I have not made a build up thread for my 'runner, but i have definately made some progress on the vehicle over the last year. I am trying to organise some photos for a build thread later on down the road. But here is how she sits now! Just took the fiberglass shell off today after getting the rear window to roll down.

 

Nice lookn' 86 man. Thats ironic, I have pretty much the same 86' runner as you,bought last year as well and rebuilt the motor in it. Just got the back window to roll down as well. Did the key hole get seized up on yours? I hate to soak the contact pads on the switch down in wd-40 heavily but was able to get it to work.

 

Well, the electric motor works. The key into the tailgate and the console switch dont work. So its either the switch or even the relay behind the driver side panel! What i did, was take the battery out of the engine compartment and placed it in the cargo area, unplugged the plug from the motor, ran some wire to the battery and rolled it down using just the battery! If its the relay, then i might just as well replace it with maybe like a 9v DC Relay from Radio Shack and solder it in. But i love it with the top off!

 

Right on man! Haven't gotten to drive mine top-less yet, but soon. I'm in the process painting it, and replacing my entire front end steering and cv axles. Nice trick with the battery btw, good luck with the relay. Also try cleaning the console switch parts.

 

Haha yeah, that's exactly what i did just the other day too! I took the console switch out, took it all apart and soked in in HOT soapy water for a few hours and let it dry out thouroughly and give it another try. I still think its the relay because I dont hear anything coming from it when activating the switch! Good luck with your cv's and paint job. I painted mine with rattle cans and when it was said and done it cost me about $75 which is not too bad. After all, it is a Tahoe vehicle. haha

 

In my build thread, I have been through the tailgate quite a bit. As far as the relay, I found some info and posted it in my build thread. Look on my first post to locate the fixes I had to do. Hope this helps.

 

Did you get the window working?

 

i ended up bypassing the whole rear window relay. and wiring in a switch out of a mercedes to roll my window up and down. only downside for some people may be tht the rear wiper will not work, if done this way