86 4-Runner.. WTF??

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Oct 31, 2003
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I just bought this '86 4-runner w / a 22re power plant.. the strange thing about it is the Plexiglas window someone installed on the hood over the intake-throttle body area.... but also there are two more under the rear seat... one over the fuel tank and another over the muffler area...the rear seat was removed when I got it but there was a large empty box and a complicated wiring harness with labeled plugs still remaining attached... they drilled holes and plumbed some 1/4" stainless tubing through the floor over both the fuel tank and muffler but weren't hooked up to anything....the wiring had labels on the plugs and was routed to each component such as (muffler) (fuel tank) (tail pipe exit) some read (grounds) they must have been concerned about grounds, because there were several ,and one to the (controller)?? They had cotton string tied in a shoe string knot type ( with 4"pigtails) dangling all over the damn thing.. all under the hood, under the body, on the muffler, fuel tank, exhaust pipe, on the battery and cables, on the intake, fuel lines, s*** all over!!..the muffler was split long-ways but came with 2 extras predrilled for the tubing and ground wire connections...at the end of the tail pipe there was a bracket and wires leading to it where some thing was once mounted...I wish I had the missing pieces to complete the puzzle... Any ideas what this mess was???:confused: Here is a pic of the hood.. If you look close there a few strings left that have not been removed yet.....
bruse (28) (Custom).webp
 
I have seen some weird s*** in my day, this definitely takes the cake. Flux capacitor?
 
I dunno.. the circled areas show the strings I didn't remove yet.... every screw had a string attached to the bottom side... crazy s***...
bruse (28) (Custom)1.webp
 
I think the PO story would be a good one.

My far-fetched guess...
Would it have been some form of competition checkoff system with all the strings (remove the string and its void). I think they do something similar with street bikes.

Maybe plexieglass burns through quick and would be an oulet for the fire should one start... and that box was a fuel cell holder... wires were for a fuel cutoff system?

Thats all I could think of
 
I would call up the PO and ask... I am sure there is a very good story, I know I would like to hear it. :lol:

I bought it through a auto auction..... police impound type sale... the po is in max lock-down in Lodi California...all communications have been cut-off... the truck is excellent shape other wise...it was taken care of very well..
 
This could have been a test vehicle, maybe some type of turbo or SC. The wiring harness going to those items would lead me to believe that they may have been looking for pressure in the gastank and temperture adn mixed gasses in the exhaust. with the plexiglass in place they could either quickly remove something or if there were going to be some type of read outs there they could be seen easily.

As for the strings, might be the start of wiring the harness. I used to use string when wiring up my motorcycles or setting up a stereo in a car. Much easier to measure the lenght that way and put together a wiring harness then using actual wire right of the bat.

Those are my two cents, let us know the answer when and if you find one. Also post some more pictures.
 
I would suspect some sort of test or project vehicle. Something along the lines of a college engineering project. The plexiglass would have been for observation during operation. Probably some sort of conversion or mods that were put back stock after the project was done or after it didn't work out as hoped. The rig would have been "volunteered" by one of the participants. Sometimes th workmanship and the underlying concept of these sorts of projects is a bit hokey ( they're engineering "Students" after all).


Mark...
 
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