AZ-Picked up a 1st gen. 1986 22re automagic

[diponyou]

Well I bought a thing

1986 t4r
22re with barely 277k miles :tongue1:
automagic (shifts great!)

I had seen this for sale for a little bit and finally decided to make an offer, guy accepted and I drove her home about 30 miles then took it down a pretty easy trail right next to my house. It did quite well

For the most part it is stock, and just about everything works minus the a/c but it is all there. That will be getting addressed asap.
And it is pretty darn clean, far from mint, but very presentable. I am impressed by the condition to miles ratio.



here it is next to my buddies montero, that thing is a tank






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4x4 works great, no issues there.

The engine was making a tapping noise coming from the top end. I think the owner thought it was something major.

Essentially it would have a tapping noise when you start it up, and when it idles. As soon as you gave it any amount of throttle it would disappear. No other noises and it only did it at idle/startup.

I figured it was going to be the timing chain/tensioner or rockers out of adjustment. I pulled the valve cover to find that the rockers had been chewing through 2 of the cam lobes which explains the noise(i think). Both of those lobes were heavily worn.

I found a local guy who has a bunch of parts and I am going to pick up a used cam/rocker assembly and see if that fixes it.

Other than that the plan is to just driver her around and have fun. I am sure I will get some ideas and inspiration from you guys.

 

[KidVermicious]

Nice score. Allow me to suggest that you drop the coin on a little hotter cam than stock. I ran a 271 that definitely woke that poor little motor up, check out engnbldr.com.

Also, where do you live that that awesome country is right next to your house? I've seen Tempe, and that ain't Tempe.

 

[diponyou]

Nice score. Allow me to suggest that you drop the coin on a little hotter cam than stock. I ran a 271 that definitely woke that poor little motor up, check out engnbldr.com.

Also, where do you live that that awesome country is right next to your house? I've seen Tempe, and that ain't Tempe.

Yeah, in the day I have had this 4runner I have learned A LOT already lol. Its nice to see how cheap everything is for these little motors.

There is another guy selling an engnbldr ported head, with 268 cam complete. I wanted to just get these on and make sure the motor sounds healthy. If all is well I will start gathering stuff.

I live in Mesa now, this trail is about a 15 minute drive from my house. Not too bad.

 

[58rennur4]

Well I bought a thing

1986 t4r
22re with barely 277k miles :tongue1:
automagic (shifts great!)

NICE! Hey if you put one of those fancy rock crawler rear bumpers on sell me the one on the truck please




.

 

[diponyou]

haha well no plans as of yet to put any bumpers on. Nobody has one for sale locally?


Well I got the new cam, rockers installed today and accidentally left the ratchet on the crank bolt and it snapped the tranny cooler line, and destroyed the radiator.:mmph:
So I bought a new one and a new thermostat because I am pretty sure there isnt one in it at the moment.

I adjusted the valves cold and they sounded good, then I warmed it up and adjusted them and now they are loud again. :Cry:

I am going to go back out tonight and pull the valve cover and check them again when they are cold.



I also acquired the a/c line that was broken. Going to get that installed and vacuum the system once I get the top end situated.

Heres a few pics to keep people interested.

 

[lofreqjeff]

hang out with me and my friends - you'll find a lot of inspiration... for example:

Tube doors:


Softtopper - Up:


Or Down:


Long Travel IFS:


bumpers:




I could go on and on - we need to go wheelin together soon to get you inspired.

 

[58rennur4]

haha well no plans as of yet to put any bumpers on. Nobody has one for sale locally?

Nope no local so far I'll find one eventually.

 

[diponyou]

Jeff those are definitely some inspiration. And I agree just need to get her all ironed out.
Love the look of yours with the tube doors,bumper and sliders. Looks great and I'm sure it performs.


Pretty sure I need to get some new valve adjuster screws from the dealer tomorrow. Despite my efforts to get the valves adjusted they don't want to quiet down.

Going to give it one more go in the morning and call it good until I get new adjusters.

 

[diponyou]

Ok so a lot has been going on with the 4runner in the last couple days. I have been putting a lot of work into it. Here's what has been done:
oil change (rotella 15/40, wix filter)
trans fluid change. New filter and gasket are next.
new cam
new rockers
valve adjustment
cleaned throttle body
new throttle position sensor
new radiator
new clutch fan
new thermostat
coolant flush
redid wiring to coolant temp sensor
valve cover gasket, with grommets
adjusted kickdown cable

And I am sure there was more that I did. Either way it is running absolutely awesome now.
Before it wouldn't get to operating temps and now it is operating perfectly.

valves are somewhat quiet, from what I gathered these engines just tend to be a little louder.

Took it out again and had some more fun, this weekend we are going to really test it out.

Here's a few pics of the shenanigans






Messed the rear bumper up a little when I got all the way up haha. :roll:

 

[58rennur4]

Messed the rear bumper up a little when I got all the way up haha. :roll:

Right On Price Drop olice:






..

 

[diponyou]

Wooooooooooooooohooooooooo!

Fixed the sluggish acceleration.

It was feeling like I was taking off in 3rd gear before. I re-timed it and gapped the plugs to .38, they were at 30. And we adjusted the kickdown cable.

It is still slow but it actually takes off now, much better throttle response.

:blabla:

 

[Nervo19]

Wooooooooooooooohooooooooo!

Fixed the sluggish acceleration.

It was feeling like I was taking off in 3rd gear before. I re-timed it and gapped the plugs to .38, they were at 30. And we adjusted the kickdown cable.

It is still slow but it actually takes off now, much better throttle response.

:blabla:

Nice. There seems to be an epidemic of white 1st gens on here lately.

Where did you get the idea of gapping the plugs at .38? I think .30 is spec. I'm willing to try it if it's not going to mess up the engine. (I know very little about engines)

 

[diponyou]

Nice. There seems to be an epidemic of white 1st gens on here lately.

Where did you get the idea of gapping the plugs at .38? I think .30 is spec. I'm willing to try it if it's not going to mess up the engine. (I know very little about engines)

haha yeah I noticed that

and I was searching online and a lot of guys were recommending in the .35-40 range.

It wont mess your engine up don't worry haha. But if your truck runs good there is no sense in doing that.

 

[diponyou]

Took the little 4runner out and it performed awesomely. I went out with some lifted and locked trucks and I kept up. There was a few close calls with some sketchy trails but all the trucks made it back without issue.

Here are some pics of the shenanigans. Oh and I had a 3 year old in the back seat and my gf in the passenger seat. I also didn't deflate my tires, left my truck completely stock.


















I need to start looking into some sort of lift so I can get more flex. I am thinking bj spacers and some new springs in the rear.