Talongod

First off let me introduce myself, I am Woody. I am a 28 year veteran of the US Air Force with 24 years being in Special Ops flying the AC-130A Gunship and then to the mighty MC-130E Combat Talon, affectionately know as the "Chariot of Armageddon" ! I have owned several Toyota 4X4 trucks and the current 4Runner that is going to be my sons build.

Talongod

First off let me give you the specifics. The truck is a 1989 Toyota 4Runner SR5 3.0 3VZ-E automatic 4X4 with 180k miles that I purchased in early 1990 when I separated from the military as a repo. from the Toyota dealer. For the most part it was still new. I bought it for the ex to drive as her daily driver. After driving it for a few years she partially rolled it in a ditch, pretty much crushing the entire driver’s side. After getting the body fixed, I took over the duties of making it my daily driver. The only engine work that has been performed on it is the idler pulley need to be replaced and I had the dealership do the warranty work on the heads for the recall that came out. About 10 years ago the transmission started acting up and got to where it pretty much would not start out in drive, so I had to manually shift from low to drive when first starting out. I was still driving it that way when I parked it a few years ago after purchasing a new Ford truck. The funny thing is, even with the transmission this way I could still pull my 27’ CC boat to the ramp launch and recover with no problems. Fast forward to last April 2016. My youngest son has expressed interest in driving the 4Runner to school when he turns 16, I told him that if he wanted to, I would help him get in back to where it is road worthy and it was his to drive. So Saturday morning bright and early we went to Wal-Mart to get a battery to see if we could get it started, no joy! The kid says, hey Dad the fuel indicator is showing below E. Just then the light in my head came on and I thought maybe I was just out of gas, nope after putting 5 gallons of gas in still no start. So I went and picked some ether to see if it was just needing to be primed, it would run as long as I poured the ether to it, once the ether stopped so did the engine. Next step was to drop the tank to check the fuel pump and fuel sending gauge, sure enough there were two problems. First one was the power wire and the ground had both corroded off the fuel pump and the fuel sending unit was covered in crud from being in the stale fuel. I checked the pump to see if it was still working if I jumpered it, yep, it works, I think. Not sure how much pressure it was putting out, only that I could hear it running. After cleaning the fuel sending unit I got it to where it worked again also, only problem was the resistor that transmits the fuel low light had exploded, not sure if that part is going to work. I am going to order two new gaskets and a new fuel pump, clean the tank thoroughly then throw it all back together and see what she does. The kid ran over the truck with some wax and the buffer, the paint doesn’t look too bad, other than the bondo cracking where the body shop repaired the body after the roll over, the tailgate being bashed in from me backing into the boat trailer and a few areas where there is some cancer. The fiberglass top is in rough shape and is growing hair. Not sure what the fix for that will be. Might just order the softopper and call it good. Still need to remove all the interior and put some sound deadening material down and maybe some new carpet or just do the rhino lining for the entire floor area. The seats need to be professionally cleaned as well. Now back to the transmission, I purchased one probably 10 years ago and want to take it to a shop and have them look it over and make sure there is nothing wrong with it prior to us throwing it in the truck. I don't want the kid having to be distracted playing around with the shifter, so the transmission will need to be repaired. I am open to any and all suggestions, criticism inputs and ideas. I am greatly looking forward to doing this build with my son, as his brother just left for the military and I am regretting not doing something like this with him. Thanks for the opportunity to join your clan! Regards and get ready, here come the pictures

Talongod

Talongod

Talongod

Talongod

A little bit of cancer setting in.




Bondo cracking on left rear fender after 20 years




Cancer around the windscreen upper left




More cancer at he base of the windscreen right side lower




Cancer right side front fender




Cancer right side front offender

Talongod

More 20 year old bondo cracking on driver side below sliding windows

Talongod

My inability to park without ramming the trailer tongue of my boat.




Tailgate and bumper

Talongod

Dirty carpet.....




Of course I am going to need a temperature control panel. I have 3 but they fit 90 and above, go figure.




180k on the clock




Door panel off to fix the window/lock controls that broke free from the plastic mount




Rear seats, pretty disgusting




My storage area




Shifter




Looking into the back

Talongod

Of course the trim is rusting too.




Fading really bad




The hairs are sticking through.




Close up of the hair. Is this top too far gone ?

Talongod

old trusty..........

Nervo19

Welcome. I bet your son is beyond excited. My 16 year old has my '89 too and they are very unique now.


You can repaint the fiberglass top by rolling on paint. I would use Rustoleum Satin Black and get foam brushes and a foam roller. My top is white but I use it for all the black trim on my top several years ago (4?) and it has held up fine. Sorry if I just blew your son's chance at an $800 Softtopper. There are some DIY how to's around here on how to make a bikini top out of a Jeep top but of course that leaves the truck open.

Talongod

Driver side rear fender aft.

What is the best way to tackle this rust here, do I need to cut this metal out and weld in a new piece ?

Gizler00

iTrader: (1)

First off... Thank you for your service and also for your sons!

Now welcome to YT... This it s great place with a ton of information and people willing to help.

You have a great base to start with here. Its also really amazing that you managed to keep it this long. Glad to see that you are reviving it, Especially making it a project with your son!

The top looks like it may take a fair share of work to get it back to looking normal. The way I see it is, the time and money you might put into the top could be put towards a soft topper. Thats kind of where I am at with my own 4runner.

The Auto transmission is something I do not have a ton of experience with. I just picked up an 86 with an Auto and if I were planning to keep it, I would convert it to a manual. Not sure if you have had any thoughts about doing a swap. Its pretty straight forward.

As far as the seats go.... I bet you could clean them up yourself. Rent a carpet cleaner, if you dont already have one. The Rug doctor ones from Walmart seem to do the trick pretty well.

Cant wait to see more of what you decide to do with this thing.

Talongod

Thanks for the welcome Giz, not really wanting to convert it to a manual, I will bite the bullet if I have to rebuild the auto.

rustED

iTrader: (2)

That's awesome that your doing a father son project, especially with something that you've owned for a number of years. I hope to do something like that when my kids get a little older.

For the top you might be able to use a DIY roll on bedliner, since it has a texture it might mask the little fiberglass hairs better than regular paint.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

It is great to see you still have the truck all these years later and your son is going to get to bring it back to life. I like chrome but it is a rust magnet. Your interior is in great shape.

I was in Afghanistan in 09-10 and some of your buddies helped get us out of a bad situation, Thanks!!!

Welcome to Yotatech and looking forward to your build.

Talongod

It was a very gratifying job, with instant results. Nothing like having a TIC at 0200 with the boys running low on ammo and us coming in at 100 feet doing a resupply while it is pitch black out. Glad we were there to help you guys get your job done. Thanks for your service.

BigBluePile

iTrader: (3)

Welcome to YT! Looks like a grand project!

Talongod

Gutted out