Rust or Engine
 

I'm looking at 2 4Runners. Both at manual 4x4 $1000. One has an engine that runs great but has a lot of rust around the wheel wells so it would need front and back need to be replaced. I was thinking of those fiberglass parts. The other one has a nice body but needs the engine rebuilt.

Which one should I get?

What are you better at...bodywork or wrenching?

i would buy the one with the bad engine. my body work skills are god aweful so i try to avoid it at all costs. I am much better at mechanical stuff.

Are you familiar with body work at all?

I'm better with a wrench. I did a bit of bondo work on my MR2 and it was a pain because it had to look perfect. I've never welded but would love to learn. On a 4Runner I'd wouldn't care as much about the body because I'd be taking it off road a lot. Then again I'd love to tear down an engine and rebuild it. My dad told me to buy both and swap the engine.

I kind of line those high clearance rear panels from http://www.toyotafiberglass.com/

That sounds like a good plan. :wrench:

Your dad is a smart man. My 87 4runner cost me more than $2000 then I had to put an engine into it.

I think your dad is a very smart man. Buy both, swap engines, and save or sell the rest of the parts! It's always nice to have extra parts...

And $2000 and some elbow grease for a nice running, nice looking truck is a good deal. I don't care what anyone says.

X2 on both,park the bad one behind the barn!!!

Here are some images of the rusty one. The other one with the good body is red with that awful interior color.

http://mr2.bishopart.com/wp-content/...2/27874864.jpg
http://mr2.bishopart.com/wp-content/...2/27874862.jpg


This one at least runs. I may buy it just drop the whole thing in a acid bath and replace the rear quarter with fiberglass.

Do they both have the same engine?

Yes they both have 22re. How much rust can the rear axles have and still be repairable? or what would it cost to swap a rear axle if I do the work myself?

I am in the buy both crowd. If you can swap the engine yourself. $2000 for one 4R with a good body and good engine is a steal. It maybe a hassle but you should have spare part to sell.

I found one on ebay that is close by:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

I may buy the non running 4runner and just rebuild the engine myself. It would take more time but I don't think it would cost more than $500.

Here is the non running 4Runner:

http://mr2.bishopart.com/wp-content/...2/28377075.jpg

You guys will love this. I was able to coordinate borrowing a friends Chevy 1500 pickup and another friends dual axle trailer to pick up the red non running 4Runner. The Chevy brakes down on the side of the highway on my way to pick up the trailer. The owner of the red non running 4Runner call me up to work out a few details for the sale. I told him I had broke down and didn't know if I'd be able to come get the truck. The owner then volunteered to drive the 90 minutes and deliver the red 4Runner to my home. I may have to wait till Monday or later which is a bit of a bummer. I wanted to rip that engine out on Saturday and work on it over the 3 day weekend.

After I pull the engine and look at the damage I'll evaluate buying the second 4Runner with the good engine. Anyone know of any quality rebuild kits?

What did the owner say is wrong with the engine? How many miles are on it?

I was told that the engine got very hot and they found water in the oil. I'm thinking a gasket failed and leaked coolant into the wrong place.

Yea been there. The reason I asked how many miles is because if they aren't too high then you may want to fix it. When that happened to me I pulled the head gasket and it did not appear blown. Not good, now I'm wondering if something is cracked: so with 223,000mi I just rebuilt.
Cant hurt to run a compression test.
Anyway since i am rambling I think that if I had to choose one I would go with the red one. It looks pretty clean and the white one looks really bad and I assume that the motor in it is no spring chicken. By the time you get the red one back on the road you will have a new intimate love hate relationship.

The red one has 200k and the white one has 187k. The white engine was rebuilt not too long ago. I'm going at noon today to check out the white one and see how it would work out as a donor. I found out I can get $130 from the recycling center for a gutted frame with no engine transmission or wheels.

Well the truck showed up. It's dark outside and we couldn't push it up my steep drive way so you'll have to wait till Sunday to see pictures. I'll be starting a build up thread.