Its done; substitute a fork.

 

Where is the rest of the gasket?
This is what an intact head gasket looks like.

 

When I posted the picture I tried to show how we found it. I mentioned that I thought part of it was missing and hoping someone had some insite into why the ends seem to be broken off some how. The picture is how we found it!! Don't know where the rest is. It's not still attached to the head! He had to go back to work until next week when he has two days off again and can pull the oil pan. We are at a loss as to how the end is missing. So many things just aren't how they should be and what is crazy, he's owned this truck for almost 19 years and has never had problems with it and never taken a lot of these things apart or replaced them. Now when he does, they aren't how they should be!! Sure will be glad when I can buy everyone a beer and announce that it started and he drove it around the block and no problems. Maybe one day!! Optimist or pessimist.............

 

The part of the gasket that is missing is the timing cover part. It is probably still stuck to the timing cover. I noticed the spark plugs were still in the head. FYI Most people remove the plugs before removing the head in order to minimize any damage to the spark plugs. As several people noted earlier on this thread, the crankshaft/camshaft timing was off causing the damage to the valves. Please make sure the timing is dead on before trying to start the engine or you will have the same problem all over again. I would recommend getting a 12mmX1.25 thread chaser, not a tap, and cleaning out all the head bolt holes with the thread chaser before reassembly. Also be sure to follow the FSM head bolt torque sequence starting in the middle of the head and working out to the ends to properly seat the head. The silver lining to this is that your husband will have a very intimate and detailed knowledge of how his truck works when this is all over. Be sure to post pics of his smiling face when he drives this truck again.

 

It went out the exhaust port or put a hole in the piston, no place else for it to go. No reason the pull the pan. Just the two front bolts for the front cover, no more.

 

I'll try to get that picture for you but in the meantime, the face and the language if posted might get me banned!! LOL I'm sure he will know a whole lot about it after this, for sure. I know I am sure learning a lot, too!! I told him to make notes in his manual, do some circling of paragraphs, underlining sentences and if I have enough ink, I might print out all of this and let him put it in his book, too. All you guys have all been a very big help and I really appreciate all the time you have taken to share your experiences, your knowledge, your expert advice and your explanations. Thank you isn't enough but Thank you!

 

The missing gasket went out the exhaust port!!! Put a hole in the piston!!! Those darn pistons are too fragile for the amount of work needed to run a vehicle. They need to be tougher!!! So he doesn't need to pull the oil pan? Two front bolts for the front cover of the timing chain cover? I have a bet going......I'm going to insist he remove the timing chain and lay it out so I can see if there is a blue link. I think there is and I think it's on inside-outside-upside down!! He says there is no blue link. Does it hurt anything for it to be backwards with the blue link, if there is one, facing the engine instead of facing the radiator? Will it cause a problem being that way? Thank you so much for sticking with us, Skypilot. You have helped a lot and have taught us a lot. Thank you so much!!

 

Has anyone bought from these people? They are close and have what I think we need so just wanted to know if anyone has experience with them. Thanx

http://www.toyotatruckengine.com/sea..._query_adv=%22[1985]%22+and+%22[Toyota]%22+and+%22[Truck]%22+and+%22[4Cylinder]%22&searchsubs=ON&featured=&shipping=

 

Actually those pistons are tough as nails. When I blew mine up at 328k the only thing holding the rod in was the piston. the engine block had a hole as big as your fist, and you finger could slide inside the starter.

I agree lay the chain out, there are two colored links one goes on the crank gear and the other on the cam gear, when the #1 piston is at TDC. Sounds easy but rest assured its difficult to get right. The whole purpose of the blue links is to time these two distant shafts so they rotate in sync when you assemble the engine.

I hope to get mine in next week, this Monte is eating my lunch. You are most welcome!

 

I'm pretty sure Skypilot was referring to a part of the valve going out the exhaust or getting embedded in the top of a piston, not the missing piece of the head gasket. It is hard to tell from the pictures if part of a valve was missing or not.
It really doesn't matter which way the colored links go. There is no inside or outside per se, they are there to help get the timing marks on the crankshaft and camshaft lined up properly. That is the most critical part of this whole job, getting the crank/cam timing dead on with the engine at TDC on # 1 piston. This engine is what is known as an interference engine. That means there is not enough clearance between the pistons and the valves to keep the valves from hitting the top of the pistons if the cam/crank timing is not right. That is why you have bent valves now. For some reason, the cam/crank timing was not dead on when your husband replaced the timing chain the first time.

 

Wrong side:

 

Right side:

 

The noise you guys heard was him yelling because I insisted the blue link was on the inside and he took the whole timing chain cover off including gasket (4th time removing gasket) and he removed the timing chain, made me take a picture of it and told me to ask y'all: "Now, where is the blue link!!" ........... Well, guess I'll be eating fried water and liquid rice for dinner tonight!!! I stand corrected. My mistake. I'm sorry!

 

they're not blue, look light gray in your picture. One should line up with the timing mark on the crankshaft and the other with the timing mark on the cam.

 

Ok, we are ready to start the next chapter in our saga to get the old guy running again. We ordered a head and gasket kit and now can we come eat dinner with y'all since we can't afford groceries!! LOLOL JOKING!!
This first picture is of the timing chain returned back to it's little place. Nothing is bolted down yet. Just a piece of wood holding it upright. Silver metal line it centered over the 'dot' and will be checked again when the head is installed.

 

This picture shows the top of the block. The two bolt holes he has his fingers over each contain oil. None of the rest have oil in them. Just these two. He said to tell you that they are the middle bolt holes.

 

This picture is just an FYI. This is the top of the block and the pistons. If you look between 3 and 4 o'clock you will see a feeler gauge. It easily slips between the piston and the wall. The reading is .018. Looking it up in the manual, it's ok. YAY!!! Something is right!! Oh, I'm suppose to tell you he found a little tiny piece of the head gasket (the one shown above showing part of it missing) about 1"X1/2" stuck near the new timing chain. Wasn't interfering with anything so my guess, it fell off when he removed the head.

 

Don't like to be the bearer of unpleasant news, but if that feeler is .018 inch, as it appears to be, your engines cylinders and pistons show very substantial wear.

The clearance to be desired when rebuilding is .052-.072 mm

This equals .002- to near .003 inch clearance; your .018 is more than 6 times this clearance.

.018 in = .460 mm

This is not to say that your engine will not run like this, but it is likely ready for a more complete overhaul than just the top end.

 

I don't see the gray colored link in the picture of the cam gear and chain. It has been a while since I had one of these engines apart, but I am pretty sure one of those grey links should be near 12:00 o'clock on the cam gear and the other should be at 6:00 o'clock on the crankshaft gear.
Help me out here guys, isn't that correct?
Also, the cylinder walls look awful shiny to me. If I was doing this, I would pull the oil pan, remove the pistons,hone the cylinders and replace the rings and rod & main bearings. You are only looking at maybe a couple of hundred dollars for all the parts to go ahead and do a complete in-frame rebuild on the engine.

 

OH NO!!! We didn't need to hear that!! We have drained the bank and short of refinancing the house we are screwed then. Can we just go ahead with a new head or what will happen now? We don't want to break something or drive 5 miles and have to start all over and possibly have to buy all this stuff over again. Is there anything we can spray into the piston cylinders to possibly take up the very, very fine space to make it fall within the correct range? What would you guys do? Remember, we are now at the bottom of the budget after getting this head and gasket kit. Thank you for your input, Millball.....