Since the requests for a build thread have officially spilled over onto a third forum, i figured there is no better way to inflate my own ego than to go ahead and finally start one. Or something like that.
This thread will take a fair amount of time to get fully caught up to the present, so i ask that you be patient. The good thing is that since its already to the point it is, this should only take at most a couple weeks to get everything documented. I will do my best to go in chronological order, but there are a number of things i am sure i will skip over, because do we really need an update on how i installed the rear chromoly axle shafts? I think i have found most pictures, i had to go back through 4 different phones and a camera to try and find everything, and i still know i am missing pictures and updates. I never had any intention to keep or build the 80 when i bought it, which is part of the reason why there the amount of documentation is spotty.
First, some back story. Deep down, i have always been a Toyota Mini truck and 4Runner guy. Just look at my signature, i have one 80 and three generations of 4Runner currently. I have been wheeling Toyota minis since i was 16, i had bought an '83 for my first truck in high school, and was hooked. Prior to my 80, i had built an 85 pickup on 38.5x11 boggers, which got transferred into an 85 4Runner after i cashed the body. My plan was to build the 85 4Runner into a street-able rig that i could drive if i wanted to, but i kept my trailer. Big mistake. Next thing i knew, it was on a grand total of 3" of lift, 42" Iroks, and it was anything but street-able. So, i tore it apart and started building a street-able 2nd gen 4Runner. Once again, i blinked and i had the roof cut off and converted into a crew cab pickup, a 4.3 vortec/TH350/Marlin Dual ultimate setup, FJ80 front axle, SF14bolt rear, with all the parts to 3-link the front with 16" SAW coilovers. I got burnt out before i even finished it, and got back into go fast cars. It just sat while i played with my Galant VR4. Ever been hit with radar at a felony rate of speed that you wont publicly admit at 4am on a Sunday morning on a county farm road data logging so you can tweak your tune? Neither have I, but that was when i decided it was time to get back to crawling over boulders before i did something dumb.
Enter the 80. I had missed out on a local trip organized by the Hoosier Cruisers, called Pack Your s*** since the 2nd gen i was building was in pieces in the garage in project car hell, and i sure as hell was not going to miss PYS II. A friend had just bought this 80 a few months earlier, and hated it. It was too under powered, top heavy, had rust starting and peeling clear coat, but was triple locked, and everything worked. It was just what i needed to go on this trip, and have a little fun with while i hunted for a clean 1st gen 4Runner to start building. So, i brought it home, skipped the baseline, threw some Pep-Boys 285/75-16 MT's on, installed a York compressor, tossed my ReadyWelder in the back and went wheeling.
Now, 8 years later, I am sitting here on iH8mud trying to retrace my steps to document how i built a rig i never intended on building. Looking back, I sure wish i had kept all of those link parts, coilovers, and airbumps, but again, i never intended on building this thing. It was bought as a means to an end, and i fell in love with it.
First pic, how it looked the day i drove it home. Next up, the FF to where it is now, then after that will be how it got there. And one of what this 80 replaced.
This thread will take a fair amount of time to get fully caught up to the present, so i ask that you be patient. The good thing is that since its already to the point it is, this should only take at most a couple weeks to get everything documented. I will do my best to go in chronological order, but there are a number of things i am sure i will skip over, because do we really need an update on how i installed the rear chromoly axle shafts? I think i have found most pictures, i had to go back through 4 different phones and a camera to try and find everything, and i still know i am missing pictures and updates. I never had any intention to keep or build the 80 when i bought it, which is part of the reason why there the amount of documentation is spotty.
First, some back story. Deep down, i have always been a Toyota Mini truck and 4Runner guy. Just look at my signature, i have one 80 and three generations of 4Runner currently. I have been wheeling Toyota minis since i was 16, i had bought an '83 for my first truck in high school, and was hooked. Prior to my 80, i had built an 85 pickup on 38.5x11 boggers, which got transferred into an 85 4Runner after i cashed the body. My plan was to build the 85 4Runner into a street-able rig that i could drive if i wanted to, but i kept my trailer. Big mistake. Next thing i knew, it was on a grand total of 3" of lift, 42" Iroks, and it was anything but street-able. So, i tore it apart and started building a street-able 2nd gen 4Runner. Once again, i blinked and i had the roof cut off and converted into a crew cab pickup, a 4.3 vortec/TH350/Marlin Dual ultimate setup, FJ80 front axle, SF14bolt rear, with all the parts to 3-link the front with 16" SAW coilovers. I got burnt out before i even finished it, and got back into go fast cars. It just sat while i played with my Galant VR4. Ever been hit with radar at a felony rate of speed that you wont publicly admit at 4am on a Sunday morning on a county farm road data logging so you can tweak your tune? Neither have I, but that was when i decided it was time to get back to crawling over boulders before i did something dumb.
Enter the 80. I had missed out on a local trip organized by the Hoosier Cruisers, called Pack Your s*** since the 2nd gen i was building was in pieces in the garage in project car hell, and i sure as hell was not going to miss PYS II. A friend had just bought this 80 a few months earlier, and hated it. It was too under powered, top heavy, had rust starting and peeling clear coat, but was triple locked, and everything worked. It was just what i needed to go on this trip, and have a little fun with while i hunted for a clean 1st gen 4Runner to start building. So, i brought it home, skipped the baseline, threw some Pep-Boys 285/75-16 MT's on, installed a York compressor, tossed my ReadyWelder in the back and went wheeling.
Now, 8 years later, I am sitting here on iH8mud trying to retrace my steps to document how i built a rig i never intended on building. Looking back, I sure wish i had kept all of those link parts, coilovers, and airbumps, but again, i never intended on building this thing. It was bought as a means to an end, and i fell in love with it.
First pic, how it looked the day i drove it home. Next up, the FF to where it is now, then after that will be how it got there. And one of what this 80 replaced.
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