I don't contribute much to this site, but after a few years of running Thorley Headers on my 93 3VZE I thought I would give a short review for others thinking about trying these.

I basically copied the exact exhaust build from this thread: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...xhaust-192629/

The hardest part of this mod was pulling the old exhaust manifolds off. On the drivers side, getting the crossover pipe cut off was a pain and on the passenger side I ended up breaking a refrigerant line when prying off the manifold.

Putting the headers on was fairly simple and straight forward. I only installed the actual headers and Y pipe and had my mechanic shop finish the rest of the exhaust for me.

Two main reasons prompted me into doing this mod. First, as everyone is well aware, the 3VZE needs every bit of performance it can muster. Second, I wanted to prevent any future head gasket issues by allowing the heat to flow away better.

After about 3 years of running these headers here are my pros/cons.

Pro:
-Even on 32s I am able to accelerate on par with an average family car
-I can go from 65 to 90 without having to downshift out of 5th gear
-Maintaining 75mph is no longer a challenge
-my 4Runner sounds great
-I get a lot of nice compliments when people see the tubes through the front wheel wells


Con:
-my drivers side header is starting to lose some of the ceramic coating


Bottom line:

I highly recommend every 3VZE driver to seriously consider this mod. It will give the engine that little extra power that it needs along with the potential longevity benefits for the HG issue. It won't turn your 3.0 into the 3.4 or a V8, but it will make it satisfyingly faster when accelerating and commuting.

I believe I spent just under $1300 in parts and labor with about 10 hours of my own time spent cutting, prying, and wrenching. I know some of you can do it cheaper as you won't have to pay a mechanic to button up the remainder of your exhaust.

 

Good to hear, i have the same setup and very similar results as you. My biggest con is that both headers ceramic coating is coming off after 3-4 years pretty severely. I started noticing it about 1 year after. Not sure what to do about it at this point, would need to wait for a good reason to pull the engine i think and i guess just remove it along with the rust that is forming and try to coat it with something else.

 

I'm doing some research into how to properly remove the rust and preserve the headers.

So far I have heard to remove the rust with Naval Jelly and then recoat the headers with some Eastwood High Temp Coating.

http://www.eastwood.com/silver-hi-temp-coating.html

 

That's great guys but can I get these in Alberta??? I'd love a pair!