PIMP MY RAV4.1!

[JJCRU23R]

FINALLY went to the wreckers and picked up a few bits n pieces that were missing since before I bought the car..

TAIL LIGHT SCREW COVER

WIPER

REAR ASH TRAY

MUD FLAPS -

Plus a front right indicator (practically new) and few other odd bits n pieces.. around $60!

These all came from a 3door 4.1, which means the left mudflap has a hole in it for the exhaust tip to go through! (Toyota WTF?!?!) Regardless, the mudlaps fit perfectly with the screw holes on my rav.

[JJCRU23R]

Hey guys, went back to the wreckers for something I had a bit of trouble getting the first time!

VERY faded ROLA badge.

ROLA roof racks baby! $26 bucks! + $13 for the security key to unscrew the racks off the roof- bought from Autobarn.

Replacement headlight also came through the mail!

Stupid thing.. I was down to screwing the last bolt onto the headlight when it fell into a crevice next to the radiator. I tried to pick it up with my fingers.. Almost had it when it dropped somewhere behind the radiator where I just couldn't see! Had to take off the whole front bumper in order to find it!

Right now Im taking a lunch break before I put the bumper back on. Headlight is now in place.

[jeffy]

did you end up finding that bolt ? hehehe hate it when that happens :P

[JJCRU23R]

Yea jeffy, found it with my fingers, had no chance of seeing it even with the bumper off. The front of the car is back together.. I pulled the fenders out a bit again to align them better with the headlights before I put it all back on.

On a side note, I dropped the last half of my pizza during lunch break, so it was an early start back onto work! Argh!

Also, I realized the screw bit on the headlight adjusts the low beam.. So I adjusted the new one to match the height of the other headlight.

On another note.. The RAV4 badges were giving me grief because they were half Peeling off. The colored bits needed a few sprays of rp7 to remove. At least now I can cut n polish the paint. Even when washed the 4.1 looks dirty. So I'll need to cut in the paint so it'll look less dull.

It's school holidays.. Almost over. Once schools back in I'll be teaching again which is why I'm doing as much on the car now as possible. Once it's back to work, I may not be able to mod until after new years!

[JJCRU23R]

Just picked up the kids, took this on the way home.

[JJCRU23R]

Looking at this pic, it kinda reminds me of chick that looks good from far away.. but when you get up close she looks far from good!? lol

[jeffy]

"Good from far, but far from good" xD

although it looks way better than when you bought it first

[JJCRU23R]

Thanks man... Yea that's the saying was trying to get at haha!

It's raining here so no point washing the rav.

Wonder what options are out there to lower it?

Not to ridiculous lows.. But a lower stance thatll make it easier to enter/exit the car

[jeffy]

AIRBAG SUSPENSIONN !! :P !

[cruzer]

AIRBAG SUSPENSIONN !! :P !

Cut springs trolololol

or just take the springs out and ride on bump stops ahahahaha

[Ascendant Rice]

Bro you can restore the plastic panels back to its original black with a heat gun!

[JJCRU23R]

Jeffy- I like airbags but I dont like the loss of bootspace...

cruzer - .. wtf?! HELL NO! lol! Im trying to fix it, not destroy it!

A.Rice- hey Ive got one of those?! Ima try that right now!

[JJCRU23R]

Whatdoyaknow...?! A.rice gives me a mod tip and it works!!! jks dude! Thanks for the idea, BTW you're corolla has come a long way! Looking awesome!

[JJCRU23R]

I seriously been wanting to do something about the plastic. Not sure how long this spray tanning will last but it's definitely something more than nothing!

[Ascendant Rice]

it should last a while bro, because basicly what your doing is melting the plastic slightly thus bring back the orginal colour.

[JJCRU23R]

On the solid bits of plastic, the dullness just went away, while bits of plastic which had scratches on them immediately showed signs of melting. I think it wouldn't hurt to go at it again with a second heat treatment to make it look more even and less patchy.

[JJCRU23R]

Today I was in the middle of panel beating the gaping hole just near/ above the petrol tank.

I've managed to close most of it when it started raining. Since I'm doing it DIY and with no 2nd pair of hands to hold the dolly inside, I'm having to stretch with my body pretty much hugging the car, with my left hand gripping a hammer on the outside, while my chest is up against the back door arch, and my other hand squeezed into the crevice behind the panel holding the dolly behind the dent!

Since it's above a wheel arch there isnt much wiggle room for my arm and the metal edges of the inner car panels are cutting into my arm..

Hard to explain, but this panel beating is hard work, and I'm trying to bend back the metal as much as possible to make sure I use as less body filler as possible.

Will have to wait until the rain stops before I can even put back the interior panel, subwoofers, and seatbelt that I had to unbolt to get access to the inside of the dent!

[JJCRU23R]

Braved the rain to take this shot. No end to the rain in sight

[JJCRU23R]

This is so funking frustrating. I most of the time I struggle to hold both dolly and hammer so I closed much of that dent by banging the dolly against the back of the dent.

[JJCRU23R]

Brother came by and helped out with the panel beating.. Here's the beat we can do before filling it with body filler.

[JJCRU23R]

found a retailer (in JAPAN) that still sells 4 door fender flares for the 4.1!

JAPANESE FLARES

calculated @ $312 Australian before shipping... HMMM.. should I just buy these or make them?

[Ascendant Rice]

If its in your budget

[JJCRU23R]

This is what the inside of the panel looked like

see how much room there was for my arms to get in?!

[arc]

Hey JJCRU23R your car has come along way since you got it, great work so far on the repairs so far. Another option is to use plastidip on your current flares will give them a fresh new look. With out buying new flares if how ever you do buy new ones be sure to get the clips those things are C***s to get off without breaking the clips.

Also with the plastidip you can also redo you front and rear bars, mirrors and roof racks give them a fresh look :)

[JJCRU23R]

THanks Arc... not sure if you noticed but there are no actual flares on the 4.1. Im thinking you are talking about the grey plastic panels that are on the car. Funny thing about this plastidip.. seems to be the latest craze up in these forums.

I might experiment with it later on after the panels are straight.

Right now its my last evening of my holidays, so its back to work for me tomorrow.

The flares to be honest are just wishful thinking at this moment.. the aim is to get this car the the point where there isn't anything to actually repair.

At this point in time I still need to fix/repair

*Dents - ive been DIY panel beating the biggest dents in the car.. hopefully itll be less for the professionals to do when they get it and so far its making the car look a bit more normal..

*Paint - ive cut n polished out visable scratches where the previous owner rubbed up against something/s

*Fuel gauge - been annoying me since I bought the car... still tossing up whether to go to the mechanic or the auto electrician.

*cracked windscreen x2.. thats a <$200 job.. important but the dents are very small.. still, I shouldnt leave that for too long.

This car surely looks like a wreck, but if you saw my last car you would surely see I take care of my stuff!

Ive been driving since '98 and never been in a major accident, never been caught speeding, illegally parking or drink driving. Although I love DIY, it annoys the hell outta me that my car looks like I dont know how to drive!

On another note, I came into some trouble this morning just after church, I needed petrol and stupid me, yesterday when I was panel beating the dent with the hole in it, I disconnected the cable that pulled the fuel tank door open. So I was stuck at the 7 eleven with no petrol, and no gas!

Had to fork out 16 bucks for a bloody multitool with pliers, knives, saw and screwdrivers in order to take out the interior panel that was in the way.

It didnt take any longer than 5 - 10 minutes.. but the bolt for the bottom of the seatbelt was the only thing stopping me from taking out the whole panel. I needed a wrench to get that thing out, and the stupid multitool wasnt going to help with the bolt. The plan was to put the cable back onto the fuel locking mechanism, but instead I had to widen the gap between the plastic to get inside that crevice and poke the fuel tank locking mechanism with the tip of my multitool. Long story short, I opened the fuel tank, filled up, fixed the actual problem when I finally got home.

After screwing in that panel, I decided to take off the panels on the direct opposite side to deal with the dents there!

The right dent in that pic was big, larger than my hand with fingers spread out wide and the dent doesnt want to pop out!? Its above/around the rear drivers side wheel arch which is another hard to reach spot. 98% of the scratches in that corner dent are gone thanks to the cut n polish, but these two big dents are a big pain in the *****.

Im pretty much done panel beating for the year. I can handle my car being dented as long as it doesnt look like it was in a massive accident. At least now its much less like a wreck now.

I have other things planned and hopefully next weekend Ill come up with another update. Hopefully next Saturday Im going to tackle something that been bugging me about the interior. I dont want to jinx it in case I cant get the part but it'll be something I don't think anyone has tried to do on a 4.1 online just yet.

EDIT - JUST noticed on this pic, which I took just after buying the car, that there is a crack on the tail light.. although its only a few cms, I might need to go back to the wreckers to see if theres a spare tail light.