5.0T4RHO Resurrection

Have been on tacomaworld for quite a while but I'll be picking this up when I get back form work in a week or so. There is a little story behind it. My first truck was an 87 SR5 extended cab that my dad had swapped a 302 HO (high output) from a 95 mustang into. Two months after getting my license I was hit by a drunk driver and my truck was totaled, we got it back from insurance and sold it to a guy in Elko with a 4Runner. Fast forward 13 years and the opportunity has presented itself to pick that 4Runner up for a pretty reasonable price, its an 85 and the swap looks just as flawless as when my ol man did it. It has been sitting for about 7 years, and needs the tranny put back together, other than that it'll require some minor maintenance but all in all I'm pretty stoked about the project. After its back on the road it'll definitely be working on some bumpers, sliders, suspension, and steering upgrades. Here are some pictures.

 

Sorry for the shitty cell phone pic, my lens had dirt on the inside. Anyways little bit of progress, picked it up last week, got the tranny parts ordered and started prepping it for when the parts arrive. 1-2 shift fork on the Mustang T5 tranny was busted by previous owner so that is all that needs to be replaced in there for now. I need to start looking for a replacement radiator old owner also poked a nice hole in the current radiator. I'd like to find one that's wider across but not quite as deep, if not I'll be doing some modifications to the core support for a larger radiator.

 

Made a little more progress tonight, got the new shift fork installed, cleaned the transmission, adapter and transfer case up in the solvent tank, not perfect but definitely cleaner. Mocked it all back together to make sure I had the transmission top plate assembled correctly. All seems to be working correctly. Now I'm waiting on a throw out bearing rebuild, the new motor mounts and a new radiator since the previous owner put a nice sized hole in the one in it now.
Broken shift fork, $20 fix.


All mocked back up.



For anyone wondering this is what the adapter from the T5 to Toyota transfer case looks like.

 

Cool build! Nice to get back an old project!

 

Thanks, I'm pretty excited to get it back on the road. Previous owner neglected it a little so now it's time to give it the attention it needs/deserves.

 

Made some decent progress today. Assembled my trans/transfer case completely, just need to fill it with gear oil. Found that my throw out bearing is too old and can't be serviced so McLeod is going to retrofit it with their newer style housing/hydraulic lines. Then I started on my half doors they are pretty fun to build, just need some thin sheet metal to finch them off then i'm making aluminum door panels and some upholstered pads for the armrest area of the half doors. Heres a couple progress pics:

 

Welp not sure anyone ever looks at this build but here are some pictures of the small amount of fab work I got done on the doors tonight, need to still make filler pieces for where the old door handle and lock was, and cut in some holes for the cup holder. I'm pretty happy with them so far. Made the old door lock knob the new push down door opener which runs pretty much in the window channel.











Door isn't actually touching the 56 haha.

 

nice

 

Any input on how first gen runner guys mounting their sliders without an body lift since there isn't much room to fit much in there?

 

Did a little more work on the doors yesterday, sanding, evening them with some bondo, cut out my door panels and made some cup holders.

 

I approve!

 

Keep it comin' - awesome build, putting in some blood, sweat, and hopefully not too many tears.

 

What a cool and unique 4runner man. That's pretty cool that you got the chance to buy it back after all those years too!

 

Got this delivery

 

Its so pretty.

 

Well for the first time in 7 years the 4Runner moved under its own power. I'm excited to say that the ticking noise has gone away after letting it run for a while. Not very pleased with fit of the Northwest radiator, at least the mounting brackets, I had to slot them about an 1/8 in more on each side just to get the bolt holes to line up. Other than the fitment issues it does seem to cool the engine very well. Now on to other things like cleaning up some hack job wiring, getting the tach and fuel gauges to work, rebuilding knuckles, building front and rear bumpers, sliders, trussing and cleaning up the wider read end I picked up......and the list goes on!

 

Sweet!

 

Drove it around today took it to work, hit the interstate. It pulls 75 no problem even with a slipping clutch so with that I ordered a Ram HDX clutch kit from Summit, based on the reviews it seems like the best bang for the buck. It'll be great to see how it feels when the clutch has full grip.

 

Sweet build. subd.

 

Got my new clutch installed, runs great now, I love being able to use as much throttle as I want without the clutch slipping haha. I'll get some more pics up soon, I'm working on stripping the roll on bedliner that's on it, what a pain! Might dive into the front axle gussets/knuckle rebuild tomorrow. Also picked up a bunch of scrap plate from my buddies welding shop so I guess that means it's time to start on some armor