Timmy Now Has a 1st Gen

[mtbtim]

Hey Dudes,

I finally joined the club. I have (2) 3rd Gen 4runners and I'm very active in the 3rd Gen section of the forum but now I'll be frequenting this section as well since I bought a built 85 a few days ago. I almost bought this rig 2 years ago but chickened out. The original guy who built the rig was asking $15k for it but it wasn't selling so he reduced it to $12.5k and another guy scooped it up. This guy who bought it took it wheeling several times and ended up smashing it up a bit on both sides. Since his kids weren't into hard core wheeling, he decided to sell it. He put some money into it himself, around 4k adding a rear bumper, buying a spare tire, adding some lights, built a rear slide out toolbox and did some other maintenance stuff.

I paid 12k for it. The body damage sucks because the rig was beautiful when it sold originally but I bought it more for it's off-road capabilities rather than for it's looks. I didn't take any pics of the interior but it's in truly amazing shape. The front and rear seats are immaculate. The door panels are very nice. The dash has a couple cracks in it. And, there's one tear in the headliner. But, for a rig that's 34 years old, it's amazing how well it looks inside. It has working AC. The power windows on both doors work and so does the rear window.

I just noticed the front driveshaft needs some work. The front u-joint is wasted and there seems to be excessive play in the shaft splines. I'm going to let a driveshaft place take a look at it for me. If I knew what u-joint to use as a replacement, I'd replace it myself but I have no clue. The guy I bought it from unfortunately didn't ask the original seller for any paperwork so I'm in the dark as to all the parts that were used to build this beast.

Some of you that own a 3rd Gen as well might have heard of the YouTube channel I started with my buddy Sean around 3 years ago. It's called "Timmy the Toolman". As I work and learn about this 1st Gen I bought, I'll be making some videos for Y'all as well.

Here's the ad from 2 years ago to let you guys know how it was built:

 

[mtbtim]

Here's how it looks today. More pics to come. I tried to load all the pics in my first post but it only showed one of the pics for some reason.

 

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[Melrose 4r]

Looking good! Welcome to the club.
Any plans to drop the top?

 

[mtbtim]

Looking good! Welcome to the club.
Any plans to drop the top?

I might take the top off for some occasions but it will probably stay on most of the time because for the simple fact I really don't have room to store it anywhere other than the back or side yard. I'm definitely never going to sell the top.

 

[Dropzone]

looks like a great score. the extra few inches of wheel base with the front axle pushed forward a ways is nice.
Interesting, it looks like the OBA is a small MV50 compressor. a little exposed but probably does the trick for the rear ARB

 

[mtbtim]

looks like a great score. the extra few inches of wheel base with the front axle pushed forward a ways is nice.
Interesting, it looks like the OBA is a small MV50 compressor. a little exposed but probably does the trick for the rear ARB:happens:

Yeah, I don't know what to think of that air compressor install. Usually guys have them under the hood or somewhere in the back cargo area. The guy I bought the rig from says the compressor only goes up to 70 psi but supposedly it's enough to engage the ARB locker. He told me he heard you needed 90psi to engage the locker but I found that the locker engages fine with only 70 psi. Maybe I'll upgrade the compressor at some point.

 

[tls3601]

Gotta love the ‘85’s. If I didnt have two FJ40’s I would be picking one up. Nice ride!

 

[pinemind]

Welcome to the bestgen! And furthermore, welcome to the 1985 club!

I've watched some of your videos before, so I'm looking forward to some 1st gen specific videos!

 

[PowellSixO]

Awesome looking 4runner!

 

[WOODMAN1465]

Nice 4runner...

 

[mtbtim]

I decided to get a better on-board air compressor. The one the original owner installed wasn't a constant duty air compressor like you would want when filling 37 inch tires. The original compressor could only run for 20 minutes before needing to be cooled off for 20 minutes. I already own a Viair constant duty portable compressor so I decided to upgrade the compressor on this rig to a Viair 450C constant duty compressor as well. This compressor is nice upgrade not only for the constant duty if offers but it will turn off when the system reaches 150 psi. The old compressor would just run and run until you turned it off maybe because it was really tired and could never achieve the 150 psi rating it had.

I know with the location under the rig being exposed to the elements isn't ideal but a quick check of the side compartments in the cargo let me know the compressor wouldn't fit in there without some type of modification. So, under the rig it went. The original mounting plate wasn't going to work so I had a fabricator local to me help me make a new plate for the installation.

I wasn't sure which way I wanted to go with an air hose to use, but for now I'm using a heavy duty rubber line from Home Depot. It's way longer than I need, 50', but I thought this length might be nice to have if you had a person in your wheeling group that needed some air and the extra long hose would reach all 4 tires on their rig as well without having to reposition it. That hose is pretty bulky but it does fit in my passenger side cargo compartment. I think ultimately I'll convert the supply hose to one or two accordion style hoses like Viair supplies with their portable compressors.







I'm not too familiar with these push to connection air lines but the straight fitting on the one shown in this picture is leaking. It seems they are used for lots of application so I guess they are legit. I ordered some new fittings and tubing so I can hopefully get this system leak free.

 

[Ida4runner]

Very Nice! hows it drive with those tires?

 

[mtbtim]

Very Nice! hows it drive with those tires?

Drives pretty good. The guy who built the rig stretched the front end by a few inches. The steering arms are perfectly parallel with the front end making the steering pretty damn easy. It does like to pull a little to the left so I need to get it into an alignment shop to check the toe.

 

[mtbtim]

Here's a video introduction to this rig. Hope you enjoy it!

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