cambob

Well decided to make a build thread so hopefully I can show off a shiny new engine at the end Really though, I'm probably going to need help and advice multiple times along the way, so I'll ask any questions here and hope someone answers. Oh and there will be pictures too!

Last weekend I got the engine torn down to the block. Today I pulled The block. I figured it would take a couple hours. Now it's dark and I've been at it all day. I spent about 3 hours trying to outsmart the top two bellhousing bolts. The rest was cake. Also found out bugs1961's Crankshaft removal tool is also great to remove the flywheel bolts. One of the best investments I've made on these trucks. It is truely multi-purpose.

More to come tomorrow when I really tear the block down and lots of cleaning...

cambob

Got the block stripped out today and started cleaning it up. Was surprised at how fast it came apart. I think it was about an hour, probably less. Off to the machinist sometime this coming week. This is my first dive into a "real" engine. All my previous experience is with small engines, lawn mowers, motorcycles, etc. So far its been pretty easy to handle. I did things the right way and labeled all the wires, vacuum lines and I have about 50 baggies with bolts in them. That took almost a full day, but I know it will save me a lot of headache later.

So, here's the truck this came out of. Good little rig, 175k on it. Best of all, I was averaging 21 mpg mixed driving. Never got a chance to put a full tank through it straight highway, but if its anything like my runner I'd expect to see a 5 mpg or so gain. Barely any rust and it just got brand new suspension. New leafs, shocks, ball joints, tie rods. Only put about 500 miles on them before it started knocking I figure once the engine is done, there's not much else that can go bad.



Used a big strap to hold the transmission in place during the rebuild. I have a very small driveway and have to move rigs around to work on them, so a jack stand under there wasn't an option.



After battling the top bell housing bolts all day, success finally! Couldn't have asked for it to be easier to separate the engine from the trans. Just took a few pries with a screwdriver and it was off.

cambob

The seal on the input shaft looks good, no leaks on first inspection. I might just leave that stuff alone and deal with it when the time comes. Looks like lots of dust in there from the clutch pad. Some oil at the bottom of the bell housing, but the rear main was seeping a little.



Big oily mess on the stand finally. Looks a lot better now after I cleaned it up. Theres a sensor (knock sensor I'm pretty sure) on there that I still can't get off. Cleaned real well around and soaked it with some PB Blaster and CLP. Any tips? Or just keep wrenching? Can't get the block heater out either. That sucker is corroded on. Also, how, or do I even remove the oil dipstick?



Cylinders don't look too bad. No major gouges or anything like that. A little glazed, but you can still see the crosshatching and my greasy fingerprints.

cambob

Pistons and rods all lined up and ready to be disassembled. Did notice that number three and four seemed really loose on the rods. One and two had a pretty tight fit.



All the rod bearings look like this. I took a picture of number four, since it seemed worse than the others. Not really sure what was knocking. I'm hoping the machinist might have a little more insight to satisfy my curiosity.



The mains actually looked a little worse than the rod bearings. Big flat areas of wear. This is the number five main cap, which was by far the worst. The knocking was accompanied by lots of vibration. I'm not really sure if it was a main or a rod bearing, but seeing that the mains look worse, I'm starting to suspect that.



To my untrained eye, the crank looks to be in pretty good shape. I wasn't sure if its normal or not, but the big, lobes of the crank have some wear marks on them. The journals look pretty good. The camshaft had obvious flat spots on it, but this doesn't. Here's to hoping that it doesn't have to be reground so I can save some $$$



When I dropped the pan awhile ago to check on the bearings, there was the notorious plastic timing guide mess in there. Supposedly the chain had been done two POs before me around 100k. When I did it 3k ago, the guides were intact and oil pressure read good on the gauge, so I didn't drop the pan. Looking back that was a mistake. I'm thinking there was some oil starvation going on, but the damage had likely already been done many thousands of miles before I bought it. I keep telling myself all it would have done was extend the life a little. Oh well.

Just for good measure, I had to include my helpers, Atlas and Kona. You'd think with their limitless energy they could help with the heavy lifting

cambob

So now, I've got a few questions.
1. Can you just replace the friction disc for the clutch, or do I need a new housing too? Not really sure what to look for damage-wise on that.

2. I'm having the block hot tanked and I was wondering if the process removes the paint from the block too?

3. Will a header on this engine be a good investment? The stock manifold looks fine, but I wasn't sure if I'd see a performance gain on a 22re.

4. Going to get a new head from engnbldr. I've been reading around on his different cams. I'm really torn on whether or not to go stock or try one of the others. This truck is a commuter about 20 miles round trip each day, but its also a mountain road/hunting rig. I climb some pretty steep switchbacks and I had noticed that the engine worked really hard to get up them. In comparison, the 3.0 runner climbs right up them without breaking a sweat. Would a stock cam work fine for me, or should I consider the rv or off-road one? I'm not going to go oversized on the valves or anything. My pocket book will not allow it.

5. I obviously need new head bolts since I used them to pull the block. Are engnbldr's head bolts fine? I've heard ARP recommended a lot but they are pricey, how do Toyota head bolts compare in price, I can't seem to find any for sale online.

Thats all for now until it hits the machine shop. Going to package up the injectors to go to WitchHunter also. Ordering parts as soon as I know if its getting bored/crank reground/whatnot.
The short list so far is:
New engnbldr head, cam still undecided
Engnbldr master rebuild kit
Might use different rings than engnbldr's. I've read some people have problems with them. Its going to depend on the machinists comfort level. He had suggested rings from ITM (I think?) on the phone, but I didn't inquire about them too much.
Toyota head gasket
New head bolts of undecided brand
New friction disc and maybe new housing, going to go with Aisin on that one, new slave and master too since those looked like crap