92toy-I'm right there with you now. Total newbie. After a few days under my hood I'm not sure if I want to thank you for giving me confidence or curse you for getting me into this. Just kidding. Anyway, I'm in deep now, so know that someone out there is sharing your pain. Check it out:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116.../#post51308266

 

Thanks??? No, really, thanks!!!

When I 1st started clicking around on the internet a year ago about a ???blown head gasket, that's how I ended up finding YOTATECH...because I knew, because of the prior head gasket repair that over $1000 to get it fixed was never going to happen, or at least not anytime soon.

Honestly, it's ONLY because of YOTATECH and the threads I've read as well as the input of the members on those threads and the guys on my thread that I ever started tearing into my truck.

Honestly, money is the only prohibitive factor here. Myself, like most everyone else, has very little spare money. Time, I have a good amount of, money is another story. So, while my little project is stalled for lack of money, it's certainly not due to a lack of support from these guys.

I feel confident, I can, and will get this done.

Now, if you have all your preparations made, doing a repair like mine wll cost approx $300 with all new parts (not a head...thats over $300 as far as I can tell).

I've said it before, be realistic. Don't hurry. Work with someone who knows what they are doing, or WORK ALONE!!! I choose to work alone and use YOTATECH as my partner. When I have a question, I ask. When I screw something up, I post it. Take lots of pictures, ask lots of questions.

Most importantly, make a realistic list of things to do and expect to get about half of them that you thought you'd get done that day. Be slow and methodical and understand WHY this bolt goes here and what that thingy does and so on.

I'll post more later, but got to take my son to school.....I wil also read your thread.

 

Well said sir!!!

 

HEY TANX!!!

Here goes more.....

In my brain, I think, if I take it off or touch it, clean it....if it's one of those things (water pump, oil pump), that's a PITA to get at and it's right there in front of you now and you are saying "well that's not broken so why replace it?"...say to yourself...do you really want to be doing this again anytime soon. When I order my stuff from ENGNBLDR it will be the complete timing set / cover and pumps. If I had the $$$$ I would do the 268 cam as well....but we will see. My deadline already passed and it looks like this will carry on into the Spring at least.

I plan on painting what I can to help differentiate different parts....all my stuff (like most everyone else) is a depressing gray / black color and hard to tell what was what. I'm not going to make it look like a box of crayons puked on my engine but I'm going to do some contrasting colors.......and paint adds at least 10HP....so do decals.

So, do I regret ripping my truck apart? Most days, YES. But only because I was not entirely ready money-wise. In the broad scheme of things, this really is not a priority. But I will say, the time I've spent researching, learning, asking questions and pulling stuff apart has opened a new chapter for me as far as what I believe I can do now. The time I've spent with my sons planning, wrenching and scheming has been worth far more than any dollar amount.

You can always throw $2000 at the repair shop and they wil do it up for ya too....but for me, the satisfaction is learning something and saving a good bit of $$$$ while I'm doing it. My son said he wants to go to school to be a mechanic. I told him he could do anything he wants after med school (yeah, he's 13).

Hey, I'm just glad if anyone walks away from this thread with a little bit of confidence........

 

It's working! I don't know if I'm suffering from confidence or stupidity for thinking I can do some of this stuff... but here goes:

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-ideas-200247/

 

I answered you on your thread.

Most things I did I took pics of and posted them so that n the end I will just go backwards and end with a sunflower.


BUMP TO THE TOP.......but it's to cold to work in my garage..so........until warmer times..........

 

Nice build up and great pics, First time I've seen oil that milky!! I like the cardbord box idea it just makes sense!!

 

tanx.......

 

What part of PA are you from? I got relatives in Allentown.

 

We well me anyway from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area, specifically 92 Toy is about a half hour south of me in Shickshinny. Where at in Charleston are you? I spent about 6 months there in Goose Creek at the Navy Nuclear Power Prototype training inside the weapons station. This was before the "A" school and the rest of the nuclear schooling was there.

 

I live about 5 miles from the naval weapons station. Small world!

 

Yeah, Allentown is about 90 minutes south of us, bought our 88 4runner from a guy just outside of Allentown in April.

 

Very beautiful country up there!

 

Thanks....it is. We have 4 distinct seasons here. I understand you guys are getting frozen right now. It's 13 degrees here today......no hat, no gloves, no big deal....just wish we'd get some snow.....if it's gonna be cold, it better snow.

 

It's too damn cold to snow!!!!! lol

 

Then bring on Spring.......cuz this is a waste of time if it's just going to be cold and no snow.

 

We were supposed to get some snow this week in Chas, but it didn't happen. It's been 20 years since I've seen snow that cover the ground here.

 

OH MY GOD I made it to the end of this thread finally! I have been reading this in free time for three days now. I now feel like I am part of an uber-elite club, the "have read the whole 92 Toy buildup thread club".

Congrats on all of your hard work. It is hard to rip into a project like this with little backup, especially as a newbie to wrenching. You have been documenting your progress well, which is especially important if you are just beginning to understand how all the pieces fit together.

Here's some tips that could end up being very important to you:

1) Go to your closest bulk grocery store, and buy a HUGE package of ziplock bags. Every time you remove a part, stick all the bolts in a separate bag, label on the bag with a sharpie as to where they came from. I see you already know the cardboard template trick for the TC cover, so you are already on the right path.

2) Pull the damn motor. I understand you are on a budget, but it doesn't need to be any more expensive to pull the motor as it does to leave it in. I would be willing to bet that you have a friend or two with a cherrypicker and an engine stand kicking about that you can borrow for a while. Here are the reasons why:

Very worst case, get the motor out, yank the oil pan, look inside the crankcase and see if it is rusting. If it is, start setting aside 20 bones per week in a coffee can until you can buy a rebuild kit. If you had started that at the same time as you started this thread, you would probably be getting a Fed-Ex delivery with the parts you need as we speak. If it isn't rusting, give it a light cleaning, cover all the parts with oil, and wrap up the block in oilcloth, canvas, or old towels until you can get it back in. No extra money spent, but a hell of a lot of peace of mind...

Nice job on re-doing your valves while the head was out, btw. I just had the head off on my rig, got in a hurry and bolted it back on without doing that, and have felt guilty every time I walked past my truck for the last two weeks. I swear it is giving me dirty looks...

Good luck and continued success, I will be following this thread now to see how it turns out =)

 

Ahhh, just looked into your son's thread, now I see where all the money and effort are going ;-)

I like your priorities, you are setting your son up with skills and memories that will be invaluable to him for the rest of his life.

My dad got me into wrenching, and bought me my first two trucks, a '52 Chevy 5-window pickup, and the very same '79 Toy limited edition that I am ripping back into now for the first time in 10 years. As a result of his hard work, I developed skills and confidence that have stood me in good stead as an adult, both in wrenching and in everyday life. So I can say with total confidence that your son will benefit from this interaction with you. You will undoubtedly have some fights, but that will not be what he remembers when he looks back on this 15 years from now.

Right on, dad, right on.

 

PUMPKINYOTA....I swear I will write a response, just got home froworking all day getting my butt kicked in the ER. I'm beat.

God bless ya for reading throught the thread. I feel bad for ya. Must have been painful.