svdude's 87 4 Runner build up
 

Here it is... this is my 87 4runner that I bought originally with a 22rte motor in it. I spun the #3 rod bearing so I am in the mix of rebuilding the motor. I am ditching the turbo setup and going with a mildly built 22re.

As the 4runner sits now I put in a 5 inch TG lift in the rear:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300373.jpg

I took the axle apart and cleaned everything up. Sanded the axle down to the metal and repainted it. The guts are stock (for now).

While I was working in the read end I couldn't stand to look at the old nasty gas tank. Plus, I had to pull it to grind and weld the new rear spring mounts. So It got a good cleaning, and sanded down to the metal. I re coated it in a rubberized undercoating. Now it looks brand spanking new :)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300374.jpg


4 inch rough country IFS lift in the front (only till I do my SAS):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300191.jpg
Yes, the p/o had an intercooler on a t4 turbo that was too big for this motor, not to mention any time I gave it gas the ECU would cut the fuel. That turbo didn't last long. I put a stock turbo on it ASAP!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300318.jpg



Engine before (best pic I could find):
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/IMAG0251.jpg

I picked up a rebuildable assembled 22re short block for $50. That block, crank, and connecting rods are at the machine shop now. The machine shop is going to deck the block, bore .030 over, hot tank and chase all the threads. They are also going to grind the crank .010, R&R all the sludge traps and recondition the rods. All the other little misc parts and pieces are going to them tomorrow for a bath in their hot tank.

As for the engine build, I ordered my rebuild kit from engnbldr along with a 268 cam. I am also going to order a street RV head tomorrow. Hopefully with the block being .030 over, 268 cam, and a street RV head, this should give me about 140HP.

So here's the progress:
Engine bay as it sits right now:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300358.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300359.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300360.jpg

Today I'll clean the snot out of the whole area and make it all new and pretty.

The wiring harness:
:barf:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300361.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300362.jpg

The plans here are to clean the whole harness and re-wrap it in some new loom. The plug for the fuel injector is rigged by twisted wire (thanks to the po), so that will get soldered and cleaned up.


And a rusted out battery tray from a po's bad battery:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300357.jpg

I'll find a replacement from someone who is willing to cut that section out from a parts truck and weld it in.

That's about all I have for now. I'll hopefully the engine done in a week or so... then it's on to the interior.

I am kinda new to all of this, this is the first vehicle I have taken on as a project. I have been bending wrenches on various things for a while, but never anything like this. So, any input is welcomed and even if it seems to be common sense, your input is appreciated!

**if anyone cares (it's still a toyota forum), here's a build thread I did on my 2010 tundra. I needed a spot for some 12" sub woofers and couldn't fit them under the rear seat. I cut the floor board and put some subs under the carpet:
http://www.tundratalk.net/forums/tun...ubs-floor.html

****mods please move to build up section**** didn't realize i put it in the truck tech.

looks like a great start, looking forward to progress

Mine is in the same state at the moment. While I wait on the machine shop to get EB's parts, I have been busy cleaning all the components. I have most of the frame rails cleaned up (what a mess). I have been compounding/waxing the inner finders and firewall too. My battery area is not as bad as yours but close. I plan to mask, paint with Ospho rust converter and prime/Paint. Of course if I want it to stay pristine I need to rebuild my steering box and pump soon.

I will probably wait on putting the new wrap on the loom as the only corrugated split loom I can buy locally is cheap thin crap (Home Depot)

Good luck

So I pretty much have nothing but busy work until next week when I get my motor and parts back from the engine shop. So, I pressure washed the engine bay and the undercarriage of the 4runner 3 times after letting it soak a few times with a ZEP industrial concentrate de-greaser.

It's not perfect, but it is MUCH better:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300375.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300376.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300377.jpg


I also cleaned the snot out of the distributor and put some paint on it:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300378.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300379.jpg

That's all for now. Tomorrow I'm going to make a trip to the machine shop to deliver a box of misc parts for the hot tank. I'll probably clean up some of the wiring and hoses in the engine bay. I didn't take any pictures, but I also re-wrapped the engine wiring harness with new electrical tape. I have some wire loom on order so everything under the hood will get new wire loom.

Get it online. You can get a pretty good price off of ebay. A buddy of mine owns a stereo shop so I just buy some from him.

You are off to a good start. Its looking good. Looking forward to your progress. I need to get my battery tray repaired, so will be seeing how yours goes. I have never seen a 22ret, yours is a rare 4Runner. Dont know about SASing, but if you have questions I can answer, just holler.

Still waiting on the machine shop to give me my junk back. :)

But I scrubbed the engine bay again to try and get it better. I also picked up a n/a AFM, cleaned it up and threw on a nice coat of gloss black.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300382.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300383.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300384.jpg

I yanked out the power steering res. and pump to clean them up and throw some gloss black on them. They are hanging in the garage drying now so I'll post pics tomorrow when I get everything put back together.

Lot's of fun ahead of you there! She'll be sweet for sure when you get'r done.

Well... I haven't got much done lately. I've had a fever since saturday and I think I finally broke it. So I spent some time in the garage today! I picked up my block and connecting rods from the shop today, I got my rebuild kit in on Monday, and my Street RV head in yesterday. I wasn't happy with the hot tank job that was done on the motor so I taped the snot out of it and plugged all the bolt holes. I'm going to carefully sand blast the block before painting it.

I am however very happy with how all my little parts came out from the hot tank. They will be getting painted tomorrow.

I needed to order a new crank shaft, and I also ordered an LCE Header but they are on backorder for 3-4 weeks. Too bad, I was excited about driving my 4runner sooner!

Here's what I got for the porn so far:

New head, there's a box beside it that has a 268 cam in it too :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300385.jpg

I painted the p/s reservoir (already installed in the engine bay), p/s pump, and other brackets with it:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300386.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300387.jpg

The block all prepped and ready for sand blasting then paint:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300388.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300389.jpg

Progress is slow but detailed... I think.

I'm not in too much of a hurry, I don't have my crankshaft yet so I cannot do too much in the way of assembly. My pile of painted parts on the bench is growing and I put some high temp paint on the block. The block is fit for a smurf :)


Pile of cleaned and painted parts :)

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300392.jpg

Pretty fuel rail :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300393.jpg

And the blue block!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300390.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300391.jpg

looks good

Theat the good thing about waiting on parts. Always something to do. Looking good.

how much was the crank on yours? Ive recently spun a rod on my 22re and working on pulling the engine. Prolly rebuild since ill have it out...

I was going to have the crank grinded .10 then polished but the machine shop said it will take them a couple weeks to get to it. Their crank guy was out for a while and I didn't have that much time. Plus, it was going to cost about $150 to get that done. I found a brand new crank with no core required for $150 with free shipping.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Toyot...Q5fAccessories

So for the last week or so I have been waiting on parts to come in the mail to start putting this motor together. I got the new crank in but then I had to send the over sized main and rod bearings back and get standard ones, had to wait for them. Thanks to Ted at engnbldr he shipped the new bearings right away, before I sent him money for shipping or sent him the over sized bearings. Thanks Ted! (fiy: engnbldr is by far the best place to work with to get parts or answers about the 22re!)

Anyways, I got some assembly done today. I put the crank shaft, pistons, and a few external goodies bolted on. I took some measurements of the quench on the pistons and I am very happy with the results!

Quench Measurements:
Cyl #1: .017
Cyl #2: .018
Cyl #3: .020
Cyl #4: .017

According to an article that I found that was written by Ted at engnbldr, anything within +/- .006 is excellent! Mine is +/- .003! So far I am happy with the work that was done by the machine shop!

Anyways, enough talk, here's some porn:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300394.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300395.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300396.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300398.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300397.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300399.jpg

I need to get some crank keys because the new crank shaft didn't come with any keys! ARGH!!

I got a bit more done... it's been hard to get time to work on this thing! Anyways, at this pace I'll have the motor in tomorrow. My headers are on back order from LCE, but I should have them by the 20th.

Here is what I have so far:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300406.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300407.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300408.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300409.jpg

I need to get some hardware and some plugs for the thermostat housing. This WAS a 22rte motor (except the block) so the thermostat housing has two un-needed spots for sensors. Hopefully I'll have this motor 100% ready to be dropped in by tonight, then take tomorrow to install it and finish everything up. :)

It's been a while since this has been updated but I've finally finished everything!

Just a little bit of filling in the blanks... I got the motor installed and put on the LCE Headers, welded the old exhaust together. I had to use a 2.5"/2.25" reducer for the LCE header. I also fabricated a new mount for the AFM because I got rid of the box style air filter and assembly. I am now using a cone filter.

Here is the AFM bracket I built:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300424.jpg

And the finished result:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300425.jpg

I just finished the first 100 mile oil change and valve adjustment. All I have to say is WOW!! This is far from a race car but it has a LOT more power than my old RTE motor that I had in it previously. With the few performance mods that I put in it (bore .030, RV Head, 268 cam, LCE Header), I can definitely feel the power that this little 4 banger is putting out. My 4runner is on a 5 inch lift with 33's and stock gearing and I have no problem getting up to speed or maintaining speed going up hills. I haven't even ran it hard yet and it's definitely making me very happy!!

Next mod: SAS!!

Nice work, sounds like you built a nice motor

I have neglected this site and have posted my progress on t4r.org. I figured I might as well update this one. I have done a handful of things to the runner since I built the motor so here is all of the progress.

So I built some rock sliders using 1 3/4 HREW square tubing. Total length is 66 inches so they are pretty much flush with each fender. They stick out about 4 inches from the body so they're flush with the edge of each fender.

Front view:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300431.jpg

Rear:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300432.jpg

Welds: (not the best but I'm no pro at welding... good penetration and definitely strong welds)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300434.jpg



I also added some 35x12.5x15 Mickey Thompson Baja Claws on some 15x10 steelies:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300433.jpg

I also added an SR5 cluster... nothing special, but it's nice having a tach and an oil psi gauge instead of just an idiot light.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300464.jpg

A few updates:
First, I replaced the knock sensor, o2 sensor, water temp sensor and got another AFM and painted it to match the engine bay. I also got an awesome deal on a cone filter so I replaced it as well.

The new AFM and filter setup, the idle is much more consistent and no more fluctuation.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300522.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300523.jpg

I was also running steel wheels and I switched to some aluminum ones. I thought the steelies were robbing too much power for rotating mass. I got some polished aluminum rims and sanded them down to nothing. Then I used some self etching primer and hit them with a metallic charcoal top coat.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300521.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300520.jpg

I also needed to more the rear axle forward a bit to get rid of a rubbing issue while flexed. So, like a photo whore that I am... I took a few poser pics. The flex isn't too impressive in this picture but it still gives a decent perspective of what it can do :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300458.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300455.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300456.jpg

I installed my LCE under drive pulley kit, deleted the A/C system and the belt driven fan, and installed an electric fan using a permacool unit and a 16" hayden fan.

Pics of the under drive kit:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300524.jpg
Buh-bye air conditioner:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300525.jpg

Here's the fan with all the wiring cut to length.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300526.jpg
All connections soldered and heat shrink wrapped.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300527.jpg

Built some quick brackets to hold the fan to the backside of the radiator. And of course, they had to be painted blue :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300528.jpg

Fan installed:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300529.jpg

All wiring wrapped in split loom tubing:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300530.jpg

For now the permacool unit is attached to the radiator using velcro. I'll keep an eye on it and if it seems as if it doesn't hold up then I'll build a permanent mount that will screw to the core support.

It's a little tight but everything fits well
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300531.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300532.jpg

So far everything works very well. The radiator hasn't gotten hot enough to turn the fan on (thermostat is set at 180*) but I used my heat gun on the sensor to get it hot enough to turn the fan on.

Between the under drive pulley taking nearly 10 lbs of rotating mass off of the crank shaft, deleting the a/c and belt driven fan, and all my previous motor mods and performance parts, the 4.10 gears ALMOST seem like they're supposed to be there for the 35" tires. I don't know what I'm at for power at the crank or the wheels but I would love to get it on a dyno and see what I'm getting for actual hp and tq numbers.

Added a soft top:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300539.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300540.jpg

Well, I'm off work for the next two weeks and it's about 60* outside. Who knew that it would be this warm in February?

This was done a few months ago but I didn't take pictures during because I was in a hurry. But you know the bar that mounts under the dash and goes from each side of the body? They're ALWAYS rusted and nasty so it had to come out and get cleaned up. It's hard to see in the pics but I cleaned it up and threw a coat of primer over it so it doesn't rust anymore:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300546.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300547.jpg

Anyways, I have plenty of time to work in the garage and get some things taken care of on the runner. First on the list is to repair the dash cracks and install an inclinometer



Just a preview of what the dash looked like before:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300544.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300545.jpg

So I took the dash pad off and sanded down the high spots from where it was cracking:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300548.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300549.jpg

Next I cut and drilled into the dash pad so the inclinometer could sit flush and pretty. Then I applied resin over the cracks to fill them in and over the bare padding from where I cut:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300550.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300551.jpg

After a coat of high build primer I was able to see all the little imperfections.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300555.jpg

Next came the bondo to smooth out the imperfections so it can be all purdy when I apply the texture coating and dye.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300556.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300557.jpg

So I put some bondo on and sanded it smooth:
I guess I didn't get any pics of it sanded down but you get the idea.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...S6300556-1.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...S6300557-1.jpg

Next was a few coats of gray vinyl dye:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300563.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300561.jpg

Assembled:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300565.jpg

And installed:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300568.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300566.jpg

The color match isn't all that great. It looked like a better match when I compared the can to the vents... Some day I'll pull it again and paint it with a darker shade of grey.

It's far from perfect but it looks 10X better than before:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300545.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300544.jpg

Time for some more updates :)

I finished removing all the a/c related stuff from the front of the 4runner. Eventually I'll remove all the junk under the dash but that's another project for another day. With everything removed I should have a LOT better airflow to the radiator.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300572.jpg

All this junk went bye bye
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300571.jpg

I also had a big rust hole under the battery. The p/o had a bad battery and it destroyed the whole area. Good thing though is that is the only rust on the whole vehicle.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300573.jpg

I grinded away the spot welds and removed the rusted battery tray.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300574.jpg

Next I cleaned the area a little bit and started cutting and forming my new inner fender. I drew a template with a piece of paper and cut the sheet metal to size. I used 16ga because it's what I had in the shop. I would have liked to use 18ga or 20ga but I didn't want to drive 45 minutes to the metal yard. I formed it to shape using a body hammer on a soft rubber mat then slowly formed it to shape once temporarily attached to the 4runner. Once it was completely formed I traced the area around it with a black sharpie.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300576.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300577.jpg

I came inside to get out of the cold for a little bit. But now I need to cut out the traced area then weld in the new piece then fab up a battery box. More pics to come.

Cut out the inner fender:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300578.jpg

Test fit:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300579.jpg

Welded in place. Some of the welds are ugly but I am no pro at welding, especially this thin body sheet metal. But the welds are good and strong.
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300580.jpg

Welds all cleaned up and smooth:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300583.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300586.jpg
The bottom:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300585.jpg

And primered gray:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300588.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300589.jpg

All finished:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300590.jpg


Now I get to build the battery box.

Battery box is done!

I drew a template with cardboard then cut it out of sheet metal:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300591.jpg

Started bending the sheet metal into the battery box:
Only the best of high tech tools to bend this stuff :)
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300592.jpg

Box formed and a test fit with the battery:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300593.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300594.jpg

Now to start building the base. I cut out the center of the box leaving a 1" perimeter for the battery to sit on. I used some 1/2"x1/8" strap to lower the base to give the mounting hardware clearance from the battery then welded the base back on.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300595.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300596.jpg

All welds on all edges were ground smooth:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300599.jpg

Battery tie down strap bent up and another test fit of the battery:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300601.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300600.jpg

Then a test fit in the engine bay:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300602.jpg

Right now I'm waiting on paint to dry. I'll post finished and installed pics tomorrow.

how do you like the softtopper? is it worth the money?

I got it used but it was only a couple months old. It is definitely worth what I paid and I love it!

Nice work on the battery box and the fender.

Thanks!!

So... The battery box is done and installed. Looks right at home in a rust free fender!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300612.jpg

Now on to the next project

Interior before:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300603.jpg

All stripped out:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300605.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300606.jpg

Gross!!
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300607.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300608.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300609.jpg

And the exterior:
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300610.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300611.jpg

The plans are to give this runner a pretty good cleaning and a little bit of a make over. I'll clean the snot out of the whole entire lower half of the interior then line it with some chassis saver and some monstaliner. I'll also put a coating of dark gray monstaliner alone the bottom edge and the fenders of the runner.

That should clean things up and make the inside a lot better looking and stop any future rust from showing its ugly face!

Great work on that Dash, great build so far


Can you send me a couple of those AC parts?

I need a tube and the condensor..

Thanks! After taking my neighbor wheeling a couple of times, he ended up getting an 86 4runner. He got first dibs on the a/c parts. If he decides that he doesn't want them then I'll send them your way.

For anyone wanting to strip the factory sound deadening... use an air hammer! I started chipping away at it with a flat head and a small hammer until I remembered that I have a chisel tip for my air hammer. All I can say is wow! This stuff peeled and jumped off with ease. About 30 minutes with the air hammer and all of the factory sound deadening in the whole runner was gone. I love air tools!!

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y10...r/S6300613.jpg

Subscribed! You do excellent work. I'll throw it out there that they sell chisel tips for reciprocating saws. It might be a good choice for those who have tiny air compressors.

What part of the country are you in?

Thanks! I try to do a lot of reading and learn from other people's build threads.

I am in Clarksville, TN.