Got it all assembled and oiled and put a vac on it. Ran the vac pump for about 20mins before shutting it off and then left to a friends house and 5 hours later it’s still at the exact same reading. Tomorrow I’ll run the vacuum for a while longer and then charge it and see what happens.

 

Added about 20oz of refrigerant from the searching I did online. Got the compressor to kick on and the air cools off and condensation goes to the garage floor. But for some reason I can’t get a gauge reading using the gauge manifold. Only the gauge on the can of refrigerant. And the high idle isn’t working so the engine bogs.

 

Well it was cool on the way to o’reilly’s to drop the rental stuff off. Bought a temp gauge and drove home. Best it would do is 10* below ambient and it was noticeably warmer than when I went there. The no idle up thing sucks but that’s going to take some engineering because the part has been long discontinued and it looks like mine isn’t working.

 

Any used examples you could purchase?

 

Potentially but according the forums it’s a unicorn. Theres a corolla one that can be hacked to make work. Or I can rig up an electric solenoid.

 

Somehow it seems like every part that is causing issues on any project is a unicorn!

 

Bought my own vac pump and gauges. Put a vac on this thing for 45mins and let it set overnight. No loss. Figured out my mistake on the last time by not screwing in the plungers on the valves attached to the compressor. Got ~20oz ish in there.


Keep in mind it’s a 100* in the shop and I’m running no windows or top so it’s just recirculating HOT air. So it’s running roughly 40* below ambient. I’ve got no complaints. Let’s see how tomorrow goes.

 

Found rust on the driver side I wasn’t expecting. Got the passenger side wire wheeled and it’s not as bad as I thought. The orange glue makes it look worse than it is but it’s still definitely there. Gonna wire wheel this one and then por 15 it or something on both sides before I put the new carpet in it.

On that note, I’ve made the decision to sell this thing once I deal with these items. I’ve had to reevaluate a few things lately and I can’t afford in time or money to have two older vehicles that need constant attention. The dream for this was to get it working again for Mark but he passed before that happened. Now the dream is to get it stable and pass it either back to his family so they can enjoy it or find a seller who can spend the time on it. It really is a good truck and in good shape. I need to focus my efforts back on my blazer which was my goal a year ago. It doesn’t need much but it needs enough that the 4Runner has become a distraction.

 

Sad to see it go but you have really put in a lot of work and I am sure made Mark proud. Sometimes we have to make those hard decisions.

Selfishly I am ready to see the K5 back in my feed.

 

I think he’d be glad it’s back on the road and being driven. Keeps his memory alive.

It’s selfish but I’m ready to get to work on the blazer again. The list to start it is so small. Set the timing per the Holley instructions, connect power steering lines, plugs and wires, make a small bracket to connect oil dipstick to, weld in o2 bung and connect, add gas to tank and check for leaks, turn key and see if it starts. It’s like 4hrs of work. Then its installing extended shock mount brackets, bolting shocks in, connect 2 brake lines and bleed, swap steering box, connect pitman arm to steering box, wire trans cooler fan, bolt in seat, and go for a drive.