It seems like it is finally time to start a build thread before it becomes an even more daunting task than it already is. I am sure I will change the format as time goes and make improvements for readability but here it is for now.
I purchased my 97 Base 2.7 with upgrades from the original owner late August of 2013 with 217k on the OD. I waited for about 4 months for this family ( friend of a friend) to be ready to sell the truck.
I have an Idea of where I want to go with it but well as with many, life, repairs and funds get in the way of all that. My build will be slow compared to some, but a build that I hope to continue to enjoy for years to come.
As she sands meow.
Stats/Stuff Name: Sandy, well because I love me Sandra Bullock, oh and she is Desert Dune. Also it is fun to say I spent some time under Sandy today ;) Year: 97 Model: Base with some upgrades Engine 3rz-fe NA (for now..I have plans!), Mini Header Transmission: 5spd Manual (4.10 gears) Miles: 232K as of 9/5/2014 Wheels: Tundra "Split 3" powder coated matte black Tires: Cooper Discoverer AT3 "Armor" Savage Sliders with kick out, "these guns" j/k (well maybe a couple guns..)
Here she was Day 2 and I got her into a bit of Sand to test out the 4wd some.
While I waited for a big project to come in, I had to do something to make the truck "mine". I decided on Plasti Dip
Grill Before
Grill After
Decided after I did the grill, why not do the Toyota logs too
So my suspension was shot. It needed replaced, way too many options out there so I figured I would go with am OME 881/890 which should result in a n 2.5/3" lift.
Bushing Press ( Lowes special! )
Bushing Press set up
Turn till that baby pops in and DONE!
Fronts installed with new LBJs!
Bull Doggin'
Rears going in
Quick stop at a parking lot on the way home
First parking at the house with the lift in
One Happy Anthony! I kind of miss my beard, this was about half its length before I cut it.
During/Right After my lift I discovered that I had a CV that was throwing grease on the drivers side from a cracked boot. I decided to go with a CVJ reman with the extended boot. I have since installed another CJV on the passenger side, so far the boots are doing great on both CVs.
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BUILD THREAD | Flickr
97 2.7 4x4 5spd, OME 881 / 890, Cooper Discoverer A/T 3, blacked out 16" split 3s, Savage Sliders. LCE Street Headers, Marlin HD Clutch.
So I got into a "bad" habit of finding places to wheel on my lunch break. Mainly it was trails off the side of the roads I would find. This time I called up a buddy who was off and had him tag along. I learned a few lessons that day. Never listen to your buddy who says "yeah, you can make it through that" when you avoided it on your way in saying to yourself "Yeah, I want nothing to do with that!". Never wheel alone, well without another vehicle for recovery and well don't wheel on lunch; I had to call in with an "upset stomach", which wasn't a total fabrication, it was the first time I had been stuck and in the back of my mind, it wasn't getting out!
Luckily we were not too far in and my buddy is a runner so I sent him to find recovery, he found a county worker who walked back with him, gave me a shovel and said "I get off at 3".
We dug.
Dug some more.
So 3 came and the guy held his word. He drove back to where we were with is RAM 1500 Pre-Runner build he was working on and pulled me out. We didn't have a snatch strap. Looking back it was a horrible and very unsafe idea to use a tow strap, but it got me out.
The pit i was stuck in! Good Ol' Florida mud. Turns out this was a "dried" pond.
Finally Out!
After feeling how sloppy my shifter was I decided it was time to do the shifter busings ( new on the left old on the right )
So the older 3rz has the infamous crappy cast header which eventually becomes riddle with cracks. I figured I had a couple options; another cast, OEM "mini header" off the newer 3rz and 2rzs, or after market performance header. I went with a bolt on Mini Header for the convenience. Although about a month later I was wishing I had went with an after market because of the "modification" someone decided to do on my truck for me!
So whilst at work, I go to leave and find something is missing. Remember how I said I wish I had went with the after market performance header. Well part of the modifications was to put a new flange on the cat.
The Flyer a buddy at work made to help me find my cat! It was not a successful campaign, we think it was the market we were targeting..
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BUILD THREAD | Flickr
97 2.7 4x4 5spd, OME 881 / 890, Cooper Discoverer A/T 3, blacked out 16" split 3s, Savage Sliders. LCE Street Headers, Marlin HD Clutch.
So my Firestone Fire Hawk tires that I purchased the truck with were well, not quite my style or what I wanted. I wanted to go from the 15" rims the truck came with to at least a 16". So I started searching. I found a set of Tundra Split 3s on CL for a cool $125. The clear coat looked like junk but they wheels were not curb (t)rashed. I got them sand blasted locally and powder coated here at work for a great price ;) . And after countless hours of deliberation I went with a 265/75/16 Cooper Discoverer AT3 ; Most of my driving is highway so I decided to go with something that would perform decent off road and on road.
My wife is a wopping 5' 3.25", and don't you ever forget that quater inch! I finally convinced her to let me take the running boards off. Needless to say no more than 10 minutes after the approval the impact was out and the first running board was off. It brought a whole new look to the truck.
Driving home from work one day I feel this pretty good bump after stopping. Great, I have been rear ended. Luckily no one was hurt. The girl driving the car was 8 months pregnant and refused medical attention, not the brightest bulb in the box to not get checked out. She ate my trailer hitch; I had very little damage, mostly my rear bumper was shifted down a little more than it already was. Insurance $ came in and I had some decisions to make, New Savage Hybrid Bumper or a few other things. I chose the few other things because I wasn't able to get the swing out with the money I had.
1st Purchase with the insurance $ was some dual disconnect sway bar end links from
@MStudt
. I was tired of driving down the freeway feeling like Free Willy!
Look at what showed up! My second purchase with some of the insurance $ was to get the sliders I have been oogleling, Savage Offroad sliders with the kick out. Quality work is all I can say, well worth the month long back order!
Make shift paint booth in the Garage. I decided on Rust-Oleum rattle can bed liner for the sliders as i didn't want to deal with matte / gloss and grip tape. The liner is easy enough to spray on for fixes, plus I get grip for my shoes any where and it really doesn't do too bad with skin brushing against it.
After painting the sliders and them sitting in my garage for a month. A couple good local brews and some great pizza a couple buddies and I welded these bad boys on! My wife can now get in the truck that much more easily!
..and the crappy cell phone picture of my cut out in the rear fender flare. Maybe one day I will take a proper picture with the SLR.
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BUILD THREAD | Flickr
97 2.7 4x4 5spd, OME 881 / 890, Cooper Discoverer A/T 3, blacked out 16" split 3s, Savage Sliders. LCE Street Headers, Marlin HD Clutch.
Never ask a girl if shes sick, she might not be wearing any make up. - lets just say she went storming off.
Never tell your wife she looks tired, they tend to hit and say that means she looks ugly. (weird logic i know)
A few items came in today. Can anyone guess what I am about to do?
Valve check/adjustment, of course! Good luck with it! I didn't actually have to adjust any valves on my truck so I can't comment on how hard that is, but disassembly and reassembly is a piece of cake IMO.
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1997 4Runner 3RZ-FE Auto 2WD -- Original Owner 180K+ Miles
Mods: KO Racing Turbocharged at 5psi -- TiAL QR BOV and MV-S Wastegate -- Garrett T3/T4 Turbo (.50 Compressor/.63 Exhaust) -- PTP Lava Turbo Blanket -- Injen/AMSOIL Dry Air Filter -- JBA Catback Exhaust -- Badged as Hilux Surf -- OEM Surf Kouki Lighting -- FJ Trail Wheels and Tires -- 2.5in Lift ToyTec Spacer Front/Fat Bob's Garage Spacer Rear -- JAOS Skid Plate -- OEM Hilux Surf Rear Wing -- 35% Tint Front/15% Rear -- Woodgrain Interior Panels -- Clarion CX501 Headunit with 2 Kicker CompVR 12s
@Mc1337sauce
thanks for all the part numbers from your video!
I have a valve tap going on but I partially think it is due to oil loss from my VCG. If i have to, I will get the measurements for what I am off then open her back up to do the shims. I am not expecting the VCG job to be too bad. I am just praying that I don't have any off or too many that are off. From what it looks like the job can be a pain to put new shims in.
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BUILD THREAD | Flickr
97 2.7 4x4 5spd, OME 881 / 890, Cooper Discoverer A/T 3, blacked out 16" split 3s, Savage Sliders. LCE Street Headers, Marlin HD Clutch.
@Mc1337sauce
thanks for all the part numbers from your video!
I have a valve tap going on but I partially think it is due to oil loss from my VCG. If i have to, I will get the measurements for what I am off then open her back up to do the shims. I am not expecting the VCG job to be too bad. I am just praying that I don't have any off or too many that are off. From what it looks like the job can be a pain to put new shims in.
No problem, glad the video helped!
If any valves are out of spec, it will most likely be the exhaust side, as they tend to get pretty out of whack at higher mileage, especially if the truck was neglected by the PO. The VCG is a piece of cake, except for the spark plug seals - if yours are still good like mine were, I would just leave them; I did, and no problems at all after a couple thousand miles. Reshimming is the real pain, and requires a special service tool to do it properly, and even then it's still a royal PITA from what I've heard. LCE sells the tool for the best price that I could find, and according to others who have done valve adjustments, it's by far the best way to do it. I don't know if you already have the tool, but if not, it might be a good investment.
Good luck with the project. It's not that difficult of a process, just a lot of taking stuff apart and putting it all back together. Take your time and you should be good to go (and hopefully sans valve tick)!
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1997 4Runner 3RZ-FE Auto 2WD -- Original Owner 180K+ Miles
Mods: KO Racing Turbocharged at 5psi -- TiAL QR BOV and MV-S Wastegate -- Garrett T3/T4 Turbo (.50 Compressor/.63 Exhaust) -- PTP Lava Turbo Blanket -- Injen/AMSOIL Dry Air Filter -- JBA Catback Exhaust -- Badged as Hilux Surf -- OEM Surf Kouki Lighting -- FJ Trail Wheels and Tires -- 2.5in Lift ToyTec Spacer Front/Fat Bob's Garage Spacer Rear -- JAOS Skid Plate -- OEM Hilux Surf Rear Wing -- 35% Tint Front/15% Rear -- Woodgrain Interior Panels -- Clarion CX501 Headunit with 2 Kicker CompVR 12s
So I blew the exact same plug out the head that blew out a few months back. Not really sure what I am going to do yet. How I see it there are three options. Replace the head, swap in used / reman engine or the helicoil that was put in the last time was undamaged my a work of God and the spark plug just worked loose. Anyone have thoughts?
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BUILD THREAD | Flickr
97 2.7 4x4 5spd, OME 881 / 890, Cooper Discoverer A/T 3, blacked out 16" split 3s, Savage Sliders. LCE Street Headers, Marlin HD Clutch.
So I blew the exact same plug out the head that blew out a few months back. Not really sure what I am going to do yet. How I see it there are three options. Replace the head, swap in used / reman engine or the helicoil that was put in the last time was undamaged my a work of God and the spark plug just worked loose. Anyone have thoughts?
I would go with option 1 or 2, since I am of the opinion that once something is compromised, you should replace it instead of repairing it to a state that is not as good as original. You can get a new head from LCE (not assembled, obviously) for $1000, or you can get the stage 1 head from them with all new components (again, not assembled, but a machine shop can do that fairly inexpensively) for $1500. They use original Toyota castings as well, so their stuff really is as good as original. The stage 1 head is linked here.
You can also get a used 3RZ on eBay for between $1000 and $2500, so that is another good option, and with that, you have the option of converting to coil-on-plug (probably more trouble that it's worth, but it's an option nonetheless). Personally, I would just get the new head. If you have a ton of miles on your truck, though, a used engine with low miles might be your best bet. A compression test would tell you what kind of condition your engine is in, so it would be advantageous to do that before making a decision.
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1997 4Runner 3RZ-FE Auto 2WD -- Original Owner 180K+ Miles
Mods: KO Racing Turbocharged at 5psi -- TiAL QR BOV and MV-S Wastegate -- Garrett T3/T4 Turbo (.50 Compressor/.63 Exhaust) -- PTP Lava Turbo Blanket -- Injen/AMSOIL Dry Air Filter -- JBA Catback Exhaust -- Badged as Hilux Surf -- OEM Surf Kouki Lighting -- FJ Trail Wheels and Tires -- 2.5in Lift ToyTec Spacer Front/Fat Bob's Garage Spacer Rear -- JAOS Skid Plate -- OEM Hilux Surf Rear Wing -- 35% Tint Front/15% Rear -- Woodgrain Interior Panels -- Clarion CX501 Headunit with 2 Kicker CompVR 12s
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