H8PVMNT's '89/'98/94 4Runner Project...

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H8PVMNT

H8PVMNT

10 Year 15 Year
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Threads
29
Messages
297
Location
Highwood, MT
I am body swaping an '89 4Runner tub to my '94 pickup and doing a 3RZ rebuild and swap at the same time...
Here is what's left of my '94 pickup...
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The 3RZ I picked up for the swap had a spun out balance shaft so I'm leaving the balance shafts out of this one. Hussy red paint adds 5% HP! :)

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This is the body I'm using. An 89 4Runner with a tweaked front clip. Allready plazed off in this pic...

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I got ready to pull the body and didn't want to wait for 8 guys to come over so I lifted the body off with a chain hoist, a floor jack and a bunch of milk crates. It took like 3 hours and I had to let all tha air out of the tires to roll the chassis out from under. Kind of sketchy untill I lowered it back down to a reasonable elevation :).

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I grafted a strait front clip cut from a truck at the wrecking yard on the 4Runner body and massaged the '98 steering column to fit. I'm using the guages and column from the doner vehicle. I have most of the stuff from the doner vehicle and I'm better at fabing than reading wireing diagrams, so it seems like the logical way for me. Pretty much all I have to splice will be the rear harness to the back window, fuel pump and tails and the heater stuff. All other connections will be stock '98 3RZ 4Runner harness.

More pics to come...
 
Yeah, I like to get pulled over alot.

It's "New Holland Red" Van Sickle Implement paint. $50 for the whole shebange with hardener and reducer. Of course it helps that I allready have all the related tools.
 
Drivers bedside all straitened and primed. There were just a few little dings but they would have looked stupid under fresh new paint. I'm just going to go wheeling and make some more but there's something to be said about having your own body damage instead of someone elses. Anyway it should be pretty pimp for a week or two... :)

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Ready to paint!

So I am finally ready to paint my 4Runner tub Saturday. The weather went to crap for a couple weeks but it will be about 72 degrees tomorrow with no bugs and I am all ready for it...
Body work is all done and primed:
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I run some tube fenders that go from my sliders to the bumper which require massively cut 2WD fenders for the front. I was looking in an old hot rod magazine with some sheetmetal tricks and decided to try and roll over a bead on the cut off part to make things a little less butchered when it was all done. They turned out looking pretty clean...
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Got the paint sprayed this weekend. It layed sown pretty nice considering it was only a $50 paint job...

Set up in like 4 hours at 75 degrees, a bit slower than urethane I've used in the past but not bad considering the cost.

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I have a couple of small sags to wetsand out but overall I am more than happy for a trail rig paint job. I am thinking about adding a small satin black stripe near the top rear quarter panels remenicint of old school Toyota stripes but I'm not sure yet.
 
H8PVMNT said:
Yeah, I like to get pulled over alot.

It's "New Holland Red" Van Sickle Implement paint. $50 for the whole shebange with hardener and reducer. Of course it helps that I allready have all the related tools.
Click to expand...

Wow, what he said, that is bright! Wonder how close it is to the Freeborn Red used on the FJ40s ... Hmmm .... ;p
 
SShea said:
That looks awsome! What did you do with the old paint before spraying the new stuff?
Click to expand...

Thanks, I am pretty happy with it.

As for the prep... I sanded the heck out of it in a few stages down to 320 grit until the old primer was starting to show through and did the little bit of body work. Then I primed the entire thing with the matching brand flat red primer. Should stick pretty good with the nice sanded surface and the primer. Time will tell :).
 
We got the body tub on the chassis this weekend. Had a "cab lifting party" with home made pizza, pink lemonade and beer. It was pretty light with 6 guys. Here is a rather poor, fuzzy, low light photo...

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I forgot how cool this truck was all put together! I am now getting really pumped up.
 
i already like where this is going...alot...:clap:

SUBSCRIBED!

:popcorn:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE Original truck chassis (the white one)?
 
KayakPanic said:
i already like where this is going...alot...:clap:

SUBSCRIBED!

:popcorn:

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE Original truck chassis (the white one)?
Click to expand...

The white truck in my sig is where the chassis came from that I'm putting the 4Runner body on. I traded a buddy the truck cab and a frame I had from an '81 strait across for the rust free 4Runner tub.
 
what are you planning for the front end?
are those some larger leafs springs on there?

is that already SAS'sed? kinda looks like it, can't tell...

(this may sound a bit 20 Questions...)
 
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KayakPanic said:
what are you planning for the front end?
are those some larger leafs springs on there?

is that already SAS'sed? kinda looks like it, can't tell...

(this may sound a bit 20 Questions...)
Click to expand...

No big deal here's 20 answers... :)

I did an SAS back in 2004 with some old man emu rear springs I had on the truck when it was still IFS. They are a bit longer than the 79-88 rears that most guys are using but they sure flex and ride nice. The front end is even further forward than usual because of the centering pin location. The rest is the usual hi steer, 5.29s, aussie locker and some beefier birfs. I also have 4.7 gears in the t-case.

The rear has some 3" lift 63" chevy springs with the overloads removed. They are cheap tuff country springs so I'm sure I'll be making some new springs for the rear after a couple more years. They seem to do OK so far though.

This is kind of a re-build/re-mod of the truck I allready had. The chassis and drivetrain were allready done from before for the most part. I threw a rod in January 2007 and have been too broke and/or too busy to start this project. I'm kind of glad I waited though because I wouldn't have had the 4Runner tub or the 3RZ if I had just fixed it back then. This thing is going to be a really nice ride and will fit the entire family.

We have also learned to paint since it broke down, which is probably a waste of time on a trail rig, but it's nice to make it all new looking instead of having a multi-colored rusty basket case. Now I get to take my time and build it nice and clean.

Here's a few more pics since it's starting to look like a truck again...

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I figured out I have to trim the back of the rear wheel wells a bit or the tires will hit pretty bad. My wheel base is stretched in both directions with the rear about 2.5-3" further back than stock. I will probably have bigger tires in the future anyways so I want to make it have easy clearance for 37s at a minimum. On the truck I just cut off the entire rocker panel on the back of the bed but on the 4Runner I kind of can't. I'm going to try to roll it over on the edge all nice like the front fenders and add another coat of paint on the bedsides after I get it all straitened out. I thought I was all done with body work but I'd rather get it right now instead of having it be an afterthought.
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Bummer.. and it's such purdy paint. :p

Seriously tho... if your thinkin' 37's you might consider cutting more than just the marked area, as in the entire opening and taper it back as needed (as you know the flex moves the tire rearward)... which leads to re-tubing the wheel well while your at it.

See how these mods lead into another... then another... then another... ;)

Anyway, keep up the great work!!
 
Yeah the cut line was just kind of a guess. I'm going to find some pics of other 4runners with similar setups before I cut it. I want to stay minimal though, I can always trim more later but I can't put it back. I have a buddy with similar springs and ride height and he only had to trim the back end of the wells for 39s. I don't get quite as much stuff with the lift springs as the stock chevy springs. Of course I won't really know untill I get it driving again :).

As far as the paint goes, I wouldn't mind laying another coat anyway. I have extra and it's getting pretty easy.
 
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