So one week ago, this rolled into my driveway:
Of course, now I realize that its not actually in the driveway, as in the front yard, but close enough.
This'll be a long one. If you want to jump to the part where I ask questions, see the second post.
Anyways, the story started over the summer when searching for the right tires to get for my 1987 22RTE (T for TURBO) pickup in preparation for winter. The worn Bridgestones on it were barely adequate for snow last year, and I didn't want to get in trouble this year. While perusing CL, I found someone locally selling an 1985 4Runner in rough but workable shape, and fell in automotive lust. After realizing that in the last few years I barely used a truck for truck stuff, that the removable top would still allow that utility as needed. Also importantly, it's just cool. Unfortunately, that 4Runner was sold in mere days; I'd have to be quicker next time.
Fast forward to about a month ago, and I've missed another local 4Runner. The search has expanded to include most of the Northeast. One in southern Maine (4 hours away) that had a broken propshaft, to the Canadian border of Vermont (also 4 hours) that was lifted to the Moon, to one in Virginia Beach (10 hours away!) that was solid contender but had badly rotten rear fenders. It's looking like either I'm going to have to settle for something that's not exactly what I wanted or to give up, put tires on the truck and run it for the winter, possibly to renew the search in the spring.
The week after Thanksgiving, I've found one outside Baltimore (about 6.5 hours away). Again, less than perfect, as the rockers had rust damage that was poorly repaired and it's an automatic. I haven't had an automatic in over a decade. I don't want an automatic. The last time I drove an automatic on the highway I tried to downshift onto the ramp for a rest area, and my clutch foot found the wide brake pedal instead. May have slowed from highway speed really quickly that way. But the 4Runner looks like a good deal, definitely worth pursuing, so I make arrangements with work to have a long weekend to check it out. The tradeoff is having to take a shift that would have me leaving work at 2am Friday morning. Nevertheless, a rental car is secured for to pick up first thing Friday so that I'm not driving into an unfamiliar city after dark, and giving SWMBO and I more time to spend in the city. Arrangements are made with the seller to see it Sunday morning, as he's unavailable on Saturday.
Thursday arrives, and since I don't have to be in to work until the afternoon, I'm cruising the Baltimore Craig's List. Why not, right? There might be some parts I can pick up for the 4Runner or turbo Miata while I'm there that I just can't live without. That's when I stumble across an ad from 29 days prior. 1988 4Runner on 1985 frame. Immediately fire off an email, expecting that it's gone and the seller just forgot to take down the ad. Nope, half an hour later my phone pings with an email notification. It's still available, and he can show it Saturday morning. Deal! Plans are made to meet up at his house at 10.
Fortunately, I was able to get out of work before midnight, resulting in an almost full night of sleep before picking up the rental car. I had selected a compact, and pulling in the small lot of the local Hertz, there were only two compacts on the lot: a Versa and a Yaris. "Please, let it be the Yaris," I thought to myself and was redeemed to see a Toyota key produced from the attendant's hand. The drive down to Baltimore was completely uneventful, as one would expect of a car with only 20,000 miles. By about hour 5, my legs and back were starting to get tired and sore, and I had to repeatedly shift my position to feel a bit of comfort.
The hotel was only about a dozen blocks up from the Inner Harbor. After getting our stuff unpacked in the room, SWMBO and I walked down to the water and to the National Aquarium. On Fridays, they stay open a few extra hours so we were able to see the whole place relatively to ourselves, as there were very few other patrons. Also, it was half off for some reason that I will not complain about. I highly recommend visiting after dark, as the place takes on an otherworldly atmosphere and the sights of the Inner Harbor are quite lovely. We finished up around 9, got a quick dinner at a nearby Shake Shack and made our way back to the hotel.
Saturday morning, after a nice continental breakfast, we hopped in the Yaris and traversed the city to its northeastern edge to meet with the seller. I think we may have gone through a bad part of the city, but all was well except for the inexplicable travel lane on the right side of the road that was also a parking lane. The result was the occasional driver swerving into the left lane to avoid rear ending a parked car. Eventually we make it to the seller's home, part of a neighborhood of one way streets and speed humps every few hundred feet. After introductions, the seller and I do a quick once over of the 4Runner, and it's exactly as described in his ad (which was quite thorough). It'd been sitting for a few months, and he wanted it to go to a new home rather than sit disused. I hop in the driver seat for a test drive, which I imagined would just be around the block. Nope, he directs me down the main road and off onto a winding country road that would make any sportscar owner's day. We're gone for about half an hour, SWMBO patiently waiting in the Yaris, reading.
We get back, and the deal is struck. Money is exchanged for signed documents, the tools unloaded from the Yaris and subsequently loaded into the 4Runner, and we're on the road to drop off the rental car after messaging the seller of the other 4Runner to apoligize and cancel the next day's appointment. I had selected to return the car to BWI, as it seemed like the most convenient location in the area. Having not exceeded 50 on the test drive, hitting 70-75 on the highway was a bit nervewracking at first. The General AT2's smoothed out the flatspots they had acquired after a few miles, leaving only the faintest shimmy at speed. What was more noticable was the intermittent rattle that sounded like it was from the rear window. And there was no radio to drown out the noise. Pulling into the rental car facility revealed a massive garage with entrances for each rental company. Following behind me, SWMBO pulled into the Hertz entrance, and I looped around the facility to the pickup area. As I was calling her to say to meet at the desk, she appeared from the other end of the building. We loaded up, and headed back to the hotel.
The front door of the hotel is on a little one-way side street on a steep downhill. Not having a working parking brake, I left the 4Runner edged up to the curb, turned the wheel in, and let it gently roll forward. It was still there an hour later when we left; clearly the valet wasn't particularly experienced with the subtleties of three pedal work. Grabbing lunch at Potbelly sandwiches, we walked back into town and to the American Visionary Art Museum. It's a weird and wacky place dedicated to art made by people who are not artists. They also host an annual race through Baltimore on homemade, human powered craft to travel on roads, mud and sea. It's called the Kinetic Sculpture Race, and there are a couple of the racecraft on display, along with paintings, sculpture and robotic cats. After spending a few hours at the museum, we headed back towards the hotel, and got dinner at a little pizzeria nearby called HomeSlyce. Their signature dish is a football shaped pizza cut into awkward pieces. Delicious nevertheless.
After breakfast the next morning, we packed up and called down to have the valet bring the 4Runner around. 20 minutes later, the manager comes up to us because their actual valet called out and she couldn't drive stick. "No problem at all," I let her know, and she and I walked a few blocks over to the garage to retrieve the 4Runner. She was much like everyone we encountered in Baltimore, very friendly and eager to strike up a conversation. After a short drive back to the hotel, we load up and hit the road. The first destination was to an auto parts store to replace the wipers that had perished with age and replace a burnt turn signal. Across the street was destination two, a gas station to fill up. From there, the next stop was on the New Jersey Turnpike for a rather disappointing lunch. Filling up again on the NJ/NY border hours later revealed over 22 mpg on the highway. Another few hours and we pulled into the driveway and were finally home. The cat was overjoyed. Despite stopping less often, SWMBO and I agreed that the 30 year old Toyota was many times more comfortable than the 1 year old Toyota. We were happy to be out of it though, after 7 hours of intermittent rattling we were both getting annoyed.
Since then, I've gotten the truck registered, and worked on some of the more immediate issues. All the locks used a different key, and the tailgate one was missing. Fortunately a complete lock set from eBay was included. Less fortunately was that the ignition lock was a slightly different design that required drilling a hole in the lock housing to accomodate the new unit. The front windshield washer was inoperative, but a new pump and a little air pressure to clear out the nozzles has it working like new. The rear wiper needed to be replaced, but no one sells a wiper that screws onto the arm locally, so I took the rubber out of a new blade and swapped that in instead. Other than that, it's just been driven back and forth to work over the last week, and it's done so easily.
She sold last week, but I got to keep the factory alloys as part of the deal
The Before Shot. Measurements were taken from the wheel lip to the fender arch, about 13" in front and 11 1/4" in the rear
The front springs had de-arched so far as to push the shackle back until it contacted the frame!
