Just purchased: 1988 Toyota 4runner (22re/manual)
So I run an own/run an event gallery (The Arborist):
https://www.facebook.com/thearboristchicago as well as sell Primitive/Industrial/Mid-century furniture and decor online under a different name.
I have been wanting one of these for a quite a long time and thought this could serve dual purpose for hauling and delivering pieces of furniture, for my unique needs very few vehicles fit what I am after, this is one of the few that can.
Quick story:
While searching all over the U.S. for a clean Toyota Pickup/4runner this one came up as just "Illinois" on craigslist. From the pictures it looked rather clean, but under the assumption that the underside is insanely rusty (as with any midwest vehicle) I still emailed.
This particular ad had been up for a month+ and at the price (under $2k) I figured it would have been gone, however, after a few hours I receive a reply back stating he has been on vacation on the west-coast and hasn't responded to any ads yet and I was the most recent to have emailed.
Telling me he would be back on Monday to show it, I set set up a time, he then said he would contact me Sunday with his address, half disinterested and thinking it would be hours away/insanely rusty I kept looking around.
Sunday rolls around, he texts me his address, to which I google map it to find.... he's literally a 5 minute walk away from me in Chicago, near Humboldt Park. Rather perplexed at how close he is, Monday comes and I head out to view it still thinking it would be rusty in person, as I near the truck I call him to come down and my phone shows he is from San Francisco, California.
That's when it his me: that's why this thing is so clean, it's a west coast 4runner!
After looking it over pretty hard, the thing is pretty damn clean and has only seen (2) Chicago winters, or for us Chicagoian's one-very-long-winter (inside joke).
After haggling a bit, I walk away with this bad-boy for $950. An absolute steal for this thing, especially being rust free in the mid-west (utterly priceless).
Problems:
Bad timing chain
Dead Battery
Feel free to chip in on my question here also (Chicago Shout-out: Any Shop or Mechanic for 22re in *Chicago* area?):
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...-22re-in-*Chicago*-area?p=1574336#post1574336