The Hungary Family 4-Runner (circa 1984)

Not much over 5-6k around here really.

Ive got the Hoppe #9 already, just rub a little on your wrists, it soaks right in

Mrs. Hungary had some spray perfume bottles once. Mostly decorative, but she had some sort of "smell good" in them and I always contemplated refilling one with Hoppe's #9 as a joke.

It was the fear of her getting tackled by a rabid group of gun enthusiasts while we were on a date that kept me from pulling the trigger on that one (no pun intended)

Epoxy primer day!

So I got the Bondo (actual Bondo, as I've come to understand this has become a general term for any body filler, much like Kleenex with tissues) sanded to a what I thought was a good finish and I decided today was epoxy primer day!

I made a newb mistake though and I don't know yet what it's going to cost me but I think I have an Idea. With all the dust from the sanding all over the panels I took a "very wet" rag and wiped everything down. Two or three hot days passed (I was just too busy) and then I sprayed the epoxy.

It looks like this:

That first bubble is smaller than a pencil eraser, and the line you see in the primer I think is a crack (smaller than your pinky nail). Those will come off no problem with some sand paper, and more primer.

What is bothering me is the surface of the primer over the bondo. See how it's rougher than the smooth surface around it? Is that normal or did my little water wash come back and bite me in the butt?

Not sure if I should sand it all off and start over, but I have the weekend to decide

Good times!

If you didn't wipe down the whole surface with something like acetone to remove all traces of oils, I would sand back down to the original paint/bondo level and start over. Wipe thoroughly with acetone, let dry, spray primer in several thin coats. My (limited) experience with primer over bondo tells me that the primer layer was pretty thin for there to be that much difference in the surface texture. Either that or the "wet wipedown" caused the bondo to absorb some water and needs longer to dry out before primer is applied. It's lookin' good though! Loving this build

agh! Well, I thought I gave it a good wipedown, but better safe than sorry.

I'll take the afflicted areas back to a workable surface, wipe wipe wipe, and this time NOT use water when I prep for primer

Thanks!

In other news, I couldn't wait any longer

I was itching to go camping and thought long and hard about taking the wife's wagon but in the end we decided the road was just a little too rough, and we didn't want to drive the extra hour or two north to smoother roads.

So! Here's the family's first camping trip in the 'Runner (For the kids, it was their first ever. For Mrs. Hungary it was her first "Washington" camping trip, and probably her third ever camping trip.)

It's the same spot the kids and I went "exploring" last time, and we had a blast. It was so nice to get out and unwind

Everything a Hungary family needs:

Unload and unwind:

Hot dogs over a fire

Smores!

sitting by the fire:

Aaaaand still sitting

day 1 breakfast. I had the burner lit, but he really did make his own eggs

Lonesome Lake (panorama)

He did so good with the eggs, I let him have a go at the bacon

Fun Fun, but we did learn a few things:

1) The littlest Hungarling doesn't like long drives (2-hours or so). Which is kind of a bummer because there's a run coming up with a local group of overlanders that I was hoping to hit. Maybe next year)

2) The oldest doesn't react well to skeeter bites. He woke up today with one eye almost swollen shut I guess it's called "skeeter syndrome" and is fairly common, but darn if it wasnt a shock to see first thing in the morning

(I may have to bring him up to the mountains more often to build an immunity to skeeter bites )

All in all, dang good times.

Awesome Bill!! Glad you took the 4runner. Looks like a nice weekend.

Which run were you thinking of? We generally stop a fair bit...

The Liberty and WABDR to Lake Chelan was the one. We could probably swing it, but the youngest REALLY didn't like the drive this last time around (we think he may be cutting some more teeth). It's probably best if we wait until all those chompers are done popping up before we try a run (this kid can SCREAM)

Ah yeah screaming kiddos are zero fun on long drives. That one may be a bit bouncy/rough too, the trails around liberty are actually pretty tough in spots. And some good pucker factor in others, steep drops off the side of the trail. There will be lots of sporadic stopping all along the trail I would think though. Generally happens on tougher obstacles.

Great truck, love the updates as it comes along. I love the idea of taking these older haulers and using them as intended with a young family. There's something very satisfying about hauling a family with a rig you've restored yourself.

ha! Glad you warned me.

• Screaming kid and pucker factor = bad for me

• Screaming kid and steep drop offs = bad for the Mrs.

Thinking to myself, what I might do is use Lonesome Lake as a training ground for the kiddos. The lake breeds skeeters like no other, so that should work on the oldest's immunity to mosquito bites. I also saw a few offshoots with bumpy/steep climbs to get the youngest used to wheeling (When I tried on our first run, the first two whoops had him all sorts of upset).

I forgot to mention I STILL haven't made it to that view of Mt. Rainier (the one in your picture from the Christmas tree run). The youngest was on his way to sleep on our way out and we were deathly afraid the stop would wake him back up

Good times

Ha yeah my wife has that same aversion to steep drops...

Was there many people out at lonesome?

Bastomatic: Thanks man! I'm hoping for a looooong, eventful relationship with this one. I was stoked that Mrs. Hungary gave her final stamp of approval when we got back, it went something like this: "eh, I guess this truck's comfortable enough to take back up to the mountains..."

Java: There were two campers the first night. One solo jeep guy, and one family in a Taco and a mini-van. The family stayed through the weekend (and were super nice. They had a 50cc Yamaha, fishin poles, and a red-rider bb gun ) but the solo-jeeper left early Saturday morning.

A group of jeeps came up mid-day on Saturday but after a quick scouting of the place they decided not to stay the night after all, and went off looking for views of the mountains.

Late Saturday a guy showed up in a Cherokee and stayed the night up at the end of the road with his two daughters ("just livin the jeep life" he said ) and a little later a group of youngsters (maybe in their 20's) came up and stayed the night in one of the other camp sites.

We left early Sunday morning around 9am. We were trying to get the youngest in the truck before his nap-time and almost made it.

Maaaan I really didn't feel like grinding bondo this morning, so true to my short attention span I decided to start prepping the back for sanding (I'll get back to it, I just need a quick motivation break before I re-work it). I got the lights set up on the sidewalk and started cleaning off the weekend's layer of dirt. Here's the back after the soap/water wash:

Tomorrow wax remover, sand, and acetone!

Good times!

(Today I had to stop and wonder what the commuters must be thinking when they drive passed my garage every morning... )

22r propane conversion kit for sale on Tacoma CL.....

oooooh, I wonder if I could dual fuel it. Gasoline on the daily commute, propane on the steep inclined

Hungary Bill wrote: oooooh, I wonder if I could dual fuel it. Gasoline on the daily commute, propane on the steep inclined

If its fuel injected I wouldnt bother, even with the Aisin carb it shouldnt be an issue.

It's got the stock Aisin on it now, but I'm kind of hoping for a junkyard fuel injection swap in the future (I hear it's not so easy). I only had my truck give me issues once with the carb on steep inclines but thinking back I can't help but wonder what sort of oiling issues I'd be running into if I went much steeper than I was...

I checked the price on those propane kits. Woof!

He didnt have a price listed in the add, but yeah... At least he fuel is slightly cheaper.

I didnt think the EFI swap was bad, I think its best to really have the whole donor truck though. You need the engine harness. I pulled the whole thing out of my old truck and it was simple to get out. I sold the blown engine, wiht the harness intake etc and ecu for $400 IIRC.

That's reassuring to hear. Based on internet lore, and the one guy I asked, I had a better chance of getting the world to turn backwards than I did of "easily" performing a junkyard EFI swap... I was having trouble understanding why really, could be I just ran into advice from people who were afraid of wires?

Done with the back (pending a wet sand before it goes to the shop)

I really didn't plan on spraying the whole tailgate in primer, but I wanted three coats on the bare spots and after I had those there wasn't much left to go over. So I did.

Which reminds me: This can of primer has a marble in it, the last one I used (on the passenger side) didn't. I thought maybe I just didn't shake it enough so I went back all gorilla-style on it and sure enough... no marble. I don't want to get my hopes up but maybe the reaction I saw over the bondo on the passenger side was more of a primer-mix issue vs bondo?

Good times

Next up!

The driver's side:

Soap and water wash complied with. Rinsed and drying as we speak.

Next up: Wax removal and sand smooth, with one rust spot.

In reply to Hungary Bill:

I think if you can get the whole enigma harness, intake injectors etc it's not bad.

No marble?! Get a free can for that! There definately should be one....

Awesome, whole harness was my original plan. I see a few options on craigslist, but I'm thinking I might make a run to a junkyard in Auburn that usually has a handfull of 22r/re Toyotas laying around and do some investigative digging :)

Otherwise here's the latest:

That's really just me sanding out the scratches I made with the sticker removal, and taking care of the areas where the paint was flaking. My process now is:

• water/soap wash/rinse

• acetone wipe

• 120/220/400 grit on the DA sander (where possible) hand sand the nooks and crannies

• spray with air then wipe with acetone

• prime

Today I made it as far as the 400grit sand and spray with compressed air. I'm hoping for an acetone wipe and prime tomorrow. After that there's one rust area I'll hit and then it's back to the passenger side

One thing that keeps popping into my head. I was quoted a charge for 4-hours of "prep" in the estimate from Maaco... I've been at this waaaaaaay longer than 4-hours

Good times

On a different note, my air compressor might need attention/addressing.

The 6" eastwood DA sander I'm using has a consumption rating of 2.8cfm at 90psi. I'm running it somewhere in the neighborhood of 50psi (still runs plenty fast). The compressor seems to be losing power on the larger areas and takes a while to catch back up. I think it's odd because the compressor should be rated for 4cfm at 90psi... (I may be off on that, apparently this model has been discontinued so I grabbed that rating off a similar model)

I may need to pay closer attention to the pressures and whatnot to get exact numbers and a better idea of what's going on.