The smell is always the worst part. lmao

 

Well between work, family, other commitments not to mention battling the weather the past few weekends.



The heads are finally off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





The block seems to be in good shape and so do the heads. The gasket blew at the number one cylinder but I couldn't see any major problems there besides some gunk in some of the ports . I did find that the exhaust valve on the number 6 cylinder was cracked. I plan on dropping them at a machine shop this week to have them surfaced and the valve fixed. Hopefully I can start getting them back together next weekend.

Heres a few more pics

Right side head and block.





Left side head and block





A close up of the # 6 cracked valve.



Close up of the # 1 cylinder



Interesting thing I found. Toyota did the gaskets back in the late 90's as part of the recall and it looks like they forgot an exhaiust manifold bolt at the # 6 cylinder.



Any sugestions for cleaning the pistons? Or is there anything I'm missing in the pics?

Thanks guys.

 

great job on the details of this thread. Im getting ready to do this on my truck over Christmas break. Keep up the good work. I wil be checking in before long.

 

Thanks! I'm hoping to be finished up around Christmas but at the rate I'm going you might be done before me. lol I'm far from a pro but let me know if you need anything.

 

Be very careful not to scratch or score the piston heads. You can clean off carbon with a paint scraper or a smooth flat edge.


I don't ever want to crack open my engine... I know there's issues down there but I cover it up with performance mods to mask it's inherent issues I know I've got terrible carbon buildup and perhaps valve issues...