Alright, posted a few times asking questions about choices and what not for lifts, directional opinions for a college student budget and the whole she-bang.

What i ended up doing is ordering a pair of 14" coil springs rated at 125lbs each and stuffed those between the frame and rear end for a saggy lift and then 1.5" BJ spacers up front. I have about a 2" hole in the front still but after some yanking on by a winch when i was stuck (no pictures ) and the the frame hasnt moved or is bent so that is staying like that till i can get money and experience welding. Also i attempted at putting in an aussie Locker but my friend did not ding the pinion nut and didnt use any locktite so it backed it self off ... because of tight money and the need for a new rear third i sold it.

My plans are to get the rear quarter panels mended up and rust gone, and leave the front fenders along for now.

I want to go with TG SAS kit (probably will end up doing that myself with out the kit since its $$$$) and going for 4 or 5 inch springs.

Im looking into the MTR or KM2 that DirtCO used... other than that i have thought on TSL's but i still dont know much about any tire on the market. Thought the Prospector ATs i have now really have surprised me!

The rear bumper on the 4Runner is also very ornamental and i want to get that replaces with a much better and stronger alternative SOON!

I have about 279000 miles on the engine and tranny now with only fluids, consumables and a valve gasket woot! so im leaving it till it breaks on me.

What are your guys thoughts on the engine and tranny since i drive it 1400 miles to college one way

Now Pictures
















and my diff

 

So diff just was fixed today, found one on craigslist for 200 from an 85 which was better than the 300 a junkyard wanted for a worse off looking diff.

So im going ahead and im going to start somewhere and since money is tight and i cant afford any of my lift, another attempt at a locker install, and tires or any kinda i think a bumper is in store for the back.

I need a rear bumper the most cause the one there isn't good for tugging on... I was thinking of making one similar to what Addicted Offroad offers http://www.trail-gear.com/images/120...installed1.jpg I'm going to try and incorporate a Spare tire rack and maybe something for a Jerry can who knows. Then gets some sliders fab'd up and a simpler front bumper to hold fog lights and a winch some day. Then add some tranny protection and that would sum it up... Now i wait for money...

Has anyone heard of a head light kit that when the bulb burns up you dont have to replace the whole unit and just the bulb like on newer cars?

 

h4 conversion lenses, ipf,hella, and some ebay brand makes them. i use the hellas, light is 10x better than the sealed beams

 

Ok, i was looking at a couple threads on here that talks about them. The 4crawler wiring harness that has been mentioned countless times, its really worth the money? and it seems straight forward to install.

 

Well, parents came and took the toyota from me to give to the lil brother ... so this is the end of it all i guess

 

So i over play with dramatics... and i like suspense. But i get a cool car in the process =] Im just glad i can some how keep the truck and still drive it 12 hours to college with roughly 300lbs plus of stuff for college.

I just got back from my colleges 4x4 club and i spent basically the whole day making a rear tow point. i dont have pictures but here is what i did.

I took a 41 1/4 inch long piece of C channel cut out my rear tire hanger.

after torching out a part of the C channel to let my hangers flex and not hit it i cut another notch in the middle for the steel block with the 3/4 hole in it.

Then it was just a matter of welding up the block to the C channel and then mounting the C channel with 4 1/2 inch bolts and its stuck up there and wont be moving till i build a real bumper.

Since i dont have pictures the only thing i am worried about is the Clevis not being long enough and if a tow strap snaps my tailgate is toast. Im taking pictures tomorrow so this will all make sense then

Other than that i found a broken tranny mount and i changed that up with the chain i cut off from my tire mount, and i also tore out the inner fender wells up front. The whole car in my opinion looks cleaner at the edges (except the fenders themselves) and its kick butt.

 

So i have been waiting for parts to just come up on craigslist and i found a set of front and rear FJ80 axles with electronic lockers being sold in town... i researched some and they are the high pinion diffs, they are kinda weak but i can gusset them and make them stronger. One has a broken birf, is that hard to replace? and how much should i offer the guy cause he has no posted price"??? i really want to get rid of my ifs but i also have an issue with my motor... opinions?

 

Some facebook photos of me just having fun... let me know if you can see them or not.

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php...6604525&ref=mf

http://www.facebook.com/#!/album.php...512&id=6604525

 

So here is a list of things going down...

My motor is losing radiator fluid like its burning gas, so i think its a head gasket or i broke through the timing chain cover and im leaking it to my oil (which i know i am) and somehow burning it as well.

So tomorrow im going to go look at a set of FJ80's 4:10 with electric lockers in both, or a 79 to 84 mini toyota axle.

Then saturday im going to look at a 22re and hopefully buy it so i can rebuild the top end and replace the broken timing chain that it has. I have the head bolts, valves, springs, and rockers. I hope they will all work with the original size so i wont have to buy more over sized valves. I know the motor will need a valve job, but the cylinders are good.

Let me know what you think about the FJ80 axles, i only have 31" tires so im worried about size of the rear differential and because its offset more than normal, if i am correct. Though i dont know the year it came from.

AND i get a new DD (dont hate me that its a jeep im getting it for free)

http://s81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...view=slideshow

 

 

Im sorry bunny =[ will it make bunny feel better if im also getting a junkyard toyota pickup for new motor?

 

Sunday i got a new to me motor in from a cool guy in Ishpeming, MI thats in yooper country. I did a little work and tore down some parts and labeled as much as i could but i know i missed some. BTW its an 89 with just over 100,000 as i were told, so im hoping he was right and its better than mine at 289,000 at the moment.









there are definitely parts missing from it so thats going to be a hunt for proper names and places to get them. BUT that will take SEARCHING!

All i did was take off the fuel lines near the valve cover/efi, take the motor mounts off, the exhaust manifold and the clutch fan. I have to focus on homework so during the school year not much will happen. Come summer time this rebuild will fly along as the money is coming in.

Plans for this motor:
Cleaning, valve job, timing chain, paint, pistons (if needed), ENGNBLR crawler cam, clean injectors, and header.

If you can think of something other than turbo that would be a cool add on i would love to hear it.

 

just having some fun, almost flipping... mud.. mud... and some rocks

 

After taking the motor to a friends shop at my college's research center (has some bling motor dynometers and tools laying around, especially all the ) I tore apart the motor completely... And come to find the exhaust valves are completely toast. One is actually bent really bad. The pistons were it but they all have minor dents and seem they should be ok. I did find piston 3 the wrong direction meaning the PO had torn this apart decided not to continue and put it back together. also found some masking tape on all the piston rods. the block looks great and doesn't seem to have any issues. I want to get it cleaned up and the passages checked just for safe measures. The head however has corrosion at the coolant holes which extend into the piston cavity. They look like they wont seal and if i could get a gasket over it, it wouldnt do me any good. My plan at the moment is to see if i can use the head on the motor i have now and just helix coil #2 spark plug hole and use that. Or just order a EB built head with the rebuild kit.

With what i have found im going with a rebuild kit from EB along with a new water pump and timing chain cover plus a new head depending on what i find from the one i have now.

I will get photos up when i can, being a college student means i need to study so i can make money to work on my

 

How did you not flip? lol

 

I dont know hahaha for all reasons i should have been on my side. But i guess my brakes worked wonders for me that day. The best part was i had only 2wd and my back right was in the air... so no power to any wheels =[

 

wow, man you gotta get to fixin some stuff before you go wheelin or you're really gonna get hurt or end up in a sticky situation.

 

Yea that was not a planned deal of wheeling. I was mainly the driver for the new people out there and that kinda just happened...The brakes work awesome now cause apparently its a left and right system not a front and back. The 4wd is fixed just gotta figure where im losing coolant or get my butt going and get this motor rebuilt.

 

lol well thats good. I still need to fix my brakes… sigh

 

Yea, doing the rears alone are a royal PITA! but do able... and for some reason ever since i hit water last year both my front calipers seized on the outside cylinders and i had to get warrenty replacements... its weird, Just means i need to clean them more right? lol