HI All,
Coming at you from Melrose MA, right near Boston. Just bought my 1986 in MAY and towed it back to CT from Maryland on Roadkill-inspired road trip. Then put a new battery, plates and slave cylinder in and proudly rolled from CT back to Boston under it's own power for the first time since the PO garaged it 6 months ago in MD. PO is in the US ARMY and the truck was brought in from Korea at some point about 6 years ago. I picked up a never-installed KAYLINE soft top in Pennsylvania and that install will be completed tonight(time permitting).

Back in the 90's I had an '84 4runner that I resurrected from the dead, installed a soft top etc., and today I'm doing the same with the help of my 13 year old son. He calls it my "deja-vu" truck because I keep talking about doing the same repairs on this one that I did on the other many years ago.

The plan is to fix the mechanicals first, so it passes MA state inspection, then drive it as a summer fun vehicle to the beach...then eventually fix the body up.
The short list includes lower ball joints, tie rod ends, idler arm, wheel bearing, window tint removal(too dark for state inspection)
All easy stuff.

I've already used the forum for lots of inquiries.
Items already fixed - rear door cable, seat cables, top removed, pushbar removed, side steps removed.

I'll post a video and more photos soon! Happy to be here!
Melrose

 

I like the paint scheme! Please post more pics.

 

Beautiful truck, cool that you get to relive it all again with your son.

 

With the exception of the tires, that beast looks like it rolled right off the dealership floor. Nice find. Can't wait to see the interior.

 

thanks! It's very '80s. I didn't like it at first but it's growing on me. It is actual paint, and stays for now.
Some of the body panels have a strange coating like a bedliner but there is very little rust through and the frame and underside are mint. it has never seen a salty winter road.

interior is gray, was very gross. I spent 3 hours with a rented rug doctor to get the upholstery presentable.more work to be done.all the plastic parts are good and it looks like the top had never been off. Even the back window worked!

runs very well but idles lower than it should when cold. Any ideas on what to check?

 

thanks, it needs a lot of work but all small stuff. I told him he would get to learn to drive on it. It suddenly became very cool after that!

 

Welcome to the forum. Pls tell us if auto or manual, and I suggest you put model-year-engine-transmission on your signature. Helps with a lot of things.


This ^^^ is my favorite part.

Good! I was about to comment on that - LOL!

I took my carpet off, scrubbed the area where master clutch cylinder leaked fluid with Fast Orange and and threw everything in front loading clothes washer. Worked well. Repeated spraying with Febreeze, scrubbing, then vacuuming made the upholstery smell fresher, too.

After doing your usual fluids maintenance, checking ignition components, etc, it would be a good idea to get a timing light with tachometer and check that. Spec advance is 5 degrees. I'm currently trying 8 degrees on mine. MPG seems better than at 5 degrees. I cannot feel any change in power or acceleration.

 

thanks, radrunner. The engine trans is 22re/5 spd. Original, i think, with 178k on it and a recent head gasket. I am having trouble figuring out how to create a signature...

 

Here's a video link to part 1 of the roadtrip in which we retrieve the 4r from MD and make it move under it's own power once again.

 

Got my signature figured out...

 

Did you install the Kayline? 4Crawler.com sells a system that uses factory bolt holes so you don't have to drill 10,000 holes in your truck. I had a Kayline on my '88 and the holes do not show after you put the hard top back on. All those holes made me nervous. Maybe dab some paint in the holes if you do drill them. Congrats on the nice find.

 

its mostly installed. I drilled all the holes in the truck but still have to drill about 20 more into the aluminum rails i mounted. But the temp drpped outside so i am waiting until its in the 80s again Sunday to finish because i want the top to be more stretchy. It's a pretty crappy design and i remember thinking the same thing back in 90's! I'll check out 4crawler.com.

 

Was your Kayline top the one that was on eBay for a couple years, maybe in Scranton? I've been eyeballing that thing for a while and considered heading up there on the way to visit my parents at some point. Glad someone finally bought it, now I can stop thinking about it.

 

ha! Yup, that was it! Owner really, really, really did not want to ship it.
he has a built 22re longblock he'd like to sell also. Just doesnt have his 4runner anymore.

 

I noticed he made it very clear he would not ship or lower the price in the listing.

Still a sweet deal for a Kayline, but I always thought he could've sold in just a few days for his asking price + shipping if he'd just offered it as an option.

I rebuilt my engine last year so I sure hope I don't need a long block any time soon!

 

Today's progress included replacing the driver's window regulator, finding some previous owner made a mess with dynamat in there,
peeling off all the purple window tint, replacing the decrepit shifter boot with an ebay one, pulling the wiper arms, sanblasting the rust off and painting them black again. Also tried a spring i bought at the hardware store for the passenger seat. Not strong enough to move the seat forward, will have to get a stronger one.

 

Also went to Napa and ordered many new parts- upper and lower ball joints, idler arm,all tie rod ends and a clutch master cyl.
that will keep us busy for a while!

 

Great looking runner and great to hear you getting to go back in time with your kid on this truck. Welcome to Yotatech.

 

Stripers unite! Does your truck have any evidence of a previously installed visor above the windshield? My 4runner was dealer upgraded in the 80's as a package that included stripes, 31's, a bull bar, visor, front window guards and a bug deflector. Yours has a lot of those same elements and your stripes aren't factory vinyl so I'm wondering if yours may have been as well. I look forward to seeing your truck progress. I learned to wrench from my Dad; your son will never forget the memories from this build up. Good luck and happy Father's Day!

Josch

 

BTW, I found that Summit Racing was cheaper than NAPA on quality replacement parts and offer free shipping on most orders (I think you've gotta spend a certain amount). Any who. I got MOOG BJ's and TRE's from Summit for cheaper than I could find them anywhere else and their customer service is on point. I had a couple of returns/exchanges in the past couple of months and they made it very simple and painless. Not paid by Summit btw. I wish I were. It's actually quite the opposite. I pay them.