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New Rings and head gasket kit come in today.....i've got some other things going on this weekend, but hopefully I can at least get the short or long block built at some point.
I ripped the 83 celica seats that were in it out last weekend, and replaced them with stock 4Runner seats. One of my pet peaves was the other seats didn't slide forward enough to get a chipmunk in the back seat much less a person....and I can only guess they were from the same 83 Celica the PO grabbed the engine that blew up from....so I figured I'd just cleanse the rig of any and all bad juju by putting legit seats back in (via junkyard find). Eventually I'll get the Wet Okles seat covers, but for now I just refinished the plastic and died them black.
So I got those pistons and rings fitted and installed a few weekends ago (seems like an overly complicated process, but if you take your time, measure twice, and follow all of the instructions its definitely doable), but have been out of the country for a couple of weeks and just got back.
Got the re-ringed engine re-installed this weekend without too many issues and I think I'm a tooth off on the distributor, so all I really need to do now is get the timing set correctly and she should be off to the races. By the time everything was set and ready to crank, it was already dark and I was loosing my will to work over my will to enjoy a few cold ones after a long productive weekend of wrestling that thing in by myself. Believe it or not, the most difficult thing was getting the engine and stand down 4-5 steps and off my porch Hulk Hogan style. Also, while I was out of the country, my landlord put a ton of new Calachie gravel in the driveway, so it was a huge PITA to roll the engine stand and hoist around in the non-packed fresh gravel....in the end, it got done, so I guess that's all that matters.
I may have to go out of the country for a longer period of time coming up, so I'm hoping to iron out the timing issues this week and get the ole girl up and running.
I'll try and keep everyone posted on the progress as it unfolds.
Here's a few shots of me installing the new rings. Getting the piston to slide into the cylinder without the rings popping out in between the ring compressor and the top of the block is a little tricky, but much easier than I thought everything would be.
Nice little front porch station to get the new rings on
I scribed (lightly) the number of cylinder that each piston was coming out of as well as proper orientation to the front of the engine to make sure I got them back in correctly. I only did one piston at a time and took my time double checking every measurement and ring set.
I kept the rings in their original bags (labeled 1st, 2nd, oil) to make sure not to get them confused and install them properly
First Piston in
The process I used with the compressor and a hammer handle to (Very gently - not a lot of pressure) push the pistons down in the cylinder
I had to do several of the pistons several times as the bottom oil ring would pop out and prevent the ring from entering the cylinder. This shouldn't take a lot of force, and if it feels stuck it probably is. I noticed it helped if I lightly tapped the edges of the ring compressor down with a rubber mallet to be perfectly lined up and even with the top of the block. This way there was no gap for the rings to pop out, and by keeping downward pressure on the ring compressor, it made it easier
She looks good. LCE has definitely got the stuff to make that engine look pretty. I would have bought more for mine but I'm married and shipping isn't free. The sacrafices we make...
Really like the billet wire loom, i'll get one eventually. Cleans it up and keeps the wires safe.
Finally got her up and running this weekend. It's been raining / severe weather most of the week, but there was about a 2 hour break this Saturday and I was able to get the timing set and drive it around a bit.
It feels like the clutch is pressed in a bit, and the overall power isn't nearly what it was before....so I'm going to have to look into that and see what's up there. I also blew off my powersteering hose "fix" but was able to reconnect it, flush the system, and get back home.
It definitely has a little bit of work still needed, but i'm seriously contemplating just dropping it off at my local mechanic's as I'll be out of the country the rest of the week, and it'd be awesome to be able to come back and start driving it.
I'll keep everyone posted on the final tweaks and modifications / progress, and there WILL be some interior mods, a custom designed and lasercut front plate bumper and rear tire swingout, as well as a possible roof rack and snorkel coming up in the future. I'll probably start new threads, but post the links here as well.
Can someone tell me about the fuel lines
Can the purge and return be wrong?
What are you looking for specifically and I'll try to take some pictures of it tonight.
From my knowledge, the initial fuel line transitions from a metal line to a banjo fitting that comes in to the filter, then from the filter to the fuel rail with the injectors. At the end of that rail (near the firewall) there is a fuel pressure regulator that has a vacuum line going back into the upper plenum and another thicker rubber hose coming out of the side of the regulator that transitions back into a steel line going back to the gas tank. Hopefully you don't have the vacuum line and the fuel return line swapped.
It's supposed to be raining all week here, so I don't know if I'll have a chance to tinker on getting the rest of the issues ironed out, but we'll see.
Rest of the parts come in Wednesday...I'll finally be able to finish assembling the head and springs, along with the rocker assembly, get it bolted up to the block, and then get the intake, exhaust, and remaining brackets installed, and run the new silicone vacuum hoses.
After almost 5 months since I took it apart, I'm relying heavily on the initial images I took, and my blue tape labeling to be able to reconnect all of the vacuum hoses in their correct locations....especially since I deleted the EGR, PCV Valve, and got rid of the metal vacuum tube channel. We'll see how it goes, I'm sure I'll be scouring Yotatech for images, diagrams, during reassembly.
I'm also wondering if I should go ahead and drop the tranny, and bolt it up to the motor, and try to put them in as one unit, or should i just get it out of the way...install the motor, and then try to marry the trans to the installed motor. I'll be doing this all myself in a gravel driveway, so keep that in mind for any off the cuff suggestions.
that sounds like a great idea but yuo could also get a body lift kit that could solve all the problems, use a good sized piece of cardboard to work on and safe yourself some time and trouble altogether
Thanks Skoob....I think I value reliability and ease of maintenance above all else, including things like luxuries, performance, and comfort. When the motor blew in this ride after only two months of owning it, and being told the motor had just been rebuilt, needless to say.....I was a little upset. I could have gone to city motor here in Dallas and picked up an assembly-line rebuilt motor for about $900, but because I want this to be my daily driver for the next 10 years, I decided to do it my self.....and do it right. With the way I've built this up, I'm planning on getting at least 500,000 miles out of her. I understand the transmission might go out, there will be some other things that need to be replaced or will break, but I will know without a doubt, that it's got just about the most bulletproof motor I could build at the time with the budget I had.
I've still got to get everything else bolted on, and then get the exhaust figured out from the header back. I'm planning on skipping the cat (already took all the other emissions crap off) and going a straight 2 1/4" SS pipe back to a borla turbo XL muffler, and either a dump pipe, or route it back over the axle like it was originally. I'm hoping it sounds pretty good, but I know it will be a strong motor.
do it right the first time and you'll be much happier and more cash in your pocket also, lol
So I was able to get the lower intake loose enough (without taking it totally off) to tighten the heater return line. I broke a little VSV sensor when removing it in the teardown and thought I could drop by the dealership to pick up a new one. $165? I think not....planning a trip to the junkyard to fix that problem, but in the meantime I got the guy to print off the entire vacuum diagram, which will help the reassembly a ton. The manual I have only goes from 81-88, and although the body style didn't change in 89 for the 4runners, the engine and layout did slightly (because the truck did change). The printed vacuum line diagram has all of the associated toyota part numbers and is pretty clear to read, so that should take care of any confusion.
I then saw what I thought was a gas leak, but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I thought I didn't tighten down the fuel lines tight enough, so I removed them and inspected them for cracks or leaks but that wasn't it. Slapped a new Purolator fuel filter on JIC and hooked it all back up. what I eventually realized after chasing the lines from the gas tank forward, was that I had tucked the hose to the fuel pressure regulator (on the fuel rail) back out of the way. It wasn't leaking normally, but the simple temperature rise from the day heating up caused enough pressure to force gas out of that hose. I simply went back and popped the gas cap and the leak stopped.
With the upper plenum off, I decided to splice in some extensions for the VSV Vacuum Valve electrical lines so I could mount them on the firewall in the back of the engine bay and try to keep everything cleaned up a bit.
It's been raining for 3 days now, so I haven't been able to get much done. Here's the list of things left to do before I can get it cranked up for the break in, and a separate list for getting her back road worthy.
Mount VSV Vacuum Valves to the firewall
re-install the upper plenum of the intake
finish routing the vacuum lines (thanks to the help of the printout from the dealership)
Install the Radiator (may also sneak a oil cooler in to hook up after the break in)
hook up / replace all hoses (I've gone with silicone for everything else and got some really nice Vibrant reinforced silicone heater hoses off Summit that I'm going to swap out all of them with)
Fill with fluids
install battery (hopefully an Optima Yellow Top)
To get road worthy:
muffler / exhaust
inspection
registration (lapsed over the build)
replace mirrors (broken before the build in an icestorm)
I'll try to get some good pictures up this weekend.
I bought a Haynes manual and a rebuild DVD first thing just to try and solve any problems before I start asking.your engine looks pretty good dude and props to ya.I was looking at an LCE header also but not in my budget atm so oh well
I'm using the Royal Purple Break in oil for the first 500 miles, then hooking up the remote oil cooler and dual K&N 3001 filters and changing over to Royal Purple HPS 10W30. I have a bottle of straight ZDDP additive that I plan on adding about a 1/5th of the bottle into each subsequent oil change, which according to everything I've read and discussed with bobistheoilguy, should be good, and bring the synthetic up to the correct ppm of ZDDP.
I've got dual springs that are rated slightly higher than the lift on my cam, brand new LCE PRO EFI Cam, New Rockers (OEM), High oiling rocker shafts with extra holes (LCE), Chromoly retainers (there's no way these wear out before standard retainers - that just doens't make sense), Bronze Manganese Pro Guides (LCE), Triple hardened SS Valve seats (LCE), Viton style seals, Oversized Valves, and new tappets. While that is basically a stage 2-3 head, none of the components are mismatched with each other (huge performance in one area and not in another), so the overall wear of the valve train should be fairly even and over a period of time. I understand that the more performance oriented components will need to be checked and adjusted more frequently, but it really isn't that difficult to take the valve cover off and do so.
I got the Pro Oil Pump from LCE. Here's their write up on it
"LC Engineering has continued the reputation for unsurpassed quality by offering the best oil pump you can buy for your engine - our exclusive Pro Oil Pump. We start with brand new oil pumps from Japan. Next, they are hand blueprinted, hard anodized and then reassembled by our technicians. This performance modification tightens the tolerances of the pump while increasing oil pressure and volume. This pump will deliver 20 lbs. at idle and 70 lbs. at higher rpms for the extended life of your engine. Extra protection for a street engine and a requirement for high output race engines. Comes with O-ring for installation. "
Being hard anodized and blueprinted, and starting with the highest quality Japanese parts means longevity. I don't think they would just shim a spring....these guys live and breathe 22R's and have commissioned multiple custom parts to be made just for them, including this oil pump. I also got their adjustable oil pump bypass to be able to adjust my oil pressure accordingly. I assume with the much increased volume of the dual remote filter setup and oil cooler, I would probably need to adjust the pressure at the pump to be able to compensate for the change in volume and flow.
The block was blueprinted and balanced by the machine shop I used. I didn't just go down and pick up an assembly line block at the local place, I paid over $1K just for the machining and work for a performance racing shop to take the '88 2WD pickup block I pulled out of a junkyard and completely go through it and bring it within their tolerances, which are much tighter than the original factory specs as they are used to building race and performance engines. I went with the Keith Black Hyper pistons and total seal gapless rings. They installed and balanced the entire lower rotating assembly and made sure everything was up to their tolerances.
I understand you may consider ARP rod and main bolts as well as flywheel bolts and head studs to be overkill and completely useless in my application. I don't. I'm sure all of the original hardware would have easily lasted another 20 years as well, but I changed out every nut and bolt on the engine to Grade 8 SS as well, which you would probably also consider overkill and useless. I don't build engines every day and this is not something I probably plan on doing again in the near future. I was going for a slightly better than stock performance bulletproof 22RE in which I was able to research and choose every part and component on the motor, from the larger components like the Keith Black pistons and Spanish Head Casting all the way down to the Clevite 77 bearings and silicone vacuum hoses.
There's a thousand ways to set up a motor. This is the way I would have, and did set up mine. I probably spent twice as much time researching as I actually did wrenching, and constantly had to wait till payday to purchase the parts I needed as I wanted to get the best parts available, not just the ones I could afford at the time.
I'm very confident that some of the parts I put on here are overkill, and what some would consider a waste of money, but almost everything I did...I did for a reason that I can probably back with a good amount of research.
No offense taken on any of your comments, I was just trying to explain a little better why I did the things you were questioning.
I honestly would have went with toyota head stud and bolts rather than the ARP tbh. I'm not saying it was over kill but trying to get a bulletproof engine doesn't mean use everything under the sun, just means using the right parts for the right job is basically what my point is. I hope this note helps everyone out there.
Thankfully, his throwing a little teflon tape at the idle screw did the trick
I appreciate the follow-up in good tact, but do you have any more leads to the source of the problem? It could take a long time to find if it's not the problems I stated. Not to dash your hopes in finding it. I hope you do, and like the problems I've got with my truck. Careful tests, as careful and time-honored as the very manufacturing of them has been, will save the day.
Guys and Gals, don't you know about the gremlins in toyota's lol TBH they're in all foriegn made vehicles and american made also
I was out of the country without phone service for a week, and am about to be on vacation for another bit, and decided to call the mechanic to see where we were. They set the timing, TPS, and got the rig running much better, but they said the Total Seal Gapless rings were totally shot and needed to be replaced....so it looks like I've got to pull the motor again and get that fixed.
Obviously the machine shop put the rings in, and because they were the gapless rings, I'm guessing they screwed it up and didn't put them in in the right order. There's a ton of oil getting by and smoking like a coal train.
now the big question, is do I continue to use this block, or do I re-ring and swap the whole bottom end out with the one I picked up this weekend with the CP forged pistons, etc.
Damn...so close, but so far away still.
If I was you I start calling that machine shop and get some answers from them, if they screwed it up they should have to pay for the repairs IMO
Well, I was supposed to be on vacation up to Boston for a long weekend starting tomorrow. However, with Snomagheddon and some other issues, I've pushed the trip to April. Soooo, there's a good chance I'm going to spend the weekend pulling this engine back out to see what the issue is with the rings.
After a lot of thought, and the major issues I've had already with Ledford's Performance Machine in Waco, I've decided not even to take it back in to them....even if it turns out it was their fault by cracking one of the rings, installing them out of order, upside down, or whatever. Whatever it turns out to be, they're going to argue that it was something that was done after the fact (because they only built the shortblock) and if they do accept responsibility, do you really want someone who screwed up a $160 set of rings and potentially trashed your block, the pistons, and all the $$$ and machine work you have it to that to take another crack at getting it right the second time? I'm just going to chalk it up to experience and an expensive lesson.
Lesson Learned: standard machine shops are used to building standard engines. You bring them a 4cyl Toyota with a bunch of high end parts and don't overemphasize that certain parts are special and can only go on one way or require special installation, there's a good chance that they'll treat it like it's just a 4cyl Toyota and not the 427 side oiler stroker motor he's got sitting right next to it. Gapless rings are great, but require extra attention to install correctly.
I'm really hoping its just a cracked ring coupled with the higher than normal oil pressure and it hasn't scored the cylinder walls bad enough to need much more than a simple re-hone and correctly installed rings...although that'll be another $160 if I go back with the Total Seal Gapless Rings (M6124) instead of a cheaper set of standard rings.
The other scenario is that the block is screwed and will require more machining if not sleeves. Then I'll have a tough decision to make on whether to just swap out the junk block and re-ring and hone the Turbo block I picked up this last weekend that has forged pistons, a higher compression ratio, and 15K since the initial machine work.
I'll take a ton of pictures and make sure I keep everyone updated.
TBH I would go with regular rings back in it if that the probelem, most machine shops probably don't understand what it takes to get them on or anything, they're used to dealing with a standard set of rings and thought they got them right, who the hell knows but thats what I would do
I got it up and running and took it into the shop yesterday to have them set the TPS, Timing, get it running perfect and inspected (luckily she turned 25 this year and is now exempt from any smog rules).
I'm looking at trying to get the rough '86 I've got (been in a few of the pictures) up and running and sold...it only needs a clutch and some serious interior work...and maybe a little paint and body. I've got the other turbo block on the stand now and will get it reamed, bored, and re-ringed and will start looking for a truck with a blown motor I can put that in.
I've still got to get it registered and insured after she's up and running, but I'm hoping to be driving it in the upcoming weeks.
I finally got to drive the rig 30 miles into work today.
it acts like there's an air leak or one of the vacuum switches is hooked up wrong as it wanted to idle around 2K during traffic. However, there's also something hinky with the clutch as it feels like it's a brand new stage 3 clutch and overweight flywheel from LCE and only barely catching when I go to shift....It even died at a stoplight and I had to physically lift up on the clutch pedal and smash it again to get it back in first gear and started up. The first thing I'm going to do is make sure the two electrical plugs going to the transmission are hooked up correctly. The second thing to check is the clutch adjustment. The Previous Owner should have his hands broken so he can never work on cars again. Despite the '83 civic block, the guy had a flexplate for an automatic bolted up behind that required a 1/2" of spacers for the starter to engage right. My assumption is that with that ghetto rigged of a situation, he had to adjust the clutch all the way out for it to work correctly, so it may just need an adjustment now that all the parts are correct. The only other things I could think of would be that the clutch disc was put in backwards by me (4th time to put it in, so I doubt it) or there's something off with the fork and spring, which could totally be a possibility.
We'll see how she does over the next week and I'll make whatever adjustments I can on the issues I find.
In all honesty, It's been over a year since she's been on the road, and I'm just happy to have her back and only be dialing in minor problems.
Oh, I also ordered new custom plates for the rig. Should be on in a couple of weeks.
F yeah! In addition to the freeplay adjustment, make sure you don't have any air in the lines and that the bracket under the pedal isn't starting to crack.
F yeah! In addition to the freeplay adjustment, make sure you don't have any air in the lines and that the bracket under the pedal isn't starting to crack.
Thanks jbtvt, I'll start with the easiest stuff to check like the freeplay, cracked bracket, and electrical being hooked up....and move to the more PITA stuff like dropping the trans to double check the fork and clutch. Heck, who knows it might be possible that the rubber fork boot is all jammed to one side and isn't allowing it free movement.
Troubleshooting these yotas isn't too insane, but you feel good when you find it and fix it.
04-10-2015, 07:32 AM
that sounds like a great idea but yuo could also get a body lift kit that could solve all the problems, use a good sized piece of cardboard to work on and safe yourself some time and trouble altogether
TBH they're in all foriegn made vehicles and american made also
