1991 All Trac - Aquamarine Pearl - need some help

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dkenned1

New member
Hello everyone,

Its been a few months since I obtained my all-trac. What i'm trying to accomplish is a factory restoration or as close as I can get to it. Not sure anyone is or has attempted this in the past but figured I'd reach out.

Car was parked outside for 7 years in the desert so there is no rust, but all of the rubber is shot. Engine and mechanical seem to be going well at my trusted mechanic, and i was able to track down the KYB rear shocks with the guidance from yyonline.

Now for the fun bits...

Front Faux Carbon Fiber Trim with the Toyota logo. After some experimentation and a few spares, I think i've determined this to be painted on from the factory. Using my handy vinyl cutter I made a sticker that matches exactly to use as a stencil and the first attempt at painting it wasn't great. Basically i went to clean it up and the paint rubbed off with just a slight bit of de-solv-it on the rag. So i'm on my second attempt with first using Tamiya polycarbonate paint as the base layer and rustoleum metallic finish as the top. Once i have this complete i'll post some photos.

Now for the tricky bit on this part, there is a small piece of rubber weather stripping on the end of it. Anyone have any clue as to how I'm going to get a replacement piece for that? How do you normally go about getting one that is close or making another one yourself? The piece is a v shape once removed from the part but its pretty thin, not your standard issue type stuff. Any chance someone knows of a source that manufactures these?

Second bit, the factory fuse box. Man these are really hard to get, and none of the ones i've seen are in good shape. It looks like the cover was pad printed, because there is no way to make a good vinyl stencil with that fine detail. Yes I could use the standard fuse box but i'm really looking to go factory original.

Also what about tail light gaskets, rear window gasket, front window gasket etc? Of course my local Toyota dealer "tried" to get the parts but i really dont think they have any anywhere other than junkyards... So if i found one in halfway decent shape how do you go about making it look halfway decent?

As its been sitting outside you can imagine the metallic finish is BAKED. Gone, adios muchachos, sayonara... So has anyone had a professional do a full paint job on here recently? What did it set you back? Maybe im just a n00b to this but the first few quotes i got, sight unseen, were more than I paid to go to college all four years.

For paint, does it make sense for me to do the disassembly to save coins? and NO i wouldnt try doing it ALL myself, i know my limitations.

Final item. Replacement carpet. Anyone used a preform aftermarket kit? How close was it to the original? Source?

Just stuck on these few things, otherwise i got most of the rest of it licked
 
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CSAlltrac

New member
dkenned1":2moa85zv said:
Hello everyone,

Its been a few months since I obtained my all-trac. What i'm trying to accomplish is a factory restoration or as close as I can get to it. Not sure anyone is or has attempted this in the past but figured I'd reach out.

Car was parked outside for 7 years in the desert so there is no rust, but all of the rubber is shot. Engine and mechanical seem to be going well at my trusted mechanic, and i was able to track down the KYB rear shocks with the guidance from yyonline.

Now for the fun bits...

Front Faux Carbon Fiber Trim with the Toyota logo. After some experimentation and a few spares, I think i've determined this to be painted on from the factory. Using my handy vinyl cutter I made a sticker that matches exactly to use as a stencil and the first attempt at painting it wasn't great. Basically i went to clean it up and the paint rubbed off with just a slight bit of de-solv-it on the rag. So i'm on my second attempt with first using Tamiya polycarbonate paint as the base layer and rustoleum metallic finish as the top. Once i have this complete i'll post some photos.
Your best bet here would probably be the vinyl route unless you do the stencil in the base color then clear coat the whole part.
Now for the tricky bit on this part, there is a small piece of rubber weather stripping on the end of it. Anyone have any clue as to how I'm going to get a replacement piece for that? How do you normally go about getting one that is close or making another one yourself? The piece is a v shape once removed from the part but its pretty thin, not your standard issue type stuff. Any chance someone knows of a source that manufactures these? The rubber seal is not sold separate, the whole trim has to be purchased. New units are probably out there but will be extremely rare. Clean eBay pieces come up every now and then. I have considered going to an RV parts retailer and trying to find a seal that would work, they usually have a large selection of rubber edge trim/seal. I just removed mine all together.

Second bit, the factory fuse box. Man these are really hard to get, and none of the ones i've seen are in good shape. It looks like the cover was pad printed, because there is no way to make a good vinyl stencil with that fine detail. Yes I could use the standard fuse box but i'm really looking to go factory original.Another item that will be super hard to come by new. Pretty much all parts will be near impossible to find new. Your best bet will be to try and find the cleanest used items. If you have a good, clear photo of the box printing a sticker shop can make a solid decal with all the correct labeling.

Also what about tail light gaskets, rear window gasket, front window gasket etc? Of course my local Toyota dealer "tried" to get the parts but i really dont think they have any anywhere other than junkyards... So if i found one in halfway decent shape how do you go about making it look halfway decent?Front and rear window moldings are easy. Glass companies have universal molding that can take place of the OEM. Glass has to be cut out, molding installed on glass, and re-glued. For the tail lights, foam seal sheets from somewhere like Lowes can be cut to shape.

As its been sitting outside you can imagine the metallic finish is BAKED. Gone, adios muchachos, sayonara... So has anyone had a professional do a full paint job on here recently? What did it set you back? Maybe im just a n00b to this but the first few quotes i got, sight unseen, were more than I paid to go to college all four years. Perform ALL your own disassembly. There is plenty of DIY info online for what materials to use where, prep is 95% of a quality paint job. In the areas that need body work you could do a couple things. Craigslist for "Bodyman Needed" and find a guy that does it for a living and find out what he would want for a side gig. Also, simply walk into a body shop that is well rated, ask to speak to a body man and pitch the job to him as a side gig. He can also most likely point you in the direction of a painter that would spray as a side gig.

For paint, does it make sense for me to do the disassembly to save coins? and NO i wouldnt try doing it ALL myself, i know my limitations.

Final item. Replacement carpet. Anyone used a preform aftermarket kit? How close was it to the original? Source?There are zero documented cars with an aftermarket carpet kit, Ive looked for months. I finally found a GTS with clean carpet and installed it into my Alltrac with minor cuts needed. Get a kit and let us all know how it fits. :D

Just stuck on these few things, otherwise i got most of the rest of it licked
Click to expand...
 
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dkenned1

New member
Awesome. Thanks for the answers.

I'm going to try and clean and color sand what i painted today on the hood piece then I'll clear it and we will see what we will see. And yeah a vinyl decal is REALLY easy if it comes to that. And yeah clean versions on eBay are either non existent or they don't sit long and go for big bucks (relatively). Figured with the spares I have I could get a rebate if I can refurb these. Side bonus I could easily make the JDM one too.

As far as the seal I'm going to try some diy Frankenstein stuff. Basically build a one off extrusion mold. If it works I'll post details and I'll make a BUNCH :) if not forget I mentioned it hehe

The fuse box is an interesting puzzle. I can work up a vector graphic of it pretty darn easy. Toyota used standard fonts like Helvetica and Univers pretty much everywhere. The main problem is it's like this polypropylene injection molded crap and doing a one off would mean a two piece mold and the mold would end up having to be something that could take the heat and pressure. Not fun. I'll just keep looking for the hope diamond.

And paint yeah this car is gonna have to be taken totally apart. I'm actually reasonably sure I will do a better job than anyone else would and take the time to replace the fasteners and clean everything. For the body work I was really considering having a paint less dent place take care of that before I go having a shop body filler it all over the place. Not sure.

I was able to find the other impossible item, Cloth seat covers. Car is cloth not leather so that was a minor miracle. I may have a shop redo the outsides and keep the inserts not sure yet.

Shame we don't have someone around who lives in Japan that could troll their junkyards :p

And as for the carpet. It might be worth a $180 trial to see what the replacement kit looks like. If it didn't match I could send it back...
 
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dkenned1

New member
Ok so the front carbon fiber pieces...

Started with a nice sanding to get the old logo off, worked all the grit from 600, 1000, 1500, 1800, 2500, 3600, 4000, 6000 using Micro-Mesh. Then went from there.

Here is what I attempted that didn't work:
Rustoleum Metallic Bright Reflective Finish + Rustoleum Automotive Enamel Gloss (the gloss clear eats the finish of the chrome) Color sanding the metal, yeah no.
Tamiya Silver - Great, it stayed on, color sanded etc but it just wasnt reflective enough to match the original. This also didnt work as a base cote for the silver, either Rustoleum or Testors Chrome
Alclad II Chrome Aerosol - same thing got eaten up by the clear
Spastix Chrome Aerosol - didnt really finish with this because i was trying something else that worked.


Ok here is what worked...
I have a silhouette cameo stencil cutter thing from the home hobby store, basically its for cutting stuff out of paper, like a vinyl plotter. I cut out BARE METAL CHROME that i found at the hobby store while buying the spastix paint. I loaded it in the silhouette and cut it on the lowest depth with the slowest cut speed.

Weeding out what you dont want off the foil is a little tedious, and instead of using blue tape or masking tape to get it where you want the adhesive on the back of the foil will never overcome that, so i took some post-it notes and used those. Basically took the blue tape and attached that to a bunch of pieces of post-it notes that i peeled off and trimmed. Thats what i used to separate the foil from its backing and expose its adhesive.

Then I had basically a sticker of what i needed and applied it to the piece. Had to go slow and take my time, and smoothed it all out with a Q-tip. Then I took the rustoleum clear and cleared over it.

Matches factory exactly. In fact this is what they must have done before because the area where the logo was originally is a little raised and so is the clear coat around the new emblem. And even though it sanded off it seemed very much like a piece of foil, even looking at wrecked parts and the few I have bought for the project, it just doesn't WEAR like paint. I plan on coating the clear a few times then sanding it down again flat and polishing it.

Anyway if anyone wants to give this a shot you need:
Rustoleum Automotive Enamel GLOSS -- I think i got this at Autozone
Bare Metal Foil -http://www.bare-metal.com/, I got it at the hobby shop.
Cricut/Cameo Machine
Logo artwork that matches what you want to put on.
Post-it Notes
Blue 3m painting tape like the 1/2" size
Qtip
PATIENCE

Since i've been working this piece with different approaches.. i've got the logo way off center, so when i finally get this fixed I'll put up some photos
 
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