1988 Restoration project all done...with photos!

[vandert]

Hi Guys

Sorry for the delay, my password just stopped working and even the reset passwords wouldn't work...wierd-o-rama. Anyway:

- 94Beast4Runner - Thanks! stripes came from "James Dean Creations" was $250 for the set, here's the site: 1987-88

- Dingman - All parts came from an '86 donor runner. Seats were pretty good but very dirty. I sent the seats out to be steam cleaned at a carpet cleaning place. They said it was a lot of work but came out nice. All the plastic was repainted. I went to the local paint shop and had them match the color (they were spot on) then made a few repairs here and there and sprayed 'em...don't forget the plastic adhesion promotor or the paint will just flake off!

-s2kpuddydad - If I can expand on Ding's instructions. There are 3ea. 10mm nuts and about 7 phillips screws holding the dash on, here's what ya' do:
1) Remove speedo/instrument cluster cover (4-5 ea phillips screws) you'll
then see one of the nuts...remove nut.
2) Remove glove compartment door and remove the plastic A/C and Heat
duct directly above glove compartment (best way to access is remove
passanger seat and lie on your back) once duct is removed you'll see the
other 10mm nut...remove nut
3) Last nut is a pain! Remove passanger side A/C and Heat vent assembly
(thing with vents).The outter duct is held in by 4ea spring loaded
retainers so pop out the vent grills and CAREFULLY pry the corners down
and wiggle the duct out, take care not to crack the dash pad! Once that
vent duct is out you can see the 10mm nut...remove nut
4) Remove 7 ea. phillips screws from bottom lip of pad (you can see 'em
when laying on the floor) and pull out pad. You'll find the holes for
the "avionics" package are predrilled in the metal, you'll just have to poke
through the vinal/foam to install the bracket
-- Hope that helps, I removed WAY too much stuff when I pulled my pad

My password did the same thing as well??? Anyway, very good job man, I need to wetsand my car as I painted it and never did it, makes a hell of a difference, I could see the clear coat mess up in the first pic's but afte the wet sand it looks perfect

 

[TLMai]

Your truck looks great and beautiful. May I ask where did you buy the replacement graphics/decals/stripes from?

 

[AKcharger]

Your truck looks great and beautiful. May I ask where did you buy the replacement graphics/decals/stripes from?

Thanks for the kind words, - stripes came from "James Dean Creations" was $250 for the set, here's the site: 1987-88

 

[NiteCrawler]

Nice Job

AK,

I know its been awhile since you completed your 4Runner, but what kind of paint did you use? I'm about to try to do the same with mine..
thanks

 

[AKcharger]

AK,

I know its been awhile since you completed your 4Runner, but what kind of paint did you use? I'm about to try to do the same with mine..
thanks

I'm still around...I used PPG "Omni" is a lower priced line of paint but I used it on my '70 Charger and it works fine and isn't too expensive. They make a single stage and a base coat/clear coat. If your just starting out I'd go BC/CC. If you mess anything up you can fix it, if you make a goof with the single stage your stuck and have to repaint the whole thing...good luck!

 

[NiteCrawler]

Cool, I've never painted anything before. My Co-worker is going to be helping / teaching me. My 89 is the same color as yours.... He says keeping it the same color will help..

 

[AKcharger]

Changing colors is a nightmare. That dark gray is a good color, pretty forgiving. Don't worry about priming or anything unless you did repairs, just scuff, wipe down with a degreaser and hit with cheese cloth. Again use base/clear. If you make a goof on the base coat, just sand the bad area and re-shoot. When base is good shoot clear...mess up the clear it can be fixed with some tricks, otherwise it should be good. If you have excessive orange peal or really want it to stand out do the wetsand/buff.
any questions hit me up :snacker:

 

[lledwod]

wow that looks great! I am trying to get up the nerve to tackle my '89. Its reading threads like this that help me learn and give me the incentive to go for it .... I've never painted before ...

PS The Alaskan border is just about 30 miles from my door ...

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Awesome! I used the same paint on mine, went single stage, 3 coats, only cuz my buddy who painted it didn't do a very good job the first time and I sanded right through it with two swipes! The third coat was necessary for a couple of spots that I thought was still too thin!

I did my own graphics, used the original graphics for my truck printed it in metallic colors to give it a different look!

The decals as it just came of my printer:

Great to see another Toy restored! Love the color too!

:bounce:

 

[NiteCrawler]

Did you see my pics I posted? What would you doing to get the stickers off?

 

[flyinhawaiian01]

Did you see my pics I posted? What would you doing to get the stickers off?

In your album named 89 4 runner? Honestly, if you're gonna paint it, don't bother trying to take them off, just sand 'em off when you do your bodywork! You will not have much luck taking those off without damaging the paint, and even when you do take them off, your 4 runner will look as bad as mine did:

You can see how much damage there was on the bed just above the decal, that's from heating with the heat gun and scraping it off with a plastic hard card. Once the vinyl was off, the adhesive was removed with adhesive remover and cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol to remove the rest of the residue.

Now, if you're not painting your truck, then that's the only way to take the vinyl off, unless you want to waste time and make a mess with a rubber eraser wheel! I've never found any use for those things, they just make a lot of mess, and if you're not careful, it will burn right through the paint. Heat, scraping and adhesive remover afterwards is the only way I would do it, and I do this for a living! Of course, my jobs are to remove vinyl from RV's and trailers, so the decals on the toyota's are a quick and easy job for me!

 

[NiteCrawler]

Thanks I know I will be painting it. I just don't know when. I'm awaiting a newly rebuilt 3.0 engine from APR. Hopefully it will arrive before the weekend. I cant wait to install it... BLOWN HEAD GASKET @ 269K...

 

[NiteCrawler]

wow that looks great! I am trying to get up the nerve to tackle my '89. Its reading threads like this that help me learn and give me the incentive to go for it .... I've never painted before ...

PS The Alaskan border is just about 30 miles from my door ...

Have you started yours yet?

 

[NiteCrawler]

Not yet. Had some a few issues to pop up. I should have it installe by the end of the month. I will post pics when I'm done.

 

[alpinecowboy]

Excellent restoration

I am literally in the midst of the same process as your build... I bought a non running but straight 4runner and am putting it back together as close to new as possible... your build is great inspiration!