What are the chances it'll run?
 

I've had a '91 yota 4x4 sr5 for about 2 years now and I'm finally getting around to getting it back on the road. The guy I bought it from said he thought it had a blown head gasket, so I knew I had work to do. I put in some of the sodium silicate to stop it up and did a lot of other work to it along the way. I drove it like that for a few months before the HG blew again and it blew all the water out again. I parked it after that and only cranked it up about once a month since then and only drove around the block.

Where do I start? I bought the truck for $1800. knowing it had problems. I didn't know how many problems. But I was able to drive it home. The truck had a 4" suspension lift and a 3" body lift when I got it. I didn't like the body lift so I took it off. I had to get new tires (33x12.50x15 buckshot mudders). Instead of the 35" tires it had (they were bald anyway). As I took the interior apart I found lots of the fasteners missing and some really shoddy wiring. I rewired everything that looked questionable. I repacked the front bearings and hubs. I changed all the fluids. changed the ball joints and tierod ends. Put new brakes and rotors on it. I also changed the dash cluster to the kind with a tach. And lots of other projects that I can't recall right now.

So this week I finally decided to do the HG job. I pulled all the junk off the front of the engine and removed the head and intake. I'm going to take it to a machine shop in the hopes I can reuse this head. The shop said they'll do the work for $150 and I'll get my head back machined and cleaned and tested and with a valve job. Also a cam regrind. I'm going to order the engine gasket kit from engine builder and the shop said they could sell me the shim if I needed one.

Since I used the stop leak I knew I would also need a new radiator. The old one got really plugged up. I had a new heater core from a wrecked truck that I got a lot of my fasteners and shift boot and cup holder and a/c fan resistor from. So today I took the whole interior apart to replace the core. I got it all done and back together in about 4 hours. Now I need to find a place to buy a good 3 row radiator and a fan shroud. I'm also going to put on a new water pump and oil pump. I already have a new metal guide timing set and cover. I'm also going to replace the belts and hoses while I'm at it.

So, after all that, What I'm wondering is. What is the likelyhood of me getting this thing back on the road and getting lots of miles from the motor. I'm pretty sure the bottom end is fair right now since it didn't smoke and didn't rattle or nock. Although I did have to get a wire brush to it to remove the stop leak from the passages.

What I want this truck for is the occasional trip to work and a weekend trip to the woods or mudbogs. It won't replace my 07 Double Cab Taco 4x4 as my DD, but it will keep it out of the woods.

the stop leak always does more bad than good. just make sure the pistons and cylinders arent too scored and if everything is done right itll be a good truck.

i'm guessin its a 22re. what year and how many miles on it? oh and make sure there is no timing chain slap too.

You should post pictures of the coolant passages to show would be users what stop leak really does to your engine.

I wish I had taken pictures before I scrubbed it all out. It seemed to only stick to the aluminum parts and was really caked around the passages where the head meets the block. There were no signs in the water pump or the timing cover. But, I did find a broken plastic timing guide and a lot of scoring in the cover. But that won't matter as I'm replacing it anyway.

I also had zero scoring in the cylinders and not even a lip at the top. It's a '91 and I have no idea how many miles it has since I changed the cluster and the speedo gear on the tranny end was wiped smooth when I got it.

Update:

I took the head to the machine shop yesterday. The guy I dropped it off with said it would be no problem to get the head back right. He said the head had very little warpage and no cracks and still had plenty of room to machine it down. He showed me the groove in the head that tells how much can be removed. He also said that he has brought back heads with a lot more damage than mine. I tend to trust him since he said hes been doing it for 15 years. I would think if he sucked at it,it would be known by now.

They told me after the fact that the total cost would be $230.24 with all the work (2 valves and seats had to be replaced) and all the gaskets to put the top end together and the taxes. That doesn't seem like too much to me if I can get 50 - 60 thousand miles out of it.

How will I know if I need an adjustable timing gear? Where do I get one from?