The Reliable Ghost - 2005 V8

[Wiglaf]

Hi all, bought this guy back in 2014, and never started a build thread. College/internships were my focus back then, so I hadn't put a lot of time and effort into this vehicle, but now that I'm working full time and life is relatively consistent, I figured I'd start a build thread.

This is the second car I've owned. The first was a 92 Jeep Cherokee XJ. I have an old build thread for it that I started when I was 15. I have since given it away to a member of the Cherokee Forum community, who rebuilt it, and it has changed owners a few times now. Here is a link to that if you are curious (the thread name is horribly juvenile, but it made my high school friends and I laugh at the time) -

Project PoonTank (92 XJ) - Jeep Cherokee Forum

Now that I'm 25, and my main interests are avoiding a car payment and having reliable transportation...

The goals (in order) for this build are: Longevity, Functionality, Fun, Aesthetics.

There's a decent bit I need to do (and learn) to start taking better care of this thing and get it back in tip-top shape, and I figured joining a forum community would serve as both a great resource as well as a motivator.

For posterity, I'm gonna try and run through the history on this guy from 2014 until present, and then just move on like normal from there.

 

[Wiglaf]

Origins:

I needed a vehicle that could take me the ~4hr drive back and forth from college, and survive commutes to work. I began my search looking for Tacomas and 4Runners, and ended up with this guy:

A white 2005 4.7L V8 AWD SE Runner - IIRC I paid 12.5k for it in May 2014, and it was in great shape, came with an aftermarket head unit (still have it), K&N Air Filter, and what is as far as I can tell, an aftermarket exhaust kit with chrome Borla tips. And it had ~110,xxx miles on it, as well as 32" BFG KM1 tires with 50% tread, that I've since replaced with 32" BFG KO2 (which are getting kinda old now... �� ). Based on the market at the time, I was pretty happy with the quality and price I purchased it for. I had to leave my home state of SC and drive to a small used car dealership in Asheville, NC to snag it for that price - they were just too popular in my home area to find any good deals.

These are the oldest pictures of it I could find, hopefully will be able to dig up some more:

 

[Wiglaf]

̶A̶l̶r̶i̶g̶h̶t̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶d̶e̶a̶l̶.̶ ̶I̶ ̶t̶r̶i̶e̶d̶ ̶u̶p̶l̶o̶a̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶I̶m̶g̶u̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶h̶o̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶a̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶s̶e̶r̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶i̶r̶e̶c̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶i̶m̶a̶g̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶n̶ ̶s̶w̶i̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶F̶l̶i̶c̶k̶r̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶l̶u̶c̶k̶.̶ ̶ ̶U̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶U̶R̶L̶ ̶t̶a̶g̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶g̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶l̶i̶c̶k̶ ̶l̶i̶n̶k̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶k̶s̶.̶

User y=mx+b helped me solve this with a friendly DM. Thank you! I'm now using a imgur album, and copying the BBC code directly from my images hosted there, for anyone who is interested.

Moving on...

 

[Wiglaf]

Okay, so in the attempt to still get things back up to date, I'll post a quick repair log:

--------------------
2015 - AC Core Replacement
2015 - Seat Covers ~$20
2015 - Front Seat Floor Mats ~$100
2015 - From memory - Timing Belt Replacement + Brakes ~$850
9/9/15 - Rockford Fosgate PBR500X1 PUnch 500 Watt Mono Boosted Rail Amplifier - ~$150?
9/19/15- KnuKoncepts Kolossus 8 Guage OFC Amlifier Installation Kit - $40
9/9/15 - Skar Audio 8" RMS Dual 2-Ohm VD Series Subwoofer (VD-8 D2) - $80
2015 - Warranty Dash Repair (old one melted and ruined from sun) - $0
6/28/16- Replacement KnuKonceptz Amlifier Installation Kit - $40
6/28/16- Replacement Skar Audio Subwoofer (First one fried) - $80
7/1/16 - New Tires (265/70/r17 C K02) @ Gerald's - (2 hr wait, they forgot about me) $1008
2016 - Warranty/Ins Windshield Replacement (Can't remember how, but I didn't have to pay for it) ~$0
11/15/17 - New Advance Auto Gold Rated Battery 300cca (115$ w/ discount)
2/7/18 - Magnaflow Muffler & Flange Gasket replacement ($298.69) - had a vibrating issue
Early 2019 - Wheel Bearing & Brake Tune up - (~$1200ish)
7/17/19- New windshield wipers, front + back. $40 Duralast
5/15/19 Tire Rotation & Dealership Checkup - $19
6/05/19- Replaced Rear disc brakes w/ Todd - ~$140
6/10/19- Reese 6k lb black nickel 2" drop tow hitch + locking mount - ~$40
8/20/19- Replaced rear left brake light ~$10
1/14/20- Jerry-rigged battery mount fix - parts - ~$40
3/10/20- Safelite AutoGlass Replacement $212.89
5/5/20- 2PCS Rear Windshield Wiper Arm & Blade (Ebay) - $10
8/15/20- New AdvanceAuto DieHard Gold Rated Battery - $176

b/w 12/14/15-5/15/19 - 6 Oil Changes (Really need one right now...) - ~$298 (Some were normal, 1 full synth, and a couple synth blend, not sure I have a preference?)
--------------------

Rough Total Spent over the past 5 years - $4,669.58

Not really fun to see it all laid out like that, not sure if that's still a good value or not.

Reminder I paid ~12.5k in May 2014 for it with 110,xxx miles on it.
In August 2020 It now has ~170,xxx and I've driven it (lightly) off-road, countless packed-down trips, towed people out of bad situations in the double digits, and driven it as far as Toronto and back to South Carolina in one road trip.

 

[Wiglaf]

A few other things:

Here is a link to my "jerry-rigged" (I was not sober during this) battery fix: That I did one night after spending $40 at AutoZone for various parts, b/c they didn't have an out-of-the-box compatible solution: Jerry rigged battery fix - Album on Imgur - This is still going strong, but if anyone knows a cheap more reliable alternative, let me know

I built a truck toolbox with my godfather at one point, this is not the final version, but I can't find better pics. The final version had locking drawers, and black auto carpet covering the outside. It cost around $100 bucks in parts and several hours to put together, I used it for about 3-4 years in college and after, and then wanted my space back and a different system. Sold it on Craiglist for $125 in about 1 day after listing it:

Here are my cheap as hell seat covers that are on their last leg, really would like to find a good replacement. Water/dirt/sweat/blood resistance is my main interest. I get dirty as **** before I get back in this thing pretty frequently. Between surfing and skating it's par for the course.

My janky paracord wrap that my buddy did for me years ago, which is starting to come undone, but I haven't tried to fix. And my "Easy Rider" suicide knob. It's seen better days, and is tearing up my steering wheel, but I absolutely love the functionality. Not sure if it's actually legal though... Everyone loves to ask me about it, haha.

Here is a pic from a few weeks ago, as she stands today:

 

[Wiglaf]

Repairs on the punch-list:

1) Rusted hood - this is probably from living near the ocean and my not doing my best to keep this thing properly clean during college :/

I bought some of this paint for like $16 bucks at AutoZone on a whim. Will give it a shot at some point. Will probably watch a YouTube video beforehand, but anyone have any experience with this stuff?

2) Missing panel cap - Passenger-side quarter panel interior, not sure what happened to this thing, but would love to find a replacement, if one exists for under $10. Not sure where to shop for that other than a junkyard. Also need a chair adjust button cap.

3) Hood Latch - I have no idea how this happened, but the lever to unlock my hood doesn't work anymore. I have to squeeze my arm up under the grill and manually unlatch it to open it. This is what it looks like now, not sure what it should look like:

4) Gas Cap Panel - the locking pin inside the gas cap has fallen into the slot and won't lock any longer. I finagled it out with some pliers a few times, but it always falls back in. Seems like a hard assembly to mess with to replace. Anyone have experience? Biggest paranoia is that someone will siphon or poison my gas since the panel is always propped open now... I'm probably being overly anxious. It's been fine for a few months now.

5) Hood Struts - they just fall down every time, I wish this thing just used the old-school locking stick, since it's so much less likely to fail. For now I've been using the head of a street broom I keep in my car. Not sure if this one is even worth spending time/money on.

6) Rear Door Actuator - So, I thought this thing had failed after finding that the fuses for it were still intact, and everything else seemed operable, but the rear door just wouldn't unlock or open. But after ~400 mile round trip camping trip, I noticed my battery was just dead empty when I went to start it the next morning after driving it that distance. I concluded that my 3 year old AutoCraft Gold Battery was finally spent, went and picked up a new DieHard Gold Battery from AdvanceAuto and my rear door hatch works again! Yay!

 

[y=mx+b]

I'd be interested to see how the hood paint correction turns out, mine is also a bit peppered with rock chips too!

[MENTION=113703]46runner[/MENTION] has a good writeup on the hood strut replacement, looks like it should only cost around $35: DIY Replace hood struts - Toyota 4Runner Forum - Largest 4Runner Forum with Tuff Support Hood Lift Supports 2003 TO 2008 Toyota 4Runner (Amazon)

 

[himeeto69]

Hi all, bought this guy back in 2014, and never started a build thread. College/internships were my focus back then, so I hadn't put a lot of time and effort into this vehicle, but now that I'm working full time and life is relatively consistent, I figured I'd start a build thread.

This is the second car I've owned. The first was a 92 Jeep Cherokee XJ. I have an old build thread for it that I started when I was 15. I have since given it away to a member of the Cherokee Forum community, who rebuilt it, and it has changed owners a few times now. Here is a link to that if you are curious (the thread name is horribly juvenile, but it made my high school friends and I laugh at the time) -

Project PoonTank (92 XJ) - Jeep Cherokee Forum

Now that I'm 25, and my main interests are avoiding a car payment and having reliable transportation...

The goals (in order) for this build are: Longevity, Functionality, Fun, Aesthetics.

There's a decent bit I need to do (and learn) to start taking better care of this thing and get it back in tip-top shape, and I figured joining a forum community would serve as both a great resource as well as a motivator.

For posterity, I'm gonna try and run through the history on this guy from 2014 until present, and then just move on like normal from there.

I wish I could have gotten me a white one. I had to settle because of the price. Like you, I couldn't find one in my local area for a decent price.