I figured this section would be good to start . I purchased this truck from a friend and a member of this forum (StanBo), after it refused to turn over after cranking one morning before work. With just a hair over 110k on it, he had put it up for sale on a forum of his, and went out and bought a brand new Toyota Tacoma. This one here is a 1995 truck, 5spd extended cab 2x4 with no rust.

Seizing my opportunity I bought the truck off of him and got it trailered back to the shop I work for. First prognosis wasn't good...we were hoping for the distributor to have taken a dump but it wasn't spinning when it was cranked. Realizing the chain mustve snapped, I pulled the valve cover and had a look, and my suspicions were confirmed...chain had snapped on the 22RE, taking put the camshaft gear, both guides, the tensioner and the crank sprocket (I would later learn the front cover took a hit too and was missing a few chunks).

So I decided to go all out and overhaul the top end of the motor, and rip the EGR system and secondary air system out of the truck. I got blessed with a California truck, 2 02 sensors, all this emissions bs and such..all that went bye bye lol.

Now I've heard conflicting stories about wether or not this is an interference engine, so I must have lucked out because all my valves were in perfect shape. Changed the valve seals and cleaned the residue from the head (wasn't much btw), fabricated block off plates for the EGR setup and tapped the holes near the header and installed pipe plugs to sit flush. No sense in having hot stagnant gases mingle around in the head, causing higher combustion temps and just keeping temps high without being routed into the intake.

I decided that while I was in there, might as well throw a mild cam in as well...so I inquired at engnbldr and got a 261 cam sent to me...and a whole other list of goodies:

-upper gasket set
-new front cover
-oil pump
-HD timing chain kit
-water pump
-crank sprocket
-camshaft sprocket

I redid the entire front of the engine, using a little bit of my Mercedes Benz black sealant where needed (this stuff blows RTV out of the water, I can't find anything that compares, more on it in a bit), as well as drop the oil pan and clean whats left of the chain and bits out of it. Resealed that as well.

Since Stan had mentioned the AC system gets weak after a year, I just decided to attack that as well while it was on the lift. New AC condenser goes in, along with a receiver/dryer, pressure switch and all new o-rings. Old radiator got ripped out as well and replaced.

Topped her off with oil and coolant, installed a fresh set of plugs and cranked her over once I got oil pressure built up...and she fired immediately . Got the timig adjusted and the valves done as well, and she idles at a steady 900 and quiet as a mouse.

The truck came with a k&n intake setup and an eBay header, and since the exhaust is rotting apart along with the header, I decided to rip it all out and replace it with an OBX header, and build a stainless steel 2.5" exhaust, complete with a new cat, a large resonator and muffler, both free flowing, and v-band clamped to boot! I drive the truck everyday so low noise is priority for me...I also plan to tuck the end of the exhaust up along the side of the bed, kind of leaving it all but invisible to the casual eye.

Next up is replacing the rotted and broken spare tire winch, along with a set of bumpers for the truck. Not sure if I want to keep the stock chrome ones...pictures should be up by tomorrow, I'm currently writing this from my iPad because I fried my computer, and have no access to my external HD with all my pictures on it!!!