So far...

Since I've extracted the '91 from it's cave last weekend (parents' garage since 2013), I've done the following...

-Spray-washed exterior to clean off 8 years of dust and cobwebs
-Changed some fluids (oil & filter, brake, clutch)
-Siphoned out the gas from tank (nasty, smelled like varnish).
-Topped off fluids (steering, coolant, t-case)
-Changed spark plugs
-New Fuel Filter
-New Battery
-New Air Filter (vacuumed out mouse nest from inside air box)
-New Clutch Slave Cylinder
-Made Access Panel in floor to reach Fuel Pump (like the 1st gens had).
-Replaced Radiator Cap
-Probably forgot a couple things.

Will do soon...
-New Fuel Pump needed (Ordered a Denso, on it's way right now).
-New Plug Wires (Mice have chewed on a couple of them).
-Distributor Cap and Rotor
-Remaining fluid change after she's running (coolant, trans, t-case, diffs).

 

Welcome, Kevin. Sounds like you're a man on a mission. Have you cranked it yet?

 

Thanks! Yes, it runs. But only with squirts of carb cleaner into the intake. That led me to the fuel pump non-functioning issue. Troubleshooting led me to the dead pump. Hope things don't snowball from here. Have been there before, but not with a Toyota.

 

The '91 is up and running now. Fuel pump replaced and it fired right up. Forgot how fun that little thing was to drive on the back roads! Seems tight and not too squirrelly.
Now, to do the plug wires, cap and rotor. Also, grease all the zerks, give it a good interior cleaning and replace a couple bulbs.

Rear window keyed-switch doesn't seem to work - just the interior rear window switch. I'll do some research here on this forum.

 

Great looking 4runner, I really like that color. Nice work getting it back up and running.

 

You should probably flush the radiator and change the hoses as well as the belts. When was the last time the timing belt was replaced?

 

Right about the coolant. On the list of to-dos. Timing belt was done about 30k ago. Hoses and belts are fairly new too. .
Any demand for the spare tire cover? I was thinking someone might want it.

 

That's a nice. Wish mine looked that good.

 

ditto like x a bazillion

 

Make sure no mice nest in blower motor....

 

Coolant changed yesterday. Oh my God was it bad! Looked like used oil!

D60, Funny you mention the mice in the blower. When we still had our 2000 4Runner, it had a nest in it's fan and we ended up making a baby mouse smoothie in the fan box. Nasty!

 

Looks a bit like someone topped up the orange with green.

 

New coil, wires, cap and rotor installed a couple days ago. Found out that mid-year, Toyota changed the cap/wires slightly on this vehicle. So, turns out that I had to exchange the first set of wires for the correct ones. My wires do not have the "clips" on the dist. cap ends.
Immediately noticed that the motor starts right up now. Whereas before, it spun for about 2 seconds before firing up. Acceleration is much better too. The truck can actually get out of it's own way now!

Changed the fluid in the front diff, trans, T-case & rear diff. Didn't look too bad, really. However, it looked like ATF was in the T-case, which per my Chilton book is only supposed to be in there with an auto trans. I think the lube shop Dad took it to made that mistake, because it's a manual trans. But, I think it's ok though.

Sucked out the power steering fluid and changed it. It looked like old coffee.

-Next on the list are some rear coil spring spacers (Daystar) to lift her saggy old ars. Should arrive in a day or so.
-Also, need to disconnect that silly auto antenna motor that doesn't retract/extend, but just hums/laughs at you.
-Additionally, I have a pin stripe removing wheel coming. Saw the video on this site where "Penny, the Red '93 4Runner" had her similar side stripes removed. That was really slick. Thanks for posting that Threepointno !

So far, have around $1,800 in parts/fluids into it, with over half of that being for the new Catalytic Converter. Almost as much as I paid for it, so I'm not complaining.

 

-Rear coil spacers installed. Piece of cake. Looks a lot better now. Cleaned up the top and bottom mounting locations while the coils and pads were out and spray painted em for some protection.
-Auto antenna cable connector unplugged. Noticed a good amount of mud/sand collected at the bottom of the fender opening while I had the fender liner pulled away. There's a nice little "bowl" right at the very bottom. Removed about a cup's worth of debris. Went ahead and did same thing to driver's side too.
-Shriveled up mud flaps removed, along with the dinged-up fender chrome bling trim pieces.
-Removed the gold stripe decals with the rubber wheel and drill. Makes a big mess with all the rubber dust, but they came right off and it looks a lot better now.

I think she's about done for now. Needs a good interior cleaning/shampooing, but I think I'll just take it to a shop for that.
Hasn't been too bad getting this thing back on the road, after sitting in a garage for 8 years. It really is in good shape for a 30 year old vehicle. Pretty sweet ride for my oldest son now.

Early March 2021 extraction from garage...



Today...

 

Well done and looking mighty good.

One day a a time

 

Nice job, looks great!

 

I agree. Good job. It looks sweet.

 

Thank you guys. It is a cool little rig. Kinda nostalgic too, since it was my folk's.
Now I'm ready for the next project. I have a 1986 CJ7 patiently waiting for the same treatment. Another "barn find" at my folks' property. Except this one has been sitting since 1997! In the same spot for so long that I had to cut down rather large trees to remove it!

 

Been a while since I posted on this site. Looking for a little help with the old girl.

The '91 4Runner has developed a pretty good power steering box leak. Sounds like this is pretty common and I'm looking for a replacement steering box.

I've been looking at a few offerings, but wanted to check here for reviews/advise on which one to go with...
-Toyota OEM new are about $1,800
-Maval rebuilt are about $600
-Advantage Steering rebuilt about $700
-Redhead, BBB, BAP, etc all around $250 - $400
-Other?


Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance

 

Maybe?

P.S. Box on Ebay

Fantastic restoration effort, she looks great!

 

Redhead's been cranking out junk lately. If BlueTop has an offering that could be worth trying.

 

Thanks for the comments/info.

I saw the assortment of offerings on eBay, but I'm sure some should be avoided and some are ok. Not sure, other than to go with an OEM and see.

I will avoid Redhead.

 

What about this from Napa?

https://www.bing.com/rebates/welcom...3f8c893a6f2e37246ffd57558a4d&network=Wildfire

 

You might chat with these guys, they do a great job on Ram steering gears. However tariffs may make this impractical -- I'm not sure
https://www.cancraft.com/products/heavy-duty-offroad

Not sure I'd give $730 for the NAPA offering, but maybe it's great.

 

I would suggest a remanufactured gear box from your local big box auto parts store. Usually they have a limited lifetime warranty and if anything does go wrong it is easy to deal with a warranty issue locally.

 

Wholesale accounts can get it for 550 or so.

 

A box from local B&M is not a terrible option for the LT warranty, but sometimes you have to go through several to get a decent one.

Autozone, O'Reilly et al will gladly take their old dog poo and hand you fresh dog poo with a smile