1987 5vz Build

Hi All,

Just picked this beauty up for a smoking deal on Craigslist. The 3.0l is shot and I am planning to drop in a 3.4.

I guess my first question is how is it an 87 with a v6? It has the badges and the title/carfax/door plate all say 87 (June to be exact).
Thanks!

 

Congrats. And welcome to the forum.

 

you'll have your work cut out..but it'll be worth it..forum is a great resource....all the best to you...

 

87 pickups had the V6 so either this one got it early from Toyota or it was swapped in some time later by a previous owner. Either way a 3.4 should be a simple enough swap. I did a 2.7 from a 22r in mine.

 

Ah alright that makes sense then. Thanks!

 

Welcome from Arizona!

 

The decals say 89. I have never seen them on any other year but who Knows for sure. What do the door panels look like? 87 was first year for the 3.0. Does it have any power options, mirrors, windows, locks?
Awesome project!

 

It does! Power antenna, factory cruise control and rear window defrost.

trying to figure out what this green light is for.

 

Currently chasing wiring. The rear window works every now and again so that’s the first thing getting fixed.
Most the interior is out, going to pull as much of the dash as needed to get into wiring for the power mirrors to fix that next.

 

Nice project. The green light next to the cruise button is a courtesy light that illuminates the ignition.

 

Amazing, thank you!

 

Nice! Let me know if you need a wiring diagram. My book is for a 89 though, but it has all the same options. What does the door jamb vin plate and firewall vin plate look like?

 

Awesome, thank you so much. I’m almost certain I’ll need one once I pull the engine for the swap or if the relays for the back window start giving me trouble.

 

Got the top off and everything looks pretty clean. Have some OEM replacement stuff coming in. New passenger door motor is a first since it really struggles to roll up.

With my helper always not helping.

 

There are several grounds that have to be made for the back window to work. The window lock switch in the center console, the top switch(when top is removed it breaks the ground), the tail gate latch(there are two. one ground gets broke when open and one when closed), the wiper arm needs to be in the resting position. Its a bit of fun to figure out.

On my build, all the wiring is 2001 sequoia. To keep the stock 89 4runner back wiper working correctly, using the complete rear window wiring harness was my only option. The back window relay runs the wiper. The window systems that were not used were depinned. By the time I had got to this part of the wiring, I had cut my stock harness to bitts. I went and got a fresh one.

 

My windows kinda struggle also, but when the truck is running, they work faster.

 

Got the top off and everything looks pretty clean. Have some OEM replacement stuff coming in. New passenger door motor is a first since it really struggles to roll up.

 

Seems so overly complicated for Toyota. The window was up when I bought the truck. I rolled it down and it never went back up. I can hear the switch in the side panel make noise when I try and roll it down with the key in the back but nothing. Everything’s getting checked with a multi meter tonight.

 

Anyone know if Toyota made factory brush guards for the 80’s trucks? A bit surprised to see a Toyota emblem welded to this thing

 

Here is the ewd.

 

When the topper is off, the back window won't go up.
Along with the other conditions that must be met, there's a switch on one of the bolts that holds the top on. You either have to bypass the switch, or put an adapter bolt in. I don't have a link right off, but they're pretty readily available. They did that so that, without the support for the glass on both sides the top provides, it would break very easily. It would, too.
The bolt is easy to bypass. You have to take the trim in the bed, drivers side, I believe, and just use a pair of alligator clips with a wire between them. One clip on each terminal, done.
OR, you can pull it's plug off, and put a couple of spade terminals with a wire between them into the wiring harness' plug. Anything to "fool" the system into thinking the switch is "closed".

Besides, with the topper off, why would you want to put the window up? No reason to, not really.

Does that help?
Pat☺

 

Update:

Thank you everyone who has been helping me with the wiring fun. I have figured out it’s not the rear motor. Jumping 12v directly to the motor it goes up and down so it’s somewhere else.

The interior is most of the way stripped and am waiting to figure out the paint situation. I have some dents I can pull before I take it in so that will be the weekend project. I went to a paint shop yesterday and talked to the guys to see why the lead time was, they told me about a month before they could get me in. Asked him for a rough estimate on what a jam out paint job would cost (not including engine bay since it’s in really good shape) and was told 6-10k!!!! Does that seem on par with what others have heard?

Lastly a couple pictures of the progress. I also found some oem speakers in the back which I think are pretty cool, I could just be nostalgic....

 

A couple more questions which I’m sure have been answered 1million times.

1 - easiest way to take the old stripes (and sticky) off prepping the paint for primer.

2 - cleaning the old b pillar emblems off shown below.

TYIA

 

I put sound deadener in mine.

1st layer shown above. Then I put 9/16 closed cell foam on top. The bed area has another thin layer of closed cell foam between the two. I can hardly wait to hear how the quiet the road noise.

 

Wow you stripped everything. Did you get it repainted?

 

Not yet, and I should have put in a new heater core then too.

 

So I was able to strip most of the adhesive off with this stuff below. Stuff smells like rocket fuel but worked extremely well with a plastic razor.

 

Updates! I have been slowly stripping down the 4runner to get it to a point of putting back to together. Trying to do everything right the first time has been a long road. Stripping the interior was the easiest part I would say, bodywork and prep has taken a lot of time that.

 

Found a donor vehicle! 97 5vz Manual.
I did a lot of research into how i wanted to source an engine. I found the easiest way was to purchase a whole truck, everywhere i was looking the 5vz-fe manual ECU's are ~$600, with an engine 1500-2000. And you need to match a harness...etc... Runs like a top has ~20k less miles than the 87.

 

Finally pulled the engine and was able to start removing everything in the bay. Landed on a color for the truck which is going to be Chevrolet Brimstone. The little bit of rust that was under the battery was treated and sealed before being primed with Epoxy then a high build.

Also forgot to mention the truck received a brand new OME suspension all the way around. The back now sits ~2" higher than the front. Once I get the new engine back in I will look into cranking down the torsion bars to see if I need BJ spacers. Hoping I don't but we'll see.