93toy
Active Member
- Joined
- Feb 19, 2009
- Location
- Asheville, NC
Here's the back story. Always loved Toyotas. I've had multiple Toyota 4x4's over the years and loved them all, but I always had a soft spot for the 1st gen 4runners. In 2008 I decided it was time to track one down for a build.
The first one I bought was a really rough 1987 SR5. It had a 3.0 auto (that had been removed by the previous owner) and quite a bit of body rust. But I picked it up dirt cheap, so I bought it. Here's Fred:
Fred was great, and he's gonna make a great trail beater, but I wanted something a little nicer and something I could semi-restore. So I watched Craigslist and some of the local auto trading papers for a few months until I found what I REALLY wanted. A 1985 4runner SR5. Found it locally with 307,000 miles. Solid frame, fair amount of body rust but not too far gone. Needed some little things but the rear window worked, the original SR5 interior was in great shape, it ran good, and I loved it from day one. Factory A/C, factory sunroof, power windows, etc. It was pretty loaded for 1985. Here's Tyrone the day he came home:
Here he is after his first bath:
So here was the plan. To build a 4runner the way I would have in 1985. I was 15 in 1985 and it wasn't gonna happen then, but it could now. I won't lie to you guys. I love capable off road trucks, but I also love BIG, lifted trucks. And while Tyrone is being built to take off road on occasion, there was no need for lockers and twin sticks because he won't get into anything that rough. That's what Fred is for. So call it what you want, but he's being built how I want him. I guess you could call it 1/2 restoration, 1/2 built for forest service/fire roads.
So first things first. I did all of the tune-up and maintenance needs. Plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, new radiator, hoses, pcv valve, filters, oil pump seal, front main seal, vacuum lines, etc. (Previous owner had changed the head gasket recently) Now he was running pretty good. So I went inside and gutted the interior. Put a basic Kenwood stereo in, changed all dash lights to blue LED, steam cleaned all of the seats, removed the carpet and replaced with a new gray vinyl floor kit, and scrubbed like crazy. Then back outside again for all new front brake rotors and pads.
Eveything was going pretty good so it was time for a few mods. First up was a 4 inch Pro Comp suspension lift. Tyrone got a little attitude:
Then I added a 2 inch RB body lift and some 5.29 gears. So it was time for some rubber in the form of 35x15x15 bias Swampers on 15x10 AR Outlaw II's. (Doesn't get more 80's than that!!)
And his first time with the top off:
You'll also notice the rust around the left rear quarter and front fenders. I knew it was time to address it. The entire right rear quarter had been replaced at some point which explains the lack of SR5 striping on the right. So I made a few calls and tracked down a solid left rear quarter. Had a friend cut out the old and put in the new. Then in preparation for paint I got two new (re-pop) fenders and a new hood. I took off all of the fender trim, the windshield trim, the horrid (see 1990's) stainless rocker trim and the other trim at the very bottom of the body and sent it in to the body man. He worked on the dents and straightend Tyrones panels out. I had him remove the rock guards ahead of the rear tires and weld shut the holes where they mounted. (3M clear bra will go in it's place later) The windshield was pulled and extensive work was done around the opening to fix mild rust. Once the windshield is replace it will have a universal rubber trim piece installed. Anyway, here he is after bodywork:
He's gettin there!
(By the way, that's a 4xinnovations front bumper.)
And here he was in the paint booth for final prep:
Windshield detail:
A few more pics. One with his brother:
And the evolution:
Fixed lots of little mechanical issues (pinion seal, output seal, new exhaust, replacing weatherstrips, picked up another sunroof, new tail lights, etc). Got the All-Pro rear bumper on, rebuilt front axle. Got s new windshield installed with rubber gasket too. Still have to install temp, oil pressure gauges on the A-pillar mount and rebuild Aisin hubs. It will never be done, but I love it! First coat of wax (after clay-barred) today. Mall crawler driveway shots, but I haven't had him out yet!
And some before and after shots.....same angle
More to come!
The first one I bought was a really rough 1987 SR5. It had a 3.0 auto (that had been removed by the previous owner) and quite a bit of body rust. But I picked it up dirt cheap, so I bought it. Here's Fred:
Fred was great, and he's gonna make a great trail beater, but I wanted something a little nicer and something I could semi-restore. So I watched Craigslist and some of the local auto trading papers for a few months until I found what I REALLY wanted. A 1985 4runner SR5. Found it locally with 307,000 miles. Solid frame, fair amount of body rust but not too far gone. Needed some little things but the rear window worked, the original SR5 interior was in great shape, it ran good, and I loved it from day one. Factory A/C, factory sunroof, power windows, etc. It was pretty loaded for 1985. Here's Tyrone the day he came home:
Here he is after his first bath:
So here was the plan. To build a 4runner the way I would have in 1985. I was 15 in 1985 and it wasn't gonna happen then, but it could now. I won't lie to you guys. I love capable off road trucks, but I also love BIG, lifted trucks. And while Tyrone is being built to take off road on occasion, there was no need for lockers and twin sticks because he won't get into anything that rough. That's what Fred is for. So call it what you want, but he's being built how I want him. I guess you could call it 1/2 restoration, 1/2 built for forest service/fire roads.
So first things first. I did all of the tune-up and maintenance needs. Plugs, plug wires, distributor cap, rotor, new radiator, hoses, pcv valve, filters, oil pump seal, front main seal, vacuum lines, etc. (Previous owner had changed the head gasket recently) Now he was running pretty good. So I went inside and gutted the interior. Put a basic Kenwood stereo in, changed all dash lights to blue LED, steam cleaned all of the seats, removed the carpet and replaced with a new gray vinyl floor kit, and scrubbed like crazy. Then back outside again for all new front brake rotors and pads.
Eveything was going pretty good so it was time for a few mods. First up was a 4 inch Pro Comp suspension lift. Tyrone got a little attitude:
Then I added a 2 inch RB body lift and some 5.29 gears. So it was time for some rubber in the form of 35x15x15 bias Swampers on 15x10 AR Outlaw II's. (Doesn't get more 80's than that!!)
And his first time with the top off:
You'll also notice the rust around the left rear quarter and front fenders. I knew it was time to address it. The entire right rear quarter had been replaced at some point which explains the lack of SR5 striping on the right. So I made a few calls and tracked down a solid left rear quarter. Had a friend cut out the old and put in the new. Then in preparation for paint I got two new (re-pop) fenders and a new hood. I took off all of the fender trim, the windshield trim, the horrid (see 1990's) stainless rocker trim and the other trim at the very bottom of the body and sent it in to the body man. He worked on the dents and straightend Tyrones panels out. I had him remove the rock guards ahead of the rear tires and weld shut the holes where they mounted. (3M clear bra will go in it's place later) The windshield was pulled and extensive work was done around the opening to fix mild rust. Once the windshield is replace it will have a universal rubber trim piece installed. Anyway, here he is after bodywork:
He's gettin there!
(By the way, that's a 4xinnovations front bumper.)
And here he was in the paint booth for final prep:
Windshield detail:
A few more pics. One with his brother:
And the evolution:
Fixed lots of little mechanical issues (pinion seal, output seal, new exhaust, replacing weatherstrips, picked up another sunroof, new tail lights, etc). Got the All-Pro rear bumper on, rebuilt front axle. Got s new windshield installed with rubber gasket too. Still have to install temp, oil pressure gauges on the A-pillar mount and rebuild Aisin hubs. It will never be done, but I love it! First coat of wax (after clay-barred) today. Mall crawler driveway shots, but I haven't had him out yet!
And some before and after shots.....same angle
More to come!
