History of this 4runner:
My father drove around in a
1985 Toyota 4runner for 13 years until he bought a Chevy blazer in 1999. Naturally the 4runner dropped into my hands and I drove it around for about 2 years and did some mild off-roading in an area we called 5-points. Basically it was a dirt bike area but full size truck could find some tricky areas to play in. After not being able to drive through certain areas I was going to modify the truck but my dad drew the line and said "no". I knew I liked off-roading so I decided to buy it off my dad so I could build it into a daily driving, rock eating machine.I worked for minimum wage at that time so I had little money to spend on a truck so I didn't do modify it, but in that time I was looking at options for it. Of coarse a lift and tires were in demand but even more so was power. I looked around at Toyota sites to find some power in that engine. With all the cams, head work, valves, and headers I was looking at about $2500 to get the power I wanted out of it. And according to some engine builders, all the power would be well above 4,500 rpm. So what's the use. Engine swaps are common on these trucks and I found a few people on the net that have done it to their Toyotas. I e-mailed many and few to get more info on swaps and a few of them e-mailed me back but Daniel e-mailed me back with answers and one question, "Was I Interested?"
According to him, he had a 1985 Toyota 4unner with a 1989 mustang engine that he got running and was driving but the pilot bearing went out and wrecked the crank bearings. He did an overhaul on the bottom end but never got it running after that. It was sitting at his parents' house for a year, not running, before I e-mailed him. It sounded like a good deal. $1500 for at 1985 Toyota 4runner with a non-running 5.0 engine. It almost sounded to good so I talked it over with my dad and mom and we made a 370-mile trip to Santa Cruz to check it out. We drove in the Blazer with a tow bar and lights in the back in case it was a good deal. After the drive 7 hour drive up we talked and my dad said that it looked cleaner then what he thought it was going to be. It had no radio, spare tire, vents, or center console. Daniel cranked it over to show that it sounded mechanically well but the rats made a nest out of the wiring and he thought the computer was fried. After about an hour of Checking all the stuff he did to it and the modification he made to it, I bought my first auto for $1500. After a 10-hour trip back to LA I parked it in the backyard and got ready for school the next day. After school everyday I sat down and went over the wiring schematics to find out what was wrong with it. My friend gave me a wiring harness of at mustang about 4 weeks before I got it because he had one lying around so I swapped that in and cleaned up the engine compartment. After noticing the fuel pump was not running, I traced the pump wire up to the harness and connected it directly to the Key Ignition On wire.
I wanted to make sure the compression was healthy so I pulled out to the tester and began pulling sparkplugs. #5 was healthy but #6 was dead so I pulled the cap and cranked it to find that the distributor wasn't turning. So on the second day of owner ship I had already figured out that the problem was mechanical. I started pulling the radiator and accessories to get to the water pump but I didn't make it that day, but the day after I reached the timing change to find that it had snapped along with the cam crank sprocket. I bought a timing chain set from Auto Zone for $20 and started it up on Friday night.
For the next two years I've been doing major and minor upgrades to fix and correct problems that were built into it. For example the engine was lifted 3 inches from it normal position because the power steering pump and steering box was clashing. Not only was the engine lifted but it was also shifted to the left side of the car by 2 inches. The exhaust collectors were above the frame rail and the pipes snaked around them to the bottom. A 3-inch body lift was used to clear the transmission. I hate body lifts; their made for the people who just want the look. So about 4 months after I bought it I started tearing it apart to make it the way I wanted it. I hacked off the exhaust and fixed the motor mounts so the engine sits right. I bought headers from
Advance Adapters to fit to the block. I required a little bit of cutting and welding to get them to fit just right but after I got them on they worked just right.
The next problem was the clutch. I'm not sure if this is a result of bad fork geometry or a bad set-up but the clutch requires a dreaded amount of force to push in. Daniel used the original clutch setup with a new slave cylinder to make it work but it didn't completely release the clutch. Therefore it wasted to clutch with all the slipping. I pulled the tranny, resurfaced the flywheel and took a look inside the tranny to make sure there were no chucks floating around. After installing the Dual Friction Centerforce clutch was ready to go. I also ordered a 1" master clutch cylinder to give the slave more throw but it increased the pressure dramatically. For the next 8 months a drove around like this until I bought a smaller 3/4" master cylinder.
Its been going on and on like this for almost 2 years now. I'm trying to make the 5.0 runner more comfortable and more fun to drive long distance.