Fahrenheit 451

I gave the "two doors, a baby, and a car seat" a try and arrived at a very slow, kept changing my mind, painful, means parting with my other baby, but sticking to my guns decision: Time to give up on the '85 EFI 4Runner and go to a 90's model.
I'll pause a moment now....sigh.
So, here's the deal now. I am trying to find what I beginning to think is just as rare as an '85 EFI 4Runner, an early 90's 4Runner with a 4cyl, 5sp, no power windows, no power door locks, no airbags, no ABS none of that stuff. I want a truck. I want to take it out in the desert, run it through scrub, bang it on the occasional rock, back into the odd pinyon and not care.
I know there are fans of the v6, but frankly from everything I read, they scare me with their lousy mileage, gutless power, bad wristpins and headgaskets and I don't really want the big time hassle of swapping to a 3.4l although it sounds like it would make for a heck of a rig. Now that I have finally figured out what went wrong on my LCEngineering motor (the installer and the follow up garage both failed to properly set up the TPS and the truck ran very rich for a long time) I would actually even consider getting another 4 banger from them. Plenty of pony for me and with a 30lb flywheel I've been able to get everywhere I've tried to go and even got home again.
Anybody know of any good 90's around? So far, I have found a few online, but the sellers have not returned my emails. Surprisingly, I've come across some with pretty low mileage to boot which would be a bonus. I wouldn't mind holding off on having to stick in a new motor for a while since my immediate plans for the '90s Runner is a solid axle swap. Already have the $$ ready (or most of it anyway I'm hoping LOL!) for the swap and have started looking around for a shop I trust to do the work.
Although I am seriously tempted to park the '85 and keep it for fun and games, I really need to just send it on its way and learn how to live with a different truck after 11 years. It is an '85, EFI, solid axle, straight body, about 210k, but has some rust and dings and has had a whole bunch of work done on it as it was going to be my long term desert toy until my son Ben came along and changed those plans.
What it has had done in the last 3 1/2 years (about 36,000 miles on most stuff now, some more, some less):

LCEngineering EFI Pro motor, 94 mm pistons, performance head with oversized valves, taller cam, balanced, blueprinted, ported, polished, double row timing chain conversion (all those buzz words), K&N filter charger, big bore throttle body, O2 sensor, starter, alternator, radiator, new (not remans) balanced injectors, Jet Chip ECU upgrade to match the engine, headers, 2 1/4" exhaust, free flow cat and muffler, Spicer coarse spline rear slip yoke and stub, 31x10.50 Good year MTRs with low miles on them, black steel spoke rims, Dick Cepek Race 77 shocks at all 4 corners, braided stainless brake lines for 4" lift (has an antique Alcan 3" lift on it now), new brake master cylinder, new clutch master and slave cylinders, 30lb flywheel, heavy duty clutch and pressure plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, new front rotors and calipers, all U-joints...that is all that comes to mind at the moment. In all, probably well over $6,000 and maybe even over $7,000 worth of work. I quit keeping track after a while and I still kind of cringe when I think about it LOL!

Sounds pretty good, but there is a catch. Since the first mechanic set up the TPS wrong and the engine ran rich the rings are somewhat washed out and it uses oil. Also, this same guy (went back to him before I knew better) did the headgasket and didn't torque the head correctly since it has studs and not bolts. Studs take about 25ftlbs more than bolts. I got it hot getting it home, but it only slightly warped the head. It was machined and cleaned and all put back together properly and now it runs like a bear. I love to see people turn their heads in surprise when the see what they heard coming and find a little old 4Runner beside them!
Did I say bear? I should say Smokie the Bear. The valves were cleaned and new seals put on, but it still smokes alot when first fired up. Personally, if I was keeping it, I would break down the engine and just do rings and bearings. For the mechanically inclined you could have one hell of a good start on a trail rig for the price of rings and bearings.
Lastly, I will sell or trade the '85. I haven't come up with a price yet, but can come up with pics. I'll listen to offers and even reply, but I confess I'm still feeling the bite of all the $$ I stuck into it and am likely not going to part with it for cheap. If somebody can come up with a '90-95 Runner that I am looking for that meets the criteria, I would certainly trade and possibly pony up some $$ on my end depending on the vehicle. I would like something low mileage, unmodified and in good all around shape. I figure it'll last longer if I'm the first one that gets to beat on it some

Currently, I don't want anything newer than a '95. Mostly due to cost reasons for now. I don't want to start off with a bunch of money in something I'm going to be somewhat "not nice" with.
LMK if there is any interest and I'll start putting some pics together.

Duffdog

ok, first of all.....trying to find a 2door 90' hardtop 4runner is completely impossible. my mom had one, one of 500 made. Thats it, there are no more--it had a 6 cyl, but 5 speed and manual tranny and manual windows. To be completely honest, the 6 cyl has waaaaay more torque than the 4 cyl---although its not as bulletproof of an engine. i have a 4 cyl 89 runner--sorta slow if you know what i mean. I wouldnt mind having the v-6, even though its known for its problems. I would kind of like the extra 50hp that the v-6 has--if it was me, I would rebuild a v-6 91 runner with a better headgasket and leave it pretty much stock, they are known to run forever if you dont hot rod them around. or just screw it and put a 350 in the damn thing! then itll go...

just my opinion.

T

Fahrenheit 451

>>trying to find a 2door 90' hardtop 4runner is completely impossible<<

Think you missed the point. I'm getting out of having a 2 door 4Runner. If it was going to stay with a 2 door I'd just keep the '85.
As far as 2 doors being hard to find, they aren't. I could have bought 4 in the last month alone. Just takes a bit of looking

Duffdog

no way-- you saw a 2 door hardtop??? those are collectors items. they were only made for 1 month in 1990. thats strange that you saw 4 2 door hardtops in 1 month. i dont think that finding a 4 door would be any challenge at all....they are all over the place, falling from the sky in some places.


T

Brendan

2 door 4runners were available in 1990, 91 & 92. They are far from collector's items. I wouldn't even say that they're rare. Not around here anyways. I bet I see one every second day driving around. And no, it's not the same one that I see each time either.

Fahrenheit 451

>>i dont think that finding a 4 door would be any challenge at all....they are all over the place, falling from the sky in some places<<

V6 4 doors are everywhere. There is a plague of them. Finding a 4 door with a 4cyl and a 5 speed is proving much more difficult. I've actually only come across about a half dozen now (all on the internet, none locally) and one I kind of liked with very low mileage had one minor problem; Chicago is just a bit more of drive from Colorado than I am willing to do

toy283

He's talking about '90 4Runners with a removable top. Those are indeed very rare. Rare enough that I believe they are actually late '89 models.

slooney

Fahrenheit 451-

Let me get some clarification-

You want an early 90's ('95 and back) four door, 4 cyl, hardtop, 4wd, 5 speed, 4runner- if possible, no power windows or doors, as basic as they come, yes?

I'm in Denver (yeah, I know) and can check out vehicles you're interested in for you if you're looking for someone to cull the total dogs from the possiblities before you drive across the state.

Lemme know-

Steve