86 4Runner Engine build (1 Viewer)

[Toast]

So out of boredom, I figure I’ll start a thread on this 22re engine build I’m doing for a friend. Some back story on it...

A good buddy of mine was on his way out to Utah from California (Sacramento area) and only got to the state line when his engine blew oil everywhere... piston rings failed. No compression on #2 cylinder and very low on #3. On my way back from a Labor Day Toyota camping trip, I got the rescue call from him. Barely was home 5 minutes before I dropped gear and headed out to rescue him.

Seeing how I know my way around a 22re pretty well and having decent connections everywhere, I agreed to take on the project while he is out of state working. Started this week with a few hours here and there after work and finally got the engine pulled today.

Throttle body has been sent out to Florida to be bored out and cleaned up. Injectors have also been sent out to be rebuilt and gone though. The head on this rig has been done within the last few years so I’m not going to waste money on it. I’ll have it checked for warpage and maybe decked a little if necessary. Need to throw this engine up on a stand this week and start breaking it down. My machinist has agreed to push me to the front of his line if only give him the lower block. I’ll try and take as many pictures as possible so this entire process is a bit more entertaining.

 

[FishTacos]

Good luck and have fun.

Sub'd.

 

[KLF]

You pulled the intake before the engine? I have always taken them out while still on. It's much easier to remove once the engine is on the stand. Just curious...

 

[ALX4X4]

Diesel swap time
But then, I'd have a petty 22R over the lousy 3Y and 4Y / 4YE engines we got in Australia.

 

[Toast]

KLF, 100% agree with you there. The only reason I pulled the intake was because I was wrenching solo for a few days. While waiting for an extra set of hands to pull that engine (and since I had already set aside the hours to prep the bay for pulling), I decided to just keep on pulling parts to capitalize on time. Plus my snap on electric ratchet makes taking things apart a dream. Trying to have as much fun as possible. Something about building an engine for someone else is far less stressful than your own...
Got some parts in the mail today. Love getting Toyota parts in the mail, even if they aren’t for me...

 

[Toast]

More progress tonight. Prematurely gave up my engine hoist so I had to rip all the weight off this 22re and lift the thing up onto the engine stand. Doing this entire build at his parents place so I don’t have the luxury of my usual resources. Taking this engine to the machinist on Friday and going to enjoy 6 weeks of relaxation.

 

[Toast]

All ripped down and ready to drop off at the machine shop tomorrow.

 

[chesshircat]

Where are you getting the rebuild kit from. I just dropped mine off at the Machinest waiting for him to let me know what size bearings to get. I think I’m going to get a kit from rock auto and hg from Toyota. It goes in my crawler so won’t get much mileage, I think a cheap kit will be fine.

 

[Toast]

My current engine in my rig has LCE pistons, rings, bearings, etc, etc. the kit was relatively cheap from what I remember, however, LCE has pissed me off in recent years so I refuse to endorse them or there products. 22re performance is high end but kind of spendy. Yotashop might offer engine build components. This engine that I just dropped off I told him to get whatever he likes or recommends. Figure this is what he does for a living so he must know a thing or two about what’s good and what isn’t. Maybe have your machinist pick parts? When it comes to gaskets and seals I always get OEM Toyota. An entire gasket set is $200 for the 22re. It includes every single last gasket and seal you need to put together a 22re. Worth every penny. If you’re on a budget, at least buy the the OEM head gasket and rear main seal. The ironic part is that those 2 alone are close to $100.... your call.

 

[Zor]

This is in my future, and I’ve got a couple questions:

Why bore the throttle body, and what shop in FLA is doing it?

Who is rebuilding the injectors, and what’re the pros and cons of rebuilding vs. buying?

Thanks for doing this thread.

 

[ntsqd]

When it became time to rebuild an engine for Patch (22R) I had series of talks with my then engine machinist friend. Laid out what I wanted and needed it to do and he made some suggestions. His biggest suggestion was to find a later model, short deck long block to build. His logic was that the long connecting rod in the tall deck engines made for a flatter torque curve, but one of the ways that it does that is the with the longer rod the piston will dwell at or near TDC for longer than it does with the short rod, short deck engine. That makes it more sensitive to ignition timing and more prone to detonation. Exactly what I had noticed about the engine in the truck, it was fairly sensitive to timing or it would detonate.
He thought that given that I would be lugging it at times that the better detonation resistance was more important than the marginal gain of the slightly longer con rod. It wasn't a rocket, but I could run the lowest octane fuel (sometimes the ONLY fuel available in some BFE place) and lug it all day w/o it detonating and with the timing set to factory spec.

 

[Toast]

Big bore throttle body equals more air delivery. LCE wants $250 plus core for their big bore TB. I found a company called
max bore in Florida. He does really good work. Completely rebuilds the TB and custom builds a new butterfly. Runs $150. Had my TB done by him and was very happy with snappy throttle response. Injector rebuilding is nice because he balances them for you so your engines idles and revs super smooth. Again, had my last set of injectors done by Dr. Injector out of Rancho Cordova, CA and was very happy with the quality and service. He gives you back your injectors with specific cylinders for each injector to go in.

 

[Toast]

Speaking of said things... got my cam and TB back today. Both look great. Very happy with how this build is going so far. This weekend I plan on taking the upper intake and valve cover to my shop to powder coat them. Gonna do a bright red on both then sand down the lettering to polished aluminum. It’s gonna be awesome.

 

[Toast]

And my redline crawler cam

 

[Toast]

Finally got the lower block back from the machinist the other day. Completely forgot to take pictures but I did remember to get a photo of the pieces I powder coated for my buddy. Can’t wait for the engine to start going back together. This is the fun part

 

[KLF]

Nice. Curious why you didn't also powder the lower intake?

 

[Toast]

I don’t know, you can barely see it to appreciate a powder coated finish and I kinda like the broken red/aluminum pattern... or I was lazy and didn’t want to dump tons of free time into a build that’s not mine... definitely one or the other lol

 

[Zor]

I don’t know, you can barely see it to appreciate a powder coated finish and I kinda like the broken red/aluminum pattern... or I was lazy and didn’t want to dump tons of free time into a build that’s not mine... definitely one or the other lol

I hope you know I read that With the spastic energy and in the voice of Charlie from It’s Always Sunny. That’s actually how I read most of your posts.

 

[Toast]

This is pretty much what I was going for lol

 

[Toast]

Got some pictures of the block tonight. Head should be back early next week but got done what I could for now. Decided to remove the powder from the EFI logo on the plenum. Turned out pretty good. Also picked up some aluminum half moons from 22re performance.