Hammered 89 SR5 Project

We have Camry's and Corolla's but this is my first Toyota truck. I'm on my 14th Jeep project (mostly FSJ's and CJ's) but this T4R is new to me. My two kids (18M & 16F) wanted me to buy it from a friend so we could work on it together, I told them that I'd do it but this is not a "Dad project" they have to help me or I sell it. They have gone all in on this thing and I'm having a blast with my two youngest still at home.

1989 SR5, 3.slo, Manual, 4x4, 392K miles, runs GREAT! It's complete for the most part but pretty rotted from the Utah salt. It came with a solid front axle from an 84 or 85 I believe? It also came with NIB: clutch disc, pressure plate, pilot bearing/guide, slave & master cylinder.

Being a Toyota newb, I would sincerely appreciate any and all suggestions or advice. I'm researching with the kids and want to avoid stupidity if at all possible. Thanks in advance all.

HERE WE GO!

 

My buddy owned it for 11 years and didn't do anything to it but change fluids, power steering pump, alternator and tires. SO! First will be: water pump kit, stat, timing kit, radiator, shroud, full tune up, all hoses/vacuum lines, plenum & TB gaskets and valve cover gaskets (good grief those things have leaked all over everything!). We'll change all the fluids too. The AC worked until last fall when the battery acid ate through the AC line under the battery tray so we put a splice kit on the line, added 134 ports and I've got a factory dryer I'm adding then we'll see if we can't get that going again too.

New: fenders, nose (lights, grill, bezels, valance, bumper, corners) after we finish the mechanical.

QUESTION: The thing ran great before we tore into it (good compression and no blown head gaskets) IS IT WORTH CHANGING OUT ALL OF THE INJECTORS IF IT WAS RUNNING GREAT?

 

QUESTION: The thing ran great before we tore into it (good compression and no blown head gaskets) IS IT WORTH CHANGING OUT ALL OF THE INJECTORS IF IT WAS RUNNING GREAT?

 

Nice! I've been look for a 1st gen project. How bad was the body rust? Any rot in the frame?

What are your overall plans for it?

 

Hello! No rot in the frame - just the wheel wells.
Right now we are working on:

1. Water pump, timing kit, stat, radiator, all hoses (coolant and vacuum), valve cover gaskets, change all fluids, change all filters, tune up, convert AC to 134 (new drier, line repair, fittings). New nose: fenders, all lights, bumper/corners, grill/bezels, lower valance.
2. Once its running again: I picked up a used 3 inch OME lift kit, full front end steering rebuild kit, steering box, brake: drums/shoes, rotors/pads.
3. New stereo system, interior flooring and seat covers. Interior lighting (LED and replace covers).
4. I acquired 2 sets of side windows with good trim so I'll get those swapped out.
5. Rear bumper, new rear lighting.
6. I've got all of those parts collected, once all of that is done then I'll start working on the rear wheel wells. I'm not sure how to tackle those yet - looking for suggestions. I've seen: fiberglass flares (not sure if they are big enough), 3 piece metal replacement sides (costly and lots of labor) and someone mentioned that there are full fiberglass sides out there - I can't find those yet.
7. Once that is all done, I have a new full clutch with slave and master cylinders in my garage. I'll get the new clutch done once my kids have learned to drive a clutch

Any and all suggestions welcome! I probably should have looked for a much cleaner one but this thing was complete, had good compression, ran great and was cheap!

 

I would try a DIY cleaning method first. YouTube has some methods.

 

If it ran great before I tore it apart would you still recommend doing it? I'm asking because if I've got it torn apart that far and its not too bad then I want to clean those puppies.
Thanks for the advice.

 

Replacing Cam & Crankshaft seals while its torn down. I cannot seem to get the crankshaft timing gear ring off. Any ideas?

 

I would clean them while they are out. It's fairly easy to clean. You can get a good look at the o-rings and see if they need replacement too. Oil the o-rings when reinstalling them.

 

Trying to get this guy off. Completely frozen. PB Blaster, WD40, Twisting screwdrivers at 9 & 3, prybars on rags, tapped it in with a big socket, none of my pullers can grab that little space against the oil pump, no threaded holes. Any ideas?....

 

Work has been busy. I ordered a new: crank timing gear, washer and woodruff key from Toyota. Made sure the parts were correct then got it drilled and tapped. We didn't want to put too much heat to it so my son ground some slots into the gear for the puller. It was not coming loose until the last eighth inch on the crank - even after 2 weeks of PB Blaster every day! Now we can get moving again.

 

Sorry about the GIANT pics. I just realized I need to do thumbnails. I'll do that in the future.

 

The company that sells the fiberglass rear panels is out of Canada, here is another place https://www.alfaparts.net/toyota4r84.htm

 

That is awesome! I'll start doing some searching over the next month but are there write ups with the metal and the fiberglass here or on other 4Runner forums?

 

If it's running good, why would you want to disassemble to see why?

 

I asked if he had done anything to it in the time he owned it and he said no and had put on over 100K miles. When we pulled it apart it the timing belt was toast, water pump was leaking throught the weep hole, radiator was seeping and the front crankshaft seal was leaking. The valve cover gaskets were also leaking all over the place so the idea was to do all of the deferred maintanance and repair to hopefully get another 80K miles out of it

 

Alright! We had some issues to handle (family and medical) all is good so we are back at it. I would like to replace all of these while we have the plenum off. I have the stock temp sensor but I've been searching and can someone tell me where I can find these sensors? I have an 89 3.0 manual. Here is the back of my engine:


Here is a picture I found but it has a hose in the middle that I don't have:

And here is another picture I found on the forum again with the hose in the middle:


Can anyone direct me to one that looks like mine and has the names of the sensors? Are these pics of the 3.4?
Thanks in advance.