Thanks, man...I'm goin' up to the body shop on Monday and have a talk with them. I want to see if they will at least begin to wind this up and shoot for a "completion date" to have Li'l Truck put back together enough to roll her down the street back to Rising Sun so they can finish the rest.

 

Yea turbo blow thru pretty much right and how these shops work seen it myself to .. With the amount of money you have spent .. I go in there . Meaning business .. Some guys milk the hell out of the job specially if there payed before hand .. Don't give no slack man put a fire under there ass

 

well did you loose a shoe and get a stinky foot?

 

Ha! Still got my shoe and my foot's not too stinky.

I was "firm but polite" and just told it like it was. He knew what was up the minute I walked in, so there was no BS.

I just said I didn't feel like the project was getting the care and respect that it deserved (and that Char would want it to have), and that six months was more than enough time to have this done.

I said that while I understood that the 'insurance work' sometimes had to take precedence, I felt the project had been shoved aside too often (especially with the amount of $$$$ I've already paid), and wanted him to re-prioritize and get this done. He agreed.

Got no problem with them as folks, it just needs to be done. Also told him I wasn't happy with the way the front wall of the bed looked, and he said that if he had to they'd take it back down, smooth it and re-shoot it.

So we have a "completion date" agreed on. I gave them until June 10-15 at the latest, and they will shoot for having her put together and back down the street to Rising Sun by the end of May.

Pretty sure I got my point across. Guess we'll see.

 

Nice going. Can't wait to see it.

 

Heck yea you told them way to put your foot down and not on someone's throat to bad it won't be done by the 8th there's a show in south park meadows that Saturday going to put the truck I'm it wish I had another yota to park with oh well soon enough I'll get to see it!!! Can't wait!!

 

Thanks y'all...hard to do but it had to be done.

And way cool on the show...where's the show gonna be at in the Meadows, around that central island? Guess they'll have signs...I'll stop by there on the 8th and find ya and say howdy!

 

Sounds good man the show will be in front of Pho Thai Son restaurant, to the left of Little Woodrow's see ya there.

 

....AAAAAAARGH!....(long)

So I paid a visit to the body shop yesterday. The good news? That front wall of that bed looks really good now. Gone are the "rubber bullet"-lookin' dents. And the new chrome door handles, mirrors, front side marker lights and taillights were all on.

Of course, the bad news is she's still not put together completely. I walked into the assembly room, as it was open, and they had started putting on the OLD back bumper, instead of my new chrome one...the rest of my parts, which I'd left in a nice little pile of boxes and plastic bags, was nowhere to be found. All the other parts were no longer on the shelf where they were last time.

Talked to the guy working on her and noticed that the front cowl (below the windshield in front) didn't have the screen I'd asked for on it, and it looked like he was going to bolt it in. (I asked them to attach some stainless steel screen under it to keep leaves out of the vent system). He didn't know anything about it.

Asked where the vent-trim for the cab-vents (behind the doors) were and he brought out some thin, flat thing that was obviously for another car. Pretty obvious the guy knew next to zero about the truck. I rummaged around and finally found my new chrome front bumper, under a pile of crap. I'm not a happy camper at this point, and the guy I'm talkin' to sees he'd prolly oughta go get the boss.

So he goes to get the main guy, who apologizes profusely, and again admits his procrastination. Two of his guys had walked out on him (and they just happened to be the two who had taken Li'l Truck apart and knew where things were, and he can't get hold of them.) Said they were looking for the front bumper brackets (which I'd bought on eBay) and couldn't find them. And they couldn't find one of the piece of the windshied trim.

Asked about whether they'd found me a tailgate or not, and he said "My new guy fixed yours and it will work." Hm. Paint guy said no way it would last time I was there.

Said he would do his best to get it finished by today or Monday at the latest. So I left, hoping for the best.

He calls this morning, saying that they have **LOST** the two b-pillar vent trims, and they can't find my old front bumper to take the blinkers out of it. He said that he would find the parts and pay for them himself. OK, so I emailed him a link for the front blinker lights off eBay...that's fine, but read on...

When I went to the Toyota dealer six months ago to ask about those B-pillar vent trims, he said "Those don't come in chrome, they list for $144 each", and I'm pretty sure he added "...and you can't get them anymore."

SO: either they have got to find those pieces of trim wherever they are in their shop, or get some from a donor truck, and I guess chances of that are slim to none.

So, I'm attaching a pic of what they look like, in hopes that maybe one of you guys might be willing to part with a pair that are in good shape. There's a pair from an extended cab on eBay, but none for the regular cab.

Needless to say, I've been trying as hard as I can to not get just livid pissed and go off on people. Man, it's been hard not to. I don't wanna make anybody mad, but I'm just finding this ridiculous. Even if you lose your people, at least have enough organization so that you know where the parts for the vehicles you're working on are!

He said that he would get as much of it put together as he could, and then get it back down the street to Rising Sun for Don to install the engine/tranny/AC/Interior stuff, while he tracks down the rest of the parts that they've lost. He says there's also something for the front bumper that is in the very center (bracket of some sort) that's missing...when I ordered the brackets, they were just two very small "L-shaped" things with rubber grommets. So there must have been something attached to the frame that they took off and tossed.

If any of you guys in Austin (or anywhere, really) know where i can get a pair of these B-pillar caps, I'd be appreciative. They fit 84-88 only, regular cab.

AND, if any of you know what is behind the center of the one-piece front bumper, bracket-wise (it would be bolted to the center of the front cross member with the holes in it), please let me know if anyone has one of those (or maybe at least get me a clear pic of it to send him).

Man, I was sure hopin' to have better news next time I posted....

 

The only bracket that. I Recall in the center is the hood latch support bracket that attaches to the hood latch and goes straight down to the bottom of the radiator support bolts to the frame n the center

Bumper brackets as I recall and I've had my bump off a lot .....two side fender to edge of bumper brackets with isolated rubber mounts .. And two frame to bumper brackets attaching at the front ..I've never seen a middle support bracket . There proably referring to the hood latch bracket it also has a small square n the middle for the grill to attach

Good luck on the molding search and after you get your truck back I'd go over the whole body with a set of tools checking there work for loose or missing bolts/screws

 

Thanks for that description. I guess what is missing are the two frame-to-bumper brackets in the front. Those that I ordered and got were the side ones, since they have the rubber grommets.

AND, he emailed to say that he was able to order two brand new B-Pillar Vent Caps from Toyota (!) So yay for that, at least. I really don't want any "ill will" goin' on, so I can really only push as much as I have, I think, but I've gotta get over the irritation of this.

Once she's been back to the other shop and gotten her guts re-installed, I'll definitely be going over her with a fine-tooth comb (and a ratchet).

THanks again for the description of the front bumper brackets...I will email him with that info right now.

Added later: He just emailed back, saying that everything that needs replacing is coming directly from Toyota, and he reminded me that he had told me they were going to install a rubber molding on the front windshield to take the place of the missing and broken metal/plastic originals. He said that was already done this afternoon, and that it looks good. New windshield was already installed, as well (I was too shook up to notice, once I saw how things were).

He also said that the tailgate would be done by Monday, and that they had "unwarped" it and would take care of finding a replacement support chain and weld the metal loop it hooks into on the bed (the old one broke off).

So, I have to say, he's doing everything he can to make this right, and I've just gotta "let it go" for the weekend. I guess I should retract some of my venting earlier, and give the guy credit for doing the right thing.

Hopefully mo' bettah news on Monday.

 

Man sucks about all the problems that youre running into. But glad to hear that they seem to be trying to do the riht thing. Cant wait to see it. The paint color is the color I want on my 84.

 

That's true take a break grab a cold one .. Good to know that they took care of the hardest part to find the pillar trim . Those things are elusive there either broken at the yards or somebody has already grabbed them up

 

Im with you on the cold one, Scrub. Heck in southeastern va its hard to even find a 77-95 pickup in the yard. I did see one t100 tho.

 

Cold One in hand, as instructed.

Our li'l trucks have become a Rare Bird for the most part! And they've pretty much made it impossible for you to "crawl the junkyard" for your own parts anymore. Most of the urban/suburban junkyards have been destroyed around here...the place I used to go on far South Congress (Capitol City Imports) is long gone.

Ha...reminiscing about crawlin' through a snake-infested junkyard in hunnert degree heat for parts...I think I need another Cold One!

 

Wow that's a lot sounds like we need to go sit down in there shop and watch them they love it when t do that makes them work faster hell maybe we will find your parts while we're there!!!

 

Ha! Bring a lawn chair an' a cooler...

 

hey beebs where did you find the chrome bed rails?

 

Got 'em off eBay. I have definitely decided NOT to use 'em.

They do not take into account the curved part at the back of the bed at all, and stop short of it. Just not right. If they had been "full" and properly cover the curve, I'd think about it, but I just can't see that would look good at all they way they're made.

I think it would look weird with the paint showing through on that one chunk on each side at the back. I think the seller oughta at least mention that they're basically just bent, straight pieces of the "diamond tread" stuff, and thin.

 

I here ya on the junkyards here in memphis most if not all are in bad areas of town you either have to take a buddie to watch your truck or have a angry mean mugging dog . With enough window crack to take a arm off ...and that even if your lucky to even find a decent yota .. It's like winnig the lottery slim at best