88 4Runner Project! (Lots of Questions)

Not sure if you fixed the idling issue, or the rich exhaust.. But in my case (had both), I did a timing adjustment and it fixed both issues.

Have someone hold it around 2500 rpms while you adjust the timing.. I do it all by ear.

I think they call for 5° and most recommend 8° for 22re (Im just going off memory here).. But if you just listen to the motor, play with it a bit, youll get it dialed in.
 
So I'm back at it again! I've been enjoying my truck the last 5 years but recently I've taken a renewed interest in getting it polished up a bit and needlessly dumping money into it. Here's what I've been working on lately. Not sure if anyone finds this interesting but I'm trying to get back into the habit of documenting what I'm doing for the sake of posterity!

What I've done recently:

1. Finally got the hard top back on after a few years of softopper only. Not having a properly sealed cabin has taken a toll on the interior with some surface rust building up on some lower bits of the tub. I had to get a take off window control unit from another truck to get it to work finally but can still only get it to go up and down with the key.

2. Replaced the driver's side wheel bearing and CV axle after discovering a cracked boot. I used Koyo bearings and a new NAPA axle but not sure if the axle that came out was OEM or not. The bearings that came out were surprisingly not bad but the spindle nut was disturbingly loose. I have the parts for the passenger side as well but haven' had time for that job yet and it doesn't seem to be as pressing of a need.

3. My 265-75-16 BFG AT's passed the 10 year old mark making them an auto fail for NC safety inspection. Though there was still plenty of tread, they were dry rotted and cracked all over.
I decided to go pizza cutter! I took advantage of Prez day and got a killer deal on some Firestone Destination X/T's in 235-85-16. According to the manufacturer specs, they drop about 15lbs per corner off the BFG 265's. I wish they looked a bit more aggressive but I like the tall skinniness! I can't believe how much more easily it accelerates.

4. I threw on a grill from an 83 pickup. It only cost me $25 and I think it looks pretty rad. I kinda had to hack up the grill to make it fit with the stock headlight bezels. The proper way to do it as demostrated by others is to cut the bezels but I didn't want to lose the ability to return to stock or hack up original parts.

5. Replaced license plate trim from when I got rear ended. Still have some small dents in the tailgate I'd eventually like to replace.
 
To-Do List

Some projects I have on deck

1. Install bedliner and insulation to the inside of the tub. I will have to clean up some surface rust too but hoping nothing got too bad. Got some noico and kilmat to try and dampen the interior noise a bit. I also got a Vinyl floor liner for the passenger area that I'm goin to trim down and install.

2. AC blower motor doesn't work, tried replacing the relay but no go. Will have to figure out the issue and get it going. It's cold!

3. Brakes feel a little...chattery I guess is the word. They don't make any noises but kind of pulse when you are nearing a complete stop. Front rotors do not appear warped or pitted so will have to start diagnosing the rear.

4. Had a couple bulbs burn out inside and outside of the truck so I went to town with amazon LED's. Prices have really gone down, about $20-$25 for all the bulbs minus the headlights.

5. Trailer hitch was pretty damaged when I got rear ended, than goodness it was there as it probably saved it from being totalled. I think it's going to have to come off. Might be able to repai but ultimately I want a rear plate bumper.

6. Want to do a detail and refresh of the interior. Will sand and paint a lot of the plastic an vinyl bits but I think door cards and rear passenger panels will have to be replaced. Some moisture got on the carboard backing and its disintegrating, plus the vinyl isn't in the best of shape. Looking for solutions on this.


I'll try to document some of this stuff with pics as soon as this godforsaken rain stops!
 
Got to work on the interior today and was not happy with what I found. Got a nasty rust spot in the drivers footwell. About an 8" rust spot with a couple quarter sized holes. It appears that replacement floor pans do not exist (how do they not?). SO I'm going to have to figure something out.
 
rusty904 said:
Got to work on the interior today and was not happy with what I found. Got a nasty rust spot in the drivers footwell. About an 8" rust spot with a couple quarter sized holes. It appears that replacement floor pans do not exist (how do they not?). SO I'm going to have to figure something out.
Click to expand...

There are two Toyota-only salvage yards in the Denver, CO area that may be able to help you. Jim's Yota in East Denver and Yota Yard in West Denver. If you only need a smaller section of good steel to weld in, it couldn't be that expensive to ship.

Yeah, rust sucks. I dealt with it in my first '89, had to cut out sections of the quarters, replace fenders....it sucks, I know exactly how you feel brother.
 
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give those guys a try. Will be interested to see what they charge. The rust is obviously really severe in the corner of the footwell, nothing else is rusted through but the surface rust is fairly heavy. I'd rather have sheet metal in there with the ribbing like the factory stuff rather than generic flat plate. I'm pretty surprised with there being a decent following for our 4runners and pickups that no one is stamping these things out.
 
rusty904 said:
Thanks for the suggestion. I'll give those guys a try. Will be interested to see what they charge. The rust is obviously really severe in the corner of the footwell, nothing else is rusted through but the surface rust is fairly heavy. I'd rather have sheet metal in there with the ribbing like the factory stuff rather than generic flat plate. I'm pretty surprised with there being a decent following for our 4runners and pickups that no one is stamping these things out.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I did another '89 project about 10 years ago that had horrible cancer on both quarters and fenders. I found a place called Wolf Steel out of Canada that stamps the quarter flares and skins. They also had some other parts for our rigs but I can't remember exactly what. It all looked good when I got it and welded in fine. I got the fenders from Jim's Yota in Denver and stripped them down to bare steel. Pretty sure I only paid $100 for two good fenders. Call both of those shops in Denver (Jims Yota and Yota Yard).
 
I have a couple rust holes in my drivers floor too, sadly. The pinch weld that joins the floor pan and the outer portion of the A pillar must have got frost heaved and rust heaved and let water in. Really kicking myself for not tearing up the carpets sooner, the floors were the cleanest part of my truck!
I haven't found anyone who makes afterberth replacement floor panels, if anyone does, or if anyone gets crafty and decides to produce them, you'll have a good market cornered! Either finding a donor, as said above, and getting happy with a sawzall, or bend and create your own. We just picked up a '90 pickup for the wife, and looking at her floor it looks very close to mine, I'm not sure if you could make the next generation of truck floors work. I might be stuck building my own floor sections. If I do, I will do a write-up for y'all
 
Howitzer said:
I have a couple rust holes in my drivers floor too, sadly. The pinch weld that joins the floor pan and the outer portion of the A pillar must have got frost heaved and rust heaved and let water in. Really kicking myself for not tearing up the carpets sooner, the floors were the cleanest part of my truck!
I haven't found anyone who makes afterberth replacement floor panels, if anyone does, or if anyone gets crafty and decides to produce them, you'll have a good market cornered! Either finding a donor, as said above, and getting happy with a sawzall, or bend and create your own. We just picked up a '90 pickup for the wife, and looking at her floor it looks very close to mine, I'm not sure if you could make the next generation of truck floors work. I might be stuck building my own floor sections. If I do, I will do a write-up for y'all
Click to expand...

I feel you on the guilt. My floors were in pretty good shape when I bought the truck back in 2015. If I had pulled the carpets more often, I wouldn't have been in this situation. I guess I'm thankful it's something that will be covered by carpet on one side and undercoat on the other so I guess it doesn't have to be perfect to look at.
 
I have a question about quench, hopefully someone can give a bit of advice. I bought a rebuilt engine from a guy who said he's built a ton of 22res. I only read about quench AFTER the engine was installed. And I've been driving it for a month or so.

I can tell you that I explicitly remember the top of the pistons being about 1-2mm below the deck at tdc. I'm not gonna pull this engine out now. What would y'all recommend I do to counteract any issues this may cause. And how can I make it run its best with it this way? Thanks in advance!
 
I hit up a wrecking yard yesterday, cut the front quarter section (halfway up the A pillar, down the centre of the dash and down transmission tunnel) with a cordless sawzall out of a 94 4runner; it was all that was there with a decent floor sadly. My wife said it looked as easy as quartering an elk. I haven't had a chance to dig into it too much, or separate the patch piece I need from the donor chunk, but it looks pretty close. The seam that joins the floor pan to the rocker panel are different between the two generations, the 80's floor pan seam is parallel to the ground and nicely butts up to the rocker, however the 90's seam is on a 30-40 degree downward angle where it joins the rocker. I'm not sure if you could just trim excess, flatten it in a brake and then lap joint it overtop, or trim an inch into the floor pan and butt joint it. I have a fair bit of rust on the floor pan around the body mount, so I am hoping that they line up close on the two generations. I have no idea how to attach pictures on here (but I will find out), once I do I can send you some somewhat side by side photos if you'd like
 
Howitzer said:
I hit up a wrecking yard yesterday, cut the front quarter section (halfway up the A pillar, down the centre of the dash and down transmission tunnel) with a cordless sawzall out of a 94 4runner; it was all that was there with a decent floor sadly. My wife said it looked as easy as quartering an elk. I haven't had a chance to dig into it too much, or separate the patch piece I need from the donor chunk, but it looks pretty close. The seam that joins the floor pan to the rocker panel are different between the two generations, the 80's floor pan seam is parallel to the ground and nicely butts up to the rocker, however the 90's seam is on a 30-40 degree downward angle where it joins the rocker. I'm not sure if you could just trim excess, flatten it in a brake and then lap joint it overtop, or trim an inch into the floor pan and butt joint it. I have a fair bit of rust on the floor pan around the body mount, so I am hoping that they line up close on the two generations. I have no idea how to attach pictures on here (but I will find out), once I do I can send you some somewhat side by side photos if you'd like
Click to expand...

Absolutely, that would be very helpful. I find posting pics is easiest straight from my iphone. Just have to make sure to not specify "full size".

I am currently removing all factory asphalt sound matting. I actually like the stuff but it was trapping moisture underneath so it has to go. Been slowly chipping away at it until I happened upon this technique of using "freezer spray". It apparently hardens and shatters off.

Once it's gone I want to replace it with something else to keep excess heat and noise out of the cabin but I'm afraid to use peel in stick because it might trap more moisture under there. IDK. Going to remove all the superficial rust and roll on some primer and bedliner.
 
It's actually funny you mention the freeze method. The wrecking yard I was on on the weekend, it was about -15 Celsius (around 5 ish Fahrenheit) and the truck I cut up, literally a whole 20" by 30" section came up with the carpet when I gave it a good tug! I had never seen it come up with such ease, especially such a large chunk like that. It might be a little while before I actually get to skinning the donor chunk and installing it into my truck; I am in the heart of the wiring on my diesel swap, and engine repair/swap on the wife's 90 is also "knocking at my door". If you PM me your email I can send you whatever photos you'd like between the two floors
 
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