4x4poorblazer

Well, newest member, Ryan Copeland here. I am fixing to undertake my first yota "put together". A little bit of the story: I had a buddy who picked up a '90 runner w/ a 3.slo and 253k on the ticker. He drove it for about five weeks untill... BOOM .. the notorious toy rod knock. So I picked up this nice runner for 200 dollars. I am a blazer guy and have no experience whatsoever with toyota engines. I picked up two 3vze engines for 100 bucks and they each have a story behind them; first engine hit 250k and.. guess what... BOOM .. rod knock. The second engine was a shop rebuild, under 5k and supposedly had a burnt up piston due to a bad injector and the expected lean condition in that cylinder. Well, I got the two complete long blocks home and tore into the better of the two, (the rebuilt one) and all I have been able to determine thus far is that the thang was done, recently. Still has visible bore/hone patterns in the cylinders, fresh machine marks on the cranks counterweights, good bearings (rod and main), and so on and so on... Well today I placed my order with ENGNBLDR, thanks to yotatech for the reference, wonderful person to deal with and very knowledgable as well as tech savvy. I ordered the following list of parts for the rebuild on this good looking bottom end: 1 new t-belt
2 new complete gasket set
3 new headbolt set

All of these parts were suggested by you guys in others forums. My question to the yotatech family is a. should I dissasemble the heads and have a surface job done, and b. if yes, should I also have a valve job done at the same time.

iamsuperbleeder

I'd say take the head's and have them checked at least. Have a shop, or even you can just stick a flat edge against the block and head and check for any major warpage; there's tollerance that's allowed, although I'm not sure what it is on the 3.0

as far as a valve job, how to the valves look? if they look pretty clean, chances are it was done in the recent rebuild, in which case I wouldn't worry about it. But if there's a lot of carbon buildup on the valves and the combustion chambers of the head, then they might have been left alone in the rebuild, in which case a good valve job would probably be a good idea


I'd also recommend replacing the rod bearing for that cylinder you replace. Just cause the bearing that's in it now only has 5k on it doesn't mean I'd re-use it... would you re-use a head gasket with 5k on it?

also, when selecting a head gasket, don't go the "cheapest route"... the 3.0's are already well renoun for their head gasket issues... skimp on something that important, and I garantee you'll be diving back in in now time to do the head gaskets again



welcome to YotaTech by the way!

4x4poorblazer

My issue is in the disassembling of the heads ie: removing cams, rocker arms, pucks (?) and being able to re assemble them correctly. I am not sure about the valve adjustment process on these heads. Put me in front of some sbc heads and were talkin', however I'm a little bit apprehensive about ripping into these ones. As far as the bearing on that one rod goes, and the pston for that matter, I do not see any signs of detonation or a lean condition. What I do see is what looks like the spark plug diode/electrode may have broken off in that cylinder thus causing the piston to compress and "squish" that piece of material between the top of the piston and the head surface. Their are little "poke" marks on the top of the piston and the flat area of the cylinder head combustion chamber. Also that cylinder was extremely clean ie: washed out with fuel, which could be explained by the plug not being able to fire. The piston is not beat up as we've seen in other circumstances, it is usable and so is the head. I have three of these motors now and will be using one and selling the others if anyones interested in a complete long block core. From throttle body to pan.

4x4poorblazer

Sorry, realizing this morning that there are no rocker arms on these heads. That's the chevy talk comin' out of me. how difficult are these heads to rebuild ie: reassembling them after a valve job and surface, when you cant just reassemble them the way they were befor they were disected.

zlathim

There is a very specific method for adjusting valve lash on these motors. Something that is very different from anything you will have encountered on a Chevy. Shims of differing thickness are used to adjust valve lash on these motors. You should read the FSM thoroughly to get an understanding of how they work and are adjusted.

IMHO, if it appears that the heads received attention during the previous overhaul, don't mess with them.

If you are the adventurous sort who likes a challenge, then get the FSM and go to town.

4x4poorblazer

I am aware of the process, just not familiar with it. Do you all think I can check the heads with a straight edge and if they look good, consider them worthy of using. Also, should I have the cams checked to ensure that they are still straight and within spec, or would a thorough inspection with a micrometer be sufficient?

Kiroshu

Yea the valve job on a 3.0 is long hard and very time consuming. They are ajusted by shims that sit in the valve bucket. And those shims are hard to get out. You can use tiny screw drivers to remove them or by the special too from toyota. if you leave the cam in you have to pry up on the cam while trying to pry the shim out of the bucket at the same time. Its a little easier with the cam out. carb cleaner on the shim will help loosen it a bit. One of the main reasons they don't come out is because oil bellow the shim sucks it down. Good luck.

Kiroshu

Yea straight edge for heads. Gotta be a perfect straight edge though. Generally they don't get warped much unless it overheated at one point or someone tightened the head bolts alil too much... cams are prob fine. they are steel cams and uasully don't bend much but check them for scaring on the lobes if theres alot of scaring and chips it needs replacing.

4x4poorblazer

I will need to pull the cams out during the head to block install right? And what is the fastest way to perform a swap in the runner, once I have finished the new engine? Do I need to R and R with the crossover pipe on, or should I pull the topend off the old one in the truck, then pull the block out and replace with the new engine?

4x4poorblazer

any suggestions before we reassemle this concoction? Any upgrades worth mentioning, besides a 3.4 swap. Also, who in their right mind woulda designed a crossover exhaust like they did on this thing? WHAT WERE THEY THINKING, ( or not at all presumably ) and do you guys think a header install is very much worth the arm and leg they want for a set. And I'm in CA, so smog is always on the brain too. Although My step dad is a smog tech... Good For Me I Guess..

TNRabbit

Well, the crossover pipe was USED ON THE 3.4 AS WELL....??? Everyone seems to love the hell out of it...

Make sure you resurface the heads & block!!!! DO NOT put it back together without doing so...

See my sig line for why~

4x4poorblazer

This motor was rebuilt completely less than 5k ago. I beleive I will be using a straight edge and a feeler guage to determine the "trueness" of the deck and head surfaces. I am not using an mls gasket, so I am not as concerned with the exact specsof the surfaces as someone who would be using an mls. I see know signs of visible damage to the heads or to the deck so I will check them and proceed with the next step in the process.

TNRabbit

I felt the same way when I rebuilt mine; PERFECTLY razor flat & still blew another gasket in 8k miles.....

Kiely

With new head bolts?

TNRabbit

Engnbldr's 10.9 grade bolts. I was METICULOUS.

4x4poorblazer

I do not want to do the heads and have an issue re assembling the valvetrain

TNRabbit

You don't have to remove the valves to resurface the head. Cam comes off anyway when you remove the head. Just pull the valve lifters/shims & keep them in order.

4x4poorblazer

Can I have them surfaced with the cam in and then remove the cam and bolt it to block with the "pucks" still in the head?

4x4poorblazer

>>>... and is it possible to have them surfaced with the exhaust manifolds still attached?

I'm not sure if the ENGNBLDR kit comes with the exhaust gaskets and would personally prefer to avoid removing them from the heads if at all possible.

And is it better for me to mount the plenum and intake before I put the engine in the truck, or should I re-use the intake pieces off of the engine that is still in the truck?

How do you guys generally mark the lines etc. prior to removing the engine from the vehicle.. I was thinking about using some different colored sticky dots, or paint pens to mark the lines and where they come from and go to..