thook

Yep...me too!

Has anyone got good suggestions on cleaning the grease off everything? I'm reluctant to use anything that would require the use of rinse water. It will be chilly outside and I hate getting wet when it is. It's doable, but I'd still rather not.

Also, what's good to use for things like alternators, a/c compressors, etc. so as not to kill the electrics? I've got grease all over, mates. Probably from the timing cover and/or distributor. Hard to tell, but certainly will be remedied.

And paint? I'd like to paint the block, valve cover, plenum, brackets, blah blah, etc., etc. The outside temps won't be much above 60...mostly in the 50's. So, I don't know how well it will work trying to paint, but I'd like to try.

TNRabbit

I used NAPA high heat engine paint, silver. Looks good. Left the plugs the purty brass color!

thook

What'd you use to degrease it? And the alternator, etc....if you did?

pete f

I had to move your thread up to the top of the list. They always say "no news is good news". How's it going ?

nate V

Brake cleaner...maybe but that could get expensive
Personaly I would just gunk!! this stuff is awsome and i have alsway used on it to de-grease my engines. Unfortunatly you will need to use water to clean it off. which i know you dont want to use. but never had any issues with it screwing up the electrics.

TNRabbit

I used brake cleaner and just good 'ol gasoline after that. Get a couple of those steel drill brushes (the ones that look like three pieces of rope twisted together) from Sears to brush the hell out of it while the goop is on there. You need to have the engine OUT to do this....I highly recommend it. I got a 2 ton engine hoist from Norther Tool for only $129.00. Shipping would have been crazy, though, so I drove about an hour and a half to pick it up in Richmond, VA. Do you have a Norther Tool within driving distance?

thook

Lol....thanks, Pete. What are online friends for?

It's going fine. Just been trying to stay warm. I've not made any more progress on the '86, though. I've got some tools (renting) and supplies (paint) to fetch after work today. Plus, I'm hoping my friend will have the head dropped off at mi casa while I'm at work. Very exciting..... By Tues. I should be back in the swing of it and get the bottom end all squared away. The injectors will be the hold up (if not rain) this week. I've not been able to make it by the post office to mail them. Definitely tomorrow! There will still be plenty to do until they come back, I think.



I'll use brake cleaner for certain things, but I think I may have some gunk in my shop buried somewhere. Although, last summer I bought some "B-52" degreaser, but I've not really had the opportunity to put it to good use. It would require water too, but I'd actually been figuring I wasn't going to get around that anyway. Oh well! I'll wear my rubber suit....ha! Actually, if the sun stays out I'll survive.

BTW, have of any of you heard of or used the B-52 stuff? Doesn't matter....I'm sure it'll all work out. The important thing is I have plenty of coffee on hand.

I've got one of those steel brushes......somewhere. Probably hiding with the gunk....

I'll have the engine out when I clean it up. The shop guys will use their tow truck to pull it and I can put the motor on one of their stands. No Northern Tool around here, though. Just Harbor Freight.

Gary, how much paint did you need to paint the block? I'm figuring a pint oughta do it?

TNRabbit

I used spray paint, I think two cans did it.

thook

Thanks, TN.

Looked at the selections last night and after determining how much I'd need to do what I need, the cost is outweighing the worthiness factor. For some reason I thought I'd be able to get regular cans and not just spray cans. Regular cans of paint...whatever kind....seem to be always be more economical. Oh well...it wasn't important.

I think I'll just clean it up and be good to go.

pete f

Hey Matthew,
How's it going? I was at work for four days and I need a progress report. We just got hit by a freezing rain storm and I know it was down your way two days ago. So lets move this back to the top of the list.

thook

Lol....okay, let's do that. At the same time we can boost our post count!!!! Ha!

I got the head back several days ago. I was worried at first because it was obvious they had used one used valve to rebuild the head. It was beyond me why they would do that when I had the understanding I was getting all new valves and paying for that. However, they only charged me $130. Well, I was confused and a bit disappointed afraid I was being ripped.

So, I took the head down to Don Clark for an expert eye and after I showed it to him and told him what they'd charged, he was positively amazed!.....as opposed to negatively, that is. He looked the head over thoroughly and his expert opinion is that the rebuild....including the used valve (Toyota OEM no less).....was top notch work. One might shirk at that notion, but he explained a used valve is just as good as a new one if nothing had to be done to it. Even if it was minimally reconditioned....which is looking like the case.

They thoroughly cleaned the head, replaced all the seals and bushings, all the valves.....7 being brand new, even the retainer rings on the tappets, welded/reinforced the indent in the middle/front side of the head....a weak spot prone to cracking during a severe overheat or blown headgasket, repaired the buggered #4 plug threads with an insert, repaired a broken exhaust stud, not to mention the detail they went into when grinding the tappets, and so on. Doesn't mean much considering much of this is standard procedure for a head rebuild, but for $130!?? Don went into how much labor is involved in doing what was done plus the cost of all the little parts that go into it and it puts it all into perspective. Considering the price for all this, it would mean I was not charged for the used valve or the "little" repairs and reinforcement that was done. Basically just icing on the cake. Plus, they went easy with me on the labor charge. He said (bear in mind Don is a tad on the expensive side) he would have charged atleast $400 for this kind of work. Why they seemingly went "easy" on me, I don't know. All I can figure is they are good folks and good friends with Don. He's been doing a lot of business with them since the 50's. I don't ask.....just smile and go on.

Maybe you'd have to see some pics to really understand. I can do that, I suppose, if I can my wife to help with the camera upload thing. (I don't know anything about how to do that.....lol.) But, anyway, I'm jazzed because I trust Don's knowledge about the subject. If he says it's good, it probably is! And the head is back and I can get on with the rest of the rebuild since the upcoming week is going to be warmer. We had snow the past couple of days that almost all melted off finally.

So, that's really the only thing to report. Nothing terribly exciting. Motor comes out this week. Rings, honing, etc. Then, it's reassembly time.

pete f

Sounds like you stepped in s*&*.

thook

I'm guessing you mean the snow we just had. You could say that, I suppose. It was very beautiful, though.

Speaking of snow....guess what? I was in the process of working on the '92 and it started dumping freezing rain....which evolved into slush...which finally evolved into snow. So, guess what brilliant idea I came up with?




p.s. You'll never guess.

pete f

The old plastic sled trick I bet lol

thook

Nay, matey. I used the ol' tent over the truck trick! Ha! Try that saying that real fast three times.

I have a tent fly that's become divorced from it's tent somehow. Who knows where the tent is, but the fly sure came in handy. Stayed bone dry. It was still a tad chilly, though. Burr!

thook

Pulled the motor Thurs. Since the weather was so lovely.... , the shop owner/friend let me put the motor on one of their stands IN the shop. Way cool.... Out of the elements.

The crank bolt was on so tight, we had to put a torch to it. Charred the front seal, but I have a new front end going in, anyway.

Timing assembly inspection......
The driver's side guide rail had a one inch +/- section broken right out of the middle of it. (Don't ask how I didn't see that before!! Maybe the tint on my rose colored glasses is a tad dark?) The odd thing is, there were no marks on the rail from chain wear. The pieces (two big ones) were, of course, down in the front of the cover and oil pan......along with the shards of aluminum where the chain apparently snapped (remember that metal, clinking sound I heard in the beginning?) and shattered the little crescent shaped protrusion from the back of the oil pump area. That, along with all the broken guide pieces and timing cover shavings from the first chain that ate through the guide and into the cover!!!!! I pulled close to two cups of shrapnel from the pan and off the oil pick up strainer.

The tensioner was a wreck. About 1/3 eaten through....big, gaping grooves.... and cracked almost all the way through. I'm guessing it's the original tensioner from before the TC replacement I had someone do when I bought the runner. Why? Because it says "Japan" on it.... I'm going to actually some pics, though, so I can get more experienced eyes on this judgement. It wouldn't surprise me if it was the OEM original. The guy didn't replace the front main seal, either......which wound up having to be done a few years later when all my motor oil came spewing out into a big water hole in my road. Looked like a mini Exxon mishap.

Let's see....what else? The crank sprocket looks fairly good, but cam gear has some definite wear on it. Visually inspected the crankcase, cylinders, pistons, crankshaft, and atleast one rod bearing set. So far, virtually no wear to speak of. I mean, of course, there has to be some, but it's not apparent with the eyes and fingernails. The bearing surface is still metallic in color.....no brass or absrasions. I didn't even have to ream the cylinders; no ridge...just has some light glazing. Pulled the bearing cap off the #1 piston and the piston just glided right out nice and smooth. I'm going to pick up some plastiguage today and try to get my hands on a micrometer so I can get more technical with all. I'm pretty sure I won't need to replace the bearings, but I want to be %100.

Speaking of which, any good suggestions on bearings? Engnbldr and/or Toyota, of course, but what about locals like NAPA or O'Reilly? Brands?....not just retailers....to look for?

TORTIS

iTrader: (1)

are you having the crank turned, or polished?

thook

I haven't checked the oil clearances yet, but so far it doesn't look like I'll need to....have the crank turned, that is. In fact, I may not even need new bearings. I have to check the piston pins for damage from the impact with the valves, but if that checks okay the new rings may be all I need.

I talked with the head tech down at Toyota today and he gave me the run down of things to look for due to lack of all the little SST's. Piston pin damage and certain wear patterns on bearings and journals being a couple. I'll know more Tues, though.

Here's what I think happened with the timing chain.....
I know without a doubt the crank/chain/cam assembly was still turning after the break down. I watched it all with the valve cover off. But, I believe the link that broke had not completely come apart until we were trying to get the crankbolt out. I just don't see any other way because the assembly WAS STILL TURNING by hand and the chain did not drop off the cam gear. I think there was just enough little chunks eaten off the tensioner that it was barely keeping the chain tight and the little crescent shape piece I mentioned was getting worn from the slack. So, when I went to start her up that day, the link was just coming apart from abrasion, the tensioner had worn to enough of a point the chain slapped the guide, pieces fell down, the crescent piece broke, the chain jumped, and kaboom! I guess it doesn't really matter how it all happened because it just did and now I have to fix it, but I kinda like to try and figure out how it did. I may be wrong, but I'm going to blame that tensioner. I really gotta get a pic. It's nasty lookin'.....

thook

BTW, read this on polishing the crank. Mine won't need it.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/cpolish.htm

Forgot to mention, my injectors came back yesterday. Mr. Injector does outstanding work. They look brand new! and from the time I sent them, I had them back within a week. He really puts a lot of care into even just packaging them to return to the customer.....complete with two Jolly Ranchers!!!

The flow charts showed the spray pattern and flow rate on #2 was good, #1 and #3 were fair, and #4 was bad. Afterwards, they're all running %100 like new. I'm very pleased. This raises a question, though. Does anyone know anything about a procedure for the ECM to "relearn" the new injectors?

TNRabbit

Matthew: the ECU will relearn over the course of the next few hours of driving as you reset it when you disconnected the battery. Congrats on your success thus far!