1997 5speed

M

MissState4Runner

New member
Hey guys, joined last night and went through 36 pages of threads just reading through. Just wanted to post on here and introduce myself. I have a 1997 2wd 5 speed with leather. I had never seen the combination before so I swooped it up despite being kind of a "project". The clear coat was completely gone on the roof and hood, had purple tint, and none of the 4 tires were matching, but it had low miles for the year (~110k).

I had a couple questions though:

How do you remove the plastic piece around the license plate? It's two different colors from fading so I was going to paint it.

Thanks.
 
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OK, I'll be the first to say it:

:worthless

Now that it's out of the way, welcome! And I'm not sure how to remove the license piece, but I can sure bet that someone here does.
 
If I remember correctly, you have to take the panel off the inside of the hatch, take the black metal tray off, then there are a couple of bolts back there that hold the license plate holder in. I don't remember exactly how many, but it wasn't too hard to find them. Just don't pull hard and brake the plastic.

BTW, it is easier to take the panel off with the window down, but you need the window up to access the back of the license plate holder.
 
MissState4Runner said:
What about the grille? It's got the same problem.
Click to expand...

The grill is just held on by about 6 clips that are notoriously annoying to get off and break easily. It can be done though. The easiest way is to reach your finger around the grill side of the clip, and there is a flat piece of plastic protruding out from the clip. You can bend it a little bit up or down, and doing so in one of the directions will release it. Just reach you finger back there and start fiddling with it and you will figure it out. This way is much easier than trying to press the outer clips.
 
One more thing, it's a base model, so it has painted bumpers (mint greenish) and those simple rims with the black covers over the hub. I got my tires (30'' BFG All-Terrains) rotated and the idiot didn't put the cap back on tight enough I guess and I only have 3 now. Anyone know where I can get one? I've looked and looked and all I can find are these:

CenterCaps.net - Make and Model Search Results

Will they work? I have a sandblaster so I don't care about the finish, I can just paint them black.
 
MissState4Runner said:
What about the grille? It's got the same problem.
Click to expand...

4 clips along the top at the edges and either side of the hood latch, 2 on the bottom corners and 1 in between those on the support. I use a small flat-blade screwdriver to move the levers Nelsonmd is talking about 'cause I have a hard time getting my fingers in the spaces. New clips at the dealer were under a buck each cause like he said, they break. It is nice to reinstall, twist sideways and pull out any clips that stayed with the truck and clip back into grill. Pop grill back into place.
 
Welcome to another manual tranny guy.

With regard to the front grille clips I find having another person-a 2nd pair of hands is the most helpful tip. One person releases with a long blade screwdriver while the other person exerts outside 'pull' on the grille.

Center cap-watch the classifieds section or get to know your local scrap yards.
 
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