Ha! I admire your hard work, but I assure you that is more work than I'll be going through on my '90 4runner!
Pics of my 4runner, replaced my Samurai:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=428901&page=3
Needs brakes & and suspension bushings. Have a VW 1.9turbodiesel going in, unless I can get a swap kit for a MB 5cyl diesel.
As for a classic, I'd be looking at MGBs, but hard to imagine what you'll find for <2k.