Hello,
This is my first posting. I recently purchased a 1989 Toyota Sunrader. I bought the truck off of ebay. (Reminder, it is a good idea to have a mechanic do a preinspection.) So, after I won the auction I flew out to Portland to pick it up. The truck appeared to be in good shape. I inspected the vehicle for about an hour and a half and headed home to northern California. The truck got 13 or so miles to the gallon, handles hills real well, had a million or so rattles, but overall a nice truck.
I started my restoration by removing a crappy, wore out steering wheel cover which made the steering much nicer. Next to Les Schaub, I got the tires balanced, rotated, had some junk valve stems raplaced, checked brakes, which were about half pad left, so I had the fluid flushed and replaced. The clunk noise that I was hearing turned out to be improperly installed bushing and washers on passenger side stabilizer bar, which I fixed. Then I took the truck to my mechanic for fluid flushes of tranny, radiator, rearend. The first part of the tune up,a compression check,revealed that 2 cylinders were below 90lbs. So I ordered a motor, an install kit from Jasper engines. It should be installed w/ NEW water pump,plugs, wires, gaskets, exhaust, by next week. After that I am going to gut the interior. It seems the weight of the fridge and that of the stove/range collapsed the crappy particleboard construction of the cabinets. The bathroom area has some water damage. I am researching appliances and a/c which I plan on replacing. I hope to have the new engine, new fridge, new range stove, new sinks in bath and kitch, new cabinets and all paneling, all finished up so I can drive cross country for Thanksgiving. Thanks, Dennis