hgill

I intend to take off the cylinder heads on my 1990 Toyota 3.0 V6 for HG replacement by following the FSM. I wanted to know what tools do I need as the bare-minimum to do this project. So I can be prepared before taking stuff apart and buy the tools I need.

If someone has could list the wrench size's, torque wrench type and any other tool I might need at the minimum to do this.

Rocketwrencher

I am presently doing the head gasket on my 95. Just have a good set of metic sockets and wrenches. 3/8 drive 6 point is good for most of the bolts and nuts. The sizes you will use most are 12 and 14, but you will need 10, 17, and I believe the crank bolt is a 19. You will need a 1/2" drive socket, ratchet(or breaker bar) and a cheater bar for the crank bolt and the cam pully bolts. As far as the head bolts go, that is where I am at now and I have been told to use a 3/8" drive 12 point thin wall impact socket. I will be picking one up today so I will let you know if it works. If you have a digital camera, take pics of everything you disconnect or onbolt. It will make reassembly a lot easier. As far as torque wrenches go, I have been told that the old style pointer types are the most accurate and consistant, but I work in the areospace industry(as if my moniker wasnt a clue) and we use clickers or dials all the time to reach military torque specs. I will probably be using a combination of all three depending on access restrictions. If you have a 1/2" impact, that really makes the cam bolts and crankshaft bolt easy. Good luck.

scope103

To remove the camshaft pulleys you will need a 27mm (or a 1 1/8") open-end wrench. Huh? There is a "special service tool" to hold the pulleys against the torque on the bolt, but once you remove the valve covers you can see a 27mm flat on the cam shaft. You can use that instead. You might need to cut a 2x4 to make a brace to hold the 27mm wrench while you pull on the cam bolt. (Don't try to "brace" the wrench against the soft aluminum head!)

The bolts holding the exhaust cross-over (behind the engine) are difficult to reach, and will be a lot easier if you have a flex-head 3/8" drive ratchet (better yet, one with a "bent" handle).

And you will probably need a box of extensions to reach all the exhaust bolts. Many of us have ended up flat on our backs threading a 3' long extension (an 18", a 12", a 6", ... you get the idea) from under the transmission forward to the bolt or nut.

I used a hot air gun to warm the "rubber" hoses; it makes them much easier to remove (and reinstall). No hotter than hand-hot; some of those hoses have gasoline in them.

Get something to store all the nuts, bolts, and small parts. I prefer empty yogurt cups.

You don't need to remove the crank pulley for a head removal, but you do to replace the timing belt, which you should do while you're in there. There are lots of very clever ideas on this forum about how to stabilize the crank against the 182 ftlbs of torque needed to tighten the bolt (and so more to loosen it); just search for them. Many require home-fabricated tools.