vmax84

I"m in need of a 4 cylinder head for my 89 4runner. I"m considering taking it down to my local shop, but am also considering purchasing one outright. I will also need the camshaft.

So my question still stands....where would you purchase your next 4 cylinder head from with cam and why? I only want to do this once, so I want to purchase a decent head. Ebay, Toyota head specialists, local machine shop, where?

Thanks for your help.

vmax84

vmax84

I did notice there's a company on ebay called "Cylinder Heads Internationl". Anybody purchase from them? Are the heads made in China? I want a quality head, not one made in China. Remember, I only want to go thru this once!!

vmax84

mtrdrms

If it were me, I would buy the head from a donor truck at the junk yard and take it to a reputable machine shop and have them check it for cracks or any other issues and then rebuild it. However I would buy the cam new. The only problem with this is, is that if the bottom end is loose this is all in vein. You might just want to have the whole engine rebuilt. I would check pricing and availibility both ways.

Yoda

engine builder sells new casting heads (complete and bare)

Don't know if they are china or not

SlightlyModified

from me. No Just kidding. I do have some used heads though, not really desperate to sell them though. LCEngineering although they aren't cheap. Would probably be cheeper to have the one you've got rebuilt, as long as it isn't cracked, or badly warped. Have you considered a 20r head swap? I did this on my 87 4-runner. Machine shop charged me $50 to mill it since there was soo much to do. Not sure of your location, but I'm in Hamilton, OH and if you want to pull the head off the truck it has about 20 hours on it, along with a timing set, for $90.

vmax84

I do see a lot of them offered on ebay. Prices vary all over the place. You would think this would be a pretty straight forward ordeal, but it seems the more I look into it, the more options there are!!

vmax84

ovrrdrive

Well, I just bought one from ebay from J and C Enterprises based on a recommendation of a friend and even Engnbldr himself said the guy was legit.

I got quotes of $230-260 to get the head redone locally, and saw prices of reman heads on ebay for around $300, and this higher performance head from J and C was $399 including shipping and return core shipping too.

I figured I could use an extra 20-25 hp so i went ahead and got the head from J and C.

Here's the link to the auction I just closed. I'll let you know by this weekend how the head looks.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWN%3AIT

InternetRoadkill

engbldr offers IIRC a bare head for $290 -- $395 with a new set a valves/guides/springs. I would seriously consider this head. It's a new casting and the machine work is first rate. I have had rebuilt heads in the past and they always seem to cause trouble.

vmax84

Well, one thing is for sure.......I only want to do this work once and once only!!! There's a saying that goes, you only pay for quality once. Thanks again.

I have to sit down and figure out exactly what I want to also change out (oil pump, water pump, timing chain stuff, etc.). Would like to get it all done at once.

vmax84

InternetRoadkill

consider the following -- it will save you grief later on and it's not that much money to do:

Water pump,
Oil pump,
Timing chain set w/ metal guides,
Timer chain cover (the water pump corrodes this).

The 22RE block is tough. Really tough. Chances are, it won't need any machining. *But* I would consider having it bored to the next size over and go ahead and put new rings and pistons in it. (At the very least, get it honed and replace the rings.)

Also, have the top of the block 'decked' to insure it's completely flat, especially if you're replacing the head. This will reduce the chances of a blown head gasket later on.

New freeze plugs are a good idea too.

If you want to go all out:

* have the machine shop check the rods for size and straightness.
* get the crank journals checked and resized.
* Boil the block with the freeze plugs out
* Set the ring end gaps (they are notoriously too tight out of the box)
* about a hundred other little things....

Expect to spend about $1600 on a full rebuild (and that's with a new cylinder head). If you go the extra mile, you'll end up with an engine that's in essentially OEM new condition and will last another 200K miles.

vmax84

Whoooooo!! Great info!! Some of you guys must be full blown mechanics. Thanks again.

vmax84

ToyotaGuru

The Pro TopLine Heads are great and can be found on Ebay. However,
If you get the bare castings you will need to transfer all your parts in the new
head. Keepers, Valves, Springs, Shims, Studs, but the good news is all you need
to do is grind the valves.

Don't ever buy it used unless it is off the block so you can check for cracks and erroded water jackets.

engnbldr

>>>*Evening! I just gotta stick my nose in here.

The heads we prefer and supply are cast by Pro-Topline and are from New Zealand. They are new, we don't even try to rebuild core 22RE heads anymore, many have 300,000 miles of heat cycles on them.


I do know the China castings have us pricewise by over $100 now, nothing I can do about that. We did buy one to inspect, they will run. All I care to say, we rejected them.

Still, there is nothing wrong with a good rebuild from someone who knows what they are doing. I did and will suggest J & C Enterprises for a rebuild, he has proven himself to us and we do supply parts to him so he doesn't take shortcuts on quality. We no longer rebuild, new is now much more cost effective for us....*EB

Rather Diesel

Enginblder has a stellar reputation among the Toyota boards. EVERYONE at Pirate 4x4 uses him. He's also got 100% positive feedback on eBay, even with a tremendous number of auctions.

Roy

Elton

i would go with engnbldr

vmax84

Thanks for all the good advice/comments. I will be getting my list of parts together and submitting them to engrbldr. I've had a couple emails with them already and so far, they have been a top notch company to deal with. Thanks again.

vmax84