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Thread: Corax's '88 Runner

  1. #11

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    a little bit of exhaust work this weekend in preparation for the smog ref - It's 2.5" all the way back with the pipes slid together and 3" wide band clamps sealing everything (antiseize on the pipes where they slide in so I can take them back apart and band clamps because I like them better than u-bolt clamps)

    old exhaust and tiny MagnaFlow cat - it has so many flanges because originaly the cat was further back, but everything got moved around after the first smog visit to get the cat closer to the engine


    old tailpipe


    new cat - looks much bigger, so hopefully the increased capacity and surface area will scrub the last remaining bit of bad exhaust gas


    new pipe from the cat back to my FlowMaster Delta 50


    new tailpipe - I made the tailpipe before throwing the 32" spare underneath and before the new cat and pipe was installed, now I have to move the tailpipe a bit further away from the spare . . . who knows, I might have to redo the tailpipe when I put my aux tank on.
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  2. #12

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    a little bit of cylinder head work this weekend to correct a coolant leak between cyl 1 & 2 on the exhaust side, there wasn't any fluid mixing and I didn't find any signs of cylinder leakage on the gasket when I got it apart


    but before the actual work there is much prep. I sourced a Pick-A-Part 7MGE cyl head to prep so the whole job would be just swapping parts

    after a thorough cleaning this is what I was left with on the intake side

    originally I just wanted to smooth out the air flow a bit (take out some of the sharp edges by the valve seats, ect)but it turned into this with the help of my trusty Dremel

    exhaust before

    and after - the exhaust side was a PAIN because it's so much tighter

    combustion chamber
    valves all cleaned up and organized so they go back into the same holes

    most of the power you can get out of an engine will come from the cylinder head, and being who I am, I pay attention to the details. after getting a cylinder head surfaced it will have these ridges or burrs along any opening . . .

    which need to be cleaned, or it could lead to preignition from glowing hot metal fragments. I used 200 grit sandpaper. to give a nice round edge. the combustion chamber has "squish" all around the circumference, so I wasn't worried about undercutting the headgasket. I also cleaned all the head bolt holes and coolant passages

    all back together and ready to go, the exhaust valve seats were touched up at the machine shop to remove some minor pitting but the valves were all perfect so I left them alone


    this is kinda neat. the 7MGE cams and sprockets each have 3 holes and a removable dowell pin. when you get the head machined the distance from the crank sprocket to the cam sprocket is reduced, so if there is no cam adjustment the intake and exhaust timing actually become retarded. these holes are spaced slightly different from cam to sprocket and allow you to advance or retard the cam timing as needed. I didn't mess with it at this point because I lost my degree wheel . . .


    I also found my vacuum leak, which I am pretty sure led to high NOx readings and my failed smog (likely did that one myself when I installed the EGR last year)

    any repair is an excuse to upgrade, right? the 7MGe weakness is low head bolt torque (58 ft/lbs) with the ARP studs it is recommended to torque to 80ft/lbs using ARP lube or 120 ft/lbs using 10w-30 oil

    the biggest pain of the whole job was valve adjustment. I had shims from 3 different engines to choose from and was able to get everything in spec except 1 exhaust valve (.001" too tight, all other exhaust valves are on the tight side). I'll need to go back through valve adjust again once everything settles in

    I did have a problem starting it once everything was together, and I spent 1-2 hours going through distributor set-up, ignition, and everything else . . . until I saw the vise grips on my rubber fuel line that I had put there to prevent gas from siphoning out of the tank while I worked. After that though it started right up. a wide open throttle test drive up the I-5 Grapevine will have to wait till this weekend
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  3. #13

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    Everyone's seen those cheap utility lights mounted to the side of a semi or on a tractor, doing a bit of research I found out how to make one of these into a decently bright driving light just by swapping in a new sealed beam. This will provide a cheap, light weight and vibration resistant light to help me avoid all the deer just waiting to jump in front of me when I'm bombing down country roads at night.

    The heart of this is this sealed beam, NAPA p/n LMP 4509 (~$15). It's listed as an aircraft spotlight beam, and is rated for 100W at 13V producing 110,000 candlepower - if you can get a full 14V down to them expect a bit more


    The rear of the 4509 bulb has screws to secure the wiring


    Here's the utility light I'll be using for this (Harbor Freight <$10)


    Start by getting the old light out of the rubber housing. Be careful not to chip the light when you pry it out by sliding a screwdriver as far behind it as possible. After you pop one out, you begin to realize that these lights will NOT fall out on their own going down the road.


    Here's the light taken apart (note that this one isn't a sealed beam, but uses a regular H3 bulb).


    Snip off the black ground wire going to the rivet on the inside, it doesn't provide a good ground and will eventually will fail causing the light to go out.


    Here's the new bulb wired and ready to be popped back into the housing. I used 14 gauge wire to connect to my pre-existing light harness which uses 12 gauge from a 40 amp relay. The black ground wire goes to the mounting bolt into the 'runner's frame


    It even says "AIRCRAFT" on the back of the bulb


    Mounted up with a simple 90 degree bracket to the bolt hole on top of the frame just inside of the body mounts


    All finished



    from these you can see that the headlights don't even compare to the spotlights . . . in fact, I could hardly tell when the headlights were on except the headlights have a wider beam and filled in the sides a bit

    low beam headlights
    [img width=800 height=600]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/cheap%20driving%20lights/100_26801.jpg[/img]

    spot lights only (ignore the poor aiming on the right side, I need to modify my mount a bit to get it up a bit)
    [img width=800 height=600]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/cheap%20driving%20lights/100_26811.jpg[/img]

    low beams + spots
    [img width=800 height=600]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/cheap%20driving%20lights/100_26821.jpg[/img]

    high beams + spots
    [img width=800 height=600]http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk171/batardsalamano/cheap%20driving%20lights/100_26831.jpg[/img]
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  4. #14

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    I made a junkyard run the other day, and for lack of anything better decided to snag a new pair of bucket seats. The 'runner already has buckets, but, being the American I am, I wanted something a bit sportier with more bling and adjustments.

    Here are the old seats


    and the new seats, neither has any tears and are pretty mint for being nearly 20 years old. The passenger seat has the pretty standard recline & slide and also headrest height/tilt, but the driver side also has electric lateral and lumbar adjust along with seat bottom angle adjustments. The car I got them out of rhymes with 1st gen Cellica AllTrac Turbo (I felt so bad for that car . . . it was in good shape and I hated to tear it apart, but it looked like someone already took a ball-peen to the turbo)


    In order for the seat to slide forward far enough for anyone to get in the back I had to match the rear seat mounts. The Cellica sliders are longer than the 4runner's, which meant I had to pull off the front mounts (make them semi-custom mounts) and also remove 2 bracket that were hitting the floor pan (just the bracket that held the spring which pulls the seat forward). I also removed the seat mounted belt buckle, preferring to use the factory belt buckle mounts on the body of the truck.


    The seat itself sits just a hair lower, but that's OK to me. I took the seat back off and unbolted the seat bottom to make lining everything up much easier - it won't slide right unless the rails are parallel. If I decide later to raise it, the front mounts will get custom mounts (2 diagonal verticles and mount tabs bolted on) and the rear mounts will just need a spacer


    Here's how I did the front mounts - I basically removed the mount, flipped it 180 degrees and drilled a new hole in the verticle section (the hole was originally in the 45* angle part). When I drilled out the rivet and spot weld that held them on I was left with (2) 6mm holes on each side, so I just used these holes with 2 grade 8 bolts


    I reused the outside rear seat mount, but the inside rear mount didn't line up at all. I didn't really feel like welding a bracket on to use the original hole (not mention I would then have to worry about making the seat side-to-side level)so I drilled the floor and used a nice wide washer on the outside of the floorboard to prevent the nut from ever pulling through the sheet metal.


    Both done. I didn't really have to worry so much about the driver side being able to slide all the way forward so install was a bit quicker. These do provide alot better lateral support and are very comfy, but I'm gonna hold off on my final impressions till I get some seat time on the driver side.

    *edit* much better for distance driving and better support for the fast stuff

    Here's the power lumbar and side wing adjust switch in its new home
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  5. #15

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    time to make a stronger CB antenna mount. the old one worked fine, but after the fiberglass whip got bent over and shoved into the rear window to give enough clearance to drive into a parking garage (not me) it was too broken to fix. I did try removing the old mount and filling the backside with JB Weld, but the cracks would still open up whenever the antenna moved (with winter coming, I could just imagine water getting in there and breaking it up more)

    this is what I came up with. it's 2" x 1/8" flatstock with a small piece of 90* angle for the actual mount. I snagged the antenna mounting stud and plastic insulator from an extra "trucker" style mirror mount that I had laying around. from the point where it mounts to the truck it has a zig in it for extra tailgate clearance, and all the corners have been rounded to prevent any scratches or snags from happening. I bent the 90* angle to a bit tighter of an angle to better follow the rear sheet metal and give an evenly spaced look


    finished and mounted with (4) 6mm bolts & washers on the backside to distribute and minimize any bending force the factory sheet metal might get - you can also see where I ran the antenna feedline, a small notch in the sheet metal behind the taillight and some plastic trimming with my dremmel on the taillight housing did the job perfect


    I filled the holes from the old mount with JB Weld and used some touch-up paint to make it look semi-pretty again

    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  6. #16

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    update on some minor projects I've been working on lately

    Rear window switch to be able to lower or raise the window when I'm in the back. It's wired into the tailgate key switch wires, so the key doesn't have to be on


    Added a slight tint to the tail lights, but not on the reverse light part and not enough to make the local cops worry about it. VHT is self leveling, but I switched the spray nozel so it would come out in a spray and not a stream. I lightly sanded the lenses with 1000 grit, wiped them down with rubbing alcohol, taped off the clear lens and back side, hit it with the VHT, wiped it off and spread it even with a paper towel and clear coated it after it was dry.




    My home made idler gusset, you can probably guess where I got the design idea from, but like usual I had to change it a bit. I also tapped the idler body (6mm x 1.0) and added a grease zerk on the front of it (the gusset doesn't travel far enough to hit the zerk)

    note the wrap-around part does not hit the steering stop and limit the turning radius

    (just have to add a 1/4" u-bolt to snug it all down, though there is no side-to-side slop anyway)



    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  7. #17

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    time to upgrade the Master Cylinder in preparation for my T100 caliper swap - the bigger pistons on the T100 calipers need a slightly bigger MC bore. The '90s T100 1 tons have a 1-1/16" MC bore vs the popular 1" bore found in many mid 90's 4runners and LandCruisers - bigger isn't necessarily better when it comes to the MC bore. A bigger bore moves more fluid, but produces less hydraulic pressure with the same amount of force on the pedal. In this case, I wanted to match what was available on the T100.

    here's my $50 ebay master cylinder, brand new - note the 1-1/16" cast on the side

    out with the old 7/8" bore MC

    in with the new (and the aluminum looks much prettier than rust )


    it was a simple bolt on swap, no drama. The front brake line needed to be bent a bit to match up with the T100 MC port. I didn't bother to bench bleed it, prefering to do it on the vehicle with a rag under the lines. Initial driving impressions are good with pressure building and the pedal firm very near the top of it's travel, though when I get the T100 calipers on it should soften up a bit. I would not recommend this size MC with the stock 1st gen calipers as it could get tiring to drive with the extra firm pedal. On a 2nd gen with the "S12W" calipers though, it might be a nice upgrade that would give a better pedal feel.

    I cannot personally vouch for this cross reference:

    Brake Master Cylinder for the following 1 TON Models:
    1994 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC
    1994 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-2958 3.0L SOHC
    1995 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1995 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1996 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1996 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1997 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1997 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1998 Toyota T100 Pickup : 4-2694 2.7L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    1998 Toyota T100 Pickup : V6-3378 3.4L DOHC - Notes: w/o ABS
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  8. #18

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    before

    rear suspension height (rim to wheel well)

    the old and the Old Man Emu - the original spring pack was 3 mains + 1 overload - the OME pack is 4 mains + 2 overloads (main leaves are about the same thickness as the originals)

    Energy Suspension bumpstops, Marlin U-Bolt flip (note the excess trimmed off the top of the u-bolts)- this pic was with the weight of the axle pulling on the springs, I need to get a longer rear brake hose yet (just a slight pull on the hose like this, but add the weight of tires though and it&#39;ll probably get pulled on too much) I&#39;m also not sure how I like the bumpstop placement, I think it might get destroyed by the u-bolt nuts. I may end up welding a shallow platform on top of the u-bolt plate for the bumpstop to bolt to and let it contact the factory strike plate. I&#39;m also not ecstatic about how the e-brake cable is being pulled on (maybe a transfer case e-brkae in the future?)

    shock mount welded on, while doing the install I measured and mounted everything for 11.5" stroke Bilstein 5150&#39;s.

    after

    new height - I guess my old springs were really sagging, the OME springs should have only given me 2" (+ my shackles from the old springs give another 1.25") - I got about 5.5" total


    Well, this is more height than I wanted, it looks downright goofy like this. I don&#39;t have the shocks on the back yet either, the dumpy Rancho&#39;s will bolt up to the mounts, but I&#39;ll have 0 down travel. Once I get the Bilsteins on, the back end will come up a bit more too (gas pressure). So I&#39;m thinking I need to put some stock length shackles back in to drop the height a bit and hope the springs settle.

    made a new set of shackles - 4" eye to eye out this "muscle car" shackle kit ($15)

    took the bottom overload leaf out - it didn&#39;t look like it would do anything anyway, just acted like a spacer or 3/8" lift block - I left the top overload leaf in to help control axle wrap. You can&#39;t really tell it, but I also added an extra gusset to the lower shock mount to get more surface area on the axle tube (probably wraps just under 1/2 way around now)

    moved the Energy Suspension bumpstop down to the bottom by welding a perch onto the u-bolt plate (left over 1/4" flat from shortening the shackles)

    and lost about 2" . . . which means I gained 3.5" from the OME&#39;s

    This I can live with, a little bit of rake and it doesn&#39;t look nearly as goofy anymore

    11" travel 5150 Bilsteins with the "soft" valving

    installed and done
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  9. #19

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    Got my T-100 calipers on today. I already changed out the master cylinder, so I don't know how the brake pedal would feel with the bigger calipers and stock master cylinder. Here's the rundown:

    Here are the original calipers, note the S12+8 casting mark in the second pic. Toyota uses standard calipers on several different models, the cast mark identifies which ones are identical (no difference in the cast mark to indicate left or right side though)



    Here's what happens if you try to use the T-100 (S13WB cast mark) calipers with the stock rotors.

    BTW, when I was getting parts I told the parts guy it was a '95 T-100 4wd.

    So I got a pair of T-100 rotors to go with the new calipers and pads - the only thing that needs to change for the rotors is to push the bottom of the backing plate away from the rotors about 1/8" to keep it from rubbing - otherwise everything just bolts on


    Here are the '88 4runner rotor specs:
    # of Bolt Holes:6
    Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
    Diameter:11.375"
    Height:2.535"
    Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
    Thickness When New:.79"
    Discard Thickness:.709"
    Vented / Solid:Vented
    Center Hole Diameter:3.942"


    here are the T-100 rotor specs:
    # of Bolt Holes:6
    Bolt Circle Diameter:5"
    Diameter:11.41"
    Height:2.59"
    Maximum Lateral Runout:.004"
    Thickness When New:.985"
    Discard Thickness:.905"
    Vented / Solid:Vented
    Center Hole Diameter:3.942"

    So the only real difference is thickness and overall diameter - if you saw the "height" is also different, that's only because the rotor is thicker and the height needed to change to keep the rotor centered in the caliper.

    The calipers are a simple bolt on affair, the only thing necessary is little bit of trimming to the backing plate


    Finished product (kinda finished, I didn't have the rotors on yet in these pics)



    for some other caliper options look here
    Here's the thread where I did the master cylinder upgrade

    *edit*
    Got it rolling this afternoon and burnished the pads/rotors nicely on some back roads . . . it's an improvement, but I think I need to go after the rear brakes now. The pedal feel with the bigger calipers is better, before with the stock S12+8 calipers and the 1 1/16" MC the pedal was rock solid. It's just not stopping the way I want it to and I have my doubts about the rear LSPV (I did move the rod up when I did my lift). I may have to spend $30 on a manual proportioning valve and ditch the LSPV in the near future - here's why: I got back from my hell ride breaking in the new pads, the fronts were definately toasty with some very slight discoloration on the fringes of the rotor (i.e. not in the swept area of the rotor) and the rear drums were only luke-warm, my coffee from this morning was still hotter than the rear drums. I know the rear drums don't get smokin' hot, but they should have been a bit warmer than that.
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

  10. #20

    Re: Corax's '88 Runner

    Wilwood manual brake proportioning valve - the shiny fittings are SAE standard for 3/16" brake line, the only metric (Toyota) fittings are the rusted ones that I re-used on the master cylinder, the Toyota fittings worked perfectly with the 3/16" line and mixing them on the line made it easy to adapt
    (note: all brake lines where bent with a tool, brake line doesn't bend very nicely by hand - it has a tendency to kink)




    Took the LSPV off. The line that needs to get bent down to the flexible brake line is the one at the top of the LSPV - there is an -> next to the brake line on the LSPV. The line with an "F" next to it ties into the front brake line and can just be bent back or cut off . . . .


    . . . . once you plug the front "T" I just took a fiting and put a big puddle of weld in the middle of it to make my own plug.


    Speedway Motors has manual valves for $33 here. Summit Racing or Jegs also carries them and you can probably find them in any respectable hotrod or racing equipment store. Just look for the knob style like I have in the link - they're all the same and brand name doesn't matter much with a simple part like this.

    You might be able to get a plug, but I don't know where. I think the plug threads are 10mm - 1.0. Or you can forget about messing with the "T" and try to find a 90 degree brake line adapter from the same location on another toyota truck, like the one on the left in the pic below


    Another option to get rid of the front "T" if you can flare a brake line:
    - cut the original Toyota ends off at the "T"
    - slide new 3/16" SAE sized nuts over the bare ends
    - flare the line and use a male-male adapter like I had to do in on vertical part next to the brake booster to adapt the proportioning valve to the stock lines (but do this at the "T" in the pass. wheel well)
    Keith '88 4runner SR5 Garage Thread

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