Vantastic - 1987 Toyota 4wd 5speed poptop

[jonross]

After a year of pain and crazy expenses, my van is finally ready for the big time.
I'd bought an '87 Toyota 4wd 5speed Country Homes poptop conversion with 134k miles on the clock off craigslist for 200 bucks about 4 years ago. Pretty much the holy grail of toyota vans. The catch? The engine was seized to hell. I originally bought it as a parts van for my identical (sans poptop) van. But then a crazy thought came into my head. Why not resurect the beast? I reasearched and dithered and priced out mechanics, and eventually bit the bullet 3 years later (after my original van wouldn't pass smog and needed some costly repairs to fix it).

After I got the engine replaced last year, numerous problems surfaced over the months, and it never worked right. It kept going back due to overheating issues which were very tricky to diagnose - it would run fine for 40 mins or so and then start overheating, which was due to the coolant burping out of the overflow to the point that it was no longer at a level enough to circulate. To cut a very long story short, in the end replacing the head gasket a second time fixed the overheating problems a year after I first took it to the shop.

So approx 5 grand (ouch!) and a year of pain later, she lives. And hopefully she'll live at least another decade and a couple of hundred thousand miles more.

Here's what's been done so far over the last year:

Low mileage used engine
All hoses replaced
New water pump
New head gasket
New rear diff pinyon seal
Recored and reconditioned radiator
New alternator
New starter
New clutch
New clutch master cylinder
New Brake pads
New battery
Wheels sanded and painted
New windshield
New headless stereo and new speakers
New poptop springs
BFG AT KO tires

<and still a long to-do list until she's really done!>

In celebration of being able to drive her more than 40 mins without overheating, I decided to take a roadtrip to test her fully. And so last month I headed South to Big Sur down Hwy 1 for a bit of sun, scenery and some good 4wding to get to my favourite campsite.
Some pix from the trip:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanross/sets/72157625901015808/

While there I named her "Vantastic". May "Bob" bless her and all who ride in her!
Jon

 

[Ruined Adventures]

Very cool van. Glad to see all the hard work wasn't in vain!

 

[Christian P.]

Jon

this is one cool van. Welcome here!

I think you should take her to SyncroFest. Even if it's not a VW, people would love it.

 

[suntinez]

Great van revival, good job! And your pics are beautiful.

Holy grail indeed

 

[ujoint]

Still a great deal, keep it forever!

 

[a.mus.ed]

Awesome van. I did not know they came in a pop-top.

 

[rynosurf]

Nice! How about some interior shots?

 

[nemoaz]

I don't know if you have completely worked out your overheating problemsj. I was lucky enough to have a factory toyota tech working on mine. There is a hydraulic coupling (like a viscous coupling I was told, in lieu of a fan clutch, I'm probably using the wrong word) on the radiator fan that is a high fail item and it's often not diagnosed because it will still spin but not fast enough.

Nice van. Send pics from your adventures.

 

[vanderpooch]

Killer setup!!

More pics

 

[jonross]

I created a flickr gallery for pix of the van. Some wideangle interior shots of the bare inside before the restoration, some pix of the bed setup. And plenty of van pr0n if you like that kind of thing.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jonathanross/sets/72157626122509448/
I took her up to Yosemite for presidents day weekend, lots of snow over hwy 120. Handles like a champ with the burly BFGs and 4wd! Too cold to have the poptop up for camping though.
Jon

 

[RocKrawler]

Nice shot against Yosemite - I need to get the kids up there this year hopefully

 

[jonross]

I don't know if you have completely worked out your overheating problemsj. I was lucky enough to have a factory toyota tech working on mine. There is a hydraulic coupling (like a viscous coupling I was told, in lieu of a fan clutch, I'm probably using the wrong word) on the radiator fan that is a high fail item and it's often not diagnosed because it will still spin but not fast enough.

Yeah, I know all about the hydraulic fan clutch on these suckers. This is the fourth I've owned! But no, that wasn't the issue, it was a head gasket issue. But I do plan on replacing the hydraulic clutch with electric fans at some point in the future. The long list of van-related tasks is daunting, but at least now it's driveable!
Jon

 

[T.Low]

That is one sweet van, JR.

I first saw the Country Homes Toyota van on Dan and Roy's Yotavan website back when I was first researching vans to build. Tipped a few beers with Roy at a micro brewery discussing the Yotavans and drove his, they are so cool.

Nice job.