advice on new 89 v6 1st gen project

[nigelorion]

Whats up guys. Long time lurker here. I have wanted a 1st gen since I was a kid but they are hard to find clean and cheap these days in the PNW. Anyway, made a trade for this thing today and I could not pass it up. 3.0 v6 in unknown condition ( previous owner said he parked it a year ago and bought a 3.4 but never got around to doing the swap). Brand new BFG tires. 240k 5 speed, etc

My main concern right now is deciding on a motor setup then fix this janky lift it has on it.

go to junk yard and find the missing peices in engine bay and try and get it running or just go straight for a tdi or om617 swap.

I want to switch to a ome leaf spring in the rear instead of these sketchy drop shackles and spacers. Front looks like a skyjacker setup that seems to be useless? just for cosmetics? Here are some pictures if you guys have any thoughts on the direction I should take with this.

Would love to have a reliablish trail rig that still handles ok on the road by the end of this. The body is really clean, interior is pretty gross. Someone broke the drivers side vent window thing, any ideas on replacing that?

 

[RAD4Runner]

...bought a 3.4 but never got around to doing the swap...

Drop the 3.4 in it. Toyota 3.4 is reliable. Others are reliablISH. I've seen photos of 3.4 in the engine compartment. Looks roomy! 3.0 is very cramped, I'm uncomfortable just looking at it - LOL!

Get rid of the band-aid suspension. OME's are goo if stiff. They would raise the rear 2 inches above stock so to level it you would have to crank stock torsion bars, OR add BJ spacers, OR install matching OME torsion bars. Travel will change so need to find proper shocks to accommodate that.

I'm on low budget so I have Zuk mod. Since 2013 my truck's taken me to many places fancy SUV's parked at the office or Nordstrom could only dream of - LOL!

 

[nigelorion]

Drop the 3.4 in it. Toyota 3.4 is reliable. Others are reliablISH. I've seen photos of 3.4 in the engine compartment. Looks roomy! 3.0 is very cramped, I'm uncomfortable just looking at it - LOL!

Get rid of the band-aid suspension. OME's are goo if stiff. They would raise the rear 2 inches above stock so to level it you would have to crank stock torsion bars, OR add BJ spacers, OR install matching OME torsion bars. Travel will change so need to find proper shocks to accommodate that.

I'm on low budget so I have Zuk mod. Since 2013 my truck's taken me to many places fancy SUV's parked at the office or Nordstrom could only dream of - LOL!

thanks for the input! to clarify i did not buy the 3.4 with the 4runner so right now i do not have an engine for it yet.

I would like it to still be lifted to clear these 33s but yea the setup it has right now is pretty cringy. Looks like i am looking for a parts rig to put the ifs back to oem in front. lots of research to do.

 

[wallytoo]

purely my opinion, but you might have been better off waiting to find one (a 1st gen) that was more equipped the way you wanted, rather than buying one that needs a lot of changes to make it the way you want it. perhaps the one you just bought could be the parts rig for another one that is already closer to your "ideal"?


unless you got it for so cheap that it doesn't matter, like for less than $1000. if you paid more than that for what you got, you paid too much.

 

[nigelorion]

purely my opinion, but you might have been better off waiting to find one (a 1st gen) that was more equipped the way you wanted, rather than buying one that needs a lot of changes to make it the way you want it. perhaps the one you just bought could be the parts rig for another one that is already closer to your "ideal"?


unless you got it for so cheap that it doesn't matter, like for less than $1000. if you paid more than that for what you got, you paid too much.

i hear ya. the trade made sense and i am not worried about putting the work in to it. here in the washington, oregon area, these sell for thousands even beat to shit and not running. this is a super clean example of rigs that you just cant buy easily in these parts.

 

[Dropzone]

i hear ya. the trade made sense and i am not worried about putting the work in to it. here in the washington, oregon area, these sell for thousands even beat to shit and not running. this is a super clean example of rigs that you just cant buy easily in these parts.

bingo, the price on some models of toyota is nuts in the PNW. I really want a 3rd gen Xtra Cab but the prices for a good one with 250K on the clock can be $7000 plus

best of luck finding any parts around the junkyards around here, they go quick

throwing a 3.4 would be a no brainer on this thing... i want to do it as some point