2000 Toyota Tacoma Project Truck

I posted most of this in the new member forum, now I am officially here:

I bought a 2000 Tacoma Regular Cab (2 seater/6' bed) recently. This thing looked like an Ogre. Cosmetically it was challenged. But under the hood, it was clean with no mechanical or electrical issues. Miles were 211K. 2.4L engine w/auto transmission. Plugged in my OBD and no codes. My wife, bless her heart, saw the potential and we bought it. Drove it and it drives as straight as an arrow. Accelerates up hill smoothly. Brakes are ABS (stock). Passed smog (CA) and my mechanic gave it a thumbs up.

Now to look for parts.

The entire interior was pretty much non-salvageable. Maybe a few things here and there, but definitely a mess.

In the quest to find parts, I found out that the 2000 has a unique body style that is different from other 1st Gen Tacomas. The body style (at least the front I think) only covers from 1998-2000. So that helped me narrow down my search.

Now I am on eBay and car-part and I see lots of Tacomas and lots of them with pretty parts. Except for on eBay. The larger the part, the more the shipping. Most people on eBay will strip a vehicle in the yard and sell it personally. Kind of a bummer since I am essentially competing with this cottage industry.

On car-part, most of the pictures you see are of the truck when it first comes in. Then it gets stripped and the photos don't get updated. A lot of phone calls to lots of junkyards. No biggie, but I think it will take multiple trips to get multiple parts. Part of the journey....I have a plethora of parts places and with the internet, it seems like we will be fine. I got good problems

So now I start a quest on trying to find a "parts car". I figure it would be easier to get a Tacoma for parts then spend lots of time driving around looking for them.

I set up a craigslist search and VOILA....a local truck (1998 Tacoma) shows up with a fully stock interior in really good condition. The exterior has some body parts that are perfect (doors, front quarter fenders, etc). The engine has a cylinder 3 misfire. So the owner swapped out the fuel injectors to see if that would remediate the issue. This was his "project car". I show up to look at it (1 mile away from my house). And it is a 98 Tacoma regular cab 2 seater with a 2.4 but it is a standard transmission. The interior is "OAK" as opposed to the gray in our current one.

We drive it and find that it is leaking oil really bad and I am hesitant on paying much for this vehicle. But I explain to him what my plans are and he accepts my lower offer.

Now I have 2 Tacos!

Now my kids are interested (one is 17 and the other is 15 1/2). So now we are a "project team".

So this is the beginning. I will start my thread on 1st Gen Tacoma and update the thread as I swap things around.

 

My first task is obviously going to be dealing with the interior. The white one has an interior that is in bad condition. No seats, dash panel and bezels are in tough condition. The instrument cluster works and all the electronics work. I am assuming that this should be a pretty much straight forward swap. Just undo everything in the white 2000 and take everything interior wise in the Green 1998 and bring it over. I realize I should always disconnect the battery do disconnect the airbags and keep it safe. But first thing is first. I am thinking that I should remove the seats/rugs/front windshield for easy access?

 

I have nothing to say about the vehicles in any way. But what I will tell you is that when I read the part of your post that mentioned your 2 sons and you now being a "project team" I immediately smiled from ear to ear. I hope your team has a blast. I'm sure you will. Enjoy the venture as much as you enjoy the family. Good luck with everything and thanks for the warmth you brought me today.

 

Damn, I want one of these (side project. :-D)

This should not be your first task after seeing what's going on at the bumper. I'd jack it up and give the frame a good ping test, see if it's rotting out. No sense in throwing time and money at a truck if the frame is going south. In fact, I'd consider which one to choose as the donor, the green one looks like rust-wise it may be a better choice.

 

The green '98 is the donor truck. It is a standard and the engine has issues Cylinder 3 misfire. The '98 has a much cleaner interior and some of the exterior parts (doors, quarter panels,hood) are in much better shape. The White 2000 has been to my mechanic, and he gave me the thumbs up after it passed smog. It is an automatic with ABS brakes and the engine compartment is really clean. The 2000 also has been a Bay Area CA truck its whole life. But I will do the ping test for sure.

 

Heard you mention taking the windshield out for accessing things. I have a 2002 but doubt they'd be that different. If you're taking out the headliner to reupholster, then yeah I'd remove the windshield. I'm pretty sure that's how they originally got it in there in the first place. Technically you should be able to take out any plastic trim on the a and b pillars & sun visors, and it can be shimmied out the front door, but I wouldn't do that - you risk bending the fiber board.
Would also recommend getting a new top-mounted brake light while you're up there as the foam seal starts to disintegrate after 20+ years. Depo makes a good one and it has the peel and stick foam gasket pre-installed.

 

awesome!
welcome!

i just did a 10 month mechanical rebuild on my Taco for my 15yr old kid
there are some pix of him helping me in some of my threads here
i got incredible amt of help from members here thruout the multiple projects
check out some of my threads(lots of pix)...bc my build although thorough mechanically, done strictly on a budget

IMO
if your not 'partial' to that camper shell.......sell that and you can use $$ for a new AM bumper assembly or whatever u need
you would be surprised just how much those campers go for (in that condition in your pix)
hell, some elbow grease compound buffing that fiberglass shell to a shine....it could go for double the price as shown
GL

 

@HoneyBadger153 ....the headliner in the parts truck would get swapped and put into the project truck since I can effectively keep everything matched (Mossy Oak). Plus the headliner in the parts car is in much better condition. Still recommend the windshield removal? I need to replace it at some point anyways and check out the rust along that area so I can put in a new one. Most windshield replacement companies refuse to replace a windshield if there is an inkling of rust anywhere near there. So I would opt to just having it removed.

 

Prepping for the front end........I notice that on eBay and Amazon there are plenty of front bumper options that show the "filler" pieces. They have a left/right filler. I wanted to keep it somewhat stock with the solid chrome bumper going across the whole way just as it is now.. Any insight? Or should I go with the filler option. I am also wondering if I go with the filler option if it will work with no mods needed?

 

wow im surprised
says BOTH windshield and rear glass needs to be RI'd to remove headliner



as far as w/s removal.....if there is any crack.....its not going to survive the removal process
in addition, bc of age/amount of chips....the same might just apply to a 24yr old w/s without a crack

i just had my 96 taco windshield replaced....fairly inexpensive
$175 total.....came to my house
includes labor/glass/mldng

 

LOL $1000 for a headliner... hard pass.

I'd just scrape out the old one & then rig up some combination of like.. spray foam and something.. or glue new carpet padding up there & spray it with a thick, film-forming paint.

 

well that is OEM and now discontinued

but yeah
i agree!

 

I am going to need a new windshield, regardless. That is for sure. The rear one I don't know yet. But I may opt for a slider in lieu of solid glass. So I will call around and see the cost to uninstall old, then come back and reinstall new. If too expensive, then just wait and see and figure something else out.

 

So I downloaded the specs for my Tacoma and found that the Grade is "Standard". which I assume is the trim level for this series. However there is a DLX Standard trim kit. When I punch in a DLX Standard as a filter while searching for parts, the bumpers match in style versus a Base Standard. The specs downloaded from Toyota don't really spec the 2 out.

 

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/parts-parts-and-more-parts.833627/

 

First day...get it up in the air and make it safe.......

 

Some before pix of the main vehicle (interior)

 

And some interior pix of the parts truck......

 

For the front bumper cover and valance. Is this the DLX trim? I just want to keep the front as stock as possible.

I found this on eBay when I entered my a DLX Standard Cab 2 door...Sure looks like it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/353554536284




When I filter it by Base Standard Cab 2 door, i get different a diffrent trim:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/4033631209...qDuECjX7rH6Fwfn6lm1BWmQw==|tkp:Bk9SR7aO8P6aZA

 

Rear window definitely doesn't need to be taken out to replace the headliner. I didn't see they were standard cabs. Honestly you can probably just lower it after the pillar trims are off and remove it through the door. I have a double cab so that's why I thought you'd have an issue. Mine was too long to rotate out the door. Also WTF I think I WAY overpaid for my windshield. It was like $400 for mine.

edit:
Make sure when transferring the rubber door weatherstrips get a tube of 3M Super Black Weatherstrip adhesive - Permatex works too. You've got to be kind of quick with it but place a continuous line of it on the metal (outside) where the strip is going to go onto. Get a plastic knife or something and spread it out a little bit, but make sure there's no gaps. Do the same on the inside of the strip where it's going to meet with the stuff you just spread out. By the time you're done it should be tacky. Install it making sure the edges are pushed in all the way and it's aligned correctly - there should be a little dot that lines up with an indent in the metal. This makes sure the rubber won't let water wick in and pool on the floor.
Do a test fit first with the rubber before putting any adhesive on!