PIMP MY RAV4.1!

[JJCRU23R]

Hey guys, just a quick update about the 4.1 - Ive been balancing doing homework with family commitments during these school holidays with fixing up the 4.1, specifically dents on the front fenders and other panels as well as some other bits of damage that I had not previously noticed.

The previously unseen damage as actually "fixed" by the previous owner, not done very well. Previously I forked out 100+ on replacing the passenger side headlight because the plastic tabs that the mounting screws were attached to broke off the headlight, so the headlight wasnt properly secured. I thought the drivers side wasnt that bad, however, after removing the drivers side headlight I realised that this other headlight was just as bad, however, the previous owner tried to fix it by using a soldering iron to patch the broken bits of plastic back together. It worked to some degree, however, when i put the headlight on the floor, the repaired plastic tabs were not able to support its own weight and snapped off.

I youtubed DIY PLASTIC WELDING and saw that I could repair the tabs if I only had some extra bits of the same type of plastic (i kept the old headlight I replaced - win!), metal mesh normally used in making 3d models/art projects (had some left around) and a soldering iron with the tip pounded flat, almost like a spoon shape.. I just took a hammer to the soldering tip until I was happy with the flatness..

Step 1: heat up solder, line up 2 broken bits of plastic and melt along the crack.

Step 2: Cut appropriate size of mesh and melt the mesh INTO the plastic for extra support

step 3: Cover the mesh by melting extra peices of plastic.

Overall I was happy with how it turned out, although I didnt want to test the breaking point of the fix, just a few wiggles of the plastic tabs was enough for me to know that it was quite rigid, strong enough for me!

to be continued...

[JJCRU23R]

Pics coming up when I've got the time guys.

Anyway, after reconnecting the broken plastics which took much longer than anticipated, I began working on tapping out the dents in the front fenders, applied body filler and sanded down with whatever sandpaper I had left. Cleaned up the dust and rushed to prime over the filler to prevent rusting because I needed to drive the car at short notice.

The front end looks straighter overall, (less noticeable front end damage, gaps between the front fenders and the hood doesn't rub against the passenger side fender when it's lifted), however the fenders need to be sanded down again because the filling and sanding is far from over.

Pics coming up soonish..

[JJCRU23R]

Plastic welded headlight. Not very clean, but functional. $0, used soldering iron, mesh, and plastic from old Rav4 headlight I previously replaced.

[JJCRU23R]

Front metal panels and fenders sitting neater together.

[JJCRU23R]

Then..

Now.

[JJCRU23R]

Before..

Now.

[JJCRU23R]

Drivers side before..

Now.

[JJCRU23R]

Any suggestions for a new colour for the stockies? Seen plenty of these Rav4 rims with the silver flaking off... Didnt take much effort to sand it off!?!

[jeffy]

Plasti dip black ! :D !

[JJCRU23R]

tempting.. how much is a can of that?! does it come in any other colours? must go google.

[JJCRU23R]

Had staff development day yesterday, 1 day of teaching, tomorrow is ANZAC Day.. planning to chill @ home tomorrow!

Been thinking about grill mods and came across this -

Was thinking of modifying some mesh to create this sort of effect with the Toyota emblem...

Also came across this which seems to be a more straight forward mod...

Either way I got to find some honeycomb mesh.. not really keen on the generic autobarn/supercheap mesh.

[jeffy]

tempting.. how much is a can of that?! does it come in any other colours? must go google.

$25 in our area, colours are, black,blue,red,yellow,

[JJCRU23R]

As far as the panels go, ive decided that I'll have to reprint, although I'm going to attempt something else I dabbled with on my 1zz a few years back.

However I think I got to focus more on the mechanical stuff cos the passenger side looks lower than the drivers side, as if it's leaning over on one side hehe.. Should I lower it? Not Subaru forester low but lower than stock height...

[JJCRU23R]

I stuffed up my alignment several weeks ago trying to u - turn and I took a quick trip up a gutter. The steering wheel was off leaning to the right ever since and I was worried that the tyre on the front passenger side was wearing down on one side.. luckily the tyre is almost 6 months old and I Youtubed how to DIY wheel alignment! check it guys, theres one tutorial by a guy in the US demonstrating on a Corolla 1zz?

Took a bit of effort to take the lug nuts off, seems they were hand tightened by shrek or rivet gunned on..

[JJCRU23R]

I didnt get to scientific about it, I checked the pressure of the tyres at the station before driving home. Parked on the straightest, flattest part of my drive way and made sure my steering wheel was straight. Since I didn't have anyone else to help me hold the other end of string, I used a car stand to tie the string on and stuck it behind the rear tyre, around the height of the centre cap on the rim. I saw clearly enough that the front and rear tyres almost perfectly touched the string when I leaned the string up against it.. straight enough for me.

However on the passenger side, the front tyre appeared to be pointing left, which meant that the alignment was stuffed up and the part of the front tyre closest to the front passenger door was about 5-6mm away from touching the string. The diagram hopefully explains how to check your car yourself.

Check the youtube videos to see what you need to loosen and rotate in order to adjust the position of the tyre... unfortunately the only way to properly check is if you replace the tyre and tighten all the lugnuts, lower the jack and line up the string against the tyres to check that all sides of the tyres gently touch the string when straightened.

I also recently bought a UNIBAR off gumtree, $5 bargain! unfortunately the chrome nudge bar had been taken off so Im left with the main part which holds the spotlights and the number plate. Ive got a few peices of round metal tubing which are really close to the right size, just need to bend to fit around the bumper so that itll look stock, plus it may cause too much unwanted attention if I left a long straight bar across the front of my car.

hard to tell what it is, but the bit touching my foot is where the numberplate goes, the metallic bar across the top will be properly attached and bent. May even cut it shorter to suit. The metal tube came off the cage netting of my old trampoline.. the netting actually fell apart. Spraypainted blue foam tube covers BLACK.. gotta try to bend the tube ASAP.

[JJCRU23R]

how to use string to check wheel alignment.

DIY TOYOTA ALIGNMENT ADJUSTMENT!

[JJCRU23R]

sorry double post

[JJCRU23R]

http://www.berlexautoflow.com.au/accessoriesprodu/bv000042.jpg[\img]

[JJCRU23R]

Im not too keen on the plastic body trim on the exterior.. I plan on modding them so that itll look a bit more wider down low, combined with custom flares and Ive been drawing up some plans on paper and in my head with these ideas in mind.

Wont start these until Ive finished healing all the dents and spraying it back to stock.. however Ive been considering what colours to respray.. i have been considering gloss black but then i saw the matt black Nissan JUKE - R GTR.. looks killer!

[JJCRU23R]

my impression of how id like the plastic ribbed trip on the side to be shaved..

my car before

plans for the car

shaved plus fender flares

delta flares which have unfortunately been dc.

[JJCRU23R]

noticed I was thinking about embossing RAV4 logo across the rear doors.. (3rd pic) but yea im still very much in planning mode

[ToyotaFreak]

Wow, I wish I have the skills or time to do body work repairs myself (Would love to get the small dents on my RAV4 fixed.). That would save me a lot of money!

Not sure about the Aussie market, but Toyota offered an accessory garnish that is applied over the ribs in the side moldings for the Japanese & export markets. TBH, I'd leave the ribs on as it gives the car that rugged look.

Edited May 18, 2012 by ToyotaFreak

[JJCRU23R]

Thanks 4 the reply! Yes I'm well aware of those inserts, however as much as I do love jdm I was wishing to go a more streamlined approach.

So far i havent come across any 4.1 shaving off the plastic! Not only shave them off but make them plastics appear much wider to go with the wider flares. As nice as the WIDE flares in the pics above, I wanted wide, but not to that degree. Lookup the hilux's from Iceland on google! The flares are beefy and suit them so nicely, and don't look like the wide rav4 in my previous post.

As far as going off road I did have plans to go camping or something worth doing off road with the family. Images of thick Mickey Thomson all terrain tyres, white 15" rims and the flares woulda been nice.

Been hearing people bagging the rav4 for being a plastic toy.. I just wanna show off what can be done and get the majority of the work done myself! Since its not so new, it's more of a creative and fun thing. My big boys toy! I've paid the car off the day I took it home, no debts to follow me and nothing to make me feel guilty about any mods I make or attempt to make on it!

[JJCRU23R]

Something potentially big in the works. Stay tuned over the next couple days

[ToyotaFreak]

Thanks 4 the reply! Yes I'm well aware of those inserts, however as much as I do love jdm I was wishing to go a more streamlined approach.

So far i havent come across any 4.1 shaving off the plastic! Not only shave them off but make them plastics appear much wider to go with the wider flares. As nice as the WIDE flares in the pics above, I wanted wide, but not to that degree. Lookup the hilux's from Iceland on google! The flares are beefy and suit them so nicely, and don't look like the wide rav4 in my previous post.

Hmmm... On second thought, extra-wide fender flares with smoothed out side cladding will actually look good. The cleaned up cladding will be a good match together with the front & rear bumper, after imagining it.

As far as going off road I did have plans to go camping or something worth doing off road with the family. Images of thick Mickey Thomson all terrain tyres, white 15" rims and the flares woulda been nice.

Been hearing people bagging the rav4 for being a plastic toy.. I just wanna show off what can be done and get the majority of the work done myself! Since its not so new, it's more of a creative and fun thing. My big boys toy! I've paid the car off the day I took it home, no debts to follow me and nothing to make me feel guilty about any mods I make or attempt to make on it!

Yeah, most people I've met think that compact car-based SUVs aren't meant be taken off-road, but that simply isn't true. There are people in compact 4WD clubs who take their RAV4/ CR-V/ Escape/ etc. off-road which disproves that.

Something potentially big in the works. Stay tuned over the next couple days

Looking forward to it!

Edited May 20, 2012 by ToyotaFreak