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I've been remiss not starting this thread sooner. I bought my 1986 4Runner with 114K miles on it from a friend in CA. It is a 5 speed manual 22RE. Mechanically it is sound. I had to replace the AC compressor. It has a dead oil pressure gauge, low idle at start up and a saggy rear end.
Cosmetically t needs work. It has some bumps and bruises and needs a paint job. I have replacement panels for the worst damage. I'm still trying to puzzle out the best way to retire the DS A-frame mount for the door check.
I'll post more later, but here it is when I picked it up.
I have always wanted to get a 1st gen 4Runner. I almost bought one new in 1988 after graduating from high school. I got cold feet at the thought of spending all the money I had saved. Oh well, it took some time and here we are.
Flash forward to the early 2000's. My wife and I bought a new 2002 4Runner. We loved that vehicle. I however couldn't use it for work. I am a field geologist and often find myself in tricky places. I joined YotaTech then as I planned on finding a 3rd gen 4Runner for field work.
I then began working in Tibet where we used Land Cruisers. When I saw what they could do my plans changed. I found and bought a 1994 FZJ80 Land Cruiser 12 years ago. It has been modified and has been an utterly reliable vehicle for both work, cross country vacations and around town. It needs a break for some maintenance and upgrades. I'm now so busy with kids I find it entirely too stressful trying to finish projects over a weekend. Last summer I decided I needed a daily driver.
How about finding a 1st gen 4Runner?
I began searching here in AZ and really not finding anything worthwhile. Either too beat, too modified or too EXPENSIVE. Around Labor Day a friend of mine in Sacramento decided to sell his project, a 1986 4Runner with 113,000 miles on it. He had done most of the engine tune up and other things too it mechanically. It had some body damage and he had already sourced a new hood and cowl, ds door and ds front fender. It needed a bumper. He found some gently used 2nd gen seats and had already installed the fronts. He had obtained a 4Runner e-locker too. He put 3rd gen 4Runner wheels on it, but included some 15" aluminum American Racing wheels. He had sourced some of the interior pieces as well.
It took until just before Christmas before I could fly up and buy it. Fall was an exercise in patience.
First things first, it had no front bumper. The 4Runner had been in a minor front end accident that messed up the front end, ds front fender door and back fender.
I really wanted front turn signals. Without the front turn signals the back ones blinked like a strobe light, plus I wanted to be legal. I found a beat up bumper at a local salvage yard. Ugly, but I now had a bumper with turn signals.
While installing this bumper I discovered that the ds bumper bracket that is welded to the cross beam was bent back. I bent it mostly back into place. I'll need to re-weld it, but it is fine short term. This was the first hint that there was hidden damage lurking.
Look carefully at the ds core support. There is a slight tweak at the top.
While at my first salvage yard trip (the first of many) I was able to score some goodies.
They are the wrong color, but that can be fixed easily. They threw in the roll bar pad for free. I felt a little robbed paying $80 for the altimeter, but then when I looked on eBay they are the ones who left money on the table.
They also gave me the dash pad. It is an ugly mess, not as nice as the one in my 4Runner. I thought I might use it to experiment with recovering a dash pad. There are some very interesting videos on youtube showing how to do it.
I really wanted to use the 2nd gen seat frame. Especially after finding out I didn't have a bottom seat frame. I soon discovered that it wouldn't work without a little welding. I don't have a welder and my friend how has one is scared of thin stuff. So back to the salvage yard and $40 poorer I had the complete seat frame for the back seat. Hog ties are not that bad and I think it turned out good.
I do need to source the bottom seat floor latches. As soon as I get a welder, I will but the 2nd gen seat frames in. There is a large gap right now between the seat bottoms and seat backs. The seat belts keep falling in.
I pulled the rear seat belts out of a 2000 Subaru Outback. They are black and do not match. At some point I will replace them with something from Seatbelt Planet. $20 for the pair.
I accumulated parts over the winter months and slowly put them on. I bought an ebay front bumper, valence and end caps. had to make the brackets for the valence and end caps. I was finally able to source some at a salvage yard. They need a little welding and massaging before I put them on. But the redneck version will work for the time being.
Front bumper v2.0
Parts Horde
I had to make a bracket for the new shifter boot too. It isn't perfect and I'll do it again later.
This was from eBay. I feel a little ripped off, but it goes with the FSM and EWD the seller gave me.
I've already put the side mirrors on. They look rough and I need to wire them, but much better than what was on there.
When I bought the 4Runner, the PO had swapped in the SR5 gauge cluster for an automatic. I could live with it, but the oil pressure isn't working. I don't know if it is a wiring issue, but it has the correct sender and the sender works as per the FSM. I just ordered the SR5 gauge cluster for a 5-speed. It should be here in a week. For the last six months I just check the oil regularly.
When I pop in the new gauge cluster, I'll look at the door buzzer. I think it was unplugged as the ds door doesn't turn on the dome light. I hope that is all.
I knew when I bought the 4Runner the AC didn't work. This May it finally got hot enough to get it fixed. We hoped it just needed a recharge. It was leaking from the compressor shaft.
$700 later I have a new compressor and an AC that works. That is ~1/3 the price I paid for the 4Runner.
We only had one daughter in town during Memorial Day and decided to go camping. Let's take the 4Runner.
We loaded up and headed to get gas. I noticed that is was riding a bit funny. At the gas station I looked underneath to find I was riding on the bumpstops. I knew the springs were tired, but yikes. Well, we transferred everything to the minivan and changed location. Vacation saved and we had some bears wander near our campsite, so remote enough.
I have low idle at start up. The IACV may need some tinkering. I do need to bump up the idle as it is around 600-650 when warm.
Suspension. I need new springs. I only want a mild lift and be able to carry a full load. I go back and forth. I may just use some coil helpers temporarily and then replace the springs later. My plan right now is to get the OME springs and remove a leaf. We will see as my plans are always changing. I don't want to pay $100/shackle for the OME greasable ones. I found some 3rd gen springs locally for $30. I may go this route as I will need this 4Runner in a few weeks.
Tires at some point. The Wrangler ST's are really just street tires, but they will work for the time being.
Wire up the electric side mirrors. It shouldn't be too hard. I have the EWD to go off of and can make it look factory.
Rear e-locker. I have found that the rear e-locker is all I'll ever need. I am just going to source a rear axle housing and slowly do the modification to fit it in. Lots of online resources, but this will happen later.
Right now that is it.
Appearance
I have a quote to get it painted, $3,000. I want to address the body stuff first. The most concerning for me is the ds door check mount on the a-pillar. It needs to be totally rebuilt. Sadly, from my surgery at the PnP I will need to cut an access port from the front to do this like the factory. If there is any feedback or help on this I would appreciate it.
I need to do a new carpet and try to sound proof.
The interior is mostly intact. I will try and make some vinyl covered door panels as the ones I have are the 3/4 version. I have some beat up full door panels to use as a template.
After that I should be done. I'll post up more as I progress. Thanks for the Yotatech resource.
Nice looking 4 runner, looks like you got a really solid one to start with! Sounds like you have a good plan for it, look forward to seeing your progress!
Thanks, I wish I had started a build thread for the Land Cruiser. I've forgotten half the things I've done and when.
Here are the two body problems I'm unsure about. The least of them is the core support. You can see a minor pucker at the toward the center of the core support. I need to put my good fender on to check alignment. I'm really hoping that things line up well. I drilled out the core support of one at the PnP. It was hot and a PITA. I thought it would take 30 minutes. WRONG! I have to say I'll be greatly relieved if I don't need to replace it.
The one that worries me is the A-Pillar door check mount. You can see the top half is missing and the bottom half is hanging by a thread. I saw the two spot welds and thought easy-peasy, I'll go to the PnP and pull one. 1 hour of surgery showed me how wrong I was. I suspect I'll have to cut an access port on the back side to really fix this. I'm really hoping that somebody has an excellent idea.
I did manage to pick up a pair of 3rd gen 4Runner rear springs for $20. They sure do look small next to Land Cruiser rear springs. I thought they were bigger. They are 15" high and have ~3/8" OD.
I've been really torn on doing the helper coil. Circumstances forced my hand. I cannot decide on rear leaf springs. It doesn't help that I really haven't every worked with leaf springs either and that compounds my indecision. I need the 4Runner for a project in N. AZ sooner than I think I can make a decision on leaf springs. So helper springs it is. I hope I don't have to cut them. The stock flat top would seat very nicely against the frame. I may try them whole first and see what it looks like.
My new-to-me gauge cluster should arrive tomorrow.This could be a busy weekend. I'm curious, how much of the gauge cluster needs to be hooked up to start the engine? I'd like to test the signal coming out of the oil pressure sender.
One thing that has bugged me about using either 4Runner or Jeep springs is that I couldn't find anything reliable about the spring rate. Now that I have some rear springs from a 2000 4Runner in hand I can do some estimates.
Spring Rate=GD^4/8ND^3
G=Torsional Modulus or Modulus of Rigidity. I'm using 11.3x10^6 psi for cast steel
D=Wire Diameter in inches
N=Number of active coils, I'll count the pig tail as an active coil.
D=Average Coil Diameter
For my springs
D=0.5 inches
N=6
D=5 inches
I get 117.7 lbs/inch
Using an online calculator that uses a bit higher G (Music Wire ASTM A228), I get 119.72 lbs/inch.
For ease of math, if I cut 2 inches off (15" to 13") there will be 5 active coils the spring will now have a spring rate of ~142 lbs/inch. Cutting them a little more will increase the spring rate.
I'd like to keep the lower spring rate but I bet the lift is high. I have about 1" of bumpstop clearance and less than 8" from the frame to the top of the leaf springs. I'll through these in and see. I guess I can just keep a bunch of stuff in there or cut them down for a harsher ride.
Great looking runner you have. I had to replace the core support in my 86 and instead of doing spot welds on it, I bolted mine in. I have no intentions of ever welding mine back in like it should be. Harbor Freight sells a spot weld cutter and it is well worth the money. I think I paid six dollars for mine if memory serves me correct. Makes cutting spot welds so easy. I think I have just finally worn it out.
You are getting your runner to looking good again. Welcome to Yotatech.
My new instrument cluster came in today. It is from a 1987 4Runner with 52K on the odo. I'll work on adjusting the mileage tonight and install it tomorrow.
The PO swapped in an auto SR5 gauge. The oil pressure gauge has never worked. I finally decided to swap in the SR5 cluster from a manual. I'm taking this opportunity to test out the oil pressure loop. The receiver in the gauge cluster passes the FSM test, 44.3 ohms. The sender failed both tests. 2V with the key to ignition and could not cause a 3.4W bulb to flash with the engine running.
My question is about oil sender installation. I've seen that people use Teflon tape and I've seen people post that this inhibits grounding. What say Yotatech?
I took a gamble on pulling the Nuetral Safety Start switch off a 2nd gen 4Runner. Only two problems. I'll have to remove a plastic lip on the switch that only helps orient the switch during installation. It won't be seen.
The second is the plug. The 1st gen is hard wired and plugs in to the harness with a pigtail. The 2nd gen plugs directly into the harness.
I can either go to a salvage yard and get a second gen plug which will require a little research of the EWD's or I can do surgery on the switches and swap the face plates. I'll look at them tonight.
06-17-2016, 11:11 AM
