A rusty and battered '89 1st gen

[lledwod]

Hi fellow enthusiasts. Here is my 1989 'special edition' 22re 5spd 1st gen.

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I purchased this truck a couple months ago, and am going to try to make it into a presentable daily driver.

The good,
-seems relatively mechanically sound, it drove and ran well especially considering the condition of the head (I'll get to that)
-I basically got the truck for free, as the 235/75/r15 BFG A/T's are nearly new, and I paid 400$
- the back of the truck was full of new parts, fenders, running lights, 4 shocks, front brakes, CV boots.
- the interior is OK, salvageable I think.
-its got 3 of the original splash guards .....

The Bad,
- the body!
-The PO ran the valves so far out of adjustment somehow, I've never seen anything like it. All 4 exhaust valves visibly closed as I adjusted them, and one intake valve was also not closing.

I am starting by doing the head gasket and timing chain, and going through the rest of the running gear.
Then I am going to attempt to fix up the body. I also bought a rolled runner that runs and drives well with lots of new parts and has some salvageable body parts. (Passenger mirror, rear bumper with plastic trim pieces, not much else!)

 

[lledwod]

So this 'runner has 338 000 km's, which I guess isn't too bad, about 210 000 miles. I've got a couple of photo's here of the cylinders, I think they'll be fine, but I am curious to hear some feed back on them.

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I am pretty comfortable around toyota's, my daily drivers for the past 21 years have been 1st gen pick-ups. I've done ALL the work on them, including a few engine overhauls and a couple tranny overhauls, myself. I've also owned a couple 2nd gen 4runners.
Now I have a dog, a wife and a baby girl, so we're growing out of the single cab pick-up!
Is it worth trying to fix this baby up?!

 

[slacker]

engine looks not to bad really .. except for the piston slap ...

we can help you on the body issues if your interested (in Canada) Precision 4X4 Center




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[lledwod]

Hi there slacker - I have had an eye on your fiberglass site. More likely be looking for a box for my '82 long box 4x4 at some point!

It'll probably be 2-4 weeks of tinkering on this 4runner before I decide what is worth putting into it.

 

[58rennur4]

Hell if the frame is good go for it...

 

[slacker]

Hi there slacker - I have had an eye on your fiberglass site. More likely be looking for a box for my '82 long box 4x4 at some point!

It'll probably be 2-4 weeks of tinkering on this 4runner before I decide what is worth putting into it.

dang ... I would take this 4 Runner in partial trade , if you would be interested ? .. but ,shipping is always an issue though

 

[lledwod]

So I've been picking away at the 4runner all summer. The engine came out; I checked the rod bearings and didn't look so hot! I plan to rebuild this engine. In the mean time I have dropped in the engine out of my parts truck. I've also been through the suspension and steering in the front, replacing upper ball joints, idler arm, CV's, brakes, 'rebuilding the freewheel hubs, repacking the bearings etc. I pulled out all the carpet and washed. It looked terrible, and came out far better than I expected.

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I am putting the interior back together, and trying to piece together the exterior bumper/trim/lights/etc.

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[lledwod]

First time I did an engine with the hood on. There was enough room. I used a gasket from a carbed manifold, and ended up sucking coolant into a cylinder. Not much, but enough to get the exhaust a little white after a minute of running. So I am waiting on an OEM gasket.

The rear window works when powered directly, but not through the switches. So I'll be looking into that.

 

[Chuckles89]

She looks a lot better! It's good to see these old truck being brought back to life

 

[lledwod]

I've started patching up the 'holes' (rust). Don't worry, I'm not trying to kid myself, I'm not expecting a show truck!! I really just wanted to prevent some of the road dust from getting in the cabin. Also I've never played with bondo and I figured this would be a good guinea pig. I would like, if I have the time and money, to straighten it all out with fiberglass panels in the future. If it turns out to be a solid truck. I am also trying to get a stereo wired into it at the moment. I have spent a lot of time fabbing broken parts together, I've really got a lot of junky parts to work with Spot the custom touch in the 3rd picture?

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[PlanetExpress]

I love a good transformation! That carpet really did turn out nice whats your secret?

 

[Chuckles89]

Ooh, you need to fix the rust in the A pillar(s) before it gets worse!

 

[RiFF RaFF]

Ooh, you need to fix the rust in the A pillar(s) before it gets worse!

Agreed! Don't let it get worse.

:hunter:

 

[lledwod]

Yea, I might look into doing something about that A-pillar rust!. Any suggestions? Grind out the rust, bondo and paint?!

Otherwise, I figure about another week and it should be 'on the road'. I took it for a good hard run a couple days ago and everything seemed fine, except the tires need to be balanced (the PO had new tires installed, but probably they weren't balanced, as there are no weights on any of the rims).

Idle is a little low after running it hard,

And the top end is a little 'chattery'. I suspect maybe the rocker assembly; worn rockers and/or shafts. Is this likely or possible? The valve clearances are all good. Can one change the rocker assembly out without changing the head gasket? (Of course you can, but will it likely lead to a leak).