Hi, this is my first post to this forum. I just bought an 85 4x4 Sunrader, with 89,000 miles. It was probably about a year ago that I first learned of the existence of such beasts, and ever since I've badly wanted one but figured they'd always be out of my price range. So I settled on doing a Chinook conversion on a 4x4. Then a few weeks ago I happened upon a local craigslist ad for "rare and unique vehicles," one of which was the 85 Sunrader. I negotiated for part cash part trade and here I am. I got it for around $4,000, I say around because much of that was trade. It's definitely a major project vehicle, mostly because the interior is completely gutted and the floor and roof are going to need some reinforcement. And then there's the engine swap. It currently has a freshly rebuilt GM 4.3L V6, but I'm completely averse to gaspot's and so that has to go. I'm planning on a Mercedes turbo diesel 300d. I've done several diesel swaps on Toyota trucks, my current rig is an 85 4X4 Toyota Custom Cab with a Toyota 1KZ-T (3 liter turbodiesel) which I run mostly on veggie oil. I used it to tow the Sunrader home yesterday on my flatbed. It's basically the Toyota equivalent to the Merc. 300d, but newer (late 90's and on). My friend did a 300d swap in his toyota truck last year and the results are impressive. I'd go with a 1KZ-T again but they're really hard to come by and I want to do something new. Sorry but don't look for much progress on this Sunrader for a year or two. I have a couple other diesel swaps to do before I get to it. But I'll definitly keep this post updated when I start in on it. I've been reading all the sunrader restoration posts I can find on this site, there's definitly some very helpful stuff on here. I'd love to hear more on combating the roof sag issue. Well that's all for now. Thanks, Lars
