86rader

Here is an example of the cedar paneling in the cabover of a sunrader with the 2 front windows spackled over http://s913.photobucket.com/user/petecnavy/media/Our Toyota Sunrader/cabover paneling.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0 Cheap, easy, light, more or less impervious to water or bugs. and a 1000% improvement aesthetically, IMHO.

Why can't I find a sort of gutted shorty sunrader 4 speed? If I was a little closer to you, I would do my best to convince you it was crazy to restore it. I would then offer to take it off your hands for cheap. Unfortunately, you are on the wrong coast, so I say go for it. There are plenty here that have been there, done that and have the T-shirt. Question about the moisture? Is it after a rain? I was under the impression that it doesn't rain in california this time of year. If it is, it is likely due to the Cali. built ever so sexy looking, but leaky wraparound windows. There is a not so easy solution. Yank them and fiberglass the holes over. It has been done. I know this because I did it in my yard to tika's shorty. It was my first fiberglass job and I think it came out rather well. You can likely sell the windows if they are in good shape. Might even pay for the materials. Tika, I assume you are out there somewhere. Do you still have it? Has my fiberglass work stood the test of time? Hope so. If done well, I think it improves the look. I was particularly proud of the interior finish of the area. If you look around at new rigs, you will find that pretty much everyone has given up on forward facing cabover windows. They really are kind of pointless.

Not at all. Different strokes for different folks. Some folks absolutely love their PUs. Maybe if I had the right tow rig and wasn't such a cheap SOB, I would have bought a newer one with all the amenities. Where in MA are you, BTW? I am headed to ORH (Worchester airport to normal folks) for a few hours of work today.

The first few times I looked at the pic looking into the cab, I didn't notice mr happy poking his cheery face into the pic. Too busy making my usual observation of tranny type.

I bought a pop-up once. Used it once. It damn near killed the POS AT in my old taurus wagon. I quickly came to the realization that a pop-up is essentially a really heavy tent. I understand this is not the case with newer ones that have bathrooms and kitchens, but, I will never go that route again. The advantage of an RV is that it is already a house without doing anything to it. And in the case of a MH, it is a useable house at highway speed, or in the case of TMHs, something approaching highway speed.

I think this may be the rig for you IF it is structurally sound, but then again, I am partial to the drivetrain. This IMHO is the holy grail of TH drivetrains, 22RE, 4 speed, 6 lugs all around. I have never seen one in the flesh. And it has been owned by a retired mechanic. Don't know a thing about this particular coach builder, but I am sure others do. As for the fridge, yeah, having a working one sure is nice, but not a deal breaker, IMO. New ones are pricey, but, if you are not in a big hurry, I think you might find a reasonably new one used somewhere. You say you will be in one place in Colorado? I assume it will be a campground with shore power? If so, put up a good sized tent and stick a dorm fridge inside. Too bad it doesn't have an awning. They can be made into a screened in porch which would be nice for a longterm setup.

I assume this is a late 80s rig, unless someone upgraded the front end. That would mean it is EFI. It is also a manual. Extremely rare drivetrain, sadly. Too bad he was such a douchebag. Probably some down on his luck guy living in it. Does anyone have any numbers on how many 22RE - manual trans rigs were built? I have never seen one. Oddly enough, I have seen a few V-6 5 speeds. I suspect that a good chunk of the 22RE-stick models out there are not OEM.

What is a KZ? Years before I bought my sunrader, I looked at and drove a small toy diesel. Forget the name of it, but it was an 83, 5 speed. very small, rear kitchen/bath layout. It was painfully slow, but in very nice shape. My kids were yound, so it simply wouldn't have worked for us, but now that we are pretty much empty nesters, I would love to have it now. It did have the death axle, but given it's size, might have been fine with it. The owner told me he got 18 mpg driving it as fast as it would go, which wasn't very fast! Any idea what it could have been?

I believe that driving technique can greatly effect mileage. I regularly got 17 with my Sunrader. And close to that with my V-6 Odyssey. I know there are some here of the opinion that nothing good can come from using OD. I understand their concern and giving up an mpg or two certainly may be worth it if it makes you sleep better at night knowing your tranny isn't going to die from heat stroke. I am of the opinion that using OD is fine, so long as it is done judiciously. A nice big cooler is a given. A good gauge doesn't hurt either, but the key is your right foot. I have heard the line 'drive it like there is an egg between your foot and the accelerator'. Follow this and I honestly don't believe what gear you are in matters a lot. My favorite mode of travel in my Sunrader was on two lane highways putting along at 45-50 in OD, dropping it to third for anything resembling a hill or even a decent head wind. On long gentle downhills not requiring engine braking, I would even drop it into neutral. I would imagine that getting to 20mpg might be possible in a manual shorty driven carefully on such roads. I do not believe it is possible to get there trying to keep up with interstate traffic while flogging it in 3rd. Not that the 22R isn't perfectly happy being treated that way. Some day I would like to build/buy my dream toyhouse, a 5 speed TDI powered shorty Sunrader. I believe 30mpg is not out of the question for such a rig. I do know that plenty of toy pickups and 4runners have been repowered as such. Haven't heard of a toyhouse though.

Yeah, I remember when you bought that. If you ever feel the need to sell, let me know. How does it do mileage wise? Do you have pics of it?

this is the first hardbody style toyhouse I have seen. Really liked that truck. And the Nissan V-6 was a great motor, easily better than the toy V-6. If the coach isn't a basket case, this would be worth it. Would love to find a Sunrader with this.

To anyone in the market, give this a look. Rocinante carried my family and me over a good chunk of California about 4 years ago. It is a trusty steed. Drove like a dream and I was able to get close to 18 mpg. Assuming you haven't let this thing go to pot over the last 4 years, which I doubt, I wouldn't hesitate to fly out there again and this time just keep driving east. Unfortunately, I just don't have the time with my current job which is why I sold the Odyssey last year. Good luck with the sale, Mike. Hope Rocinante goes to a worthy new owner. If a prospective new owner would like a reference, let me know.

Interesting topic. I always thought that some sort of small DC unit to cool only the cabover section would be a good idea. I think I speak for most toyhome owners in that coach AC is used primarily for sleeping and that most of them are couples or singles. Insulate the area well, use an insulated reasonably air tight curtain and I see no reason why you couldn't cool the area with maybe 1000-1500 btus. I have one of those cheap 5K window units at home and it cools a small bedroom easily. A cabover compartment is a very small fraction of even a small bedroom's volume. Why use a 13.5K unit to cool the whole thing when you only need to cool the sleeping area. As for charging a 24V bank, you could either go the inverter route or, with a bit of extra wiring and switching, you could conceivably charge the batteries in parallel and switch them to series during use. Of course this means you could not charge while using them. If I ever get back into the toyhomeowner game (sold the Odyssey last year) I would look into it. If you really did a good job insulating, I wonder how small you could go, BTUwise? Does anyone have any figures on how much heat a pair of resting adults generate?

I have a 90 Odyssey. Mine has 120K. It runs well, but was in need of a valve adjust which I did. Fortunately, I got it before there was any burnt valves. At 88K, it is definitely due for this maintenance along with a water pump and T-belt. If this maintenance hasn't been doneand you can't do it yourself, it will not be cheap. Check closely for water damage, particularly above the cab. Mine had some that I did not discover until after I bought it. The Odyssey is nice in that it is more roomy than most in all directions. It has about 6'3" of headroom which is nice if you are much above 6 ft.

sounds pricey.

I wonder how difficult it would be to put a 4.3 drivetrain in it?

If the frame not rotted that is a steal.

The ad did say auto. I didn't scroll through enough pics to see a cockpit shot to know for sure. If it was a 4 speed, it would be the same one I had in an 81 F-150. In reality it was really a 3 speed with a ridiculously low granny first gear. That thing would climb a tree in that gear. If it was a later FI straight 6 with a 5 speed, I could see it making high teens if driven properly. If it is a 3 speed auto with carb, I doubt any better than 11 or 12 mpg could be expected.

I would recommend against this if you live where you have to deal with road salt in the winter. 80s vintage toy pickup frames snap in two at the mere sight of road salt.

If I had a spare 3 mil sitting around, I'd buy that 4x4 SR5 Sunrader. I wouldn't take that monstrosity if you gave it to me.

Looks pretty clean, 6 new tires. If it runs decent, that is a steal. I like that rear kitchen layout also.

Sounds like an awful lot of work and expense. I think a better option would be to use sheets of the stuff they use now for smooth sided campers. Forget what it is called. Glass over all the seams.

I consider myself a reasonably decent mechanic, but certainly not a pro. I did the valve check/adjust myself. It was a PITA, but, if you take your time and take lots of pictures/diagram where everything goes, it is not that bad a job. I did not replace shims. I had them ground at a local auto machine shop. It was quit reasonable, under 50 bucks if I recall. The valve job is a fair bit more work than the T-belt which is actually quite easy. But, you definitely should get them both done.

Is it worth 22? Probably not. But, extremely low miles, 5 speed FI SR5 package 4x4 is pretty damn sweet. I think they could get a fair bit over 15K. Definitely one of the neatest toyhouses out there.