Hey guys. I've lurked here in the past, first time post.
When my wife and I were dating, our first major purchase was a 1998 4Runner. We drove it, loved it, made memories in it, but then it came time to buy a house and the 4Runner was an extra in our lives, so we sold it to get the down payment.
We sold it to a friend, who later sold it to another friend. I was browsing Instagram and I saw a photo of it and told him that if he ever wanted to sell it to let me know (my wife wanted it worse than I did). Well, fast forward a few months and once again while browsing Instagram, I see our old 4Runner pretty mangled. Turns out while the owner was driving to work, a horse had escaped it's corral, ran out in the road, and he hit it.
So, knowing the truck was pretty jacked, I hit him up and let him know if he wanted to sell it, to let me know. He had done some work to it - Icon kit, lights, some wiring stuff, etc. Dude knew I really loved that truck, and insurance paid him out, so he said he'd give me the truck for the insurance buyback price. Frames good, just working on getting the damage repaired. After buying a donor vehicle, I got to work!
Fast forward to now: she's almost done, just gotta get the spot welds rewelded and put everything back together.
Here's some progress pics:
How she looked when I got her home. Whole driver side pretty rekt.
Pretty haggard.
Spot welds drilled and all damage removed.
Front end removed from donor vehicle, ready to fit.
Removed the donor front end and fitting it to it's new home.
Body panels fit. Gaps - good from far, far from good!
How she sits right now. Everything that can be hooked up without getting in the way of welding it back up is installed. Just waiting for my welder buddy to get some time! Have some work to do on the fuse box and evap mounting.