85 solid axle 4 runner budget overland

Found this gem on a Kentucky farm for 600 bucks. Sounds like a deal right? Well.. I'll give you guys the whole story. When I first bought the truck it was the appaloosa green color with 200,000 miles and had serious surface rust and some minor and major holes. On further inspection realizing it had chocolate milk for oil, I knew I was in for trouble. I'll post pictures before and after, keep in mind this took multiple months and was done by amateur mechanics.


A head gasket, valve adjustment, oil pump, water pump, timing chain, metal timing guides, plugs, wires, Injectors, fuel pump, belts, hoses, wheels bearings, and a brake job later. It RAN for the first time in 10 years!!
Soooo I drove it.


And... It smelled. Bad.. like dead mouse and grandpas underwear.

The 80s shag carpet had to go and as much as I dig the appaloosa green.. I needed to fill some holes.

So about a month later it got patched, filled, sanded, and painted.
And gutted the carpet for vinyl.

Now here's the kicker..
I drove it daily for 9 months


Absolutely loved this thing!!
10 inches of snow, vertical hill climbs, hauling brush down log roads, camping where Boone himself couldn't get too.




About a month ago I bought a new head, exhaust manifold, and all the fixings for an EGR delete. Everything went smooth rebuilt the top end, adjusted valves and timing seemed like we were ready to roll. I drove it around a few days and it was not happy at all. It ran fine but was fouling plugs and back firing. I bought a TPS and O2 sensor to try and rule as many things out as possible.


Then it happened... The knock of doom.
Running down the road testing, everything seemed fine, running at 55 and I start loosing speed and then it develops a serious rod knock.
Poof smoke and off to the side of the road.
It's sitting in my garage atm.
Willing to sell.
Willing to buy donor engine to keep the dream alive.
Shop dog for your time!! Keep them on all 4!!

 

Good read thanks for sharing your story.