takeitoutgetitdirty

I have been around for a while when I was rebuilding my 86. So I thought I would actually post the build of this one.
I just picked up this 87 4Runner, traded a Ranger for it. Surprisingly for the east coast very little rust to deal with. I will be driving this truck pretty much daily. So the build on this will be a fairly slow process. I will try and take pics on this as I had planned on doing when I started my 86 pickup. I have been doing a lot of reading on what others have done to their 4runners.

As of right the motor runs a lil rough but hoping once I get the old gas out and new gas in it will straighten up a lil. Need to pull the valve cover and adjust the valves.

My other truck with a fresh coat of $2 spray paint.. Along with trade of 4Runner got a straight axle that will find its way under the truck in the future.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Looks like you got a good start on a project. Looking forward to your build.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I appreciate it. It will start off slower than I anticipated but will get to it. I start 7-12s @ work. Money good but time sux. Thought I would get a 3 day weekend but looks like I will be working. To start the obvious things I ordered springs for zuk mod, bounces like a tank. Also have a set of 31x10.50 BFG all terrains getting ready to go on.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I got around to doing a lil bit of work to it today. Flushed the radiator, cleaned and spaced the plugs, and got it inspected. I have a lovely toyota tick that is nice and loud so I figured I would check and adjust valves. All with in spec. I think that it is coming from the timing chain, seems to have a lil play. Thats something I will address later once I work all the other kinks and bugs out to drive it daily. I also took the stock tires and rims off and put on some 31s on 10 wides. Also my springs came in this evening for the zuk mod. Hopefully will get around to them sunday. As of right know this is how she sits.

takeitoutgetitdirty

Did the zuk mod today, rides and looks much better. Looks like I will be pulling the motor out earlier then anticapated. After flushing of radiator and oil, have found many leaks. Have tried everything to stop the nice knocking, which leads me to believe is the timing chain. So complete overhaul and clean up. Will get pics up as soon as possible.

takeitoutgetitdirty

Here is a pic of what the zuk mod did. Also looks like clutch will need replacing. Alot more work needed than anticipated.
Nice and level.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Depends on how deep you need to go into it. But with the clutch going, it would probably be just as quick to pull the motor. Will be looking forwad to your progress.

takeitoutgetitdirty

Its a fact I will be pulling the motor and putting the one out of my truck into it for the time being. Which I rebuilt about 2 years ago. On my way to work this morning it overheated and split my radiator hose. Was able to limp it to car quest, had to wait 2 hours before they opened to get the hose and limp it home. When I got home I opened the hood and the manifold was glowing a nice cherry red. So know I am worried about possibly warping the head.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

I have seen the cherry manifold before. Twice actually. Once on mine. I didnt tighten the distributor down and it moved one way or the other, just dont remeber which way it was, and that will cause a cherry mainifold.

A friend of mines did something similar, but dont rmember what caused his. He had the cherry maifold. Neither of them had head damage. Dont want to experiece that again, but think you may be alright. It will scare you the first time it happens and anytime after that. Hopefully this will help put your mind at ease.

I went back and added more to this and see if you can understand my point. Dont know how accurate it is. With the explosion inside the cylinder it is live fire, and when it goes out the exhaust valve and manifold it is basically burnt fumes. With the timing off, and exhaust valve being open, the live fire is getting straight to the manifold, thus causing a cherry manifold.

The cylinder and head is designed for this heat and live fire so that is why I think you will be ok on your head. I talked to a 3rd person and it may have been a person here on YT and they had the same thing. It was a timing issue and they didnt warp a head. I would check your timing. I bet it is off.

I seen yours was a water issue, but not sure if that would cause a cherry manifold, I cant say for sure. Hope this helps.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I just dont understand how the day before I put around 130 miles on it with no issue. I appreciate your help and input on this. I checked the timing and It was way advanced. I advanced the timing probably a lil to much. I did it by sound of the motor and it ran much better. I surely learned my lesson. As far as the coolant problem I believe it was overheated due to the timing and blew out the radiator hose due to age. It was split from one clamp to another. Seeing as how this will be my daily driver I am going to pull the motor and go through it completely. The 4runner has 190,000 on the odometer, so I just want to make sure I wont run into any issues in the long run. Not only that I wanna go ahead and put an EB cam in it. I might be doing an overkill on it, but, I have justification at the present moment (as far as mommas concerned). I just bought her an 03 4runner sports edition. Thats another story, but that makes 4 toyotas in the drive way now.

Dutchbelly

I had the cherry manifold on my '89 daily driver when I first put it on the road. I had the timing way off as well. I drove it that way for a day, fixed it, and haven't had any issues resulting from it. That was around 4 years ago. Good luck on your build.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I appreciate it. When I picked this up I had planned on doing a rebuild on it. Just thought I would be able to wait till the summer. I just don't want to throw stuff at it right know just to take it apart and redo it later. So as soon as I get a chance (hopefully this weekend) I will swap the motor out and get it up and running again. I started pulling stuff apart and I found that the intake is in need of a good cleaning. So I could only imagine what else is waiting for me on the inside. Wish I had more time because it has been pretty this past week. Thats how things seem to work out though. I will try and take pics of what it looks like as I am pulling it out.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I am also having an issue now that there is 4 toyotas sitting in the yard. The truck was the original so I have always called it "THE YOTA". The second was my boys car, no problem still call is my boys car. Now with the addition of mommas 4runner and my 4runner I need to come up with a name for my 87. I have had names like Ole Bessie, The orange Blossum, ole blue, and Sparky. I would like some opinions on names for this one. I am drawing a blank, hopefully something will arise.

takeitoutgetitdirty

The newest addition.

Started to make a lil progress on getting the motor out today. Will need a lot of clean up. Gunk pretty much everywhere. Here are some pics of the intake and where oil was coming from.



I am not sure why my pics come up small. If you click on them do they get bigger.

Terrys87

iTrader: (1)

Just laughing about having 4 Toyotas. We have the same problem. I call hers the 88, mine the Flat bed, the 01 Runner the red one. Stilll havent came up with the name for the 83.

On your intake with all of the carbon, that is why I make a block off plate between the Plenum and and EGR valve. I just remove my Plenum and take it to the carwash and clean it that way. I have it listed in my 88 build. I have done it several other times and can have it done in around an hour, start to finish. It would take you a little longer. Not as bad as it may seem.

If you do decide to do it, remove your throttle body as it has your Throttle Position Sensor and just clean it with some mild cleaner as best as you can. Remove your Cold Start Injector and clean the Plenum with high pressure soap.

Check all of your hoses/ ports as they will have carbon in them. Here is where a small drill bit comes in handy just using your fingers to spin it.

Your gaskets shouldnt be glued on if it has been done right so really is just the cost of the carwash. The intake I just leave on the truck and just wipe it out as best as I can.

I like your new addition. They are some nice trucks also.

takeitoutgetitdirty

The 03 is really nice and I am amazed at the power the 4.0 puts out. This thing will haul tail. I am glad now after driving it for a week that we decided to get this one instead of the 98 they had. That one had the 3.4, which would have still been nice, but I don't think it can hold a wick to this one. Only time will tell.

I got more taken apart today, there is at least an 1/8" of carbon built up inside the intake and ports. From what I can tell everything on this motor is original. The parts either have toyota or aisin stamped or stickered on it. Once I get it pulled out and all the exterior gunk cleaned off I will know more. The guy I got it from said he thought it had been rebuilt. I don't think so. The oil looks like it is leaking from the head gasket in the front and in the rear.

That is a good idea. never really thought about pressure washing the plenum out. My last one was not that bad and some carb cleaner and a lil brush took care of that. I will be trying the pressure washer on this one though

As far as the gaskets go, I don't think I will be able to save them. They look like the original gaskets atleast I am assuming. Once I get the motor swapped I plan on getting new hoses and vaccum lines. I had to wiggle and twist and wiggle and twist very carefully so I didn't break my valve nipples. They are brittle and some are coming apart as I pull on them.

I am actually hopeing now that the motor is unmolested. Then I would have a nice untouched block and head to machine and play with.

takeitoutgetitdirty

Got the motor swapped out today. Made a heck of a difference in get up and go. Did not get any pics as I was doing to much and was to greasy to even touch the camera. I was amazed that I was able to get all done today. Now I need to figure out why my CEL is on. It started coming on in the truck about two weeks ago. I believe its just a sensor, just have to figure out which one.

Now I am debating on dropping my 4:56 gear setup in or not. I am going to drive around for a few weeks on this setup and probably go from there. Anyone that has 4:56 and 31's let me know how you like it on highway and around town.

Never realized how much easier it is to get stuff done with an air compressor and air ratchet. Got an air compressor on sale yesterday at tractor supply, don't know how I lived without one.

takeitoutgetitdirty

I haven't really had much time to mess with the 4runner lately due to work. I have been drinving it and really love it. I was able to fix my blower fan, replaced the resistor pack. ($14 from stealership) Also changed out the knock sensor that was causing CEL on, now need to figure out why it comes on intermitently. Also debating on swapping in some 4:56 gears. With 31's my speedo is about 4 mph off.

takeitoutgetitdirty

Been MIA for a while working 7-12's, don't leave much time for anything. Will be performing some much needed maintenance as it has been neglected from working so much. So after putting 30,000 miles on the 4runner this past year, it developed a nasty oil leak. (about 1 quart every 2 days) Thought it was coming from the front main seal. But after pulling the motor, looks as though my timing chain cover has a crack on the passanger side. While @ it will be changing out the NAPA clutch. Since installed I have not been happy with it. .