93toy
New member
Here's the back story. Always loved Toyotas. I've had multiple Toyota 4x4's over the years and loved them all, but I always had a soft spot for the 1st gen 4runners. In 2009 I decided it was time to track one down for a build.
So I watched Craigslist and some of the local auto trading papers for a few months until I found what I REALLY wanted. A 1985 4runner SR5. Found it locally with 307,000 miles. Solid frame, fair amount of body rust but not too far gone. Needed some little things but the rear window worked, the original SR5 interior was in great shape, it ran good, and I loved it from day one. Factory A/C, factory sunroof, power windows, etc. It was pretty loaded for 1985. Here's Tyrone the day he came home:
Here he is after his first bath:
So here was the plan. To build a 4runner the way I would have in 1985. I was 15 in 1985 and it wasn't gonna happen then, but it could now. I won't lie to you guys. I love capable off road trucks, but I also love BIG, lifted trucks. And while Tyrone is being built to take off road on occasion, there was no need for lockers and twin sticks because he won't get into anything that rough. So call it what you want, but he's being built how I want him. I guess you could call it 1/2 restoration, 1/2 built for forest service/fire roads.
So first things first. I did all of the tune-up and maintenance needs. Plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, new radiator, hoses, pcv valve, filters, oil pump seal, front main seal, vacuum lines, etc. (Previous owner had changed the head gasket recently) Now he was running pretty good. So I went inside and gutted the interior. Put a basic Kenwood stereo in, changed all dash lights to blue LED, steam cleaned all of the seats, removed the carpet and replaced with a new gray vinyl floor kit, and scrubbed like crazy. Then back outside again for all new front brake rotors and pads.
Eveything was going pretty good so it was time for a few mods. First up was a 4 inch Pro Comp suspension lift. Tyrone got a little attitude:
Then I added a 2 inch RB body lift and some 5.29 gears. So it was time for some rubber in the form of 35x15x15 bias Swampers on 15x10 AR Outlaw II's. (Doesn't get more 80's than that!!)
And his first time with the top off:
So I watched Craigslist and some of the local auto trading papers for a few months until I found what I REALLY wanted. A 1985 4runner SR5. Found it locally with 307,000 miles. Solid frame, fair amount of body rust but not too far gone. Needed some little things but the rear window worked, the original SR5 interior was in great shape, it ran good, and I loved it from day one. Factory A/C, factory sunroof, power windows, etc. It was pretty loaded for 1985. Here's Tyrone the day he came home:
Here he is after his first bath:
So here was the plan. To build a 4runner the way I would have in 1985. I was 15 in 1985 and it wasn't gonna happen then, but it could now. I won't lie to you guys. I love capable off road trucks, but I also love BIG, lifted trucks. And while Tyrone is being built to take off road on occasion, there was no need for lockers and twin sticks because he won't get into anything that rough. So call it what you want, but he's being built how I want him. I guess you could call it 1/2 restoration, 1/2 built for forest service/fire roads.
So first things first. I did all of the tune-up and maintenance needs. Plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, new radiator, hoses, pcv valve, filters, oil pump seal, front main seal, vacuum lines, etc. (Previous owner had changed the head gasket recently) Now he was running pretty good. So I went inside and gutted the interior. Put a basic Kenwood stereo in, changed all dash lights to blue LED, steam cleaned all of the seats, removed the carpet and replaced with a new gray vinyl floor kit, and scrubbed like crazy. Then back outside again for all new front brake rotors and pads.
Eveything was going pretty good so it was time for a few mods. First up was a 4 inch Pro Comp suspension lift. Tyrone got a little attitude:
Then I added a 2 inch RB body lift and some 5.29 gears. So it was time for some rubber in the form of 35x15x15 bias Swampers on 15x10 AR Outlaw II's. (Doesn't get more 80's than that!!)
And his first time with the top off:
imp:
