Hi,

I bought an 87 4runner with a blown head gasket as a project. I'm thinking that I'll do a full engine rebuild. I'm taking this on as a sort of hobby so I want to do as much of it myself as possible. I also would like to keep machine shop/pro help costs to a minimum.

So, what part of a master rebuild REQUIRES pro help? I'm thinking steps which involve machining, special or very expensive equipment to get it done right and/or very technical tasks that require some measure of artist.

I looked around and didn't find a clearly outlined thread on this. If you know of one please post it.

Thanks

 

Oh yea, I guess part of what I'm asking is, what specific tasks will I ask the Pro to do and about how much should I expect to pay.

 

And, I'll be using the FSM and Haynes as well as this forum and you tube to guide me along the way.

 

One really never knows just what your going to find till it is all tore down.

If this is really a learning experience no pressure no dead lines and you don`t get all bent out of shape when you make mistakes. (stressed out)

You can do every thing but bore the block if needed

all though it is nice to get it hot tanked

With as reasonable as the Engine Builder New Crank kits were I would not mess with cutting a crank and over size bearings . That is a personal thing.

How good of a shape is your head in . It might even be cracked Is it to the point a new one with a cam and oversize valves is in the same price range as the machine work.

Would I recommend doing this no not really !!

At the minimum have the short block assembled at the a Good Machine Shop

Then go from there.

Prices will vary by just what needs to be done .

 

Tear it down and take it in to a machine shop for cleaning and inspection of block, crank, rods and heads. They will give you a recommendation of what is needed and how much it will cost. Then you can decide if buying new parts will be cheaper than fixing what you have.


You will need the correct pistons BEFORE the shop will bore and hone your block. Make sure your timing cover is bolted up if you have the block decked.


My machine shop will press a warped head in an oven to minimize how much needs to be cut off to true up the gasket surface. The cam MUST be installed with this process. If you need guides, valves etc. you may as well buy an Enginebuilder performance head assy.


Many people neglect pulling the rocker assemblies apart for cleaning and inspection. Don't forget to do this.


Pay attention to how the rods go in. There is an oil squirter (hole) that sprays up under the piston.


Get steel timing chain guides and factory head gasket. Buy new head bolts. Chase ALL bolt holes.


If your harmonic balancer has a bad groove worn in the seal contact surface, get a new balancer. They are cheap. Speedy sleeves don't last IMHO.


Get quality parts like engnbldr, take your time, follow the FSM, and makes sure everything is CLEAN.


You can do everything except the machine work. Don't take shortcuts to save a little money. They will cost you more in the long run.


Many people don't deck blocks, replace head bolts or chase bolt holes and get away with it. As notorious as the 22RE is for HG failures why gamble? It's a lot of extra money and labor to do it all over again.

 

I was just chatting with Tod at engnbldr - great guy. Anyway, he advised NOT to deck the block or the head unless absolutely necessary... That is often the reason for head gasket failure, not a compromise of the gasket.. The reason being is the engine was built with the cam as far away from the crank as possible, creating a 1degree difference with every 1/10th inch cut. So, if you redeck both head and block, your cam timing is now 2% off when reset to TDC for the first time. If you must redeck, then an adjustable cam gear is essential, and keep that baby in tune!! He explained the 'etiology' of premature head failures, 60k or so miles post rebuild that was often attributed to a faulty head gasket... apparently not the case. Head gaskets are fine, especially the turbo ones (use these in all applications, they're just better).

 

Thanks for info. New decking block and head would effect timing just don't remember seeing and actual measurement to degree.

also start think oil. Most shelf oils are low ZDDP which makes a sacrificial barrier. If you see API on bottle it doesn't have enough. Has to do with the zinc leading to cat failure on new vehicles.

 

I won't deck a block. If it needs to be decked then just find used block. They are normally cheap enough. As for heads if you are going to deck it you probably want to rebuild the whole think new everything and then probably a crank as well. Tod has deals that are very hard to beat and great prices.

He had my crank work done and bored out my cylinders to the next size up. Drove down picked it up with his super street head and 261 cam. Took it home and put his kit parts together in my block bolted on the head and have an awesome 22re motor. Good power (for a 22re) and still good mileage.

 

Those numbers seem wrong to me, not doubting you or Todd persay. Just seems off.. let's examine

That's over ten times the allowed ~0.010" of combined head and block warpage. If you're shaving off that much you're probably doing it for compression increase and know it's going to effect the valve timing aswell as piston clearences.

We have roughly 17 freelinks between the crank and cam sprockets, and an allowed stretch length to ~147mm. A new chain is roughly 8.5mm eye to eye? Translates to stretch of about 2.5mm or 1/10th".

Perhaps the number above is correct but I'm not certain of the chain spec, and don't build engines for a living.

If that angle change is correct at 1° then decking within the limits only retards(?) the valve timing by ~0.1°

Given a cam sprocket of diameter 113.8, divided by 2 for radius ~56mm, one degree of arc is under 1mm.. (lower radius, lower arc length)

So you can remove a combined 0.010" warpage about three times before you get the 1° retarded valve timing..

I think I've wandered off topic so hope that entertained and educated someone other than myself.

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