Ardenyota's 1FZ Rebuild

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ardentyota

Flexy
Joined
Aug 12, 2009
Threads
12
Messages
553
Location
Colorado Springs, CO
Well, three weeks after I completed the 3-link on my truck, the HG bit the dust. I discovered oil in the coolant and began the diagnosis. I was hoping it was just the oil cooler, but it was not... No signs of failure and the cooler appeared in good shape. Next I had the radiator pressure tested to see if failure occurred in the internal transmission cooler. No dice, the radiator was fine.

So I went ahead and called up my friend Onur (If he wasn't my friend before, he is now... $$:D) and got started tearing things apart.




I caught it in the early stages on cyl 6 failure. I wasn't loosing coolant, but the HG was definitely on it's way out.

So the front of the engine was caked in oil and dirt from a leaky oil pump cover and I decided to replace that while I was at it. So then came the dreaded removal of the crank bolt. I tied nylon rope around the crank pulley so that it tightened on itself and attached to both frame rails. It took a while, some bad words:censor: and about 6 feet of cheater bar over my 1/2" breaker bar to break it loose. Yeah, yeah- shoulda used the starter before the head was removed...:bang:

I took the head to a local machine shop who cleaned it up and completed a valve job and milled it .008". He also tipped the valves to assist with the clearances. He wanted a minimum of $300 to check and adjust the valves, so I decided to try it. Glad I did as only one valve was .001 out of spec.
Here were the shim measurements. Looks like I forgot to take a pic of the clearance measurements.


Well, with the head at the shop I decided to start cleaning up the engine bay and cylinder block. the block was nasty with the old gasket material and pitting. The upper oil pan was also leaking, and finally the timing chain slipper and damper were noticeably worn.

It was decision time. I decided to pull the engine in order to complete a full rebuild. Since the head was off, I had to weld up a bracket to bolt onto the block in order to remove it from the engine bay.





:hillbilly:
 
I didn't take a lot of pictures of the tear down as it goes pretty fast and easily. And you can find any pic you need on the forum...

Once I had the block out and on the engine stand, I began tearing it apart. Removed the oil pans and connecting rods/pistons from the block. Crosshatching could still be seen, but the cylinder walls were smooth and mirror like even after cleaning. Emailed Robbie (PowderPig) and called Onur again for some advice. Another $1000 in parts and I had shiny new pistons that are a whole 1mm bigger! New pistons and rings, factory HG.

I spec'd out the main bearings and con-rod bearings. All were in spec and will be reused.
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Plastigage
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So the block was completely disassembled now and sent off to the machinist along with the pistons. He hot tanked the block- BUT WAIT! lol. He pulled the oil pump bushing before doing so...

The block was milled .010. This was the minimum he could do to get it smooth. He said the surface was wavy and that there was significant pitting around the cylinders. Yay! Why would that make me happy? Because the decision to pull and rebuild the whole engine was the right one! He said it was warped enough that the HG would have blown again in the future. Talking to Robbie, the .010 off the block and .008 off the head will not cause any issues even when using the Toyota HG.

I painted the block ugly gray and we were in business. (many may not know this, but ugly gray is actually very practical. Leak detection becomes much easier in addition to providing contrast in low light sensor searches... It's a fact)
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Clean block from below:
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Cleaned up the oil squirters and reinstalled (Soaked in carb cleaner over night)
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Main Bearings installed (again- reusing the old in-spec bearings)
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Alright, so now we're assemblin'! with the upper CS bearings in place, I lathered on the assembly lube and dropped (figuratively) the crank in place. Jeez that thing is heavy!

Lower bearings were installed in the caps and lubed up. Make sure to keep the bearings in order when reusing them!
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Make sure to lube the threads and the head to reduce the start-up drag and ensure accuracy!
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Now this is important- make sure that you are keeping the bearing caps even when snugging them down. They are an extremely tight fit- just alternate the bolts and watch the spacing.
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Torque and mark the bolts.
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And another 90*
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Assembly lube oozing...
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Now to assemble the new pistons and connecting rods. Ready for a bunch of pics? Well, sorry to disappoint you. My hands were too slimy and I was on a roll!
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Just follow the FSM and you'll be fine... Use the cheapo ring compressor you bought for amazon for this job and all will fair well. Pay attention to the ring arrangements!

Con-rod and cap connected to CS, torqued +90*
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Ain't it a thing of beauty?
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Now throw on the oil pans and the bottom end is done!
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Yeah, yeah should've cleaned the upper pan... NOT. Too much time/effort for something that won't be seen... It was tanked and degreased. Clean enough. Let's not go overboard here... :D
 
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wow, how many miles did you have when you tore it apart
 
:popcorn:
 
Your wife loves you! ;)

And yes, all of my customers are my buds!

Lol, I guess she does! Or the argument of "spend it now or spend it all again plus some later" worked... Nah, she's great.

wow, how many miles did you have when you tore it apart

~250k.
 
Now, I asked the machinist how much he'd charge me to clean up a bunch of parts like the oil pans, upper and lower intakes etc. He said $25 and I jumped on it. Took him a pile of parts and they all came back degreased and beautiful.

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As if that price wasn't great enough, he said that the timing cover was so corroded and pitted that he decided just to blast it. No extra charge!
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Great guy to work with! Stan at Rocky Mountain Machine in COS....

Back to assembly. We're almost caught up to where I am now.
Timing cover installed (new chain guide and slipper too) along with the oil pump cover and new torx screws.
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Oil Cooler installed
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Power steering pump and engine mount
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Ooh shiny!
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(you've just witnessed the extent of my creative photos)

Alright... Drumroll please... The moment we've been waiting for; the reason we're all here... HG time!
FIPG installed as FSM states and HG laid in place awaiting a good squeeze...
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Now, I'm doing this myself, so forgive me for not taking a picture of myself while I was placing the head, myself...

Torqued and turned 90*
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and another 90*
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Tight!
Assembled!
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And that's where I am as of last night. Now off to home I go to do more!

Hopefully my injectors are on their way back from Witch Hunter... I'd love to get this thing running this weekend...
 
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Very cool. And I mean that since I literally am going through it right now!!!!

BTW, you didn't specify but I'm assuming the timing cover was bolted onto the block BEFORE it was decked?
 
:clap: :clap: :clap:

Keep on truckin brotha. Looks phenomenal.

:clap: :clap: :clap:

:wrench:

Thanks Onur! Couldn't have done it without your sound advice... And credit card machine... :hillbilly:

Very cool. And I mean that since I literally am going through it right now!!!!

BTW, you didn't specify but I'm assuming the timing cover was bolted onto the block BEFORE it was decked?

I've read through your thread many times!

The timing cover was milled with the block. I couldn't even feel the transition from the block to the cover with my finger when bolted up. It was so smooth, I bet the FIPG wasn't needed! Unlike before- I could feel the transition.

:cheers:
 
I'm glad I won't have too worry about this for another 200k! Good work
 
Wow!! You make that look so easy. How many weeks into this are you? Reading this makes me want to rebuild my engine....except it would take me all summer.
 
BadReligion said:
Wow!! You make that look so easy. How many weeks into this are you? Reading this makes me want to rebuild my engine....except it would take me all summer.

Shoot I did none of the work on my own and it's taken over two months :bang:
 
Shoot I did none of the work on my own and it's taken over two months :bang:

I cant be without my cruiser for 2 months! :crybaby:

I think I might just buy a used 1FZFE and rebuild it while mine is still ticking. It makes no sense whatsoever to do it on my own time but its something i've always wanted to do. Funny what people do for "fun."
 

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