not exactly a buggy....but I figured you guys would appreciate this anyway.
I bought this 1987 Toyota 4runner SR5 Turbo about 2.5 years ago. it's got quite a history! Short version is, about 10 years ago, it was stolen, driven through the wall of a store, and abandoned. It was totalled, and auctioned off. a member of our local offroad club bought it, and salvaged it (new fenders, hood, grill, headlights, smittybilt tube bumpers/step bars, small lift, chevy wheels, 31" tires, and radiator), he then sold it to his sister-in-law. about 1.5 years before i bought it, he put a brand-new Toyota OEM cylinder head and turbo on it, as well as a few other new parts. about a year later, she (more specifically, her boyfriend at the time who offered to change her oil) ran it out of oil. it developed a rod-knock and turbo shaft-play. He then bought it back from her. about 6 months later, he decided he didn't want another project, so he sold it as it was...to me.
I tinkered with it, putting new main/rod bearings in it, but the knock was probably from a wrist-pin, and then I found that the turbo needed rebuilding as well.
but I did some painting!
so, I bought a parts truck
205k miles, but the motor ran strong! and talked the kid to $250!
didn't get around to working on it all last summer. but I did paint the ugly wheels
finally had the hulk hauled away:
about a month ago....the old motor came out:
and "new" motor in:
some test-driving. funny part is the "turbo" gauge is calibrated to start reading as you start getting out of vacuum.
Took it up to the open house at the offroad park just north of here.....spent about 8 hours out on the trails. had a blast!!!
The park is an abandoned iron-ore pit mine. it's mostly rocks. but there are a few bright-red puddles to splash around in.....it'll never be the same color again
I hope to get some 33" Kumho M/Ts sometime in the next month for the Crawl 4 the Cure. and then a rear locker later this summer.
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