87 4Runner maintenance/resto?

Hey everyone!

I just came in to possession of a decent 87 4runner 4x4, 350k miles on the dash. It has sat in a field for a large part of 20-30 years.


The good…
The prior owner got the engine running, but that’s about it. New gas tank, fuel pump, battery, supposedly master cylinder.

The bad…
It will no hold a charge. Has to be jumped pretty much every time it starts. Has no brakes. Brakes go to the floor and have to use e brake to stop it from going anywhere.

Plans are to start with changing the alternator this weekend so I can at least keep it mobile. Then work on the brakes to get it more Street able. Oil is all around the head gasket so I imagine that won’t be far behind. There’s rust everywhere on body panels, some places worse than other.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what would be wise to fix after what I have outlined?

 

Love the Rear Diff Mud Dauber Homes with a side of snake scales.

 

I like to think I saved it from being reclaimed by nature!

 

I'd do all new brakes everywhere, all fluids, check chassis/suspension for rot, and inspect for reptiles.

 

As someone who has gone through a few car restos...here's my advice.

1. Do NOT disassemble the entire car all at once. You will never get it back together. NEVER. Pick your battles.

2. Verify the extent of the rust. You didn't supply any good pictures to do that but from what little I can see, I don't see rust as an issue yet. If the rust has gotten into and damaged the frame then you need to make a decision whether to fix it or not. Body work is very very expensive and endless on a rust bucket. The mechanicals come a FAR second place to body issues. Do not spend money on anything else until the body is figured out.

3. Put a plan together and try to stick with it.

4. DO the FULL job. For example. If you're going to redo the front brakes, disassemble ALL parts, clean, inspect and replace what's worn. Or you'll be right back working on it again because something broke or started leaking. You will pull things apart and be amazed at what you find. "How in heck is that still working?" was uttered more than once.



Why do you think the alternator is bad? Holding a charge has nothing to do with the alternator. Supplying a charge has everything to do with the alternator. Which is it?

 

Sand that roof down and primer it before it gets any worse.

 

If I leave the battery hooked up, it will go dead. Lead me to believe a bad alternator since a bad alternator will drain the battery over time.

also…

 

Never seen a bad alt do that. You have a parasitic drain somewhere else.

 

Update: Drove it to the hobby shop, was running really rich, smelled of gas, was backfiring in the parking lot and died shortly after. After rolling it into the shop, changed the alternator and all the belts. Would crank but not turn over. This weekend, plan on doing the spark plugs and wires, distributor cap, and replacing all the old vacuum hoses.

 

Body looks prity nice, If you take this on regarding brakes do ALL at once - why brake open the hydraulic system more than once and this includes splitting the calipers in half with the OEM kit in hand. Get all Asin parts. last get OEM rear cylinders. Going aftermarket you will most likely have to knock out a stud to get it in.
Looking at the front end - get a high quality nut splitter.

 

Update #2: Went to the shop after a week. Battery was charged and it fired right up! So it seems i got rid of the parasitic drain the alternator was causing. Before the battery would go dead within 24 hrs just being hooked up. After i put the new alternator in, it lasted a week.

But on to the new stuff. Went to change the spark plugs, wires, and distributor cap and rotor. Spark plugs were a weird socket, 13/16s. Had gunk and trash all around them as well. My biggest surprise was after taking off the distributor cap. When i pulled it off, it was half full of dirt! It looks like over the years some dirt daubers had found their way inside the distributor, and whenever i would crank it up, the rotor would spin around all the dirt inside. So it was continuously pumping in fuel to the cylinders, but not getting any spark. Spark plugs were well worn too. The gaps were about triple what they should be. I threw in a new air filter while i was working. Cranked it up and it ran smooth. No misses, just smooth as could be. I was able to drive it home. Ill probably do a little cosmetic work throughout the week. Maybe do the vacuum hoses i didnt feel like like doing yesterday.

Theres definitely an exhaust leak somewhere cuz it stinks and its loud as heck. Next weekend, i have a trip planned to Uwharrie, so might not have an update for 2 weeks. I guess its about time i fixed the brakes. I plan on upgrading the brakes to the all the v6 parts and rotors in the back as well. 2 weeks should give me enough time to plan that.

Lemme know what you all think, Ill try to post some pics through the week if i can get the rear window down and the carpets out.

 

Sounds like your making progress, just have to ask how long was this sitting? The inside of the distributor was half full of dirt??? There are two vent holes at the base of it, one is top and one is bottom, all I can think is this runner was somewhere in the windy desert for many years pointed into the prevailing winds.
BTW if you plug the top hole ( tape or Q tip ) you can go wild with a power wash. But just in case, have the tool to remove the cap so it can be dried out,
Good luck

 

It sat for 12 years or so before i bought it, i got it running and then it sat again for another 8 years. Inspection sticker on the windshield says 1999. In the south, we have these bugs kinda like hornets. But they make their nests out of dirt. Hence why they are called dirt daubers. You can see some examples on the pic of my rear differential. They mustve made their way inside the distributer and made a nest. So everytime the engine would turn over, the rotor inside the distributer would just blend up the nest creating a ton of dust and making it hard to spark.

 

The power steering idler arm looks like it's about to fall out. Might as well order one of them: https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/toyota,1987,4runner,2.4l+l4,1272181,steering,idler+arm,7328

Still looks like a Great Find!!

 

My plan is to cut out all of the IFS and SAS the front end as soon as i can find a front axle. So I'm indifferent about those parts tbh. I don't plan on driving it more that a few miles before that.

 

A big part of me wants to SAS. But i wonder how much money and effort it will take to revamp the front suspension and get it to where i want it. To run 35s or 37s and do moderate to difficult trails. I bought this to be my main trail rig.

 

Probably better to get the SAS out of the way now. Have to clean up the frame for welding anyways so you can kill two birds. No point wasting money on IFS parts if you want a trail rig with 35" + tires.

 

True.
The IFS 1st and 2nd Gen's have the less than stellar torsion bar setup up front. It's not the same as just replacing coil overs to get a lift like the later models. I too would recommend SAS straight away if you want this to be your trail rig. These were fine rigs for trailing when new, but it will cost you a lot $$ to replace everything rubber on the front end and also replace those 350k mile CV axles.

 

Yeah, i think that'll be the plan, im just getting impatient trying to find a front axle to swap in.

 

So today, cool story. None of my lights work or the rear window or the instrument cluster. Figured it would be fuses or the fuse box in general. Checked all the fuses (engine bay and front qtr panel) and all are getting power in and out. Anyone had something similar like this happen?

 

Does it turn over? If not - redo all grounding If yes - redo all grounding. at least battery to body to block and block to body. Block to body should be at the rear of the head to the fire wall if it's a 22re

 

yeah cranks and turns over. Just no lights, no gauge cluster, no rear window, no windshield wipers. All the fuses are good and the radio works. So pretty weird.

 

Actually, that's HEAD to body. One of the bolts holding the lift hook to the head, then to the firewall behind the head. About where the half-moon in the head points to on the firewall.

For the block, there's should be a heavy cable, about same gauge as the wire from the battery to the starter, going directly up to the battery negative from the AC compressor mount.
There should be another cable, IMO about the same gauge, going from battery negative to the body. There's a bolt, behind the passenger side headlight, right in front of the battery, that the factory uses for the battery-body cable.

Finally, there should be a smaller gauge wire from the alternator plug, directly to the PS pump mount.

Those are the 4 main grounds for the 22RE. In the cab, there's a ground point on the driver's side, behind the kick panel. It's got a 4-into-1 ring terminal. It has a problem with the wires getting loose over time. It also has a trouble with water intrusion from the windshield, so check the metal under the bolt for corrosion.

There's a ground behind the passenger side kick panel for the ECU.

The rear window not only has a fuse, but also a "circuit breaker" on the fuse block behind the driver's side kick panel. IIRC, it's a silver can, below the fuses, with a hole in the top. Insert a small screwdriver into the hole and listen for it to "CLICK". Then try the rear window.

For the rear lights, check the ground points behind the light buckets. They are prone to corrosion.

Good luck!
Pat☺

 

So little update, got almost all electricals working. It turned out to be the engine fuse in the driver side kick panel. Replaced all fuses and the dashboard works along with the taillights turn signals and parking lights. Headlights still dont work but i ordered a h4 conversion kit from LCE that comes with new headlights as well so hopefully that can get my headlights working.

I still cant get the rear window down. And im having trouble getting the motor out of the tailgate to take the window down manually. I'll run a wire direct from the battery to try to get it down this weekend probably. Try to get the carpets out too.