Why don't you install a BT adapter? I have Yator that Mr Jason advised and it works great. Easy to install and not expensive at all.

 

Spent some more time in the garage last night, finished running the backup cam wiring to the front of the truck, and started pulling apart the interior up front to access the HVAC wiring and move forward with the head unit install. I've got a buddy coming to help with the wiring this weekend, as the harness needs to be relocated to the center stack and a bunch of wires extended to make that possible, hoping to have it done and all back together by Sunday evening.

I'll try and have some pics next time I post.

 

Interesting, when a pro shop installed the backup camera on my 04, the clips for the interior pull handle on the rear door also broke on mine. Must be a weak point on our rigs.

 

I've had that handle off a number of times over the years too, I guess it was just its time.

 

Spent a bunch more time working on this over the weekend, and lots left to do still.

-finalized the backup cam install, tied the wiring into the reverse light and put the rear hatch all back together
-extended the wiring for the HVAC plugs so they reach to the center stack where the non-nav HVAC switch will live (I might have more to do here, the harness feels a bit short still...)
-reassembled the passenger side lower dash/glovebox
-Removed old GROM mic from the USB2 unit I had installed years ago and replaced with the Pioneer mic
-Sold the GROM USB2 system, within an hour of posting it up!

In the process, I identified some screws I'm missing (hold the HVAC switch into the new bezel, slightly smaller than the screws I removed, they've been ordered), as well as a 2-1 Y adapter for the diversity antennae, also now ordered.

I'm going to try and pick away at this week so I'm in a position to finish it up once all the parts arrive. This is a much bigger job than I'd anticipated. And I hate wiring work.

And I'd promised some pics, so here you go! A before and after of the HVAC wiring extension.

 

Turns out I do need a new handle afterall, doh. Plastic gets old and brittle, weather has cooled off already, stuff breaks when you take it apart. Rinse and repeat.

I've been driving the truck with the new head unit, and it's so nice! Being able to play media off my phone, stream media, Waze for navigation, etc. Everything just works like it's a new model truck!

I do have a list of issues left to resolve before this project is behind me however:
-steering wheel controls don't work, no idea why yet
-backup camera doesn't work, might have pinched the cord somewhere, getting everything back into the dash is a real PITA
-HVAC switch button illumination, need to tie into existing wiring and add pins to the harness to get this functional
-diversity antenna, need to tap into power for this as well, radio works but gets static when in a parking garage or other low signal situation
-lightning cable, need to buy another cable and route it to where I can plug in my phone, wireless Carplay does drain the battery I'm finding, plus my phone is getting old I guess
-trim kit, I've got gaps on either side of the head unit where it mounts in the new dash bezel, nobody else on the internet seems to have this issue as it isn't covered in any of the conversion writeups, looking like I'm going to need to order from overseas as they don't sell Prado 120 stuff in North America

So the center dash is still torn apart for the time being, my attention has been drawn to other pressing matters lately, and I'm not sure when this will get all buttoned up. Functional first, pretty second.

 

Dropping the truck off at the bodyshop after work to get the last of the deer impact related stuff wrapped up, and a few little extras. There was a bracket for the driver's side fender/fender flare that was backordered at the time I had the repairs completed, so it's going back to have that installed. Also there's a rubber seal at the bottom of the driver's door that got torn by the deer, and wasn't noticed until after repairs were completed, so that will get addressed as well. While it's in there, I'm having the rear chrome strip, and the grille painted "trim black", leaving just the Lexus emblem on the grille chrome.

Inching closer to a complete chrome delete, I've replaced the belt moldings at the top of the door/base of the window with the black Prado 120 trim, but still have the rear cargo window pieces left to tackle once I get the truck back. Those ones involve pulling back the cargo area side plastics to access the screw/bolt that holds them in place, so a bigger job than the others were.

And I should be FINALLY getting the Lexus centercaps refinished as they didn't hold up at all, paint peeled off 3/4 of them within 6 months.

Looking forward to getting some loose ends tied up, leaving just the cluster**** of a stereo install to deal with, lol.

 

Got the rear cargo window belt moldings replaced last night, a bit of a finicky job. Needed to pull back the cargo area interior plastics and C-pillar trim to access a nut that holds the fronts of the cargo windows in place. The DIY threads I found online warned of dropping that nut into the body of the truck, it would be gone forever! I loosened it so I had some room to work, but the nut stayed threaded on, which reduced that risk.

I was able to get the plastic pop rivet out without damaging them, and was even able to get them back into place with some surgical maneuvers using a tiny flathead screwdriver, and trim removal tools, once I got the tip into the hole I was able to push on the edge to pop it back into the hole, and then depressed the raised center to lock it in place. I'm treating this as a major achievement, as all the DIY's I read and watched did not bother putting this back in place as it was a PITA (and likely isn't necessary).

Other than the "L" emblem in the front grille, all exterior chrome has now been deleted! I'll get it washed up and take some pics this weekend. It's dark at about 5 already, makes it pretty tough to document my progress.

 

This is Manitoba winter clean, it doesn't get any better than this till spring, lol.

RCI aluminum skidplate is sitting at the border, otherwise the exterior is pretty well done. I'll likely still be adding some aux lights at some point, but I can't decide what I want to do with that yet.

I worked on the stereo install a bit today as well, just running the USB and Lightning cables to where I wanted them, just a small loose end compared to the rest of the work left to do on that.

 

Wow thats a clean car in general. Also I like that you're only chrome is the front Lexus logo. It fits the car really well

 

Thanks, it's pretty clean but underneath is pretty crusty, lol.

 

Almost forgot, I took the opportunity while the shifter console was removed this weekend to lube up and exercise the ebrake handle as it was no longer ratcheting/catching. Some WD40 in the ratcheting mechanism and a lot of working it back and forth, and it's good as new again!

 

Last night I installed an RCI engine skidplate, what a nice unit!

A day earlier I got under the truck to run a tap through all the holes I'd be using, and was very confused when the hardware that shipped with it seemed to be too small for some of the holes...took me a minute to remember that shortly after we got this truck (about 7 years ago already!), I had some of the factory bolts that had snapped off drilled out and re-tapped to a larger size, really had me scratching my head for a minute there!

There's 6 bolts that hold the RCI skid on, the center set actually use the front holes from the rear factory skid, rather than the rear holes from the front skid (the RCI skid replaces both factory skids), sadly one of those holes still has a snapped off bolt in it, so I was only able to use 5 of the mounting bolts...I'll have to put that on my list of things to do for this summer. I also had to modify the factory filler plate under the rad cradle, as the rearward tabs mount to holes in the front of the factory skid, which are not present in the RCI skid. I just cut the center tab off, and tucked the side tabs up onto the front lip of the RCI. I imagine without it air flow through the rad could be altered, there's a huge gap under there when the filler plate is removed.

I'd have taken pics, but the truck is dirty. It does look really nice under there though!

 

I finally had a chance to snap some pics of the truck clean, we are entering the thaw/slush/messy season here, and it's tough to find yourself with a clean vehicle, and daylight for taking decent pics, lol.

 

Snapped a few pics last night as the truck was clean and looking sexy!


A few months back I swapped the SSO rear coil conversion for the MetalTech ones, which brought the rear down about 3/4" and gave me more of the level look I was looking for. My driveway is a bit of a slope, but you get the idea.


Also received my 3D printed phone mount from Steve Berson on GXOR FB group. This was my idea, and Steve worked with me to develop the design, and figured out a genius way to tighten it into the hole to support the weight of a phone waving around at the end of the mount. The switch will be for aux lights that I've yet to figure out. There's a little pass-thru for the phone cord, which I zip-tied to the shaft of the RAM ball adapter, it's really nice as there was really no good place to stick my phone so it could be plugged in and charging on longer trips.




You'll have to excuse my disassembled dash...I still need to finish up a few wiring jobs from my head unit/HVAC conversion, lol.​​​​​​​