1985 4runner

[Jeff H]

Picked up this runner about 2 weeks ago from a guy up in lenior who I dont think knew what he had cause I got it very cheap

Its a 1985, EFI auto and everything works perfect except the back window, but i won a kayline soft top on the cheap side so i wont ever need the back window

It had been sitting in a guys field for about 2 years and there was all kind of things living in it and about 3 feet of dead leaves over the whole thing. I kid you not though I got there, put a little bit of gas in and it turned over for a couple of seconds and fired right up. Runs great too, I did a tune up on it and have been driving it to work the past couple days and it does great, only thing I can tell is that the rockers are a little loud so when I stop being lazy ill pull the valve cover off and adjust those.

I cant explain how much I love driving around with the doors and top off, and I def get some of the craziest looks driving this thing around charlotte. The interior of the truck was pretty much shot, the body is not that bad only about two dents that are fixable and i have to patch up the passenger side wheel well because rust has ate through it.











as you can see its not the prettiest thing in the world but everytime i look at it i can see the final product and its just beautiful to me

but the plan for it now it to get it to where i can DD it comfortably, since most of my money is going into my 2002 chevy 2500 sas right now im just doing everything thing small to the runner.
Plans are to sand and bed liner the whole interior, make inner bed sides out of sheet metal, find a way to wire the speakers to an aux port so i can just plug my ipod in(no ust in getting a stereo cause it would get ripped out the first day in charlotte) make a lockable center console, find some better seats and paint the out side. once all this is done ill just drive it like this for a while and then in about 2 months ill prob end up doing my RUF and 63's in the back

 

[Jeff H]

Been working the past couple of days sanding everything down to get the paint on the interior, i stripped everything out cleaned it real good and then sanded all the rust and shit off, i just want to say this sucks balls though and i hope i never have to do it again. Big props to my buddies that came by and helped out. I chose to spray everything with the new DUPONT bed armor spray can stuff, its kind of pricey but i really like the texture and on the test out it didn't chip or anything when i was throwing a hammer against it. It says its slip resistant too but i really like the way this stuff looks and feels, not to mention it would be a whole lot easier just buying a can of this stuff to do touch up work. Im also sanding and cleaning the back inner fenders, my buddies were giving me shit for this but i want this thing to look clean and with the way the 4runner back fenders are im going to try and rig up a way to put small shelves in there for extra storage. Here are some pictures of how the everything turned out


heres a close up of what the texture looks like

i really like the way this stuff turned out


I had a picture of the bed but i couldn't get it to load up but it looks pretty much the same as the front, on the inner fenders all i did was sand them down and paint them in a flat black cheap rattle can.

Tomorrow i dont have to go into work untile 12 so if i can get out of bed in the morning ill make the back side panels then next step is to get the rust on the fenders taken care of and hit it with a spray bomb

 

[alove0750]

It's coming along good man. I'm ready to see the soft top on it

 

[Jeff H]

thanks for your help man, and yeah i forgot to mention that i scored a kayline soft top on the cheap cheap side off of ebay, rain has been slowing me down but i should be able to get the side panels made tomorrow morning before i go to work

 

[Jeff H]

Went to URE this past weekend with some buddies, i have not done anything to the truck powertrain or suspension wise i really wanted to see how the runner wheeled stock and i have to say that im very surprised, it was awesome taking this thing up the very far left line of kodiak(i know its nothing major but it felt like i was crawling everest in this thing haha) but im real happy with this thing and the auto is awesome on the trail i know its iffy when it comes to reliablity but it really is nice just hitting the skinny pedal and going.
here is is going up the left side of kodiak, also i nice shot of the fender that i made which i was very proud of myself for because it was my first time ever doing body work, and btw the soft top is awesome
also riding topside it debbie...dont ask just laugh at her haha



this was as far as i could get it on the flex rock, i could have maybe gone a little higher but i kept smaking the shit out of the front spring hanger

the two horunners attempting to flex it

had a great time but this is how my day ended

for some reason still unknown my xcase decided to lock into 4low and wouldn't come out no matter what we tried, luckly my buddy Miles hooked me up with a how new trans/xcase to get it back on the road but it was still a bummer seeing it trailered home, ill run the stock case on this untile i can buy the adapter to put a j shift case behind it with 4.7s but it was still a great time out there

 

[Jeff H]

Been awhile since I updated, with school and work I have been super busy and paying for my own school have really cut into my budget. I have not done a lot but since I sold my chevy this is the only transportation that I have right now so I am trying to make it a comfortable daily driver.
I went to pullapart and snagged some things out of a newer 4runner, I got sunvisers cause i didn't have any, a rear veiw with maplights and a sweet center console that has two compartments. My buddy also had a parts truck that had a moonroor in it so he let me have it and I put it in, I have never had a sunroof or moonroof in a car before so I cant describe how excited this made me. I know that none of this stuff is going to help offroad but its a lot easier driving this thing everyday with things like this, and I also want this to be a truck that I can jump in and take on a weekend trip and be totally comfortable in it the whole time. In the future I plan on putting in some nicer seats made out of leather that are heated, a decent radio.




I also needed new tires bad and I had a set or 265/75/17 nitto terra grapplers laying around so I went and bought a set of new 4runner/tacoma rims and painted them black and I really like the way they turned out

 

[Jeff H]

I also painted the thing, my buddies nicknamed it the hoe-runner and the name has stuck and pretty much everyone around knows it as this, so I had to go with the hoe theme and I think it turned out awesome.


I def get crazy looks driving this around, and I really get crazy looks driving this around downtown charlotte to work.

I still have a lot of small things that Im wanting to do before I really get into building the thing for offroad. No one likes breaking down on the trail and since this is also going to be my daily driver for awhile I want it to be completly reliable so my list for that is
-aluminum radiator with e-fan
-add a extra trans cooler with another small e-fan for it
-V-6 master cylinder, remove lspv and complete break system overhaul
-redo the exhaust system
-water pump, oil pump, and new timing chain
-upgraded alt
-dual batteries
-cold air intake
Also I cant really get the transmission to shift the exact way I want it too and my solinoids act funny sometimes so Im going to buy the shift controller by radesigns that pretty much turns it into a manual auto trans because I will be the one that shifts the transmission and not the kickdown cable/tcu. Down the road I will also put a manual case behind the auto but since the adapter for that is around $500 its not too high on the list right now.

I also need to finsh making interier side panels, since the 4runners have so much room in the fenders I plan on turning them into storage compartments to carry tools, spare parts, and also mount my second battery in. Evently also I want dual cases with 4.7 gears in the rear, the triple shifter by radesigns, 5.29s in the axles, in the works on doing a 1 inch body lift, have starting collecting parts for crossover steering, ubolt flip and relocating the rear shocks.


But enough of the useless things, I would like some opinions on the lift setup that I should go with. My plan is to run 63 chevys and RUF, the only ? I have with this is should I run dual shackles with a track bar or should I go ahead and run a single shackle and move the back spring mount back?
also should I spend the money on a real drive shaft or just make a square one? I have an extra front drive shaft so right now im leaning on making a square one to use on the trail and keeping the stock one for the road.
The only reason I have these ?s is because I do drive this thing on the road and often have to use the interstate to get to work and school.
thanks for the advice in advance

 

[95yjjeep]

you get a muffler on that thing yet?

definitely keep the nice driveshaft for the road because a square shaft would vibrate like hell at road speeds. build a square one for offroad.

i'd more the mounts back and not run dual shackles. that's just my opinion though. it'd also give you a reason to pull that fancy welder out and do some work.

ooo and while you're at it...put a jeep emblem on that thing. it'll make it run better. haha!

 

[Jeff H]

yeah Im leaning towards doing that, I have heard that both the square shaft and dual shackles are not road friendly at all so since i have the extra shaft i might as well just use it, and i do believe the spring mounts off a cj work for the chevy 63s so i might just have to use them for you