95
Front grill 79.01
Front bumper Grill Trim 15.05
Rear bumper 125.96
Front vent shade for hood 70.43
Seat covers 86.59
trailer hitch 196.15
LED headlights 87.77
Rear bumper brackets 81.08
Wheels + Tires 550

Here's the remaining list of mechanical fixes (I plan to do some of it myself)

 

WoW! love what you did to the truck. thanks for sharing man

 

Love the build! How did you get those wheels with tires for only 550? The cheapest thing I can find is only rims for about 800.

 

Got them used on Facebook Marketplace! Off a 2022 TRD with 6k on the tires.