notaloafer
New member
Hello everyone -
Glad to have found this place, and I'm sure I'll be posting quite a bit on here.
I just purchased a 1987 4Runner for $850 - the only thing I required that worked (which does) is a strong engine, 4x4, straight frame, strong tranny, strong clutch. All of those things are great... however, as you probably know, $850 doesn't get you much cosmetically.
Right now the rear window is completely shattered. They tore apart the controller assembly in the tailgate quite savagely and I don't even know if it is worth salvaging. If it is, it would probably be easier to find another tailgate with a working window at a junkyard.
I was thinking that instead of a rear window that you can roll up/down, that I would rather have a flip-up canopy hatch similar to what you would find on a pickup truck.
I did some research on it, and found many people that said it would leak, that you could never make something that would fit, etc.
I'm not going for looks here, I'm going for functionality. The entire bed is stripped out down to the metal anyways (more or less resembles a pickup truck at this point) and there is currently no rear row of seats, only the front two. If it leaks a bit, its not the end of the world.
Any ideas on how I could take a canopy door from a old pickup truck and mount it on the fiberglass 4Runner removable top? Is that possible to do or should I just devote effort to finding a replacement working gate?
Cost is definitely a factor in all of this - although I have some money to put into this, I thought it would be a fun project to spend as little as possible restoring it.
Thanks in advance!
Glad to have found this place, and I'm sure I'll be posting quite a bit on here.
I just purchased a 1987 4Runner for $850 - the only thing I required that worked (which does) is a strong engine, 4x4, straight frame, strong tranny, strong clutch. All of those things are great... however, as you probably know, $850 doesn't get you much cosmetically.
Right now the rear window is completely shattered. They tore apart the controller assembly in the tailgate quite savagely and I don't even know if it is worth salvaging. If it is, it would probably be easier to find another tailgate with a working window at a junkyard.
I was thinking that instead of a rear window that you can roll up/down, that I would rather have a flip-up canopy hatch similar to what you would find on a pickup truck.
I did some research on it, and found many people that said it would leak, that you could never make something that would fit, etc.
I'm not going for looks here, I'm going for functionality. The entire bed is stripped out down to the metal anyways (more or less resembles a pickup truck at this point) and there is currently no rear row of seats, only the front two. If it leaks a bit, its not the end of the world.
Any ideas on how I could take a canopy door from a old pickup truck and mount it on the fiberglass 4Runner removable top? Is that possible to do or should I just devote effort to finding a replacement working gate?
Cost is definitely a factor in all of this - although I have some money to put into this, I thought it would be a fun project to spend as little as possible restoring it.
Thanks in advance!
