Project Recyle: 1994 Mild Build

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So i guess I accidently deleted my old thread when I was trying to clean it up so gonna reconstruct it...

Picked up my neice's 1994 4runner with 195k on it.
Recent rebuild on the 3.turd so it actually runs decents, dog slow with the Auto.
I got it dirt cheap, low 3 digit numbers due to a failed bearing/CV on the right front wheel that lead to this

Totally froze on her and freaked her out. Her mom said come get it.

It is kind of dirty but should clean up nicely, but got it for $400


Has the usual drivers side torn seat but other than that nothing sometime with a vacuum and carpet cleaner can't cure





Plan is to tear apart the right front and see what got fubar'ed.
It needs tires, an exhaust and the left rear passenger window won't roll down.

Long term plan is to turn it into a more family friendly trail runner, won't have the same capabilities as the Trekker but time will tell. Looking to build something I can take the grandkids out to enjoy the woods in and maybe the occasional 2-3 night weekend expedition.

It will get some front (with a winch) and rear bumpers, probably an extra gas tank, drawer unit/sleeping platform. Maybe something like an ARB fridge.
Definitely a locker, sliders.
Thinking 33x10.50's for tires.

Build will be a slow one

Installed my $5 pick N pull vent visors I scored at the Labor Day sale

And scored a bunch of parts I need now and some for just in case since the price was to good to pass up, most of it compliments of the Great Him, thanks Isaac


Started pulling stuff off the Trekker over the weekend
I am really glad I never installed my winch on this bumper, it took about 10 minutes to drill out rosette welds and cutting with a cut off wheel to get it off. I am pretty sure the winch would have peeled it off.
But it certainly served it's purpose over the years and I am hoping it will bolt up to the 4Runner since the T-G winch plate was designed for later trucks

Sliders are beat but new legs will let them have a new life on the 4Runner

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Pretty confident I found the root cause for the right front wheel seizing
When pulling the axle out I found this little gem




Mike gave me the body from the Lagin Wagon, a lot of it has ended up in Project Recycle


Stripped it pretty quick have a nice Crack free dash and other misc stuff

A friend of mine hooked me up with a rear tire mount from a 90-91 4Runner
Looks like no one had touched the tailgate before

Some people said to take out the window...decided to chance it

Someone's not so good version of trailer wiring. .it will get fixed. ..not that these things can tow much

The afternoon went quicker than I thought so I don't have pics of the flat stock I used to beef up the inside mount

I will need to raise the tire mounting surface when I put the 35's on this thing but it should do the trick

Still need to cut the old license plate mount to cover the holes in the tailgate and repaint the swing out, it is a bit weathered after 25 years.

while the tailgate was apart added some flushed mounted back up lights since the old ones were blocked by the tire


figured i would use it to cover up the hole left when the plate mount was removed, though it was hidden with the spare tire on:


Using my knee to bend the diamond plate got the contour pretty close to the curvature of the tailgate. Not perfect but it will do

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Added some additional LED's in the cargo area. A single LED in the stock cargo lamp was pretty lame



using parts from the 4Runner shell from Mike I extended the rack 26" , by doing so I gained a 3rd crossbar. Gotta love a 45 minute project
Used 5 nutserts on each side


Mounted a garage sale rack. It is a little higher than I was hoping for. I may end up Remowing the crossbars and hard mount it to the rails.


the missus hooked me up with this thing

So what is the first thing you should do with your new Trail-Gear rear bumper?
Of Course you should chop it up:whip2:


This will allow the bumper to still ofFer some great corner protection and allow the Toyota swing out tire carrier to work
My welding skills aren't that great so I sought some professional help
Joe made short work of finishing it up. I got it home, test fit and mounted.



finally had time to work on the front end (I am easily side tracked)
I tell you what, some people shouldn't touch brakes...if you don't know what you are doing...ask!!
There are supposed to be 6 bolts holding the rotor assembly...Genius probably started out with 6 but only 4 survived and only one was tight.

Inside of the dust shield is destroyed


one of the things that bugged me when i decided to take on this project was that the fan had one speed, and no A/C. Pulled the dash parts boxes i had from Mike's 4runner shell i had.
Found a good fan switch with the a/c controls and started to pull apart the dash. *
i was very happy:toilet3::wtf: to find evidence of a short

the new 4 speed switch is on the left and the one speed on the right, you can see some melting on the right switch

sure enough,the old switch had shorted for some reason in the past..probably the quality stereo install work*

evidence of the quality that went into the stereo install, wiring from the Goodwill...


upside is now i have all fan speeds and working A/C

got everything thrown back together,My original dash pad was of course cracked, i used the donor dash, it was a light brown/tan. decided to give the dupli-color vinyl paint a shot.
came out pretty good.


needed some more mood lighting:
The red light on the driver's side door light died a little while ago. It was weird that the housing still had power but no bulb would work (even when swapped from passenger side)
Dug into the box of crap that had been for the Trekker and found some stuff.
added a rock light to use as a courtesy light and replaced door light with a KC LED cyclone light

Passenger Side

Driver's side door open:


some of you know i have gadgetitis pretty bad so added some aux plugs

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Old dome light switch gave up the ghost, tried soldering it but that lasted about a week. Dug into the parts stash and decided to make a small upgrade in brightNess

Night shot of the new dome light

with the rear cargo lights *and courtesy lights
​
yep my fascination with LED's continues

stock driver's seat was torn up so I am glad i had saved the Prelude seats I had in the Trekker
front mounts are a direct bolt in


Pulled the center console today and it ran into some cut off wheels

and ended up with this Hybrid Toyota console with a locking console from a Samurai i found in the junk yard

Looking at it i could have used more of the original console for more of a fascia covering.
​​​​​​​maybe on version 2.0* Sold the top part of the console and paid for most of the samurai console
Everybody knows next to the 3.0 the next worst thing about a 2nd Gen 4runner is the cup holders.
Got my 3D printed cup holder from BH3D today.
http://www.toyota-4runner.org/classi...p-holders.html

[Weiler]

This thing is lookin good!!!
Is it drivable yet???
If not, how much longer we all gotta wait??

[dropzone]

This thing is lookin good!!!
Is it drivable yet???
If not, how much longer we all gotta wait??

Thanks Mike. Been driving it the last 6 months.
Not ready for wheeling yet. I put a set of stock size pizza cutters to get it on the road. Front end needs some work but didn't want to dump money into stuff that will just get pulled later
I have 95% of the stuff to do the SAS. Hoping to start cutting etc in February.
I will be on the 35's from the Trekker. I kept the dual cases from the 81 that will end up in there eventually

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Transmission has been shifting funky lately.
Been a little chilly, haven't decided to suck it up and lay out in the driveway to replace the solenoids yet.

The missus gAve me a tint job for Christmas. Got it done this afternoon. Should add some privacy for sleeping in the back when this thing finally hits the trail

Thought the sunset looked cool on the way home

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After 23 years factory stripes were faded and chips, especially the passenger side.
I had tried heat gun and goof off when I saw a thread some where about a drill powered adhesive remover. Watch some video on YouTube and decided to order one for $10 off amazon

After a couple of hours it looked like this

Driver side before

Passenger side before

Testing it, makes a poop ton of dust


About 2 or 3 hours I was done


Pretty happy with the outcome for $10 and an afternoon

[dropzone]

Swapped bumpers
Stock

Trail Gear Bumper

Need to figure out some different turn signals

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it almost seems counter intuitive to have to place 2wd parts on a 4wd but need to swap oil pans when chopping off IFS
found a 15 year old post on pirate with the correct part numbers, prices hadn't not gone up too bad