The Hungary Family 4-Runner (circa 1984)

Mezzanine: Yup, 2-doors and a removable top Now that I think about it... I really need to rig up a way to remove the top by myself. I don't think Alex is big enough to help me lift a side yet...

Crankwalk: I just found your build thread for your Z! You're going to have to let me know the results of running that oil you mentioned in the oil change thread!

Java: After this run I was thinking I probably wouldn't be able to make a group run because of the kids (having to stop for diaper changes etc.) By the looks of that first picture, they'd fit right in!

And I'm going to have to check out that lookout the next time I'm up that way. Had I not made the split decision to turn off at the sign... (at the time though, it felt like we'd been on the dirt road forever and I really wanted to reach a "destination" to give the eldest kiddo a "see? this is where we were going" )

Good times

One of my favorites looked just like that same color and wheel treatment, it was an 89 SR5 V6 auto. I had chevy truck ralley wheels with centercaps and dressup rings.

I used three eye hooks in the garage ceiling and motorcycle tiedowns for roof removal and storage. One in each side window and one in the back. Back it remove six screws, lift, drive out.

Any door and window store can make small rectangular screens that fit in the side windows, put a little knee bend in them and they fit great. My wife and I would sleep in the back with a tent on the side to keep out junk in. I added two layers of carpet padding under the rear carpet, nice for sleeping on and it kept the noise down.

Dude! I hadn't even thought of going through the windows, good call! And I may steal your screen idea too :)

Back from a work trip and a holiday (yay) and working on the passenger side. I have all the trim removed (trouble free, and done in a 15 minutes), but ran into another hiccup with the stickers.

I went back at it with the heat gun and right away the sticker bubbled. "YAY!" says I, until I scraped what I thought was a sticker bubble and ended up removing the paint from body filler.

"Drat" says I

I'm now too scared to use the heat gun anymore, but I still have the passenger door to do so I tried a few other ideas before just going at it with a razor blade from my pocket knife.

It takes FOREVER!!!! I'm thinking of slathering on some mineral spirits to help a bit, I'm kind of nervous though after the last chemical adhesive/paint removal that happened on the drivers side.

Good times

Hurry up and be done with this truck so I can have it.

Why not try an eraser wheel on the decals? I've had good luck with them. Haven't used them on something so old though.

Hungary, I've got a Sequoia that needs to see dirt (and my family and I live in Seattle). :) Is Lonesome Lake the one off of route 410? Are there simple trails around there for hiking / mountainbike riding? I'd like to get out more into nature without getting stuck, this seems like a good first adventure.

My brother built a couple frames to get the top off his truck. He drove under it and hooked a couple straps to the cap to hang it up and then drove the truck out from under it.

Do you have a steamer by chance? I used a steamer to removed some petrified bumper stickers on my wagon. Worked really well.

4Msfam wrote: Hungary, I've got a Sequoia that needs to see dirt (and my family and I live in Seattle). :) Is Lonesome Lake the one off of route 410? Are there simple trails around there for hiking / mountainbike riding? I'd like to get out more into nature without getting stuck, this seems like a good first adventure.

Easy Fire roads the whole way up. Not sure on the biking but I believe there is a hike that starts at lonesome.

To get the top off with one person, unbolt it, stand in the back bent over with your back against the top, stand up as little to lift it and walk towards the back. set it down when your about half way and you can climb out and slide it down the tailgate.

I dont remember who recommended it, but bestine rubber cement thinner worked amazingly well. I had industrial double sided tape on the side of my van. Cant tell it was there anymore.

Thanks guys, sorry for the slow update. I eventually went back to the heat gun

Kind of a different technique though. Instead of pointing the gun at the area I was scraping, I just chipped up a corner of the sticker and ran the gun about 2-inches in front of where my fingers were. From there I just pulled in a diagonal motion and Welah! it came off like stinking magic.

Of course, it's not until the last three stickers that I find this super easy technique...

On my list for this week is:

• remove adhesive residue. The mineral spirits and razor blade with some sort of scrubber might do it for this one.

• Pull that roof back Java style and go at the top of the cab with a DA sander. Apply epoxy primer to the bare surface.

• Time willing, start work on the passenger side.

I'm actually kind of happy this turned into a project requiring "light body repair". It'll be nice practice for the Alfa

akylekoz wrote: Hurry up and be done with this truck so I can have it.

I'm working on it! I'm working on it!

Sheesh

4Msfam wrote: Hungary, I've got a Sequoia that needs to see dirt (and my family and I live in Seattle). :) Is Lonesome Lake the one off of route 410? Are there simple trails around there for hiking / mountainbike riding? I'd like to get out more into nature without getting stuck, this seems like a good first adventure.

It is!

There may be simple trails in the area, but honestly I didn't do much looking.

What I'd do is:

• Drive up to Lonesome lake (Right off of 410 onto FS-75) take a left at the sign and park at the lake.

• Enjoy the lake and picnic area for a bite to eat and to stretch the legs. There's a primitive bathroom (ie: a house with only a toilet seat) if you need.

• walk/hike back down the hill the way you came and make a left at the "T". Java reported nice Mt. Rainier views about a mile down that road.

It should make for a nice day out. Also, no one warned me about all the "no trespassing" signs you're going to see along the way. Those are for the turnoffs onto logging property and not for the forest service road. (I almost turned back when I saw them... almost )

In reply to Hungary Bill:

Might be a bit more than a mile, and it gets tighter, may get a little pin striping in the summer. This was dec 15

Residue gone, ratchet straps in place, top off, tools ready to go aaaaaaand....

Pause for a drive to work (Hey, I couldn't help it!)

(insert going to work topless jokes here)

Roof removal in action

No offense to the Alfa, but it is a LOT more fun having a rolling project.

Good times

I found a neat little easter egg written on the canopy. I thought it might be a date and coordinates, but now I'm not sure...

Maybe you guys can decipher it

One last cruise before she gets put away

It happened. I FINALLY ran out of ways to procrastinate

A quick bucket wash down the passenger side (Why I didn't do this when I had the truck outside, I dont know...) and then came the sandpaper.

I was so scared. I've been putting this off for a while. Everything in my brain was saying "oh my god, you're going to scratch the paint and there's no going back!!!!!!!!!!"

Then comes the moment when I finally put sander to paint/bondo. "Hey. That wasn't so bad...."

There were a few blisters with cracked bondo underneath. I fought this battle with the Impala and don't really want to do it again so I'm completely sanding the crack out in those areas (I had the Impala painted due to some paint cracks in the rear quarter panel, only to have them reappear 3-years later)

Otherwise it's just a quick blend. The notes/advice I got says about 1/4 inch of blend between the various coats so that's about what I'm going of (erring on the wider side)

Good times

Hungary Bill wrote: Crankwalk: I just found your build thread for your Z! You're going to have to let me know the results of running that oil you mentioned in the oil change thread!

Heh, it'll probably be a little while but when I change it, it'll be over 4 years in the car and the oil itself will be 46 years old in the can.

I'm excited to see this thing with updated paint work. Also, I have a strange desire to see that altimeter pegged over 10,000 ft.

I'm telling you, the 80's were the last hurrah for fun trucks. Full size SUV's with a manual transmission, trucks that you can remove the hardtop.... I hope these things make a come back but I doubt they will. At least we have the old ones to play with for now.

4-years! Dude, I cant remember to pay attention to stuff that's going to be happening a day from now, you might have to remind me

We do have Mount Rainier nearby (14,000ft?) I don't know how high the runner will make it though. I might have to employ a helicopter for that one

Here goes:

Starting at the top, I had to make the roof paint "flat". There's a good layer of primer underneath where most of the paint was, but I still might throw a coat of epoxy primer on there just to be safe.

Then I started at the back, going over the low areas I made while sanding out bondo cracks:

Rust! (now, how did I miss that?)

For you out of staters, this is what we Washingtonians call "rusty"

Forward of the back wheel well:

Aft of the forward wheel well:

Forward of the forward wheel well:

Wire whip and prep:

the bare spots aren't the finalized versions (I was in a bit of a hurry this morning after their final touch up and didn't get pictures) but you get the idea

Having used bondo on the rear quarter panel, I decided it was time to give my can of "Kitty Hair" a try (I figured why not use the 'Runner as a test mule for the Alfa?). After using it on the rear wheel well spot, I decided it really wasn't the best stuff for what I was doing and switched back to the can of bondo. Fun to experiment with though.

The to do list for this side:

• Sand bondo smooth

• Sand tailgate to a working surface and prime

• one coat of primer on roof

• wet sand passenger side, roof, hood, and tailgate

• turn truck around and start on the driver's side

Good times

Ps

I wont know for sure 'till it's all said and done, but I'm not hating this body work. It's kind of nice! (that is all)

Oh, and my garage smells FANTASTIC! I don't know what can of what is to blame (I think its a blend of paint/bondo sanding) but I love it. In fact, when I decide to start making perfume my line is going to include: Hoppe's #9, 2-stroke exhaust, and "my garage".

I'll make a dang fortune!

Hungary Bill wrote: 4-years! Dude, I cant remember to pay attention to stuff that's going to be happening a day from now, you might have to remind me We do have Mount Rainier nearby (14,000ft?) I don't know how high the runner will make it though. I might have to employ a helicopter for that one

Hah, well the 4 years will be up 9 months. I'll probably do a thread when it happens.

Can you guys drive up to a lot of your tall mountains? In AK the highest pass is pretty mild considering the mountains are huge but they don't pave roads going up most of them. In CO, you can drive up to the top Mt. Evans, Pikes Pike and have that altimeter pegged (which would be AWESOME).