Hello, gents. New here w/a black/burgundy 1987 22RE auto.

[flagbasher]

Good to know the dash can be repaired "easily"!

I guess I should start by buying a paint chip chart from SEM to compare against the gray parts I'm getting.

There's also a guy on eBay who restores 4Runner parts with SEM finishes. I might ask him what he uses.

 

[Nervo19]

Terry87 on Yotatech has restored many trucks and 4Runners and just told me earlier this week the SEM colors. He uses SEM 17303 for light gray and 17013 for the darker gray. In a 1st gen 4Runner there are two gray tones. It's most obvious on my vinyl door trim.

He has several build threads, all worth following:

85 Extra Cab Saved from Crusher - Page 16 - YotaTech Forums

The guy that restores parts on eBay is Grego on Yotatech. He has a thread on his 93 pickup. He does really good detail work. I emailed him about colors but didn't get a response. He goes a long time without logging in. Terry87 has bought a console from him and his colors match Terry's SEM colors.

We just got a new O'Reilly's and I *think* they carry SEM. If not I'll order it from Summit or Eastwood. All you really need is the adhesion promoter and the paint. I have plenty of other degreaser cleaners around.

 

[flagbasher]

Terry87 on Yotatech has restored many trucks and 4Runners and just told me earlier this week the SEM colors. He uses SEM 17303 for light gray and 17013 for the darker gray. In a 1st gen 4Runner there are two gray tones. It's most obvious on my vinyl door trim.

He has several build threads, all worth following:

85 Extra Cab Saved from Crusher - Page 16 - YotaTech Forums

The guy that restores parts on eBay is Grego on Yotatech. He has a thread on his 93 pickup. He does really good detail work. I emailed him about colors but didn't get a response. He goes a long time without logging in. Terry87 has bought a console from him and his colors match Terry's SEM colors.

We just got a new O'Reilly's and I *think* they carry SEM. If not I'll order it from Summit or Eastwood. All you really need is the adhesion promoter and the paint. I have plenty of other degreaser cleaners around.

Thanks for the info! I'm still trying to dig up the difficult-to-paint parts online. :keyboard:

For anyone else who might search for SEM gray color matches:
Light gray match: SEM 17303
Dark gray match: SEM 17013

Every time I get in my truck I think, "I could paint that" or, "I need to find one of those in gray." What have I gotten myself into? So many parts I'm watching on eBay right now.

The parts overstock site is also being probed for things like headliners, rubber trims, and the lower valance. Lots of pain here since the pictures and descriptions aren't always very useful. A big stack of the same part number with multiple hits for my model #.

I've got a growing list of things I need to do to the truck. This weekend I hope to hit the radio wire splices again since I found more, I want to power wash the undercarriage, and I got a used rear window lock switch to swap in for my broken one.

 

[flagbasher]

So, this weekend started out with the intent to power wash the underside, install my "new" rear window lock switch in the console, and clean up the rest of the evil stereo wiring under the dash since I found even more twist-and-tape splices.

But first, I saw an opportunity for a quick fix. The rear deck had some cheapie black carpet screwed down, and it was uncut and off center. I thought, "hey, I can straighten and cut this in five minutes."

I pulled up the carpet and found another twist-and-tape wire splice! This one went across under the scuff plate where the tailgate meets the truck and the carpet was screwed down. It was for a towing brake light rig it seems.

To get to the wiring easier, I pulled off the rear panels and found even more twist-and-tape wire splices!

I also figured out why my deck light wasn't working... it wasn't connected. :tongue1:

The previous owner had installed an up/down switch for the rear gate in the driver side rear seat nook. It wasn't an auto-return type and I didn't want my kid messing with it and burning out the motor, so I pulled the ground plug from the back of it and cable tied some shrink tubing to it. I suspect those wires go forward and will need to be fixed as well. But, this weekend, I just did what I saw in the back.

I cut, stripped, tinned, soldered, shrink tubed, cable tied, tightened, and then vacuumed copious amounts of dog hair and dirt from behind those panels.

I cannot imagine how that much dog hair got back there.

After that, I picked up some new tan interior from craigslist. I paid $800. You think it was too much? :tongue1:

All joking aside, when fooling around with the wiring, I noticed what bad shape the roll bar was in. Scratched, rust spots, chalky "black" paint. It looked really bad.

Here you can see the clean spots under the bolt plug and under the top cover. At least I knew what color it should be.

So I got the bright idea to "quickly" remove the roll bar and repaint it.

I quickly realized that the bar doesn't come out with the top on, so I got the "bright idea" to just line the rear of the 4Runner with cardboard and paint it back there. So, that's what this idiot did all day.

First I spent longer than I'd like to admit sanding the bar with a power sander where I could, hand sanding around the bar, and simply scuffing the areas that didn't have rust issues.

Then I crawled around inhaling fumes like a moron to get to this point. It should get me by until I go topless and I can actually take it out and hit it again.

At the end of the day, I crawled out of this thing looking like a damn coal miner.

Maybe I'll install that window lock switch, power wash, and finish my wire repairs this week. :wacko:

I also have 23 different things I purchased online on their way. :shocked:

 

[*tron*]

"I just want to make sure everything I put in is either brand new or recently rebuilt so I don't have to worry about it ever again."
nice.
keep up the amazing work.
great job on the cardboard..
i love the clash of burgundy interior and black paint.:high5:

its different and cool..(in my opinion)
:thumb3:

 

[flagbasher]

Well, here's the painted bar with the rear mostly put back together. I still haven't cleaned the cover and put it back on.

Hard to see the quality of the refin on the bar. It's decent. Better than it was.

You can also see how tired the red tailgate parts are. Probably the worst of the interior right there.

Then this happened. :tongue1:

I started buying gray parts.

I also cleaned my extinguisher and the plastic holder while it was off the roll bar.

So, the gray parts train is in full effect. I need to scope out a nearby place that does interiors so they can redo the seats, headliner(s), and maybe make me some new door panels since recoloring the red ones with the carpet on them probably isn't possible. Used gray ones for a vent window car with electric windows are probably hard to come by and very expensive.

Everything else will either be replaced with gray pieces or repainted gray.

Already got:
-Dash vents.
-Rear cargo cups (I had none).
-All of the flexible door/tailgate/sunroof trim.
-Front window/headliner trim.
-Sun visors from a 90s Tacoma (no pockets or mirrors or writing on them).
-Dome light.
-Door handles (remanufactured).
-Seat recline knobs (I'll paint the rest of the seat trim).
-Door and tailgate scuff plates.
-Tailgate handle, cap, lock, and carpet.
-Hood release (I'll paint the rest of the dash except maybe the wheel and column cover).
-Rear view mirror (would have painted mine if the front weren't disintegrating).
-Roof grab handles (remanufactured).
-Driver window switches. Not sure if I'll paint or buy the passenger side. Might buy since it is either semi-broken or needs cleaning.
-Aftermarket style gray rear shoulder and lap belts for the back bench.

 

[flagbasher]

After buying my truck I realized that the rear seat hardware was lacking.

The shoulder latches weren't there, so the seat backs were resting on the roll bar. I bought those and installed them. Easy.

The rear seat back center hinge was gone, so I bought one from a guy on eBay parting out a 2nd gen 4Runner.

I'm under the impression that these rear seats are aftermarket dealer installed items. The way they attach looks different, they have no head rests, and the belts are black.

Here's the 2nd gen hinge, the 4 holes in my floor where my seat hinge USED TO BE, and the hole in my seat where it used to be held to the hinge.

Outside hinge near the belt mount.

I removed these plugs so I could get the new hinge as close and tight as possible.

This was inside. Spring loaded pins that had long disappeared inside of the seat. My guess is that the seats had a center hinge that let you pop the seats out easily.

Hinges on with self tapping stainless screws. From looking at 2nd gen seats, it looks like these go UNDER the upholstery, which I will probably do when I have the seats recovered.

And installed.

The only modification I had to make to the hinge was to Dremel the holes out a tiny bit for clearance. They were just a little too tight, but after 2 minutes with a Dremel grinder bit, they fit just fine.

 

[flagbasher]

I started this thread last week...

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/class...-3-wired-through-rear-window-lock-switch.html

Basically, when replacing my busted rear Window Lock switch, I found what I believe is an anti-theft hack where the auto trans ECT computer is run through the rear Window Lock switch so you can disconnect the ECT and make the truck harder to drive.

ECT solenoid #3 wire in yellow spliced to two blue wires leading to...

...the rear Window Lock switch. The yellow and blue wires cut on the Window Lock switch harness are now connected to the ECT yellow wires. When the Window Lock is locked, the ECT solenoid #3 is disconnected. Also notice how the body side of the harness has an inline splice for where those blue and yellow Window Lock switch wires would have gone. It seems to have worked both for the Window Lock and for the ECT disconnect. Strange. Behind the harness plugs you can see where the blue and yellow wires go into the light blue extension wires from the ECT.

New and old.

Old switch had failed, probably causing trans issues, and it was glued in place.

The body side of the rear Window Lock harness as well as the jumper that spliced the two wires together. I cut this plug off and used one that came with the new switch. I crimped the 4 wires back the way they should be.

I soldered the yellow ECT solenoid #3 wires back together, heat shrinked, and installed the new switch.

 

[flagbasher]

Also, I finally got around to the power washing.

There was crud like this everywhere...

This is what my driveway looked like after...

There was also some stuff in the engine compartment where there were rocks and things I had to break loose with a screwdriver before I could blast it away with the power washer.

My exhaust system had a lot of orange clay caked and baked on. Not all of it wanted to come off.

 

[KidVermicious]

Where the hell did you get all that cardboard?

 

[Chuckles89]

Where the hell did you get all that cardboard?

Maybe he sells cardboard and cardboard accessories :biggrin1:

 

[flagbasher]

Where the hell did you get all that cardboard?

There had been a recent Ikea trip. That was like 1/4 of them.

 

[flagbasher]

Gray Parts & Paint

So, I've been accumulating gray parts. SO MANY GRAY PARTS. My list of things I have to paint from red to gray is dwindling. I'm going to make a run to a store that sells SEM today to look into those grays and see what matches best.
​

Door Panels

I'm still trying to track down some gray door panels, since painting carpet seems like a non-starter. Replacing it seems impossible since the carpet is melted into the vinyl. Plus, the red ones are kinda nice and I'd rather pass them on to someone who could use them.​

Seats

Gray seats will also be a difficult consideration. Do I just find nice covers, find replacement seats, or have my original seats recovered? Not sure what to do there just yet. Unless great gray seats fall in my lap, I will probably get covers or have them recovered since I want darker gray seats and carpet than the stock color anyway. Better stain hiding on darker colors.​

Rear Seatbelts

From Seatbelt Planet, I got 110" charcoal gray roadster shoulder belts with 8" receivers. For the center lap belt I got 60" with 8" receiver.

The shoulder belt length is perfect. No slack whatsoever.

The 8" receivers BARELY fit. I might try to get slightly longer ones, but they do work. The other options were 12" and 20". The 8" and 12" have a hard black plastic sleeve on them, but you just slide them off and the gray webbing is underneath. So, I'll be looking into the 12" receivers I guess. I also have some 90 degree belt brackets that would get me another inch, so that might be enough. Couldn't we all use another inch? :drum:

The receivers even have big red plastic buttons on them. The charcoal gray is indistinguishable from the original Toyota rear lap belts I was given. The tips of the receivers are black, so they don't look totally stock, but they still fit in pretty well.

The retractors have a nice black cover that hides well against the roll bar. The shoulder attachment has a black cover as well.​

Steering Wheel

I bought some gray parts from a guy and he shipped me a free leather wrapped gray wheel! The leather was demolished, so I just cut it off. It still needs more cleaning, but the condition is great. Thinner and less cushion-y than my red wheel, but I planned to put a cover on the wheel anyway, so that will fatten it back up some. Need to measure (15"?) and look for a nice cover.​

Dash & Dash Cover

I also got a Dash Designs DashTex charcoal dash cover. The color is a near perfect match for the original dark gray hard plastic instrument bezel I got. I immediately sliced off the Dash Designs logo with a razor and took a lighter to any stray stitching to seal it all in. It looks very clean, but will probably take a while to lay flat.

I plan to use SEM repair products to fix the crack in the red dash and paint it gray. Then I'll put the cover over it so it never sees direct sun again.​

Carpet & Headliner

I got some color swatches from Stock Interiors. On the left is carpet, on the right is headliner. From left to right, I'm thinking carpet #3 looks like the closest match to the tailgate (especially considering the tailgate is probably slightly faded), but I want to go darker, so I will probably go with #2.

I don't have any dark gray headliner to match against, but headliner #2 seems to match the dark gray parts the best.

You can also see the wheel and where it was clean under the leather wrap on the spokes. Dark gray instrument bezel on the left, lighter gray B pillar shoulder belt trim on the right (I put the headliner over there since they'd end up touching).

Close up of the original tailgate, original dark gray instrument bezel, and the carpet samples. Again, #3 looks closest, but I think I'd go with #2. If I got seat covers or recovered the seat, I'd go with a similar dark gray for that.

Close up of the light gray shoulder belt trim panel, headliner samples, and tailgate carpet. I think #2 matches the dark gray the best.

I bought a light gray sunroof cover. It's in fairly good condition, but there are some stains that won't go away. Plus, if I redo the headliner, I want it to match, so the sunroof cover will probably get covered in the new headliner as well. The tough part will be the rubber trim around it all. Pictured here are the headliner samples laid on top of dark gray door rubber trims. Above those is a medium gray sunroof trim. Those are laid on top of the light gray sunroof. It's all on top of my dark gray tailgate. I bought a dark gray sunroof latch, so I'll either have to find dark gray sunroof trims, or paint them.

Carpets and headliner samples against my new gray rear panels, light gray shoulder belt panel, dark gray speaker panel, belts, etc. I'm still thinking #3 and #2 look closest to stock, but I'm going #2 & #2.

The panel has one tear in the vinyl. Depending on how well the SEM paint matches, I might try to repair it and touch it up with paint.

​

Does anyone know if the headliners in the 4Runner are held up by bows? Or are they just attached to the roof? Just wondering how painful it would be to replace by myself.

 

[flagbasher]

So, here's how the shoulders go in. I think they look pretty good. Not exactly factory looking on the cover, but better than a used uncovered retractor.

Those 8" receivers are barely poking out.

Trying for that extra inch. A small surgery for the extension (angle bracket).

And now they are happy.

The 90 degree brackets push against the seat cushions a bit, but I don't think it will be a problem. I still might go with the 12" receivers down the road. We'll see...

 

[flagbasher]

Picked up some things today.

Paints

I found O'Reilly and Carquest both carry SEM products, but you have to ask for them. Carquest only had the two grays.

Neither had the SEM adhesion promoter or SEM soap, so I bough the Duplicolor cleaner and adhesion promoter from O'Reilly. They also had the SEM Trim Black.

Apparently the SEM 17303 Toyota Blue Gray has been discontinued, but they still had 16 cans. I got 3, but now I'm not sure I need it at all. The only light gray pieces I seem to have are the B pillar shoulder belt trim parts. I need to browse some pics of gray interior 4Runners to figure out what's light and what's dark.

I was wary of the SEM 17013 FMC Zuea Midnight Black, but the cap actually looks incredibly close to the dark gray parts. Interested to see how it looks.
​

Manual Swap

I got the cheapest trans jack setup I could find from Northern Tool. Sub-$40 floor jack and a $50 trans jack adapter. I need to buy a wrench that will fit in the tiny space in the floor jack so I can attach the trans adapter tightly. It's one size bigger than the biggest hand wrench I have. No way to fit my socket in there, sadly.

I've also got a line on a semi-wrecked early 90s 22RE 4x4 shortbed. From what I've read, that truck should have everything I need. Trans, pedals, flywheel, clutch, crossmember, driveshaft, etc. As far as I know, I'm good swapping anywhere until 95. The only thing I'd have to change is to get a top shift kit for the W56 since that truck would have a forward shift W56. Apparently it would still fit, but I want the shifter close to the stock location.

There's also a 22RE 5 speed 4Runner on Craigslist nearby that's having engine issues, but I don't think I want to invest MORE in yet another 4Runner just to pull the trans. Best case scenario there, I swap the auto into it? That involves swapping the wiring harness. Even then, it would still have the engine issue to deal with.

Probably best to just go with the truck that's about to be junked anyways.

Wrecked truck guy also says the 22RE in it was rebuilt a few years ago, but I know he wants a lot for it, and my 22RE is running fine.

I plan to swing by and look at it in person this week. Maybe I'll be crawling around on my back pulling all of those parts this next weekend.

What the hell am I doing? :wacko:
​

 

[flagbasher]

Picked this up today. Legit 88 bumper.

The visible bits are in great condition. Only one dent by the lower/inner side of the driver turn signal.

The top corner also got a bit dented in shipping, but that's under the black side cover, so I can just use some pliers to bend it back flat.

Mega version here: http://i.imgur.com/goKfSDZ.jpg

The backside has some surface rust. Not sure what to do there. Probably wire wheel the corroded bits, prime and paint with something silvery?

Seems like it'd be a shame to let it get any worse.

 

[crash813]

Looking great so far. Thanks for saving a good one there. If you haven't found a good steering wheel yet, think about getting a nice 2nd gen to put it. IMHO, the 1st gen steering wheels date the interior so much.

Keep up the nice work.

 

[flagbasher]

Looking great so far. Thanks for saving a good one there. If you haven't found a good steering wheel yet, think about getting a nice 2nd gen to put it. IMHO, the 1st gen steering wheels date the interior so much.

Keep up the nice work.

Thanks!

I used to hate the original blocky wheel. Now I'm okay with them. The only downsides to the gray wheel I got are that it's thinner than my red one, and that it's discolored some.

If the SEM paint goes on well, I may try painting it.

If I swapped the wheel, I'd probably do the typical Grant or Nardi three spoke swap. I've got a nice Grant in my 'Cuda, but that's a lot to shell out for the 4Runner when I just got a perfectly good gray Toyota wheel for nothing.

Time will tell I guess.

 

[gman007]

When you change bumpers I'm interested in the Smittybuilt, mine is 20yrs old and rusted through. Contact the gman in VA.

 

[flagbasher]

When you change bumpers I'm interested in the Smittybuilt, mine is 20yrs old and rusted through. Contact the gman in VA.

To be honest, I might hang on to it for a bit. Not sure how I'll like the stock bumper in the flesh. If I plan to ditch it, I'll contact you.

I'm actually trying to track down one of those center bull bar type bumpers that go over the stock one. Not super functional for wheeling, but I like the way they look.