Are there any forum members in the vicinity of Binghamton, NY?

I've located a 1989 Raider as a potential recipient of a 3.0 liter engine rebuilt by FrankR. This is a one-of-a-kind engine, with priceless expert labor from FrankR and $2400 in new parts and machining. Frank has exhaustively documented the rebuild on this engine in the thread "Bob's 3.0 liter engine."



I've been looking for a Raider that would do this engine justice. The engine originally came out of MarkG's 1991 LWB. The 1991 LWB needs a lot of cleanup, and will never look that great even after I repaint it. The Raider pictured below, with 180,000 miles, looks exceptionally clean in the photos I have of it. It has a bad engine, which is why it is available. It would be nice if someone could check it out for me before I make the long drive to pick it up.

Can't help you out in looking at the Raider, but wanted to comment on the engine Dammmmmm <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> that looks nice. Wish i had the skills & time to due something like that.

Don't underrate your skills Nick, until you try you'll never know. We all were beginners at one time, even Frank. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I'd have the rear of the frame and body (upper wheelwells) seriously examined..

A truck that old just has to have some hidden delights underneath. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Are you set on putting it in a SWB? There's plenty of LWB trucks around, including a 91 that was here locally that are probably in better shame than that truck is underneath.

OP... You REALLY need to change your username. I was seriously confused for a few minutes.

Who, me?

OP = Original Poster <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Bob,

Check for debris in the lower front fenders, at the seatbelt mounting points in the rear fender wells and the front floor boards...these are the typical rust areas that I've seen. Second, some of the small interior bits are specific to the 89/90 model SWBs, make sure the interior is complete. Third, go look at it, not expecting to bring it home, and take lots of hi-res large format digital pictures for our vicarious review here.

Russell

87Montero predates me by a year (Nov 03 vs Nov 04) and is more than 10 times the contributor to the forum than I am. I picked my username of 87_Montero without knowing that 87Montero would be out there. 87Montero offers valuable advice, while I ask uninformed questions. So if to avoid confusion a forum moderator will help me change my user name, I'd happily do so.

Got more photos by email, so here's a better look.

The interior is clean, though there are a few obvious wear spots.


The rear floorboard is clean and the rear door is not rusty.


The back door is rust free in the hinged corner, although there is modest rust on the bumper and hitch.


There is light-to-moderate surface rust on the undercarriage.


There's a little rust on the top of the radiator and underneath the hood.


There's a little rust around the battery and on an air filter box.


In these photos, it still looks pretty good, but we're only seeing what the photos allow us to see.