So, it has taken me what seems like an eternity for me to get pics even uploaded onto my computer instead of stored on my phone. Well, I suppose now is as good a time as ever. Pardon my excessive use of the Iphone 4s camera, but I currently can't find my charger for my cannon.

Background:
I own a 87 4Runner which I purchased in 2006 from a fellow Marine. He was a mechanic and I am under the impression that prior to him, many other "mechanics" also owned the vehicle. Due to this fact, everything done on the vehicle seems to be more of an adventure than it should be.

Mods on Purchase for which I can take no credit:
-35" BFG A/T (It currently is running 33s because apparently CO state cannot do 33"+ on their emission rollers)
-Worlds heaviest roof rack custom made of square bar stock (finally slid off on the side of a freeway, and when my father-in-law went back for it was already aquired)
-I was told that the tranny was geared down to a ratio which I cannot remember now.
-4" Suspension lift
-Some wild dual exhaust system
-Breathers installed in the front and rear diff
-Some kind of crap sprayed all over everything underneath the vehicle. Whatever was sprayed on it was done by throwing caution and precision to the winds

THE BAD:
-Rust Rust Rust!!! Everywhere. Body could be close to shot depending on how much of a martyr I decide to be.
-Timing chain or guide rattle
-Leaking antifreeze from somewhere
-Leaking Oil, water, coolant? from EGR system or somewhere
-Rear Main leaking
-Front Oil Seal leaking
-Upper and lower Ball Joints
-Inner and Outer Tie Rod Ends
-Leaking rear wheel cylinder
-Interior wet, old, torn
-Dash broken, and generally not taken care of
-Leaf Springs were possibly re-welded badly
-Cracked boots, bushings, hoses abound
-Cracked windshield
-Sunroof detached from the housing causing it to blow off at around 80MPH(I duct taped it for a long time since that is what the previous owner did)

You may be asking yourself "My God, why would anyone take such poor care of a vehicle. Well, It was one of many, when I first got it. I trimmed down over the years and learned and cared more and more about 4runners and off-roading. Combine that with the fact that I have done back to back deployments and spend my money less intelligently than my wife would like.

It's no excuse really, but it was bad when I got it, and it just got worse. I only did maintenance to keep it alive and just barely. In 2009( I bought it in 06'), I was stationed in Germany and couldn't take the 4runner. I had to leave it with my father-in-law who used it as a daily driver. Before I left I dropped about 2k to make it survive the 3 year tour.

-Plugs, wires, Rotor, Cap
-Brake pads, rotors turned, new Master
-New clutch slave
-Switched the 35s to 33s
-Wheel Bearings
-Steering Linkage replaced to include Idler Arm
-Shocks front and rear replaced
-Water Pump, thermostat
and probably some other stuff that I forgot as my ledger dissapeared

and here we are.....Sorry for the build-up, but that way if you comment, you can just be like "dang man, why didn't you do it like this?" instead of "What happened to that thing????"

It began sporadically with
-New used sunroof
-Plugs, Cap, Rotor, Wires from the stealership
-Adjusted the valves, and timing
-Was forced to pay Commiefornia Emissions $500 to do something which included the addition of a Cat

I started ordering what was, for a poor guy like me, A LOT of parts. I'll try to annotate as best I can. This is my first post even though I have been a member for a minute so I will probably make mistakes...

This is what she looked like when I bought her

 

Oorah!!!! Welcome to YotaTech brotha not a bad runner but ditch the brush guard

 

Welcome to YT

Sounds like an epic project

 

What is the best way to continually edit this buildup? I would like to give you guys some better pics to catch up to the current work etc.

 

To really start this buildup I wanted to see how deep the rust issue really went. I stripped the seats, carpet, and rear interior panels. It was pretty bad! I found wires going to nothing, wires spliced incorrectly, ton of rust, and like a 1" layer of funk and what appears to be grease mixed with maybe rotted carpet glue covering everything. I even found some housing insulation stuffed in one of the rear quarter panels.

I went to costco and got the economy pack of WD-40, and sprayed generously. I then got a scuz brush and killed like two days of my life.

As any 4runner owner has likely experienced, the rear window relay was shot, so I jumped it down so I could remove the top

 

Maybe someone will tell me the way to upload more than one pic at a time.

 

Looks like a wonderful project!! I have never had issues posting as many pics as I want, are you using photobucket?

 

The yotatech app. I'll try from my laptop.

 

If you were to post a pic and then give a description would you embed the link or would you as an attachment

 

I don't see rust in either of the pictures =o.

Best way to post pics is host them on photobucket first then when your writing your post u can click the image button and insert the link to the image. or alternatively you can write [img] [./img] around the link to the photo without the period in it. Excited to see where this goes! welcome to the obsession!

 

Yeah, so sorry about the multiple posts, and about some of the dark pics. They get better. Here is the beginning...


Jumping the window






Removing the top



Spraying down the undercarriage bolts to prep


Since the Driverside seat fell apart when I took it out, I put the passenger on the driver side

 

damn, this will be a project BUT a worthwhile one. there were many reasons why i picked Lejeune over cali, one of which is there absolutely retarded emmisions reqs. and that fact that texas is so much closer to nc... the drive from cali to tx would've been almost 1k longer. F*** that.

my 82 p/u is pretty rough, needs lots of body love but is absolutely beautiful mechanically (now). semper gumby and what not.

 

Removing stuff...




Pulling out the A/C bracket bolt when I over torqued it attempting to put the bracket back on. I planned to put the new radiator on and while doing so decided to remove the A/C compressor bracket. When I started making cool oil puddles underneath I realized it was time to just do the whole timing cover and oil pan.

 

When air failed me, I decided to bump the engine to break the Crank Pulley bolt loose. Only problem was I didn't have a really good breaker bar. I settled for a ratchet and half the handle of my hydraulic jack...FAIL!


Regroup and coffee up


I went half inch breaker bar after that. Once I broke it loose, I tightened the bolt just slightly around a rag and moved it to TDC




Had like two pounds of dirt in my cross member. I decided to do the oil pan since I was doing the timing chain. To do this I went with lowering the diff.



Oil pan removed

 

Just some pics of how disgusting everything under the truck was








While cleaning the oil pan, I decided to make my High-Lift "High-Speed"...Repainted the red, took everything apart and regreased it. I also got some rattle can rubber and did the base of the jack and the handle.



Nasty timing chain and guides which I found about half of in the bottom of the pan



Pretty much everything removed except chain, sprockets, tensioner, and guides.


Working the jack. Cleaning and prepping the parts I am not replacing yet.


My upgrade

 

Everything removed. Now the real work begins




Uh...my hands were pretty dirty so I didn't get very many pics while cleaning stuff. New timing chain, gears, tensioner, and steel guides.



Now I have to upload some more photos from my phone...

 

motivation. dedication. yut, yut, rah and what not. loving all the goodies!

 

I'd kinda like to but some psycho welded it to the frame

 

angle grinder.

 

Well, I finally called All-Pro and found out all my brake stuff got sent to the wrong address so hopefully I won't have to wait too long to start the Disc conversion. I still need to find a front axle for the SAS as well. Here is the valve cover and oil pan.





Put the cover, oil pump, water pump, and oil pan on



A little more cleanup. Added brackets, crossmember, re-attached the diff.




Silicon radiator hoses, radiator, belts, and power steering pump. Some things I waited to clean until the next parts come. It would be pointless for me to clean all the IFS stuff when it is going away



This brings us to yesterday. I'm almost caught up. More to come...