Project Saving Silverman

Kickdeez

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 6, 2010
Location
Charlotte
I’ve never done a build thread before, and this may not amount to much, but I’m gonna give it a go. If nothing else, this will be a space for me to keep my own progress pics stored. This will likely be a slow burn, so don’t get your hopes up for regular updates and progress. But maybe having my very own build thread will motivate me to charge ahead. Maybe. Probably not. Anyway, let’s get on with it…


Specs:
1989 Fo-Runna SR5
22RE
349k miles
Years of abuse and debauchery
Amazingly straight body with minor surface rust on hood but no rot anywhere
Complete and decent-ish interior, albeit a little dingy
Intact glass and hardtop

Basic Plans (subject to change, but not likely to deviate too far):
Freshen up or complete rebuild of existing motor as needed
FJ80 axles (leaf sprung)
Manual transmission
Dual cases
Sliders, bumpers and winch
35s or 37s - probably stickies, but also a spare set of street tires

Backstory:
This truck belonged to my BFF @DieselToyPullr 🫶🏼. I rode shotty with him when he bought it 10 +/- years ago. It had somewhere north of 250k miles with a recent top end rebuild when he scooped it up. He DD’d it for several years. We bebop’d around uwharrie a few times, drank tons of beers and made plenty of poor life choices behind the wheel of this thing. It got parked circa 2017/2018 and hasn’t been driven since.

Over the past year, I had been passively looking for a 4-seater to be able to take my son and gf riding and camping, primarily to uwharrie (#BuggyLyfe is not always conducive to #FamilyLyfe). Last summer I snagged a mint condish V8 WJ from a buddy that I planned to use for that. But I realized (or subconsciously convinced myself) that the WJ really wasn’t quite what I wanted/needed. I cut my teeth building and wheeling Toyotas, and ultimately decided in my head that a 4Runner was the platform I wanted to start with. Tim knew I was going to offload the WJ and start looking for a 4Runner, so he made me a deal I couldn’t turn down on his, and the pile of parts he had accumulated but never got around to installing. Sold the WJ this past weekend, and spent some time getting reacquainted with the 4Runner.

Anyway, here are some pics. And no, it’s not silver like the thread title might seem to suggest. I just thought it had a good ring to it.
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Nice!!! I can hear the Neil diamond blasting out of it now!
 
Finished cleaning out the interior and giving it a solid preliminary vacuum jobber tonight so I can see what I’m working with. Didn’t get any before pics, but I’ll paint you a vague picture…snake skins, critter crap, new and used parts from multiple vehicles, containers of automotive fluids, shop rags, miscellaneous tools, clothes, surveying consumables, general trash, leaves, dirt, and other stuff you’d expect to find in a work truck that was unknowingly driven for the last time 8 years ago. And all of it was damp.

The seats appear to be in decent shape. Driver’s seat has considerably more wear than the rest, as expected. They will end up coming out for a deep clean and reinstalled. May end up with a cover on the driver’s seat. Interior panels are decent enough and will also be pulled for a thorough cleaning and reinstalled. Headliner is good. Dash is cracked, but not falling apart and is good enough for now. The carpet is toast and will be replaced. Center console arm rest is also toast and will be replaced.

After pics:
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Hard pass. For now. Hoping to keep the body on this as straight, clean and original as I can. Would love for this to be my little guy’s first truck in about 10 years.
Unbobed for life!!
 
linked on tons with an atlas and twined 5.3

I need inspiration folks
I like your enthusiasm. If this was my only wheelin rig I would definitely go tons, atlas, linked suspension, 40”+ stickies, cage, suspension seats, yada yada. But my other rig already checks all those boxes, and then some. Here’s your inspiration:

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Was Jeffrey Dahmer a previous owner? :eek: "Google, how do you get blood stains out of carpet?"
Can’t say one way or the other. But there will be no cleaning of this carpet. It’s going straight to the hazmat disposal area at the dump.
Please consult @rcalexander105 prior to modifications :huggy:
Inspiration for this build has come from numerous folks and builds (including Rod) as well as my own builds/experience. Here’s a pic of @DieselToyPullr 82 pickup that we built 15+/- years ago and is still rippin up the trails.


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Inspiration for this build has come from numerous folks and builds (including Rod) as well as my own builds/experience. Here’s a pic of @DieselToyPullr 82 pickup that we built 15+/- years ago and is still rippin up the trails.
Oh..no...that's not what I meant.

What I was getting at, was he has stated MANY time he wished he hadn't gone full steam on his 4-runner, and kept the body nice so that he COULD let his.....

be my little guy’s first truck in about 10 years.

I think Rod has a few regerts about a scratch or 12 :(
 
Oh..no...that's not what I meant.

What I was getting at, was he has stated MANY time he wished he hadn't gone full steam on his 4-runner, and kept the body nice so that he COULD let his.....



I think Rod has a few regerts about a scratch or 12 :(
Gotcha!

I definitely won't speak for Rod; however, I suspect that the downfall (if you want to call it that) of his 4Runner stems from wheeling buggy trails/lines - not necessarily the build list. The body was still in pretty good shape before that flop in Cripple Creek. I bet that if he had the Gremlin before the first round of body damage, the 4Runner would not have made it to some of our wheelin trips and would still be pretty mint.

This is not my primary wheelin rig. I'm not even really gonna call it a wheelin rig to be honest. If I'm planning to do some gnarly stuff and/or get trashed in the woods with my doods, this is not going to be the rig I bring. This will be more of a camping and trail riding/leaf looking truck...dare I possibly classify it as an "oV3rl@nD3R"?! I want it to be overbuilt for what I plan to do with it. I'm too old to be laying under my junk in the middle of the trail for hours and spending all day trying to get it out of the woods...especially with the little guy and gf with me.

I fully appreciate the perspective though brother!
 
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