I have an 88 truck with a 3.0 v6 and was intrested in starting to build one up but is there a difference between the blocks and heads from 1988 and the later years that were plauged with HG failures? From what I understand the 89 and up 3.0 had problems because of the material which was used in the gasket (non aspestos?)

 

They all had headgasket problems, the motors after late 89 were slightly better (misc little things changed) AFAIK 88s and 89s should be the same, you run into probs with timing belt stuff between pre and post 92 along with some head stuff but 88 and 89 should be ok

 

actually i have spoke to toyota to check the TSB's on my truck and they informed me that the 88 was not covered under the HG recall because they were not having problems with those motors. I currently have 220k on mine and have 0 problems but who knows, they might have been replaced long before but when I bought the truck, the crazy lady that had it before me threw away all recipts for the truck.

 

hmm dunno mine hadn't had the recall done at 360k when I took off the heads for the first time and its a post 89

 

The 88 and 89 blocks are different and require different motor mounts and ac compressor mounts. The change in 89 was due to a rare occurence of cracked blocks. If you have a choice, do not build an 88 motor.

 

well, if i went with a later block I would have to get new brackets and motor mounts. Will the mounts just bolt in place?

 

You have to use the right mounts/brackets for the year. They will bolt up.