The Hungary Family 4-Runner (circa 1984)

Probably not going to be a lot going on with this one, but I thought it'd be nice to have a place to share adventures, and document the mechanicals with the new family hauler. So here goes:

I promised myself I'd get out into the woods this year. I originally planned on taking the truck (well, I probably still will), but with the youngest Hungarling getting bigger it was only going to be a matter of time before he realized he was getting left behind.

Enter: My new 1984 Toyota 4-runner

It's a 22r (so it can share parts with my truck), 5spd, solid front axle, and it has plenty of room room for Mrs. Hungary and both kiddos

She's got about 180k on the clock, and comes with documentation from a new engine at 150k and a new head gasket last March. Otherwise she's original down to the tape deck with the small exception of a mechanical water gauge and a rear add a leaf.

She came with a tow rope and a bikini top but I have yet to try either. On the down side the paint is starting to flake on the tailgate and the roof. There is a bit of a tick coming from the engine that sounds like it might be a timing chain tensioner (no biggie, fairly common with the plastic tensioners) but I'll take a closer look at that in a few.

I wanted an '84 or an '85 4-Runner for a few reasons (but none of them will probably ever manifest themselves):

• solid front axle. With my pickup's IFS there are lift kits available but they're spendy and they tend to just move the suspension components "down" (so no added suspension travel). There are "Long Travel" independent suspension kits available but they're to the tune of $4000 for the front, and then you're left to do whatever with the back. In the rear of this 4-Runner it's possible to install Chevrolet 3/4 ton pickup leaf springs with a little fabrication. They give you a bit of lift (as I understand), a better ride, and lots more suspension travel (from there you can play with shackles to fit the tires you want). With those in place it's common practice to move the rear leaf packs up front to get the same results with the front suspension.

• Old 22R (versus new 22R in my pickup). With the old (pre 85?) 22R's it's possible to get some more grunt out of the engine by installing 20R heads. Not that I have such a plan on the books right now, but I like knowing I can

Those were the two biggest things I always felt I missed out when it came to pickup mods. Funny thing is that now that I can, I have no desire (right now) to do either to the 4-Runner.

What I do have planned is just some basic mountain traveling, camping, and maybe a few bolt ons along the way. I'd like to keep the rig cheap, safe, and reliable, buuuuut I'm thinking that after I get a bumper and a winch then a junk-yard 22RE injection swap might be on the docket. We'll see how that goes.

Anyhoo, here we go!

Thats pretty clean Bill. You can always respray it, practice on this before the Alpha! Ebrake cable isnt broken off yet?!

I'm digging the internal level gauges.

I love the level gauges, wish my 4runner had those! I went camping in mine a few weekends ago and slept in the back (solo). I rigged up some screening to go over all of the windows so I was able to leave them down all night long and it was very comfortable!

Johndej: that was a big selling point for me (the tach option was another one) It's the little things like that, that I just LOVE.

Java: Man, you ready my mind. I'm going to farm out the "spray" part (as to minimize time away from the Alfa) but I'm going to do some "prep practice" on this beast while I can. I'm not so worried about the finish on this one as it's going to be driven in the dirt, but I would like it to look nice when I haul the kids to pre-school etc.

To get it ready for prep I started by removing the wipers and most of the trim down the driver's side (small garage, so one side at a time). I'm working the same schedule where I normally work the Alfa (so wake up an hour early for work, and sneak 45 minutes in the garage before I leave)

On the leading edge of the rear wheel arches is a plastic trim piece (I guess you could call it a rock chip guard?). Under that I found some rust. Not too bad really.

After that came some sticker removal. This actually bums me out. I really like the stickers Toyota put on these trucks for some reason, and they never look quite as good to me when they're gone

I used a heat gun and a plastic scraper to get the gooey stuff off (metal putty knife in picture not used, but I was tempted when the plastic scraper started melting)

After two stickers, I started getting the hang of it:

and so on it goes for the driver's door .

There's some door ding trim that still needs to be removed. It looks like it's squeeze riveted in though.

So tomorrow I have a tub of adhesive remover to finish the sticker job, and while that works I'll go at the trim with a drill, and then it's on to the passenger side!

Good times

I managed to blow a headgasket and break an axle but my first vehicle (dad owned) was an 86 toyota with a 22R and 4 speed. It had 360k on it when we sold it. I love that little motor

Bill, you can get reproductions of the factory stickers now :)

ECM: I'm still new to such things, but Java might be the guy to ask. He's got a pretty nice 4th gen that he uses as an overlander (I'm actually hoping to model my build after his.)

Java's 4-runner: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/javas-03-4runner/110148/page1/

In reply to Hungary Bill:

Thanks! It looks like he went with the ROLA, which is another option I am considering. I kinda like the Rhino platform though... tough decisions! Looking forward to reading through Java's thread, thanks for the linky

EastCoastMojo wrote: In reply to Hungary Bill: Thanks! It looks like he went with the ROLA, which is another option I am considering. I kinda like the Rhino platform though... tough decisions! Looking forward to reading through Java's thread, thanks for the linky

My rola is going to go away soon. A couple things to note on it. It will rust on the inside, BADLY.I ended up welding mine together and covering the seams with polyurethane caulk. The powder coat failed in spots. but its cheap and pretty damn strong, my 100lb tent gets bolted to it every summer and it hasn't had issues.

Ill be welding up a custom one here soon-ish.

Other options are bajarack http://www.bajarack.com/?id=racks_list&model=16

Frontrunner http://www.frontrunneroutfitters.com/roof-racks/slimline-ii-roof-rack-kits.html

Gobi http://www.gobiracks.com/racks.cfm?ID=13

Im sure there are others Im not thinking of off the top of my head too

Java: I found this place: http://www.jamesdeancreations.com/1984-86.htm but at $350 they're priced just high enough to be inconvenient. The trail gear bumper I'm looking at is almost the same price! (I'd still buy them in a heartbeat though )

Dropstep: They really are great little engines aren't they? My '87 pickup (5spd) has 310k and pulls "daily driver" duty for me (and that thing suffered some abuse through my 20's, I tell you what )

good times.

I found this too, http://atdoftucson.com/ATD%20Toyota%20Stripe%20Catalog%201981-98.pdf not sure if they exist anymore, or are cheaper.....

my 22re truck was stolen with a huge oil leak, like a 1/3 qt every 100 miles. They put 4k miles on it with no oil before it spun a main.... I got it back because they ditched it when the motor blew.

Wow, that thing is really nice. And I've always liked those stripes too.

Those trucks evaporated from this part of the country a long time ago.

I haven't seen a solid axle early 4Runner in 15 years around here! Looks like you scored a good one.

What color will it become?

You can also add my name to the list of people who like those stripes.

The color is going to stay the same. I kind of like the metallic grey that she came with I AM getting kind of worried about the quality of paint that's on it right now though...

Allow me to explain:

Still in "prep-mode" I started today by going after the windshield trim:

It's no wonder they call these things "rust collectors" look at all those pine needles under there!

The bottom trim piece required the removal of the cowl panel, where I found....

More pine needles!

The trim actually came off pretty easy. I didn't bend anything and I only broke one clip (the first one I tried to remove )

After that, it was back at those stickers. I have some 3M adhesive remover that I got for free. I figure I'll slather the stuff on, and wipe away the grime, here goes!

I guess we can call that "round 1"?

I'm letting the stuff sit for about 5-10 minutes while I do other things (it's not an exact science) and then wipe it off with a soap/water spray (from the spray bottle I usually use for checking leaky tires).

At about 4:30am I heard a knock at my garage door. Who else could it be, but the Hungarling comming to help out

That's round 2. Looks good to me. You can still see the edges of where the stickers were, but I bet that'll come off with a good scrub. The two spots remaining need to be gone after with a heat gun again (and then adhesive remover, etc. Those were the first two I attempted yesterday)

The part that bothers me happened at the back. There was a bit of sticker still on there and I went after it with my fingernail. I ended up taking off a bit more than I wanted:

oops!

I'm thinking I may take that whole quarter panel down a bit further than I was planning on to make sure I get a good surface to lay paint...

My plan right now is to let the truck sit overnight the way it is (3m stuff removed, cleaned with soap and water). Tomorrow I'll try to scratch it again and see if the paint was just soft from the 3m stuff or if the paint quality really IS that bad (thinking back, I did some fingernail scratching on the door, and didn't notice any similar effects).

I may also slather a dab or two on my spare Alfa hood for a sample set as well.

Good times

Hungarlings at 4:30am? ouch.

Im betting the 3m stuff softened the paint a fair bit. And dont get me started on pine needles, you should so how many are packed into my truck.... I dont even really bother with cleaning them out anymore....

There is one spot in the wheel well that packs full of mud/dirt, stupid design, I clean that out occasionally.

Yeah, the 3m stuff was definitely to blame. Those two spots that I thought needed a heat gun were actually pretty boogered after the 3m treatment. It's a good thing this beast is going in for paint (if you have stickers you want removed, I might suggest using a different adhesive remover)

The paint was hard again when I got to the garage this morning, but there was a bit of alligator skin and pealing paint I had to scrape off. I went at the area with soapy water afterward and then did a good scrubbing with alcohol to try to remove any remnants of the adhesive remover.

Anyhoo, learning my lesson from yesterday I decided not to wake up early today. (so not much to report really).

I removed the windshield sprayers (a 10mm socket on the underside to compress things helps a lot), and removed the door card to verify that the door ding trim was in fact squeeze riveted (it was). I drilled out two of the three pieces of trim on the drivers side (and broke a scribe on the middle one which happened to be double riveted on the front...)

Good times

Got to love the old school Toyotas!

I have recently purchased a good amount of NOS OEM Toyota parts from reasonable prices and I was pleased that they were still available.

Where are the adventure pics?!

I'm on it, I'm on it

I took the 'Runner out for her initial shakedown / confidence build today. Mrs Hungary needed some quiet time around the house to catch back up on her studies and I had heard about some great Mount Rainier views from a forest service road about an hour away. I thought I'd take advantage of the opportunity to do some side scouting for some primitive camping options.

Great success on all accounts. The engine never got hotter than 225, no bad rattles or groans (aside from the a fore mentioned timing chain tick which I still need to get to) and when AC/DC's "She Shook Me All Night Long" came over the radio, I started having childhood flashbacks. There I was... riding in the middle of my parent's Turbo Yota on our way up to the mountains every memorial day weekend for some camping.

Anyhoo, here's some photos from today's adventures. First stop was a diaper change with a short walk, second was a snack with a view, and the third we discovered "Lonesome Lake" with some GREAT camping spots

Man, I love being back in the mountains. Good good times

You win Dad award for the day!!!

terrible pic but the only one I have handy, if you go straight where you turned left to go to lonesome lake there is a great overlook for mt Rainier another mile or so up.

Come get a cheap xmas tree this year, this is just at lonesome lake turn off.

Not sure why I feel compelled to share this, but I only just now noticed that your runner only has two doors. I'm so used to the later iterations of the 4-runner that I was expecting a second set.

Looks like an awesome escape!

Mezzanine wrote: Not sure why I feel compelled to share this, but I only just now noticed that your runner only has two doors. I'm so used to the later iterations of the 4-runner that I was expecting a second set. Looks like an awesome escape!

Yep, the 2 doors were phased out in the 90s for the US. Bummer since they look so good.

crankwalk wrote:

Mezzanine wrote: Not sure why I feel compelled to share this, but I only just now noticed that your runner only has two doors. I'm so used to the later iterations of the 4-runner that I was expecting a second set. Looks like an awesome escape!

Yep, the 2 doors were phased out in the 90s for the US. Bummer since they look so good.

My buddy had one of these for years, we literally beat on it until it was dead. Good memories, but the last of the 2 doors (and these are very rare even)