Thanks for the comments guys.

@Hyde802 thanks for the link. I'll see if I can ID the engine when i do the timing chain.

I stopped at the local scrap yard today and pulled a pair of front seatbelts off a '92. They are gray and look out of place but I didn't feel safe with my kids in just lap belts. These will do for now. I may grab a set of brown one from another toyota or I may get new ones from seatbelt planet as I have seen others here had good luck with them. Still not sure what my plans are interior wise either.

do a search on this site for replacing the rear belts. i used the rear belts from my '95 subaru legacy, and they fit, including the center lap belt. the extension bracket on the subaru, that attaches to the roof/pillar, has to be ground off, but it's simple to do. no cutting or sewing of the belt web material needed.

wally

Looking for some advise when it comes to doing the timing chain and guides. I'm about to order the kit from engbldr with the waterpump, oil pump and timing cover. Not bad for 155$ considering just an oil pump for my e21 is 450$. My question is should I do the head gasket while I'm in there? (Yes I know "if it ain't broke don't fix it) but this seems like 90% of a head gasket job and I'd be able to totally rebuild the head. I have access to a matching shop and could have the head cleaned and decked for almost nothing. Not to mention I would grind that nasty lip off the inside of the ports. What do you guys think? Is it worth turning the weekend job into a 2 weekend job plus the maybe 200 $ for extra parts and machine work?

Head gasket is your call. If you decide to do it be very very careful if you decide to deck the head. If it's warped and needs to be decked it's sometimes better to just get a new head. Call engnbldr and ask him about decking heads. He can give you some very good advice. If you deck it much at all you will probably need to do an adjustable timing gear. Also if you going to do a head gasket then you should probably look at a cam as well. Probably the best performance improvement for the $$$. At that point look at a complete head with new cam from engnbldr. I started with that and ended up doing a full rebuild after looking at my bottom end.

Just my opinion. Let us know what you decide on. Keep up the good work


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Quick update. I did the "zuk mod" using 3rd gen moog replacement springs.

Before:


After:


Haven't done much driving with them yet and I'm sure they still have some settling to do. very happy with it so far.

Aslo picked up the 4 piece front end kit from engnbldr and plan to do the timing chain next weekend. I've decided not to bother with a headgasket job as its not needed and this is supposed to be my budget dd.

So I originally planned on doing the timing set this weekend, but yesterday it was raining on and off so I decided not to start tearing the truck apart. I did get around to taking the running boards off. Personally I think it looks much better, I am not a fan of diamond plate.






I have also been thinking about buying the soft top from soft topper. How does everyone like them? Is the wind noise crazy with them?

offering up my running boards to anyone that wants them before i scrap them. there are a few pictures above that show the general condition.

Edit: I got $1.28 at the scrap yard for them!

also got around to doing the timing chain this past weekend, will post a pic or 2 later. it took me a little longer than i expected (about 8 hours and had to run to the parts store a few times (for a gear puller and a new breaker bar) which caused me to have to finish the job sunday morning. and i have a water leak from the pipe that runs to the back of the motor under the exhaust manifold. i'll be fixing that in the next day or 2.

All in all, the job was more tedious than difficult. the hardest part for me was getting the new timing cover on with out damaging the headgasket and keeping the 2 paper gaskets aligned while doing so. if i did it again i'd put the timing cover on with the oil pan off. the engine sounds 100x better now.

Some pictures from doing the timing chain last weekend. all in all not too difficult. if i had to do it again 'd drop the oil pan before putting the timing cover back on, for ease of installation.







These last 2 pictures show marks i made on the distributor so that i could make sure i didn't lose my timing when i put everything back together. you can see a white line next to the "Q" and there is a second mark that isn't visible. then i also marked the angle of the rotor in relation to the distributor on the inside. this made for a fool proof install.





Next on the to do list will be the oil pan gasket and a trans flush. Then I'm doing new radio and speakers all around.

Great find! I love the way those wheels look on the 1st Gen. I live in Hudson, NH. anyone know of a decent mechanic in this area that works on these 1st Gens? I'm pretty sure I have my 2nd blown head gasket.

Another local I used to live in hudson (merrimack st, down by the river)
As for mechanics, it's a 22re, toyota made them for about 20(?) years any decent shop should be able to do the job.

Nice 4runner build so far! I must say the paint job doesn't look half bad at all from what the pictures show. Good luck!

I found there to be less wind noise with the softtop. Must be the smoothness, lack of window channels etc. Traffic is louder, wind noise is lower.

small update, no pictures. but today i pulled the trans fluid cooler lines due to a leak and re-sealed them. the forward most line was hand tight and i could see oil accumulating while the car was off. this resulted in a steady leak when the car was running. i pulled the lines, applied plumbers tape on the threads and the leak gone. i also pulled the soft lines up front and replaced them with new rubber from the parts store. topped it off with new fluids and the 4runner is good to go. after the timing chain and now this i can proudly say my t4r has no leaks.


Thank you!

Thanks for the comments on the soft top, I'm in the process of buying a '16 focus ST for a family car/ daily to replace our 06 bmw x3. depending on how this goes will determine whether or not i get a soft top this season! but i am convinced i need one, it's just a matter of time now.

oh yeah. i forgot to mention. last week my friend paul helped me out with the timing. you can see in one of the pictures above of the distributor that the timing was maxed out counter-clockwise. this has the engine running at 12* off tdc. a few minutes with the timing light and paul had it running much better at 5*. although i have noticed that now after sitting over night it runs rough for about 30 seconds at start up then clears away. any input on this?


Ian

This week i get new speakers because the rears were blown and i had to have my volume maxed to hear music on the highway. I kept the factory sizes 4" up front and 5 1/4" in the back. I went with coaxial 2 way pioneer's in the front and infinity reference's in the back, also a 2 way speaker. The sound quality is leagues better, but there still isn't much low range sound. I'll likely be adding an 8" sub woofer in one of the storage compartments next to the tailgate sooner rather than later.











I also got this cup holder from a member here, bhicks. it's great, holds variety of cups, bottles, mugs. also will hold my phone and wallet. well worth the money IMO