My slow slow build...

[where'smycat]

Hi all,

So, I've been thinking I should get this ball rolling for a while. I've pretty much been using the "What did you do to your Hilux today?" as a super slow build thread, and I have a few things planned for later this year that should probably be in their own thread.

I bought my 2010 SR mid 2014. It was previously owned by my mechanics son, who had injured his back and could no longer drive a manual.
This is how I picked it up..

ARB Deluxe Winch Bar
ARB Rear Bar
ARB Bash Plates
Warn Winch (9500lb?)
Canopy/Roof Racks
Mickey Thompson ATZ 265/70/16

And chucked in an Alpine head unit, reversing camera and rear speakers before I picked it up.

It's my first 4x4, so went a did a 2 day driving course........aaaaaand I got hooked. In my intro I laid out a list of things I had on my dream 'to do' list for it, not really thinking I'd ever actually do.

Of course I did them all, and them some.
(In no particular order)

Bed Rug in the tub
ARB front recovery point
Diff/Transfer case breathers
2" lift
265/75/16 Nitto Trail Grapplers
Rear Elocker
Phat Bars rock sliders
Snorkel
Ebay front grille
Ebay 9 inch round LED lights
GME UHF
HPD catch can
3" exhaust
Rear facing LED lights
Cleaned the EGR and inlet manifold (which was surprisingly clean for 180,000kms)
Ebay canvas seat covers
Mounted some tie down points in the tub for a tool box
Hella supertone horn - my wife used to laugh at me because i was too embarrassed to use the horn....the one in her camry sounds like a truck in comparison. And yes she would have noticed if i swapped it
And then plasti dipped (or sometimes just painted) every bit of chrome or aluminium on it

That's where it stands at the moment, I'll see if I can get a decent shot of it tomorrow.
Hopefully in a couple of months it'll be going through biggish transformation. Tub is going, and I'll be running 33's legally and engineered, plus a few other little bits and pieces

Cheers,

Marty.

[TOYZX]

Nice one mate. Have fun with the 33s [emoji6]

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[where'smycat]

...how it's sitting today.

Aux battery tray arrived yesterday. Going to order the Projecta DCDC charger and dual batt monitor this week

[SR5ute]

I like it very much. Nice rig.

[where'smycat]

Cheers mate. If it all goes to plan it'll be a lot nicer in the next few months

[Sam Gribley]

Nice work so far! I've just started chipping away at a 2010 SR also so I'm eager to see what others get up to.

In your post you said it came with the ARB Deluxe winch bar. Mine came with what looks like the same bar and I thought it's the ARB commercial bar?? What I do know is it sits bloody close to the tyres. Scrubs a bit when I hit a steep incline a little too quickly. Hopefully I can avoid having to get a new bar when I upgrade the wheels and tyres, time will tell.

Post up some more photos of your mods!

Cheers.

[where'smycat]

It's the deluxe.....just doesn't have fog lights and you can't see it well in my pics.

From photos it looks like the commercial bar sits a little lower, that might be the trouble with your tyres rubbing. I had 265/70/16 AT's with no lift when I got it, and 265/75/16 MT's now with a 2" lift and have never scrubbed anywhere. P30 wheels. You might get away with removing the splash guards?

[Sam Gribley]

Ah yeah I had a closer look at photos of both and can see the differences now, cheers. Mine sits at similar height as yours in the above photos, in relation to the tire, that's what originally made me ask. Yours is definitely higher though, you're right.

And it's definitely scrubbing on the bar, the sound is very obvious haha. Possibly the suspension just isn't suitable for having the big old commercial bar on it and was never adjusted to suit. It rides quite a bit lower in the front than the back. More reason to get an upgrade and lift done asap.

[where'smycat]

So, true to the title, this build is moving slowly

Exedy Safari Tough clutch went in today.
My mates a mechanic so dropped it off at his workshop to get it done, and was wondering why he and the guy who helped him put it in were standing grinning at me as I was about to back it out of the workshop. He said they were just waiting to see if I stalled it.....cheers guys. I didn't, but I did get a shock at how quickly it bit. The old one was slipping a lot apparently....it's like driving a new ute!

DC/DC charger, aux battery and pre filter are waiting to go in over the next few weeks.

[where'smycat]

Pre filter and battery tray went in this morning (catch can went in mid last year). No battery (thinking of going the Optima....unless there are any better options) so the dc/dc charger is waiting for that, and I'm still waiting for the battery monitor and new switch panel to arrive, so no real rush.

[where'smycat]

Had some progress on the weekend

Finally got the Projecta DC/DC charger and aux battery installed.....no photos yet cause my mate (also my mechanic) did it and the charger is on a temporary bracket and he is going to make up another bracket to relocate the relays for the accessories (had to move them all to make room for the battery and charger) and mount solenoids for an in cab battery link and winch power switch . So at the moment it's all cable ties.....and he made me promise I wouldn't show anyone

[where'smycat]

Had a bit of an unplanned trip this week. The ute was supposed to be going up to Brisbane on the back of a truck for some work. But after my phone died the day the freight company was trying to get in touch (they agreed that their guy should have tried a text or email as well) and the ute was booked in for work that had to start on Wednesday, I had to drive it up myself. When I originally started planning the build, I was going to drive up with the wife and our daughter and have a holiday at a family friends place while it was worked on, but my wife had decided that since she was going to be due around this time I'd just freight it up and back.

Fast forward to Monday, after she found out that I was going to have to drive up anyway, she decided to hell with it, she got a letter from her midwife saying she was fit to fly. We drove it up, dropped it off and had a quick holiday on the gold coast before the second kid arrives in about a month.

I'll upload photos as I get them, but it's in for some big changes. It's getting the tub removed and replaced with a custom canopy, the front seats are getting an upgrade (the back seats will have 2 little ones in them so the canvas cover and kid seats will do them for a while ) the white paint should have been sanded off by now and some Kut Snake flares will be going on to make way for bigger rubber

It won't be back home for 2-3weeks....

[where'smycat]

This is how it's sitting as of this afternoon. Tub is off and it's got 2 coats of Raptor Liner. Colour is Toyota Graphite (you can tint it with any auto paint).

Excuse the low res.....but you get the idea

[hiluxxury]

That is going to look great

[DeadlyBeast]

X2 - First lux I've seen done in bed liner
Makes those flares look seamless

[where'smycat]

Yeah, I'm pretty excited.

No flares on it yet though, I think the finish on the liner just exaggerates some of the lines more than gloss paint? Kut Snake flares are going on when it gets put back together.

[CHUTCH]

Looks cool mate, whats the $$ on the paint?


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[DeadlyBeast]

...I think the finish on the liner just exaggerates some of the lines more than gloss paint?

Sure does. possibly just the over head booth lighting creating more contrast. Now that I look it again can see the original lines

[where'smycat]

Looks cool mate, whats the $$ on the paint?

The liner itself was about $600-$800 from memory? Getting it prepped and sprayed I'd rather not think about
But I don't have a garage or access to one, and figured that while the tub was off, this was my chance.

[where'smycat]

Progress shots from Qld!

I'm pretty bloody excited. Still some work to go. And when I get it back, it's time to get bigger rubber to fit and deciding if I get the bull bar massaged to meet the flares or replace it