3VZE head question

[billstoudt]

Hi all i just picked up a 1993 4runner from a buddy for essentially free (just pay up registration) it had a blown head gasket. upon removing the drivers side head my wrench slipped off the cam shaft and broke through the wall of the head.

so i went to the junkyard and removed a head from a 1991 4runner. the head was virtually identical except for two visible differences .

1 the cam shaft on my 1993 has a place to put a wrench to hold it while removing the cam sprocket the 1991 does not have this

2 the head from my 1993 is marked with the number "32" on the intake manifold side. the head from the 1991 has a "26" instead.

can i use these interchangeably or do i need to find a head that is marked with 32? is there anything else i should know.

 

[Tigerstripe40]

Shouldn't matter, they are all effectively the same motor.

That being said, I'd suggest plasti-gauge the rods and mains to make sure everything is in spec. If anything is not in spec, just throw it away and get a 5VZ-FE or 1UZ-FE swap.

Actually, don't bother with the plasti-gauge. Just throw the 3VZ into the trash, and swap in a 5VZ or 1UZ.

(I rebuilt a 3VZ-E and did a pretty nice job on it... Wound up costing me more than doing a 5VZ swap, and wound up going bad anyways.. I tend to try to steer people away from doing **anything** to a 3VZ-E)

 

[billstoudt]

Thanks for the definitive answer, i had hoped such was the case but i just wanted to be sure. I am curious what the different numbers mean.hopefully not valve sizes / cam lift or something like that.

With regards to the swap i live in California and i have had to deal with nightmares when it comes to getting a car to pass emissions even with a newer motor (fails visual). otherwise the 5vz would be a no brainier.

 

[pappy]

... i live in California.

Condolences. KA sucks. I was born and raised there. Left 22 years ago. Happy I did.

 

[billstoudt]

Waiting for my Fiance to get out of Medical school. then we are headed to a state that respects the constitution.

 

[bigredmachine]

so theoretically rebuilding or throwing the head gaskets on the 3vz would be a temporary repair till doing a swap, maybe it would be cheaper to just get a junk yard motor and just swap it. youll pass emissions till your out of cali and youll have another motor you can do the head and head gaskets on and either sell it or keep it as a back up

 

[Tigerstripe40]

so theoretically rebuilding or throwing the head gaskets on the 3vz would be a temporary repair till doing a swap, maybe it would be cheaper to just get a junk yard motor and just swap it. youll pass emissions till your out of cali and youll have another motor you can do the head and head gaskets on and either sell it or keep it as a back up

At this point in the game (20+ years since production) the motor is going to have other issues going on that will require more than just head gaskets. When I rebuilt my 3vz, 'low mileage' junkyard motors were $1800+ with over 150k on them. Rebuilding the 3VZ was not a lot more than that (using aftermarket parts). But consider, at the same time, I could get a junkyard 5vz complete with 35k miles on it for $800 and the ORS swap kit was $1600. I kick myself every time I see my old 4Runner for not doing a 5VZ swap.

 

[bigredmachine]

good point, I didn't really know a 3vz was going for 1800+ I was guessing a few hundred at most. at that kinda price it seems not worth buying and doing a swap.

speaking of swaps maybe the cummins 2.8 would be a good candidate to concider

 

[billstoudt]

i'm going to pull the motor (270k+ miles its earned it) and rebuild the 3.0 as well as the heads. ill have the heads and block checked out at a shop and i'll slap it all together and see how it goes. This rig was really just a side project for me to have something to do while i build my 55.

i am keeping an eye on 3.4s in the local junkyards on 50% off day (about every other month)i can bring one home with a transmission for about 400-500 dollars. that would be ideal and awesome.