This morning I went to measure around the rear glass of the topper how much butyl foam tape I actually need and it turns out that with one roll of this butyl foam tape I maybe able to do both rear sides windows of the topper. Later this afternoon I'll have to check and see how much of the solid butyl tape I have to use, but I think it'll be just a little more that a roll to both sides of the topper.

 

I think you can start a build thread on your SunRader on this section. I dont know what it would cost, but I have just about got every good part off of this camper in my local yard, and I think it has the axle you are looking for. Not sure what cost of shipping would be. I can get you the phone number to them. It is an 86 two wheel drive and has the heavier axle in it. I think it is dual tire as well. I will try and get some pics of it next week as I plan on going there again.

Those trucks look bad, but still a ton of good parts on them. I got to strip a junk truck and the guy was surprised at what all I was getting. He thought it was bad all the way around. Once I showed what all was still good and what I work on, he was glad to see them not go to waste.

 

Finally got around to putting that butyl foam ribbon on the rear glass of the topper. I got couple of pics, not much I'll post them later. It seems that all I needed for the rear glasses was one roll of butyl foam ribbon. From that roll I have about 2 feet left over. That means I over estimated what I needed. I purchased a case which was cheaper than buying just one roll.

I want to start on the front topper sliding glasses, but I've been busy with work. Even on my days off they call me up because of of issues and on some occasions on my off I get called in and my drive is 135 miles one way.

I almost got a hold of a 1986 4runner SR5 Fully loaded. A/C rear rear heater for the back passengers, power door locks, power windows, moon roof, etc... It was 475 miles away from me one way. I was trying to negotiate with him to hold the truck I will send $ to hold it till I could pick it up but he was in a hurry. He ended up selling it the same day I talked to him. He wanted only $850 for it. I missed out on that deal, the parts are worth more that that.

 

I have never seen what the rear AC looks like. I have heard of it and would like to see one.

 

Me too Terry, I would love to see one up close and personal. The was another SR5 1989 22re 4Runner up on craigslist in my area with power windows, I tried emailing them, but they never answered and the ad disappeared after several days. Seems like they are flying off the shelf these days.

 

it's really annoying now I've been typing for about 2 or 3 minutes and the site logs me out and all that i type is gone. this has happened over the past 3 weeks now so I get frustrated and walk away from posting.

I'm going to try one more time.

 

Since I’m typing the same thing over again, I’m using word to type it out. It is frustrating the length of time you have to write something and the site logs you out without warning.

Anyhow, this week I had a little time to finish off something I needed to around the house, so I thought I would rush through most of them including yard work. While I was trimming some plants I ended up cutting a small chunk of finger off. I looked at it and saw the index finger flat at the tip and grabbed it and squeezed and walked into the house over to the kitchen and started rinsing the finger. My wife was there and looked over and starts screaming that we need to go to the hospital. I rinsed and yup a little less than an 1/8 was missing, I guess this is what you call flat top. I started laughing and my wife said how can I laugh and joke about it. I told her it’s gone nothing you can do about it. She got all nauseous because of it bleeding as profusely as it was and now blood all over the kitchen sink. I wrapped it up and squeezed and ran down to the drug store (I hate hospitals and doctor visits) and purchased some gauze and woudseal. The woundseal stopped the bleeding, but I have to tell you it hurt worse than the cut itself. Felt like someone poured lemon on that would and the pain lasted about 2 hours. It really didn’t hurt at all before that. Now it’s all bandaged up and under a thumb glove or finger condom.
Rushing to get done with stuff is worse than just working through it at a steady pace. Now I am sure not going to get anything done in the next 2 weeks. Looks like murphy’s law is at work here.

 

Ouch!!! A friend of mines did lost the very tip of his finger and did about the same thing. He said not much a doctor could do so didnt go to doctor. Hurrying nearly buggered me up for a while recently. It took a couple of weeks to recover from that moment of haste. Hope you heal well and keep it from getting infected.

 

Hey Terry, Thanks...
Like all the recent events happening around me it all seems to take away from my daily activities that I had planned. It is healing up pretty quick, I bump the finger and that hurts the most, changing bandages is an obstacle.

I really want to get something done on the truck, I'm going to try and finish the putting on the sliding glass on the topper so I can pop that on the truck this week. Let see if I can finally get that much done this week while I have time after my chores around the house.

I am really looking to also paint the truck this year back to stock or close to the stock color. Long story short I have been having so much trouble our Nissan Xterra truck it has also been keeping busy. The tranny had the well known radiator to tranny contamination issue, so I ended up getting another tranny. Those xtera Tranny's are very expensive if you ask me. The cheapest out of a junkyard is $1600 with 90 days. The parts store wants $2800 with core for a rebuilt one and the dealer wanted $4000. I ended up telling the dealer that this is a known issue and should have been recalled for faulty product, but didn't stay around to discuss that with them. I won't be buying another nissan anytime soon. The tranny I got was from a mechanic at the dealer who does work on the side repairing cars for a guy who a parts for one vehicle they are repairing. The tranny he was left over so they gave him the extras. I ended up getting it for half the cost of a junkyard and a little tech support for the mechanic. Not to shabby.

Anyhow the reason for this Nissan thing is I like there new tech on their car, but hate the engineering and soundness of the cars, but this one thing they add to the car seems very interesting to me.

[YOUTUBE] [/YOUTUBE]

It's nanotechnology and it may soon put your car washes and car wax companies out of business.

 

Before i posted the above product of nanotechnology, i wentout and purchased a new 4-cycle weed eater which i've needed for the past 2 months, the edges along the house and property line are terrible including the sidewalk. I am grateful that the neighbors haven't complained, although my neighbor the airplane mechanic who I saw the other day was wondering what was going on. My weed eaters pretty much all died the johndere was the best ever, but just had didn't have the time to work on it so I ended up junking it. Now comes the hard part trimming all those areas with over grown grass that the mower couldn't reach over the past 2 months.

Anyhow, I checked my phone I wanted to post some pics of the portion of the topper I finished which was the back window, but looks like none of them came out to good. I'll take a picture of it finished tomorrow as I intend to try and put at least one side on of the sliding glass tomorrow.




You can't see much on this picture, but it was the only one that I could recognize anything. It the bottom of the windows area showing the foam butyl tape ready for the glass.

 

Over the past several weeks or month now I have had very little to post as I have been consumed at work and with home chores that I couldn't even get to with the weather. Since working so far away I have had the benefit of getting some parts of for my truck. I don't have to worry about finding a block or head anytime in the future since I got two of them a while back along with transmissions and transfer case. I've got a few electric parts out of the trucks like extra relays. I think I'm happy with all the stuff I've collected so far since I don't have to pay for any of it. I even got an extra set of topper glasses.

There are 2 second generation 4runners that rolled in one stripped down to bare bones and the other almost complete I am trying to get the brakes calipers off the one, but couldn't because it was pushed so far back i couldn't get at it even after moving a bunch of cars out of the way. I was looking to get the MC and the calipers out of it.

The second gen that was stripped of everything had the skid plate in the back seat and I forgot to grab that and that was up for destruction today. I'm going to call the crane operator to see if he could grab it out of the back seat for me. they do fit because I got one a while back out of a second gen and they fit.

A few days ago a 1 first gen 4runner rolled in on a trailer stripped of chassis and everything I got a few pieces of of it but everything else was either destroyed or stripped out. It had the door buzzer which made me happy for a second as when I grabbed it as it dangled under the dash and cut the wires to take the entire connectors I saw the case was cracked open and the board as I could see through the crack was broken or cracked.

I forgot the center console even as bad as it was had the switches for the up/down and the wipe, no lock button though. I was also able to get the relay for the rear window which was left behind untouched. Consider myself lucky for that. CoryC85 this is the truck I am trying to get that part for you if it is still there we I get back I'm going to see if I can flip it to dump all that garbage inside it and reach back there to get it.

Well, i'm still waiting on a toyota pickup 4x4 to roll in so i could use on my sunrader, nothing yet but still wishing.

 

Got a bunch of things out of the way this week around the house. Started putting on the sliding glass for the topper, but once I got to putting the L-Trim on I notice I needed some more tape not shown or detailed on the FSM. There is a very thin layer of butyl tape between the trim and the frame which I think i'll use some butyl flashing from the hardware store. Then there are the smaller gaskets that I think I'm going to have to adhere with some liquid butyl. I guess I'll have to pick it up this sunday.

Sure wish I had looked further into it before today as I really wanted to finish.

 

I like the looks of the older Nissans and they are known for being great trucks. My dad has two of them and they have been great and he will always stay with them. Seems like most are either a Toyota, Nissan, or Honda and usually wont switch from one to the other. I like Nissans and their quality but in my opinion they are more expensive to work on.

The quality of mowers and weed eaters isn't what it used to be. When I was a kid we beat our mowers took a beating. We turned a rough field into a yard and the mowers would last forever. Now I have to buy a new mower every other year it seems. Not just mowers, refrigerators, washers, dryers and stoves and stuff are junk now.

No matter how far I look into things, seems like I always forget something or just don't know about it until I get to that stage.

Seems like I have a thousand parts and never the ones I need or have enough of. On the 2nd gens, the dome lights are built better then our first gens. Supposed to be an easy fix to make them work in our first gens. I still need to get mine installed. Just trying to get the time to get things done does add up.

 

Hey Terry,

Things don't seem to be made like the old days. Build them then replace them. I think it use to be Build them, Fix them, Fix Them, Fix, then replace them. I use to have a craftman mower that lasted more than 15 yrs, The mower was my parents then they decided to buy a new one and that was a head ache that newer mower spent more time at the sears repair shop than it did cutting the lawn. I had that left over mower for about 8yrs before I ended up dumping it. The only reason why I did was it finally cracked casing and there was no repairing it. I bought a new mower from Sears craftsman paid something like $469 for it and the first thing was it wouldn't crank took it back the next day and they asked me how long have I had it.
Gee I was in the day before purchasing it and the receipt says the same. The gave me the run around that I would have to take it to the repair center to have them look at it, that was another 20 minutes of argument and then I told them I would need a full refund, box and all the items are there and it hasn't been used, so a refund is due. After stating that they ended up giving me another and that has been nothing but trouble for the past 3 yrs and I've only had it for 4 yrs. Next I'll end up buying a troybuilt and see how that works out.

 

I tried posting this yesterday, but there must be something I'm not paying attention too. I am logged in as usual, but when i hit submit it tells me that i need to go back and refresh my page before submitting. When I go back my entry is gone yet I'm still logged in. This similar stuff has been to often now and it maybe something to do with the browser a update or plugin... From being logged out to errors with my submission, kind of make me think its the browser and its history/cookies/security. Got set aside a little time to review this. It's just frustrating when you type a bunch and to have it gone in 60 seconds...


Anyhow I finally got around to putting those sliding glasses on the topper, not to my pleasing as again I hate doing things in hastily as it always ends up with undesired finishes. I’m trying to cram as much as I can do with what time I have.


I was at a Truck parts store buying some parts for a Mack Truck for the company when I saw a gasket/weather stripping glue as you all know these gasket/weather stripping around the truck are no longer available from the dealer so you have to make do with whatever you can. I did order something similar from the auto parts store, but saw that this was a professional grade whatever that really means. I haven’t picked up the one from the auto parts store as the cost was $9 and change, the one I got at the truck parts store was $3 and change. Turns out it smells like rubber adhesive and the directions are similar to rubber adhesive you ended up putting a little glue on each sides of the pieces that you indented to glue then wait a little till they are tacky then put them together. Holds pretty good, but for how long is the question.





I also picked up some rubber weather stripping from the hardware store which I’ve been looking for to put on the bottom part of the window frame between the L-trim and the frame. Seems to fit pretty well a little thicker than what was originally there. Also as a key note, I notice some rust rings on the frame and have determined it coming from the folds/creases that can’t really be spray painted. I think the best way to handle this would be to dip it in paint or primer sealing the areas that can’t be reached by normal painting.





Okay got to glue the weather striping’s on looks to be holding on so far. Not color I was expecting which is a yellow color the one I ordered from the auto parts store was black, now thinking I should have gone and picked it up, still have time to as the order will be canceled in a few days if I don’t pick it up


Stripping around the L-trim glue on the trim and on the stripping.

Glued on the weather stripping around the top part of the frame.



I thought I snapped a few pictures of the butyl tape around the open after I place it on there, but can’t seem to find any of those pictures. What I did learn since is that once the tape is around the opening it would be best to take a spatula and flatten it down a little before you put the window frame up. This helps prevent what I did wrong doing it hastily. Plus stretching it as you put it on helps as well, at least with the butyl tape I’m using, the stuff is great and it won’t hurt to stretch it a little as it is very sticky. I really like this stuck and can see why they used it. It is however a pain to remove/clean up without the right type of cleaner.


Since I didn’t flatten or stretch the butyl tape prior to putting up the frame (this is where it all went bad) I had to use some clamps to tighten it up. Works great, but if you not patient and in a rush you can make the same mistake I did which I will be paying for in the long run. Since I didn’t flatten the butyl tape prior to putting the frame on I should have put the clamps on and tighten them little by little as the tape soften and flatten out with the pressure and heat of the day. I just put the clamps on and cranked away big mistake very big in my opinion. I should have tighten a little waited and come back and tighten a little more as I did on the second window.





And here's what ends up happening when up just crank it up.


I showed it to someone and they said just bondo it up as it is just like a dent on the body. I’d rather later on just take them off and repair them the proper way, but that’s not happen for a while.


Now I have a little experience and learned a lot with this topper, that I can move forward and do a little better with the next one.

 

I hear you on new equipment/ tools and basically everything made today.

I really try to hang onto stuff that was made before my time. Tools/ parts/ equipment, etc... Stuff that can be rebuilt and used for many more years, then rebuilt again.

I have had the same experience with lawn tractors. I had an old 71 craftsman lawn tractor that I used up until the mid 2000's. All while my dad bought one in 99 and had nothing but problems with it.

I even have old Wilton vise's that I still use and another really old vise made in OH from the 40's. You can still fix and replace parts on them.



You got a lot of work done on those windows. Sorry about what happened with the clamps. I understand your frustration, and also your desire to fix it right.

I always get in a hurry when I do things, and in the end , I typically end up re doing them again later.

 

Thanks Gizler, I wish I could get more done. I'm having issues with that butyl tape the one that helped me crease the L-trim, it doesn't seem to be sticking like it should. I've contacted the company who sold it to me which I'm thinking is a shell company for the manufacture. The Butyl tape i used is also used for the rear glass on the tundra. The company replied back almost instantly and i sent them the information they requested and I'm just waiting for a reply.

My next task which I've started by taking off the rear interior panels is to paint and fix them. Just wish I had more time as cumbersome as my time is i ended up as I expert witness in a case down here is South Florida. Just hopping they don't need me or should I say hope I not called upon.

I guess most of the older guys here have the same problem, "They don't make them like they use too" And the new terms for this century is "It broke, go down to the store and get a new one"

My problem is not that I prefer to fix it, but when I hear "they don't make that part anymore"

 

I have always been interested in crime cases and thought I wanted to set on a murder case we had here. I didn't get picked and after I seen the ones that did had to stay in a hotel until after the case, I want no part of that.

There really isn't nothing that last any more. Washers, dryers, mowers, weed eaters, appliances... My parents had things that lasted 20 years or better. Most of this stuff I have to replace on regular basis and I fix what I can but some is just poorly built.

 

Haven't been working on my truck much just bits and pieces, but little things I've done seem to be a mountain now considering the lack of time I've had over the past several months. I've hauled home 2 transmissions this past week and when I have time i want to clean them up. Ones a forward shifter the other a top shifter. I'm trying to haul back 2 22re motors that I got several months ago, but I have to dismantle them to get them into the truck of the car. I started dismantling one yesterday and found one of the head bolt seized, broke a 25 year old impact socket I've had since day one, cracked it up, kind of hard to digest that one since that set seemed like kind of the family because of owning it for so long. Guess I'm head over to HF to buy a set. I'm going to spray that head bolt with some SeaFoam to see if I can loosen it up with out breaking the head off. If I do break it off I guess I'd have to use a plumbers wrench to get it off after that.

I'll end up partially rebuilding them if I can, then putting them aside for just in case. I think I ended up buying a 80' 4x4 pickup truck sight unseen just haven't had the time to go see it. If its any good I'll ended up using it for the sunrader I purchased sight unseen as well. Just need to transport all them home.

 

Post some picks of the 80. Like seeing the first gen trucks. One of them is on my list someday. I had a long bed and just like the short beds so much better.