My 4gunner restore, refurb and re-work

[Jhelms]

Glad to be a member! Long time toyota owner, modder and such. Owned a 98 4runner limited 4wd years ago and really missed it so I started a search for another. Funny story about the old 4runner... I bought it for $8k at 130K miles. Drove it to 200K miles and sold it for... 8K within an hour of posting. Gotta love the resale value on these!

Fast forward to a few weeks ago. I was hell bent on finding an 02 SR5 as I wanted a gray interior with cloth, center locker (will add elocker soon), body flairs, non digital / LCD HVAC controller and did not want power seats. 4wd was a must and the wife wanted the sunroof option. Found exactly what I was looking for but with higher mileage than I wanted... but that is OK (purchased at 209K). I have a decent shop so when the time comes, I have no problems dropping in another motor, tranny or whatever is needed. The good news is that this car was in outstanding shape. Originally purchased at Earnhardt / 1 owner / factory serviced with every record on time right up to 3K prior to purchase. Lower ball joints were replaced recently under the recall which was nice. Quite amazing find... Zero accidents, all vin tags match and never any paint work... Garage kept with no sun damage inside or out, 1 door ding (yes just 1) and no rock chips (had a bug guard it seems that was removed) Oh, and had 4 brand new BFG rugged terrain tires. Not my favorites by any means but they are new, decent and came with it.
I have a ridiculous OCD when it comes to maintenance and maintaining my cars. Usually when I buy a used car with higher mileage, I plan to spend a couple grand on refurbishing the car to brand new spec or as close as possible.

Here is the work I have completed so far.. Just barely started as I just bought the car a few weeks ago.
- Window tint, daaarrkkkk
- Dash mat
- Replaced OE radio with a nice affordable kenwood double din
- Under seat sub / nothing special just adds more enjoyment to music and does not take up space
- Husky liners front, rear and cargo
- k&n
- Cleaned MAF
- Remove carpet and replaced with new, form molded - black (big project as it was molded for the 4runner but have to trim, cut and place holes and such
- Washed, and then pressure washed and rinsed all seats back to brand new looking condition - LOVE CLOTH :becky:
- Oil change to rotella T6 (use it in all my vehicles
- Sunroof wind deflector and new bug guard

Now the fun part... The HUGE list of parts that I have on order that still need installed. Most have already arrived. This is not a wish list - this is here or in shipment No custom parts yet, just refurb and refresh parts. Beyond this I plan to add a roof rack, front and rear bumpers , sliders, maybe a small lift, e-locker, rims / tires.... That is as far as I plan to take it as I mainly cruise the desert, woods, camp - fish and such. No plans for crawling or anything crazy.
The goal of this car will be to keep it for the long run and aim for a minimum of 500K.
The below will take a few weekends to complete..... The offroad goodies above will be a fall install when my account recovers.

Interior and exterior:
- Full LED bulb replacement interior. Doing red and white.
- New stainless antenna mast
- Full detail inside and out / top to bottom (tomorrow)

Engine and associated:
- Denso 234-9002 O2 Sensor / front
- Denso 234-4261 O2 Sensor / Rear
- Injectors refurbished by AUS injectors in Tempe
- Denso Fuel Pump 950-0100
- OE Fuel Pump Cushion 232180c010
- Gates k040413 belt
- Gates K040420 belt
- Gates K040343 belt
- Gates Idler pulley 38031
- Gates timing belt TCK271
- Factory power steering rebuilt kit 04446-53030
- Aisin Fan Pulley Bracket FBT-004
- Aisin fan clutch FCT-013
- Camshaft(s) And crankshaft seal set OEM
- OE PCV valve grommet 9048018001
- OE PCV valve 1220462010
- OE radiator cap 1640120353
- OE Thermostat 9091603075
- OE thermostat gasket 1632562010
- OE transmission filter 3533030030 (make sure it is for a 4wd or 2wd. Different filters)
- Wix Fuel Filter 33319
- Denso Radiator 221-0508 (no milkshake here )
- Aisin oil pump OPT-022
- Aisin Water Pump WPT-100
- Intake many gasket set Felpro MS 95898
- K&N Filter 33-2054
- NGK Spark plug wires TE66
- NGK BKR6EIX-11 iridium plugs
- Wix 51348 Oil Filter (I used the oversized 51516XP that fits)
- OE valve cover gasket set

Suspension and other:
- KYB Gas Adjust full set
- KYB Strut mounts SM5184
- Callahan / powerstop Tundra big brake upgrade with rotors and pads
- Slee stainless brake lines
- 4 speed bleeders for front and rear
- Moog 285 Super Strength greasable universals
- Prothane 26mm front swap bushing kit 18-1115
- Prothane Steering rack & pinion bushing kit 18-701
- Prothane 21mm Rear sway bushing kit 19-1120
- Koyo front wheel bearings, seals and new hubs
- Roca rear sway bar bushings and end links
- Whiteline / new style LCA bushings

Fluids being changed:
- Rotella 5w40 oil change
- Toyota OE tranny fluid / flush
- Valvoline 80w90 for front, rear & transfer
- Valvoline dot 4 brake fluid flush
- full grease job with lucas xtra HD

And... some photos of the car / some of the work in progress and fun overall

Old carpet and new carpet...

Comes pre-formed but not cut in detail. Tons of trimming and work involved to make it perfect

Interior stripped

Just a loose fit of the new carpet prior to trimming

Carpet trimmed and installed. Pic of the under seat sub. Little guy adds warmth to general music and with the deck upgrade, sounds decent. I used to be a show car builder a lifetime ago so this little sub is sort of a laugh... but... Does what I want it to do and serves its purpose. Surprising output for something so small and does not sound bad at all. Works great with the large cabin / transfer function of the vehicle. Does not reach deep - but just makes music fun and sound as it should. Also, sort of acts like a bass shaker since it is firing right up your bunghole HA!

Cheap $110 kenwood double din. Serves its purpose I laugh as the whole system cost less than what I would generally pay for power wire.. but I am totally happy with it as I am going for general OEM quality, fitment and nothing crazy. Just tunes when driving (amazing how priorities changes with age) :becky:

Seats drying after being pressure washed and cleaned. Zero stains or rips - look as good as new now.

Black dot was a fly that landed on the seat.

By tomorrow evening, seats should be dry and ready to put back in. Then more pics of the progress.

 

[Jhelms]

Lovely, Opened the door to grab a tool out of the car and went to walk back inside - tried to lock via remote. I get a tone that a door is open. Turns out the door switch broke HA! Always something. Ordered in 4 new door switches as the others were broken internally but working.... ish :cheers:

 

[calimobber]

Ill give you a like buddy...

First ive seen the carpets replaced, looks clean. mine are in desperate need of a cleaning.

I also really need to clean my seats, did you rent a cleaner or buy one?

 

[Jhelms]

Thanks man!

To clean seats or carpet (non powered seats) Simply take them to your local DIY spray car wash. Set the machine to wash so soap comes out and lightly mist the seats or carpet so they are wet and soapy. Scrub anything you need (often not needed - the pressure washing does this for you). Let them sit for 10 minutes or so.

Then go back, set the pressure washer to rinse. Make sure no soap is coming through the lines and blast the hell out of them starting from the top and working your way down the seats until all the junk comes out of them. They can take up to 48 hours to dry depending on your climate. Carpets take about 24 hours so keep this in mind. Helps to put a large box fan on them just to keep air moving.

Most carpets over the years are full of nastyness. When you pressure wash them, it may shock you with what comes out!

You can also use spot clean laundry stuff as well and spray it all over each seat prior to pressure washing if you have some nasty stains.

This sort of thing is easy if you have a pressure washer at home. Even a cheapy electric one will work great.

If you have power seats, just make up a bucket of hot water with a small amount of laundry detergent. Scrub the heck out of the seats and soak them well. Then suck up the water with a shop vac. Rinse a few times to get the soap out.

 

[StreetCreeper]

That black carpet looks surprisingly good! New carpet is on my to-do list as well. What company did you buy from?

Oh nice avatar too btw! :biggrin2:

 

[Jhelms]

Good avatar indeed

I purchased from varkmotors.com

Good communication - great product for the price. As stated, it takes a bit to install it properly. Plan for about 3 hours or 4 hours for someone new. I have done tons of custom automotive carpet and interior stuff before so this was not bad since it was pre-formed. Just a load of trimming , cutouts and such to make it perfect. Will take good photos tomorrow after I vac it out. Above pics were during the install and it looked a mess.

A little tip, when the carpet is in place, use a phillips screwdriver to punch seat bolt holes. Then use a 1" hole saw in reverse on a drill to make the holes

Another tip is to use chalk to make your marks on cutouts like under the back seat for the jack flap

Next weekend or maybe a weeknight this week I will put in all the rear carpet. It covers the entire floor, backs of seats and wheel wells. Replacing all of the carpet with black.

 

[Jhelms]

Finished up the interior assembly and detailed the beast. Turned out better than I had hoped!

All seats are as new now... Still need to soak and scrub seatbelts.

Front Husky Liners

Rear liners

Clean interior shot with the black carpet / no liners. Just looks pitch black - love it!

Long ways to go but will keep chipping at the car until finished

 

[cajieboy]

Good avatar indeed

I purchased from varkmotors.com

Good communication - great product for the price. As stated, it takes a bit to install it properly. Plan for about 3 hours or 4 hours for someone new. I have done tons of custom automotive carpet and interior stuff before so this was not bad since it was pre-formed. Just a load of trimming , cutouts and such to make it perfect. Will take good photos tomorrow after I vac it out. Above pics were during the install and it looked a mess.

A little tip, when the carpet is in place, use a phillips screwdriver to punch seat bolt holes. Then use a 1" hole saw in reverse on a drill to make the holes

Another tip is to use chalk to make your marks on cutouts like under the back seat for the jack flap

Next weekend or maybe a weeknight this week I will put in all the rear carpet. It covers the entire floor, backs of seats and wheel wells. Replacing all of the carpet with black.

WOW! Kudos my man. Looking good, and a big thumbs up. I basically have the same vehicle, except mine is 2WD and no sunroof. Same ext. color, grey cloth seats except slightly different pattern. Gotta say, yours looks better than mine! This is my third 4Runner owning 1st, 2nd and 3rd Gen. I must say that I liked my 2nd Gen best as materials seemed better and I preferred the tailgate vs the liftgate arrangement. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Jhelms]

Much appreciated! I remember riding in my grandfathers 2nd gen when it was brand new. Had all the options / inclinometer and such. WAY cool 4runner. At the time, he bought his wife a matching black 89 turbo supra I thought I was hot shit cruising with the old man and his younger trophy wife lol

I am pretty stuck on the 3rd gen myself. For me, quality all around is as perfect as it gets and as reliable as it gets but I bet the 2nd gens are just as awesome.

 

[Alabamaguy]

What process did you use to clean the seats?

 

[hearno]

What process did you use to clean the seats?

I'll bet if you read post #4, your question will be answered.

 

[cajieboy]

Much appreciated! I remember riding in my grandfathers 2nd gen when it was brand new. Had all the options / inclinometer and such. WAY cool 4runner. At the time, he bought his wife a matching black 89 turbo supra I thought I was hot shit cruising with the old man and his younger trophy wife lol

I am pretty stuck on the 3rd gen myself. For me, quality all around is as perfect as it gets and as reliable as it gets but I bet the 2nd gens are just as awesome.

Reliability is the #1 reason I keep purchasing this vehicle. No other ride I have ever owned in the past can hold a candle to the 4Runner in the reliability department. I've put over 350,000 miles on each of my past 4Runners, and they were still running great when I sold them.

A few problems with my current 3rd Gen though. Just went through my second fix for leaking axle seals, I've got some O2 sensors issues, two radiators replaced, leaking head gasket, alternator replaced, EVAP system failure due to charcoal cannister that needs replacement. I've barely went over 300,000 miles on this current 4Runner, so I've got about 18 months before I decide to sell and replace with a low milage 2002 4Runner, or maybe get a low mileage 2006-2008 GX-470 (the 4Runner's rich cousin).

 

[spooky0512]

Jade helm?

Where did you come up with your name

 

[Jhelms]

Not Jade, Jeremy. Parents came up with it, I was just along for the ride at the time :thumb:

Just to keep tabs on everything done, installed the new power antenna mast tonight.

 

[Jhelms]

My lucky day! Picking up a set of the older 1" (actually closer to 2" lift) performance products H&R Springs combined with a set of Bilstein HD's. I am told they have about 15K miles on them. Nice addition as I have no desire to go any higher than these will provide.

Will see if I can return my KYB Gas adjusts or will just sell them locally for what I paid. Pics to come soon.

 

[absalom]

A fellow Phoenician -- let me know if you ever need help wrenching man!

 

[PoshSnoop]

nice. clean. simple. long-term. subscribed!

 

[Jhelms]

Right on guys - thanks!

Will read up on your diesel build - sounds sick!

 

[BrianSD_42]

Subscribed. Keep us posted on how those injectors work out. I"ve been having a similar issue to what you described in the other thread.

 

[Jhelms]

It was not me with the issue in the other thread - I was just pointing out general injector problems and joined the thread. I simply had my injectors serviced and cleaned as a general high mileage maintenance item.