RedTeam Build Thread 1986 4runner (1 Viewer)

[Devilmans Hand]

Hello Folks

Figured it was time to create a build thread in this section for my 1986 4runner


I just happened to see a listing on craigslist for a 4runner. I was not even looking for a new truck, the listing did not include pictures, and I figured i'd email the person for some pics. This is what he sent, and the price listed at $600

Luckily few to no people answered the ad b/c of the lack of pictures and price.

I mulled the idea of crossing the border into Maryland to pick up a new truck. I researched everything I could about the 1st gen 4runners, common issues, things to look for, stuff like that. I called the dude up, got an address, and scheduled an appointment for butt crack early.
Girlfriend heard that I made a call, and I lied to her. Lol, that came to bite me in the ass later when she found a red truck in the driveway. I wasn't sleeping in the house that night...

So I get to the seller's house, wake him up, and take the runner for a drive. The clutch master leaked fluid onto my shoe and the brakes were horrible. The fluid was black and there must have been air in the system. The engine bay also had some screatching coming from the front of the engine. Lucky for me I could tell it was a seized idle pulley bearing, and lucky that the PO did not know(later I found some anti squeal spray for belts). For that price though, I made damn sure to buy it and snatch the title up. I even talked him down $10 to $590 and he threw in some brand new front fenders.
275k miles, every factory part including the rear rollbar, folding rear seat w/ metal back, factory vinyl cargo floor covering, every bit of plastic, front valence, and even the center console lid intact!
The guy was moving to Ohio, was planning on trailering the truck, but changed his mind after getting price quotes. Lucky me. He had 4days before the move.
I left the truck there so I could hop back to a Virginia DMV to acquire plates, registration, and newly printed VA title. Plates taped up in the window and i'm in business.
Now I had to drive it back to Fairfax, VA with no safety sticker on my window, no rear bumper, nor properly working hydraulics. I rode my friends ass all the way back home in order to disallow any traffic cops from easily seeing my stickerless windshield.
Here it is parked next to my 2nd Gen Camry. That thing is a tank, named RamenNoodle

Got it home and had to make the truck VA State safety compliant. This means that I had to source a rear bumper, replace the snapped parking brake cable, fix the backup lights (I just removed the bulb sockets b/c in VA they're considered auxiliary lighting)
FYI, a superstep rear bumper made for a Tacoma bolts onto the 1st Gen Runner without too much hassle.
The state inspector did not care about the crappy brakes or leaky clutch master, but he sure cared about the backup lights not working...


Fast forward a bit after driving the truck for a month

I replaced the clutch master w/ a new Aisin part and removed the bling running boards and rear plastic.

While taking a couple of some huge CRT TVs to the recycyler I had to make a u-turn, the load shifted, and one of those TVs smashed out the center sliding window.
Tip: put the glass part of the TV down, even if you have it strapped down.

A quick search on craigslist(I love this site) and I found a donor 1st gen runner to snatch some parts from.
For $120 I got new glass, beefy 1/4" thick angle iron home made rear bumper w/ tow hitch, AISIN hubs, sr5 gauge cluster, and an extra unbroken rear plastic piece that says Toyota and houses the rear license plate lights and window key. Not bad. pics on those later

Write up for replacing the side window glass
https://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyota-truck-tech/520291-1st-gen-hardtop-side-sliding-glass-install-help.html

fast forward some more

November, 2011 took the truck wheeling to George Washington National Forrest with a bunch of CLCC folk. Nothing difficult, all green trails with a couple tricky sections

The food was insane
smoked pork shoulder, fried chicken, dutch oven chocolate cake, bacon baked beans, a plethora of everything else, and we did not even put a dent in it all. By far best food on a day trip ever.

It was a convoy!

On the trip my temp gauge kept spiking, which really should have alerted me that something with the cooling system is incorrect.

Fast forward a few months

On the highway I notice a sweet smell. I looked down at the temp gauge and it read normal temp. After I took my exit and came to a stoplight I noticed the steam, water, and spiked coolant temp.
After a tow home I confirmed that the waterpump bearings decided to throw up into the engine bay.
After removing the radiator, fan, and belts I managed to snap two waterpump bolts. Ouch. One had enough thread to use a stud remover, but the second one snapped flush. Drilling would have been awkward, so decided to pull the timing cover. Many people suggesting pulling the head in order to properly pull the timing cover. My engine overheated a bit anyway, so I figured a headgasket check was in order.

See link for more detailed debacle
https://forum.ih8mud.com/va-dc-md-capital-land-cruiser-club/559130-project-snowball-my-4runner-overheated-leaking-coolant.html
While tearing the head off I figured i'd replace all seals, gaskets, timing chain, clean everything, new vacuum lines, and of course engine paint!
a mud member, "Mossman40", whom I've never met saw my thread in my club section and volunteered and mailed me for free an enginebuilder timing chain kit. Pretty awesome of him. I owe that man a beer or two

It took me forever to find that hidden thermostat bolt

some soap, hot water, and a nylon bristle brush after removing the valves with an overhead valve compressor. Brush from a m16 cleaning kit. only thing small enough to work the little passageways.

Now, if you've read this far, STOP, do you have a can of Kroil penetrating oil in your inventory? no, order some right now. This stuff is awesome. Almost all of my FUBARs would have been prevented if I had only used this magic oil. Its made by Kano labs and there is always a special sale going on their website.

once I had the timing cover off I soaked the bolt in kroil, drilled, and poof

but then I also noticed this

and upon closer inspection a couple cracks forming on the water jacket side

an order to engnblder and I received a new timing cover and full headgasket set

and some cleaning and high temp engine paint

btw, you have never really tested a woman's patience until you disassemble an engine in the kitchen and lay out the parts in the living room. Too bad she is not here anymore...

I cleaned up everything as best I could, painted whatever I could, hand lapped the valves, and reassembled the head and intake for a dry run before moving to the block. I checked head flatness with a couple small precision straight edges and a piece of glass. Good to go!

After a few more months of procrastination I finally reinstalled everything back onto the block. Figuring out all the vacuum lines took a couple days, I think they're correct.
I messed up my TPS setting though when I took it off for paint. I'll fix it sometime soon...

fast forward to GSMTR 2012

I bought and dragged a used and slightly modified ARB front bumper from a mudmember in Agusta, GA strapped to a hitch carrier on my buddy's 62 to Northern Virginia from Tennessee. One fun trip. Thanks for the GA guys for dragging my bumper all the way to Tennessee for me.
You Tennessee guys don't play when it comes to that mud. We slid down a hill and just barely avoided flopping and rolling down that hill. Then we had to run the loop in the rain to rescue our tailgunner pinned between a tree, log, boulder, and all while on the muddy slope. Ten minutes of rain completely changed the trails.
Back home and installed. Notice all the tools needed for the job.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

When I replaced the headgasket and related parts I also upgraded the radiator to a v6 toyota radiator out of a second gen 4runner

After install I noticed that It had a couple cracks near the filler hole. I figured I'd try and fix it instead of finding a replacement or having a shop fix the cracks

a propane torch, some soldering alloy , sand paper, and some muriatic acid I finally filled in all of the cracks in the radiator. You never know what you can do until you try.

Not my best soldering, but it holds!

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago

I finally got off my butt and swapped out my crappy brake system.
Dual diaphram booster and bigger MC from a 2nd gen 4runner w/ big 4 piston calipers and correct rotors.

Out with the old

and in with the new

sorry, no pics of the caliper/rotor swap

And then I figured I'd swap in my 4.88 diffs that i've had on my shelf for about a year now.

I loaded my rear diff with one of these

and Vince from IPOR helped me set the backlash in the parking lot at night after a club meeting. Thanks Vince!

Pulled the rear axles, replaced rear axle seals w/ marlin's, manhandled the thirds

then attacked the front 7.5" diff, swapped over the manual tube to the ADD v6 4.88 after figuring out how to pry the ADD axle nub out of the diff and installing an oil seal.

A 54mm wheel hub socket works pretty well for installing that front inner axle seal into the diff housing

Install is pretty straight forward. Follow the FSM for torque specs and whatnot
I used The Right Stuff on both of the diffs. Great stuff. run a thin bead and smear it on.

Then the next day I tackled the rear springs. I removed them and made some frankenpacks. A club buddy gave me some skyjacker lift springs for a tacoma and I used those packs minus the main leaf and added them to the main leaf and second leaf of my stock pack.

Not a bad view for Springtime...

and thats all i have for spring pics b/c this was a PITA to reinstall them onto the truck. rubber fused to rusty metal does not want to budge. I had to chop the bolt next to the gas tank. The bolts pressed into the shackles were cut and hammered out. Replaced all bolts with grade8 1/2" hardware w/ washers.

Now some pics of the lift, and new shoes. 33/1050/15 km2 home mounted on some fj60 rims painted with hammered copper paint. I dig it.

you can see my 40 on the right
check out the junkyard home build rear bumper. Looks like its ready for a swingout.

These were the only u-bolts I could locally source that were correct width. Don't worry, I chopped them.

close up of wheel

 

[Devilmans Hand]

When I put the ARB bumper on i had to modify the front turn signals and did the common mod found here
http://www.yotatech.com/f116/how-do-you-relocate-blinkeres-into-parking-lights-203562/

and when I swapped in the sr5 gauge cluster I had to manually change the odometer to match the actual mileage of the vehicle
see vid, not my vid, but a tutorial


and there is a part two

and I put a captains chair in place of the driver's seat
linky here
https://forum.ih8mud.com/79-95-toyota-truck-tech/700282-captains-chair-1st-gen-4runner.html

Thanks for reading the adventure so far

I have a pair of TG sliders I picked up cheap ready to weld on, two 2nd gen roof racks to install, superwinch x9 to wire up, rear swing out bumper to fab or beg a buddy to build, then...

 

[Sam Stewart]

Sweet. I really like the 1st gen 4Runner. I actually parted one out not long ago. I put the 22RE in my 1st gen mini and sold off the rest. Keep us posted on the build.

Were you at GSMTR last year also or just in 11?

Sent from another Galaxy

 

[Devilmans Hand]

I was just at last years. I believe we met. Think you were in the red diesel troopy. We were camped right of the main pavilion in a white 62 and blue 40 near the cool beige short bed 45, hot rod flame job 40, and John Smith. We would have been in the tan CLCC shirts.

Thanks for the compliment about the runner. Im starting to like them. I was hell bent on a 60, until i stumbled upon this runner and discovered just how much cheaper they are to build compared to cruisers. Wheeling the 60 is like driving a schoolbus. I cant even imagine the 80s in-between rocks and trees. I love the F-series of engines though. The 22re seems to work well if you have proper gearing. I like the narrow body too.

 

[Sam Stewart]

I was just at last years. I believe we met. Think you were in the red diesel troopy. We were camped right of the main pavilion in a white 62 and blue 40 near the cool beige short bed 45, hot rod flame job 40, and John Smith. We would have been in the tan CLCC shirts.

Thanks for the compliment about the runner. Im starting to like them. I was hell bent on a 60, until i stumbled upon this runner and discovered just how much cheaper they are to build compared to cruisers. Wheeling the 60 is like driving a schoolbus. I cant even imagine the 80s in-between rocks and trees. I love the F-series of engines though. The 22re seems to work well if you have proper gearing. I like the narrow body too.

The troopy used to belong to Daniel. He lives right near me in Macon. His tow rig couldn't haul the troopy. So last year I hauled his truck and he hauled mine. Anyway, it's highly possible that we did meet. I try to meet as many people as possible at GSMTR since I'm a sponsor. Hope to see you again this year.

I think the 22RE is great. I wouldn't ever wheel one of the carb versions again though. Too problematic when off camber and on really steep inclines. The narrow body is really awesome for wheeling. I don't know how people wheel 80s and 60s. Feels like you're constantly about to roll over. I know lots that do tho!

Sent from another Galaxy

 

[jynx]

Love the build so far, especially the copper wheels. Very old school.

I have an 88 that is waiting for a new heart to be dropped in.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Love the build so far, especially the copper wheels. Very old school.

I have an 88 that is waiting for a new heart to be dropped in.

Thanks. I lucked out w/ the quality of truck for the price I paid
I dig the copper. I figured what the hell. I almost did a multicam paint job, but the stock paint is holding up too well to do something like that. I was thinking about painting the sliders and bumper the same as the wheels, but we'll see.
Jokingly my sister said I should put this on my truck

And I said that if she buys it, I'll stick it on there somewhere. Maybe on the left side of the tailgate to give my tailgunner a laugh.
Around here we have a large Central American population that loves truck tailgate art, so this will be something along those lines with a twist.

I try to meet as many people as possible at GSMTR since I'm a sponsor. Hope to see you again this year.

I'm sure we met. We walked around a few times and mingled...although there was some drinking involved. I remember the GA guys were set up in the pavilion next to the IPOR guys.
Sadly I won't be able to make it out this year, but we have an increasing convoy from the CLCC planning to attend. Look for the Micky Bombs and smell the Woodford.

 

[Sam Stewart]

Yep. The GA Cruisers were right next to IPOR. I was actually camped with the ACC crew at the pavillion across the pond. Too bad you can't make it this year. I'm sure I'll see you around at another event.

Sent from another Galaxy

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Question

A club buddy is giving me a diff drop kit for a 2nd gen 4runner.
Without further information, is the diff drop kit likely to work on my 1st gen 4runner?
I'm not familiar with the differences, if any, between the 1st and 2nd gen IFS.
All the info I can find on diff drops involve 2nd gen and 3rd gen 4runners and then later model trucks.

Would there be any benefit or harm of using a diff drop if I do not intend to lift the front? I've seen all the pinion bearing "warnings"
Benefit with BJ spacers?

I don't want to take parts that I can't use.
sorry, no pics as I have yet to see the swag.

 

[dorton]

Very cool. Nice write up too.

 

[ROBsSON]

Nice truck man and the copper wheels are sweet did you have any issues with the back spacing?

 

[Devilmans Hand]

thanks. I figured why not w/ the copper. I've never been a fan of black or chrome on a Toyoda. The paint is sooo easy to work with and is fairly hard. Should be easy to touch up when I eventually rub up against some rocks.

No problems so far with the backspacing. The fj60 wheels work pretty well. I'm pretty sure they're fj60 wheels anyway. I haven't noticed any rubbing anywhere, but I haven't taken the truck out wheeling since I put this combo of rim and tire. I removed the fender chrome, the plastic fender liners, and hammered the fender seam flat. TREs look ok and nothing else is bumping.

I haven't even balanced the wheels yet. Buddy said he runs the bigger tires for a couple hundred miles before having them balanced after first mounting them. Super easy to mount the tires too. Two screwdrivers, bare feet, and some soapy water. I used a ratchet strap along the circumference to help set the bead w/ my compressor.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

so I've been wanting to add a FJ-40 bezel to my 4runner since day one. I find the 1st gen runners to be the closest in spirit to the FJ-40, even if mine has IFS.

The 40 is a little narrower in the front, so the lights do not quite match up in the holes. All I need now are some round lights, buckets, and some better fab skills to extend the width of the bezel. Until then, Zip ties fulfill my need. Brackets off of the ARB come next. I might just extend the width of the bezel and put it over the square lights.

When the time comes, this bezel will be white. Also, take a look at the shackles. On the passenger side shackle I added a bushing from when i replaced the rear leafs. It adds some rubber isolation, keeps the shackle from rattling, and makes it harder for people passing by to steal my shackles.
I also added a tan 2nd gen rear view mirror with map lights. I ran the wires down to the fuse box, but I sill haven't wired up power.

And I added a receiver hitch tow bar inbetween the stock bumper brackets.

I had to trim the brackets some and it is sandwiched inbetween the tow bar and the bumper brackets. Each chunk of metal is about 1/4" steel.

and here is my new co-pilot

I'm getting ready to drill some holes in the top for some 2nd gen roof racks. I don't need to carry much weight up top, so these should work nicely.
On the rear i'm going to use a long rack and on the front a short rack. End to end they almost perfectly span the length of the roofs. In the case I want to ever take the rear top off, then i'll still have a rack on the metal cab roof portion.
Now comes that part when i have to decide if i want to use bolts and nuts, or bolts and nutserts. I'm leaning towards bolts and nuts for strength since all of the fj-80 owners hate how their racks are attached with nutserts and rust out.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

roof rack update, woo hoo

I worked up the nerve to drill into the hardtop.

I used a 2nd gen roof rack and the width ends up being almost perfect.
1/4" eye bolts on the rear holes and an assortment of M6 bolts/nuts on the other holes. 3M butyl tape shoved down the holes and covering the bolt heads.

The second and third most rear bolts go through the thicker section of the top near the rear side windows. Big fender washers on those bolts.

the other bolts end up following the channel under the metal cover that holds the sides up of the headliner. They should cover up nicely under the metal plate.

the rack is for light duty so i'm not overly concerned with strength issues. The 4runner carries 3x the amount of gear i'm used to having in the 40 anyway.

 

[coryc85]

Looks good. My Runner is red also, your roof rack looks good. I've got yakima bars and gutter mounts still sitting in the garage waiting to go on mine.

When you said " Brackets off of the ARB come next" are you going to cut the ARB bumper uprights or did you mean make brackets to hold that 40 bezel?

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Brackets to hold the bezel. Something to bolt the bezel on instead of zip ties.
So far i like the rack. Looks like it belongs up there.

 

[Devilmans Hand]

bit of an update

So every exhaust hanger decided to brake and the entire weight was hanging off of the front cat flange. That was no longer sealed, bits of exhaust pipe rusted through, and the muffler was fubar.

I got a new flange seal, new stockish muffler from autozone, a 90degree bend in the 1 3/4" pipe diameter, some hanger material, a few clamps, and some sealing goop. Total was about $60

The exhaust is slightly rerouted and I maximized reuse of stock exhaust pipe.

the shiny bit is from a bit of a drag...



I discovered my exhaust in ill state while picking up some 3/4" metal conduit for some internal storage bars similar to what "Corax" has done using wire shelving and MOLLE pouches. I'm going to try and make the inside top of the fiberglass top one giant MOLLE panel.
Does anyone know if the "Oh s***" rear handle holes are tapped for a bolt, or just a fiberglass/wood screw? I managed to shatter both of the round beige plugs while trying to remove them.

 

[MattMorty]

Hey Sam just found your build thread, 4runner looks great you've done a ton of work! Glad I have a fellow 4runner to wheel with now!

 

[Devilmans Hand]

Right on. I'll prob swing by your Dad's place to install the new radio one of these weekends. We're drilling the roof for the antenna base.
Know anyone that wants some old 4runner bucket seats? Going to trash the old ones soon.

I've been building an overhead console for my ICOM-v8000 and some other gear. Using a big piece of 10gauge stainless that will use the captive nuts from the rear view mirror, visor, and overhead dome light as solid anchors.
I have some bj spacers, aux lights, rear cargo box, and new passenger seat to build and install. I'm going with a center folding bucket seat from a Toyota sienna, the smaller type. Perfect to fit only cute chicks with a tight waistline. No dudes or fat chicks.
40mm nade ammo can center console with some goodies inside. Prob attach a 5.56 can to the side or something like that.

Coal miner is coming fast!