About my Previa and Sienna

There are some names in specific car demographics that are and should be known. Samay of Garage Tuner Automotive is one of them. He is the Previa guy and in Seattle. I had a chance to meet with him!!! and check out the previa limo!

For most of the year, I have been going back and forth with finding a new chassis and taking the motor/transmission out. I've been searching for the right chassis, mostly dual sunroof, Supercharged and middle row capt. chairs. Also just the chassis. And nothing popped up. I did find a All-trac chassis, but the van was in parts and primered... so I didn't go with it. -------------------------- But since it is now December, I figured I need to get on it. The previa runs and I feel it needs just a bit of a frame pull. I did a quick search under "frame straightening" and there was only one hit. I called them and sent the pictures. They quoted me "$1000".  I decided to go with it. --------------------- The reason why I was trying to find a clean chassis is because it wouldn't be a salvaged title. Unfortunately, my previa was given this status after they totalled it out. So I wanted a fresh body to work with and have a clean title... -------...

My van was dirty in the seat rail tracks. Once I started to take things apart, I saw how bad it was. I took this opportunity to do my best in cleaning, but also to take apart the Sienna.

So when I got the Sienna, I did not see the glue in the right fender/bumper area. Anyways, after I purchase the van, they give me the work order where Dublin Toyota spent 3K fixing the van and replacing stuff. It nagged me, but when my father in law messed up the rear bumper, I was heated. I ordered OEM bumpers from Toyota. Finally, I was able to get them painted and put on. $1500 outta pocket! I was waiting for one more part, a bracket and it came the next day. ------------------------------- Then a closer look at the shitty work that was done before I got the van. So I noticed that the right fender and bumper were misaligned. Glue was visible too. When the body shop that fixed up my van took them off, they showed me. Glue on everything. This was the old bracket just glued!  I ordered new bezels and reflectors. One was cracked, and the other side was scratched up from my father in law backing into a wall. And upon closer ...

Well, my previa is down... but damn it.. this a good price!!!

My Sienna had some fixes in the front. Looks like the previous owner was careless about this van and had some bumper damage. He painted it, but you can see some glue under the right head light. Plus the bottom left portion has scratches on the front, slightly visible. When I got the paperwork from Dublin Toyota ( after we bought it ), they mentioned the bumper was slightly different in color. I personally could not tell and I look for these things. But that has always been a nagging point for me. Our Sienna was suppose to go for this Celijet protective spray.. but I've held off because of these issues and small dents here and there. --------------------------------------------------- Glad I held off. Yesterday, my father in law fucked up my rear bumper... I try to refrain from talking like that, but you don't know how pissed it made me. Of course I'm respectful to him and I'm glad he was alright. He backed up and some how backed into a concrete wall next ...

So I finally get the word from insurance.  It was an older vehicle and considered not worthy of fixing. So they totaled it. ----------------------------------- 2 options. $1400 and they can scrap my van. $1200 and I keep the van... This is a No Brainer. I've dedicated so much time and effort to this van, that I couldn't simply let it die. No... This whole project was about reviving this van and that is still the mission. So I've been dreading it, but finally had time to really assess the damage. With the limited time off due to work and family time, My junkyard salvaging has been severely hampered. I was able to find a fender and grab it, but limited in time to get all the other parts needed, but those parts were either gone or damaged because dummies didn't care about them when removing. -------------------------- As I was taking everything apart for Previa, I seen that the right side isn't just pushed back, but pushed into the engine bay as well. I wa...