two 4runners for $100! now that is some serious wheeling and dealing! i hope you have some kind of career that uses your fantastic negotiating skills and you are paid well for it; unless you are a lawyer for some sleeze-bucket.

good score to you good sir!


and, on the topic of my 4runner project... i can't believe it but i still do not have it in my possession yet! i called about insurance yesterday, then called the guy to see when i could pick it up and he said he'd call me tomorrow (today) and let me know when, so it might not even be today. then he made a comment (i'm sure he was joking, i hope!) to the effect of "maybe i'll change my mind and keep it" since it was taking awhile to seal the deal. doesn't sound like he's backing out, but i was a little shocked by that. i'm sure he's joking, yes, he's joking, joking for sure... that's a bad joke.

i've already inquired about new parts from Deathcougar, and then i found the link to toyotafiberglass.com and i think i may give it a try since it's already had problems with the rusting body. he's pretty backed up, wouldn't be able to get panels until august if i ordered now. i'm thinking i may fix up the body as much as i can, patch it up in places for the time being, slap on some fiberglass front fenders this year and maybe do the quarters next year.

that's the plan for now, it would be nice to not have to worry about spending money on panels that would rot a few years down the road.

 

talked to the guy today, says we can meet tomorrow and i can take it home with me!! also went out to the junk yard today and they have two 1st gen 4runners there. of course, the body panels are totally shot, but i'm going to nab:

various switches for future tinkering
parking brake cable
bracket for the fuel release knob
MAF
Roll Bar - to fix my mistakes on the one i bought for my 3rd gen
Grille and headlight surrounds (gray), has one little crack but i can fix it
vinyl floor in rear. i might convert the cargo portion to vinyl or just lay it over the carpet for protection.
and whatever else catches my eye when i'm there

i also talked to the guy parting his two 1st gens and he says he has lots of good rust free parts for me, fenders and tailgate too. i might hold off on the fenders unless they are cheap since i plan on going with fiberglass shortly. i wish i could buy the really nice one for a parts donor but it doesn't run and it's about an hour and a half drive away. we'll see what i come back with.

i think i'll just start a build thread here and update that when i have news and let this thread collect dust now. i'll also make a show off thread in the 1st gen section when i have time.

thanks for the warm welcome to this section, and i'll be talking to you all again i'm sure!

 

... and on the subject of your rear door/window not being operative, you'll probably want to unplug the harness in the left rear quarter where the jack is, pull it out and flop it up onto the tailgate, unwrap it, and fix toasted-broken wires in there. I have fixed many, that's usually what messes with the window operation.

 

thank you sir, i'll give that a try. much appreciated

 

Hey, I'm in need of a tailgate, shell or complete. If it's in Iowa, I could easily pick it up. Let me know if you know of one.

 

i went to the bone yard here locally. two 1st gens there, one had no tailgate and the other one was trashed. not much for body panels left, either gone, rusted, or beat to heck.

i'm going to hit up the guy parting out the two this weekend some time. i talked to him today and it sounds like he may have two in decent shape. so when i get back from spelunking i'll let you know what he's got.

i'm sure you've seen this before but they have fiberglass tailgate skins available at www.toyotafiberglass.com i haven't checked the condition of the one i'm buying but judging from the outside i don't know if there is enough good material to attach a new skin to. being in iowa, i assume you're in the same boat. btw, i checked out your 4runners and they are pretty sweet, look really clean to me.

i'll keep checking around though. Deathcougar said he's got rust free body parts but shipping would be a ton from WA. and i've been directed to YotaYard by a couple people as well. some one in the classifieds was looking for one and had some one offering one up but then the OP said he found one, i'll see if i can track that thread down and forward it to you.

man, this thread won't die!!!!

 

this will be the last update on this page... seriously, i promise this time

just got back from picking up the 4runner. looks like it burns a little oil but it's got almost 210k on it. the steering has a lot of play to it, i can turn the wheel a few inches in each direction and it won't move. they showed me the mechanic's suggestion for fixing it, something to do with the ball being pitted and worn down on the arm that connects to the drag link? i don't know, i have some research to do. i need to check out why the parking brake is not functional, i can foresee needing that since it is a manual transmission, but just throwing it in gear and not parking too steep will suffice for now.

when i got to the guy's house he had a stack of service records and parts purchase receipts to give me, so the history is pretty well documented. they also handed me a FSM for the vehicle! the real deal! then handed me all kinds of new and used parts that came off of it and need to be put back on. got a skid plate, and 3 out of 4 bushwacker fender flares (the 4th one flew off on the interstate and hasn't been see since). they told me that there are several other parts that need to be located since they are scattered around the house and garage and they'll call me as they find things.

heading out to the yard tomorrow to snag parts, and this weekend i'm going out to get other stuff from the other two that are being parted out.

good deal, needs a good cleaning and then i'm gonna get to work!