'88 1uz 4runner Build

[Chef]

I gotta say, that looks pretty dang good for a rolled on paint job...

 

[UhhOhh]

Thanks I think for the 120 dollars it's great value especially for a truck such as this which will most likely see it's destruction within 5 years In Aus a cheap 2pac respray is 2-3k, a proper can be from 6k upwards but it's just not worth it given this vehicles application.

Cheers!

Peter

 

[UhhOhh]

Ok guys time for another update, the good news is the car is completely painted and reassembled with the rust repaired to an extent which won’t be a problem for another 10 years at least so I am happy with that. I have also stripped the interior and gave the panels a good coat of fish oil. I half did this to slow the progress of rust and stop the start of rust but also because I like the smell of it, I don’t know why but I do. Here’s some pics of it stripped and a pic of the canopy being painted:

Strippin’, was pretty dirty with a bit of surface rust that got treated:

Another pic of interior gone:

Canopy being painted:

 

[UhhOhh]

Here’s a couple of pics of her all together and sorted ready for the blue slip (roadworthy cert) in the morning, fingers crossed I don’t get sodomized but we’ll have to wait and see. Will update with the results.

Cheers,
Peter

Ugly rear bar but will do for registration reqs:

Crappy crappy bulbar which will be removed and sorted with something better:

 

[Combat Chuck]

really nice looking job!

The idea of restoring a 4Runner's making me feel old now. We used to just restore 40's!

 

[UhhOhh]

So I'm onto the cooling system now...





I took it for a drive firstly with the thermo fan disconnected to get an idea the efficacy of the fan and to also see how the radiator holds up bare bones without any help. My result was driving without thermo running temp was around 88-90 degrees Celsius (This is no surprise as the thermo is for slower work with less airflow obviously), idling it slowly crept up to 98 degrees Celsius with no airflow over the radiator. Second test was with the thermo on which received a similar result in driving without working the engine hard of 88-90. Idling was disappointing as I thought the thermo would help some more however the temp kept creeping up to the same mark of 98. At one point on the drive home the temp went to 102-103. This tells me at very least a cooling overhaul/test is needed and at most an overhaul of the cooling system.

Here you can see the 12 inch thermo sitting infront of the radiator, seems to pull very little air (not surprisingly)

Testing the thermos (engine one plus a spare) they are set to open at 82 degrees c which they seemed to do well however one seemed to open more than the other so I stuck that one back in:

Testing the thermos on the stove, would have loved a thermometer but they both opened at the same time and well before boiling so I’m satisfied they were working.

After a reverse flush, clean of the radiator and new radiator cap I re did the test to see if there was any improvement. It may have been the placebo but I seemed to drop 2-3 degree on average however when I load with the revs and load she will get too hot for my liking far too quickly (100 degree plus). The funny thing is I popped the hood with the temp still reading 102 and it was not boiling through the overflow. This is fair enough as it’s a pressurised system giving a higher boiling point but I definitely don’t like it in the region. It also scares me as I hate to think hot hot I got her on the beach at Jewells and the thoughts of alloy engines warping and cracking come to mind. I have read the 1UZ’s don’t mind running a bit hot but this is too warm.

The decision was made to start measuring and see what sort of radiator I can fit in the space, I want to modify the radiator support panel and have the radiator underneath the bonnet catch crossmember but above the chassis rails. This is because there is next to no room mounting a radiator in its normal spot for a thermo so I had two options: move the engine back or push the radiator forward. The latter is definitely easier. With alot of measuring I have ordered a Toyota supra 7MGTE 2 row alloy radiator and have a set of EL twin thermo fans here that I’ll make a shroud to suit which will hopefully do a much better job of keeping her cool. I’m waiting on delivery of the radiator so more about the install and what I will cut out later, at this stage spook is in the garage with the front end removed, here’s a couple of pics of where she sits ready to cut into:

 

[85+92]

cool build!!

I didnt read it all but were you using a 4cylinder or v6 radiator? v6's are much bigger and bolt right in

 

[Combat Chuck]

cool build!!

I didnt read it all but were you using a 4cylinder or v6 radiator? v6's are much bigger and bolt right in

7MGE 2-row rad.

Probably on-par with the V6 rad, though.

 

[UhhOhh]

cool build!!

I didnt read it all but were you using a 4cylinder or v6 radiator? v6's are much bigger and bolt right in

Hi mate, I was using originally using the radiator designed for the 2L (2.4L diesel) which was a little larger than the 3Y that was in it previously. A few people from Australia modify the V6 radiators with larger top and bottom tanks as even the stock units aren't up to the task in Australian climates (especially the soft sandy driving required with beach fishing). My issue was basically space, in that there was none ;p. An effective pull type thermo fan setup would not be possible without pushing the radiator underneath the radiator support panel (which I ended up doing) or remounting the engine mounts further back so I was forced to use a wider radiator that can sit upon the chassis rails instead of between. Standard 1uzfe soarers run about 8L of coolant through their system and it is a certainly a big radiator in there, I ended up getting about 9.5L of toyota red into the system so it's a bit bigger again. But more on that later..


Cheers
Peter

 

[UhhOhh]

really nice looking job!

The idea of restoring a 4Runner's making me feel old now. We used to just restore 40's!

hehe plenty of 40's in Aus to restore still, not many full metal bodied ones left though they are mostly fibreglass ones now. My next project will be a fj55 on a fj80 chassis and running gear hopefully. A nice 1HDT or a turbo lpg 1FZFE are both options I'd be happy with but that's a few years off yet.

 

[Combat Chuck]

hehe plenty of 40's in Aus to restore still, not many full metal bodied ones left though they are mostly fibreglass ones now. My next project will be a fj55 on a fj80 chassis and running gear hopefully. A nice 1HDT or a turbo lpg 1FZFE are both options I'd be happy with but that's a few years off yet.

Nice plans!
Yeah, I'm hoping to make my 40 into a supercharged FZJ43 myself, but until then, trucks are cheaper!

Keep up the good work!

 

[Mr DJ]

I know 2 guys in Oz that are still running the Surf rad from a 2LT-E after dropping in a 1UZ with no over heat problem. Rad is a 3 core/row.
Might be a cheaper option to try.

 

[toyminator]

You need to custom mount a more efficient aluminum radiator a little farther forward so you can set up your fan as a puller. You also need a larger fan. 16-18".

 

[UhhOhh]

You need to custom mount a more efficient aluminum radiator a little farther forward so you can set up your fan as a puller. You also need a larger fan. 16-18".

Exactly what I did! Except for the larger fan I used a twin thermo setup from a Ford Falcon a) because it had a great shroud to work with b) they pull 2300cfm which should be enough.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[UhhOhh]

Gday,
Time to update this thread again. The good news is the radiator is in place, mounted, with the thermos working well and all plumbed up. I have been regularly taking it for a run up the beach and she is staying cool all the time now. The thermo controller I wired in seems to be not working and just completing the thermo fan circuit once ignition turns on regardless of how I adjust it. That’s meaning the thermos are on all the time which is seeing running temps not really exceed 65-70 degrees with normal driving around town, idling it will drop to 55-60 degrees. I unplugged the thermo fan to get some comparison of the efficacy of the fans in drawing air through the radiator and without the fans on the engine temp will sit around 80-85 degrees driving creeping up from there when idling due to no air flow. I kept the fans on when driving on the sand out at Jewels and was happy after a shakedown involving driving up and back down a steep due at around 4500-5500 rpm constantly for 10 minutes I couldn’t get the temp to rise above 95 degrees. Driving on the beach normally it will sit around 80 with the thermos on. In short I am stoked with this mod! It involved cutting away a fair portion of the radiator support bracket and reinforcing it with rhs and angle as per the engineers advice and a 2 inch body lift as it would not possibly work without the body lift. The capacity of cooling system in a soarer with a 1uzfe is 8 litres, I am getting 9.4 litres into the system of Toyota red coolant. Next on the cards is fix a weeping sump gasket and get started on these rear drawers so I can get the stereo in.

Anyway here’s some pics of where I’m upto:
The radiator, got it from a place in Melbourne to suit a 7MGTE supra. It’s a 2 row alloy all tig welded. Was impressed with the quality for the few dollars it cost.

And here it is next to the old radiator:

Here’s the current front end with the bulbar and grill removed, you can see the original thermo fan in a push type setup.

Radiator and thermo removed, time to do measurements again and start cutting:

Half way through cutting the panel out, plasma cutters are great.

 

[UhhOhh]

First test fit of the radiator, as you can see I’m a gumbi and couldn’t work out why it wasn’t going anywhere. Besides the fact there wasn’t enough cut away yet, it was going in back to front. I gave up for the day after this hehe

Had the filler neck removed and a plate of alloy tig welded on top, also had the inline filler welded up which after finding out the radiator guys wanted ~100 dollars for an inline filler I got the cut off neck welded onto the water temp sensor and seems to work a treat:

I used twin thermo fans of an EL falcon. These have around 2300cfm but their advantage, in my opinion, is the great plastic shroud I can use to cut down and get a great fit on the supra radiator. Here’s a pic of it cut down and mounted to the face of the core. Space was the primary consideration in cutting it down alot as there is just next to no space to work with:

Here it is mounted under the bonnet now, yes bugger all space!

Here’s the radiator mounted in place with rhs cross member welded onto the body mount, it’s sitting on rubber boots and rubber grommets used on all mounting points to isolate the alloy from the steel body:

 

[NorCalBorn]

Now once that's all done let's see some of this sort of beach driving?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nMGfRFDt7M

 

[UhhOhh]

Now once that's all done let's see some of this sort of beach driving?

YouTube - Lexus V8 4 Runner - Circle Work

Lol if only! There is more of this unfinished story to go which will explain why I won't be doing that for a while.

 

[UhhOhh]

I had to fit a body lift as there was simply not enough space between the underside of the radiator support panel and the chassis. I encountered no problems except for requiring a steering shaft extension as when I lifted the body off the chassis the loosened slip joint did not have enough length to hold the steering shaft from the firewall to the power steering box. Not wanting to spend 150 dollars on a steering extension and wait for days to get it I went to the scrapyard to see if I could find some plate:
Found a 20mm steel footing and a couple of high tensile bolts and nylocs to join the grub joint, this is to space the joint between the steering shaft and the steering box.

Steering shaft sitting on footing for template:

Too thick for plasma I cut it down with a drop saw and angle grinder, ended up making it into the (rough) shape of Australia as it was the time of the year hehe

Ok enough update

Cheers guys,
Peter

 

[UhhOhh]

Gday, small update here as some bad news with the rig. But first I pulled the sump off as there was a crack along a weld on the front lip that was letting more oil out than it was keeping in, which of course required to drop the front diff which was a bit of a pain.

Heres the crack you can see inside the sump:

I had the sump tigged up and here is a pic of it all done and testing it for leaks:

Here’s a pic of the famed bottom end on these puppies:

Here’s a great pic of her on Blacksmiths beach: