kwitcherbeliakin

Got an 87 Runner for $500 off craigslist one day! It was parked in someone’s front yard and apparently the HOA was getting mad about it. The girl who owned it parked it in her parents front yard and her mother wanted it OUT! So up it went on craiglist with some body damage, a dead battery, and a knock in the engine! Well here is the beginning!

Found a master engine rebuild kit for $200. Pistons, Seals, Gaskets, Timing Chain kit and a bit more as well. Today we finally started ripping the engine apart. Over the next few weeks it will be rebuilt, lifted, painted and have some trimming done to the body! I’ll keep it updated with pictures here.


Here is the carnage. Notice the grease and buildup of God knows what inside the engine. There was some beginning formations of rust and come to discover… when they rebuilt it before… they ACCIDENTALLY left one of the small hoses with antifreeze running in it running inside of the engine, between the head and the block!!! Tightened in there it was leaking antifreeze on the hot engine and pushing some into the block every few seconds! as you can imagine it probably didnt seal all the way around either...

No wonder there was Antifreeze in the block and the oil!!!! Grrr.









The entire interior looked wonderful…









At least something looked clean. The timing chain and sprocket looked brand new. Although the bolts that came out of the head were 5 covered in oil and 3 dry and seemingly powder coated with black carbon and metal shavings… Don’t know what that means but I’m about to do a search… maybe nothing.



More to come tomorrow when we pull the bottom off!

874runnersr5

looks fun man, im subscribing to this thread.

nosfanatic2006

iTrader: (1)

Subscribed as well. Can't wait to see the lift on there! You did say you were going to put your old IFS lift on it right?

kwitcherbeliakin

Yup! The old IFS is from a V6 but I dont expect that to make a difference. Plus its mostly rebuilt with new halfshafts already.

It'll be easier... well less hassle maybe... to simply drop out the old front end and pull the pistons from the bottom. We don't really want to hoist the engine out all the way. lol. Lazy... I know.

kwitcherbeliakin

Here is a pic of when we put the front IFS lift on:




Looks way better!
















Now here we are after swapping tires and rims! Startin to look good!  and yes... there are no fenders right now. I have one full fender and the other is missing the bottom half of it because of a dent I cut out... I just havent gotten around to painting them and putting them back on.




















And here it is next to my 88 ext cab. You can see its buildup page at: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...e-come-164225/








It is exactly the same length as my 88 ext cab (after I bobbed 14 inches off the rear of my ext cab)! The wheelbase is about two inches shorter on the 4-runner though - and a bit narrower as well. They are the same height in the rear and the 88 is about an inch and a half taller in the front...








AND NOW LET THE PAINTING BEGIN!! I painted the 88 ext cab I have and it was my first venture in automotive painting! Here is number two!
First off I did the trim around the tailgate, doors, top, etc… I took out all components and painted the plastics as well as the metal underneath.






I also painted the side of the fenders, the underside of all wheel wells, the front of the runner (behind the grill), the grill, the underside of the hood (high heat paint), the roll bar, and the bottom part of the rocker panels all the way around.




















And now the taping and painting for the body begins since the trim is done!












For now I am painting it with a white rustoleum metal primer:




First light coat:




















Final coat (3):













And the finished product thus far!


















So the 4 runner is lifted, timed, painted and driveable now! The exhaust was the biggest pain the @$$ because, come to find out, the pipe they have going from the header down isnt even a toyota pipe! It fits 99% tight and there is one spot where it leaks around it now... its staying! Gives it a little put sound when it accelerates but other than that the engine sounds good and runs quiet!

I took out the auto hubs and replaced them with some Aisin Manual Hubs and took it out wheeling yesterday afternoon for a while. Works great! Some of the pictures below show that as well! The mounts we fabbed up held great! No rubbing anywhere of tires or axle components. 4 wheel drive engaged and disengaged wonderfully! Everything is in working order!... well minus the AC! lol.

































Here is my 87 and 88 stacked up side by side:







Here you can see how much shorter the wheelbase on the runner is:



When I put the IFS lift from my 88 in the runner I was missing the longer brackets to mount the front axle components to the frame so a friend and I fabricated them. This first picture shows the mount we fabbed up on the driverside for the longer shaft coming off the IFS in order to stabilize it (we used stock mounting bolts):




We then bend a piece of flat steel to stabilize the differential on the back side and we welded it to the bottom rail and side rail of the IFS suspension (sorry these are a little fuzzy):





And although you can't tell in the picture we used the stock mounting bolts.

kwitcherbeliakin

I took her out and ran up box canyon with a friend in my truck and another friend in his jeep! Nothing broke and nothing major needs fixing! A few minor adjustments and she will do real well! Here are a few pictures...

I can tell the difference between the 4cyl and the 6 and the difference in gearing! Makes a huge difference going up hills!

kwitcherbeliakin

It is time to sell her off...

Here is a link to the listing on craigslist...
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/cto/1244659131.html

874runnersr5

damn man, how come?

kwitcherbeliakin

I still have my truck: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...e-come-164225/

Trying to build up two trucks will put me in the poor house! I'll stick to one for now! Plus I might get a motorcycle and a few other goodies for the truck with the funds!

Why?? What r your thoughts???

874runnersr5

nah, thats just a really nice truck haha

kwitcherbeliakin

Sold!