EDIT:

She died on me on May 20th, 2018. I moved into a 2000 4Runner 5speed, but sold it shortly after for a LX470. Check the links in my sig for more. Thanks!

Let me just start out by saying, I love this truck. Its been in the family for almost twenty years and has served its duty as a reliable vehicle.

Now, its mine.

I'm a pretty broke college student, so stuff is really "do if needed" and rarely goes beyond that unfortunately.

Interior:

• 1999 4Runner head unit
• LED Dome and Map light
• Passenger side door panel from wrecked 4Runner
• Stiff vents from a newer 4Runner
• Ebay replica floor mats

Exterior:

• Passenger fender replacement
• New front bumper and valiance
• New rear bumper caps
• New mirrors (currently non-powered)
• Front OEM mudflaps
• Reese cheap roof basket
• V6 grille (not sure why it wasn't on there in the first place)
• OEM scratches
• Ebay replica floor mats
• New fuel filler door

Powertrain:

• Rebuilt the 3.slow at 219k (radiator filled with rust--pop goes the 3.0)
• Bosch Flamethrower fuel injectors
• Custom intake pipe/ISR mod
• New gaskets on everything
• Custom built driveshaft from a Prerunner Taco.

Suspension:

• Gabriel whatever-autozone-had front shocks at 214k (about due for replacement)
• KYB Gas-a-Just rear shocks at 242k
• Bilstein real coils at 50k
• Timke front and rear wheel bearings
• Junk autozone ball joints that need to be replaced

Wheels & Tires:

• Dueler A/Ts Revo2s 31.5
• Factory rims. What else?!?

Probably some more stuff, but I've done so much, I forget.

Oh jeez, anyone have a way to make the photos acceptable?

EDIT: resize and upload first haha

More! I fixed the photos in the original post.

Somewhere late 2015, I redid the front end with new shocks (just some Gabriels from AutoZone), new CV Axles, new ball joints, and that was honestly the best thing I did for this car. She/he/it drove so well.

Anyway, back to the hood:

In the midst of working on the new hood, I decided a new grille (or a repainted grill) would help the hood progress :P


I've always thought the car's face looked angry with a button nose.
Another fun picture next to a sixth gen:


Notice how mine rides around the same height, but with smaller tires.

Still cleans up decently:



Not much went on around Christmas, took it on its first long-haul road trip to somewhere in North AR, but it didn't do well accelerating up hills (this was before I knew what code 52 was, those were the days). When I got back, I knew something wasn't right, it was pitifully slow.

January I tore off the upper plenum and made my way down to the knock sensor.


While I was there, I replaced the timing belt, water pump, idler pulley, thermostat, etc.
--- Knock Sensor Time Warp ---
Now, never buy an after market sensor. Never ever ever. Go OEM.

Right now, I'm rocking an external KS (not a good idea) with a new line ran to the ECU (good idea) until I can take the downtime.
--- End Knock Sensor Time Warp ---

Once again, nothing really happened until June, since the car was running decently, even with the on again off again code 52.

The head gasket decided it was done. First, I wanna say, its not necessarily the 3VZE's fault. When I redid some of the upper hoses and water pump I overdid the blue stuff a bit, some of it ended up clogging my radiator (poor thing) causing it to overheat in a Church's Chicken drive though. I drove it back 30 mins in 103* weather with the heater on. I made a very clean piston.

For some reason, I am missing all of the photos I snapped of the engine, disassembly but a friend Hooked me up with a couple of us putting the 3.0 back in:






If I can fit in the engine bay, so can a 5-VZE!


About three weeks after putting the new engine in, said friend and another friend decided a trip up to Indianapolis for the Red Bull air race would be a great way to break in an engine. While true, just make sure your cam plugs don't weep out half your engine's oil (yeah, my bad)


It was fun though:













We stopped through Louisville to see the Corvette factory which was really really cool.



Lets not forget, AIRPLANES:



So that was fall break.

Now, what did I do to start off my winter break?

New brakes:

My old ones were so bad, bucking the car and turning the wheel. Trust me, I didn't have the cash or time until now.




Probably the original rotors.. sigh.



I got a great deal on some Wagner disks and some Bosch QuietCast pads, stops so smooth and quiet. Thanks RockAuto.

Side-note: benefit of living in a FedEx hub city, you get packages really fast.


I also took the time to re-run my KS wire:




I've got an MG friend and according to the issues I have (dash fuse blows when in reverse). I have an "honorary membership to the Lucas society" so, what do you got?

Haha. More to come, probably lights or other exterior stuff

Attached Images

 

Well.. I went out and saw rogue one tonight, decent movie, but I got code 52 after stopping for some gas.. couldn't get it to go away.

I can't seem to rid myself of this damn code. Maybe when I get more cash, I'll pull the plenum, replace the pigtail, etc, and get rid of the external connector..

If I see it pop on tomorrow, I might cry.

I hate everything right now, haha. This is a reminder for those who don't have backup lights. Get backup lights.


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Ok I finally got the tail light assembly I ordered. Looks sharp! Finally I'm not like every mustang driver out there:




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Woo woo woo! I'm back baby! So remember that brick thing I hit? Yeah I'm fixing that now. Also, remember that bad side with the flaky clear coat? Hitting two birds with one stone here! Basically, the whole rear quarter panel is being repainted, which is great! What isn't is this:
IMG_1167 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr

Oh no. Thats a ton of bondo. Remember, this car was T-boned.

See that cracking?

That is a lot of bondo:

IMG_1168 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr

Ugh:

IMG_1170 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr

Lets just pull that out a bit more:

IMG_1171 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr


That, is much better:

IMG_1176 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr

More tomorrow, of course. Really excited for the next steps. I've found a parts truck to grab a decent amount from. I'd like to get this back to full 90s glory!

Good work!

I've learned with my experience around the automotive/fleet world, that those kind of fixes happen either because it's gotta be a cheap repair or there's inexperience. Awesome to see when someone takes the time to do it right.
Plus, I love seeing 2nd gen's brought back to life!

Oh man, me too buddy! I saw a beat to death red one with no CC today, mad e me sad! Thanks for the encouragement!

Ok, so I bought some bolts and clips online, still looking for some more generic ones to attach the fenders and whatnot. Also looking for some little odd bits, plus some body clips. Going good so far! I just wish I didn't have to use that much bondo!

Ordered a set of body clip pullers. I can finally fix that dog leg thing!

Finally! It is all painted and buffed. Some small scratches, but not bad for a garage job:
IMG_1252 by keaton.burleson, on Flickr

Still have a massive list of things to fix, incl. the stupid ass code 52 that keeps coming back to visit.

Very nice. I'm watching with interest...I just acquired a 94 in need of some restoration work. It's pretty gross actually, but we'll get there.

OUCH!! I feel your pain..back up lights that suck is one reason why i went with some 24w flush mounts (thinking of upgrading to some real Rigid's)

The passenger side is slightly obstructed by the license plate mount but the light output is awesome even for some cheapie knock off lights from ebay


sucks that you found 5 gallons of Bondo in that quarter panel. Your repair looks pretty dang good

Wow! That actually looks pretty good! If I wasn't going for the stock+ look, I'd go your route!

What sucks more is that we put about the same back in