Saved from the Scrapyard: Ressurecting a 500$ 3rd Gen

[T4R2014]

I just got done doing a franken seat for my driver side on my $400 craigs list truck. found a good passenger side in moon mist. I will keep looking for a decent cloth cover set in tan but until then this will do.

before/after - I removed the covers and soaked over night in a 5 gal bucket of shout, oxy clean, dish soap and hot water then washed them in the wash machine and gently tumble on dry. must be gentle on the tumble. really they turn out like brand new in you soak them overnight and wash them.

Ain't it funny how it works. I cannot for the life of me find used seats for my moon mist interior. Pretty much decided to put some covers on some tan seats as a result.

 

[UnderFire]

In the shop to get some work done even though it's about 30 degrees out. Luckily we've got heaters.

Apologies for the terrible lighting.

Even though the hood's up, that's not where I was working tonight... The battery did actually come back strong from the looks of it though. That's a first for me.

Tonight I installed the lift.

A simple setup, started in the back. The rears got some OME 891's I picked up used for this very type of build, along with extending the panhard bar to suit. The PO actually installed what appear to be KYB MonoMax shocks all around, the rears are actually a hair longer extended than stock shocks, so I was able to hook them back up, although they'll limit travel. I'll swap them eventually.

Then I quickly moved to the front. I left the shocks assembled with stock springs and just installed 3" bolt on top plate spacers. This isn't the route I'd recommend at all, but being that the shocks have relatively low miles and the springs aren't sagged out, I figured I'd get away with it temporarily at least.

And bada-bing bada-boom, just like that, a couple hours of work and under 150$ she sits 3" higher than when she rolled in. I know where some wheels are for cheap, but the only extra tires I have are just about bald terrains, so I'm not sure what the next move is as of now.

As a side note, this 4Runner actually spent some years on the east coast, and has a slight bit of rust, haven't run into anything major but I sympathize for you east coast guys, even this tiny bit of surface rust is kind of a pain when you're used to clean west coast chassis'

 

[jremus]

well if the hoods not up, are you _actually_ working on your car? haha

 

[UnderFire]

New shoes and new tires for the $500 4runner. Did some horse-trading and a little bit of cash throwing and here we are. A set of Weld Mountain crushers, 16x10 4 5/8 backspacing. Circa 2006 with a nice new Polish job. Wrapped them with MasterCraft MXT's, 285/75R16.

All bolted on and looking good. Also did the 99 chrome grille and 99 headlights.

 

[calnhob]

Wish I had a large back yard with covering to save all the 3rd gens i see at the junk yard. We are such a "get a newer car with all the bling electronics" country. It's crazy how cheap used cars are here that it's doesn't make financial sense to buy a 20 year old car and fix it even if it's more reliable then some of the newer crap.

 

[UnderFire]

Wish I had a large back yard with covering to save all the 3rd gens i see at the junk yard. We are such a "get a newer car with all the bling electronics" country. It's crazy how cheap used cars are here that it's doesn't make financial sense to buy a 20 year old car and fix it even if it's more reliable then some of the newer crap.

Hey, somebody's gotta buy them new. Also lower demand = lower prices. That's why i specialize in high milers with some quirks. I can't wait to see if I can scoop up a 5th gen for 500$ 20 years down the road.

 

[zoombyu86]

How do you like those Mastercrafts!? I'm always on the hunt for some good budget tires.

 

[UnderFire]

How do you like those Mastercrafts!? I'm always on the hunt for some good budget tires.

They're great. I recommend them to anyone looking for a budget mud tire. Thick skinned, good traction on and offroad, still light, wear smooth and ride great.

 

[RockHead MA]

I'm building my desired fleet out of mostly cheapo vehicles needing work.

• '02 Limited, 188K, $1700, trying to save the tranny, I think it pink milkshaked the day I brought it home, didn't drive it more than 3/4 mile. It had been sitting for 2-3 years and needs a massive cleaning. Frame is decent for the NE
  
• '02 Saab 9-3 convertible for my 19 y.o. daughter, $2500, replaced the transmission with her
  
• '03 Saab 9-3 sedan, $240. This has been the most trouble-free so far!
  
• '04 Mazdaspeed Miata (turbo). Paid real money, $10K.

So for my own rides, $11,940 for 3 vehicles, average price under $4K - a generic Euro sedan for 30+ MPG highway trips, a quick & fun & tossable little sportscar, a truck for towing & maybe plowing and other such trucky stuff... My total investment for 4 cars is less than most people have in 1. My insurance costs and excise taxes are lower too. And I have exactly the right tool for any job on wheels that I need to do.

Damned Miata kills my average cost, but it's REALLY fun

 

[UnderFire]

Took a long hiatus, but finally back at it. I knew it would happen from the start, on disassembly I found a cracked head. For those unfamiliar with the RZ motors, when overheated they nearly always crack between the valve seats and spark plug holes. No biggie, but it took some time to find a good used head.

Around 600$ later in total she starts going back together piece by piece, good thing I can put these together with my eyes closed since i disassembled it 5 months ago! She'll be a driver in no time.

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[BoomerBob]

The 4 banger has so much more room in the engine bay than the V6. I just did a head gasket replacement on an overheated V6 only find out the rings on a couple cylinders were destroyed. Looked fine visually. The new long block should last for many years though.

How is the power difference between the 4 and the 6? Torque difference?

Nice build!

 

[plcfcng]

I had a engine with light scoring on cylinder wall pulled the pistons reringed homed the block it turned out great:drum:

 

[UnderFire]

The 4 banger has so much more room in the engine bay than the V6. I just did a head gasket replacement on an overheated V6 only find out the rings on a couple cylinders were destroyed. Looked fine visually. The new long block should last for many years though.

How is the power difference between the 4 and the 6? Torque difference?

Nice build!

This will be my first 4 cylinder automatic experience with larger than stock tires. The RZ motor is my choice out of the two hands down. The difference in power just does not justify the drawbacks of the V6.

I know a lot of people sing the praises of the 5vz, but I just don't see it, sure it's reliable, but doing even minor repairs is a nightmare since the dohc design makes it a snug fit into the bay, also not a fan of the front accessory drive, timing and oil pump setup. The later 2GR 4.0 is a much more refined design.

As far as power and drivability goes, I've had experience with both motors in lots of platforms, they drive very similarly, the 3RZ in my opinion gets a bad rep solely because of the highway gears they were paired with in most applications, most notably the standard cab 4x4 early Tacomas that got the 3.48 gears. Of course a v6 truck with 4.10s will outrun that.

I'd swap/R&R 5 RZ motors before I touched a 3.4, especially coupled to an auto. Fingers crossed my 270k mile bottom end holds up for at least a few more miles.

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[UnderFire]

Question: what do you do when you've got a vehicle that doesn't run.

Well, you swap in a minty dash and a new head unit of course. Well, that's what I do at least. Interior still needs a bit of love to get it up to snuff, one piece at a time.

I've yet to decide if this slightly beat Grip Royal Mahogany wheel is good enough for this thing yet. Maybe it deserves nicer, or maybe it's too nice, we will have to wait and see I guess.

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[jross20]

Upper and lower ball joints if you haven't already. Some guy just recently posted about a catastrophic failure.

 

[UnderFire]

Upper and lower ball joints if you haven't already. Some guy just recently posted about a catastrophic failure.

Oh I know lol. Just had a buddy have a failure on his Tacoma. Trying to hold out until I can find a set of manual hub spindles for the front and go through everything all at once.

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[UnderFire]

Today's the day. Got it running a couple days ago, dialed in over the last couple nights and it's now good enough to give it a shot. Running a little rough at low RPM, had the same issue with my Tacoma I rescued and it went away with time so we'll see. Off to the DMV, its back on the road.

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[UnderFire]

Getting the quirks all worked out. She's running at the perfect temperature no issues there. Transmission was a little lazy the first couple times out but I've finally got it topped up just right and she's shifting really nicely now. The ECU threw a code for the O2 sensor so I went ahead and swapped it out. Now my idle is going down below 1k and she purrs like a kitten.

Still on the mechanical to-do list is a new set of front brakes, they're causing some pulling and wobbling. There's quite a bit of crusty rust built up on the slide pins, along with the rotors not looking hot. Gotta get the rear drums off for a checkup and adjustment too. The passenger CV already puked a bit but no tears yet.

On a very happy side note, I did the math yesterday to confirm my suspicion. The Auto 4X4 3RZ did come with 4.56 gears. At least in my case. It drives great with the 33's very happy. Need to make a trip to the junkyards and hopefully piece together the interior a bit better, and with any luck I'll stumble across a clean black hatch sometime soon.

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[Smitdog]

Great build! I just picked up my first 4runner,it's an 02 SR5 4x4,has 154xxx on the clock. It had a bad motor, I bought a crate 3.4 v6 from Kar King auto. It is currently at the mechanic getting a transplant lol. Leather interior too. Kinda weird to love a vehicle this much and only drove it 5 miles to the shop lol. I didn't get the deal you did but I'm happy with the price picked it up for $1500

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[Smitdog]

Once she is running gotta take a trip to the body shop to get the 3M stick on bug shield off[emoji108]

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