97 3x Locked - Restoration & Build (1 Viewer)

[NKP Garage]

Now we get the 1FZFE short block from our 1997 Toyota Land Cruiser on the engine stand to start preparing for the engine inspection and rebuild.

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[NKP Garage]

Made a bunch of phone calls to various sources to try and find a lead on a brand new OEM Toyota short block. But no luck. I decided to go the route of a rebuild since the existing short block is in decent shape overall. Just need some machine shop love.

Removed the final bits from the block in preparation to get it off to the machine shop. Now we wait. In the meantime I'm going to try and get some other work done on the truck here and there.

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[SNLC]

Last night we got the hood taken off, and got the shortblock loosened up from all the remaining hoses and wires. Got it onto the cherry picker and separated from the transmission. But ran into a bonehead problem, no room to move the cherry picker away from the truck. Oops, my bad. Going to get the cherry picker repositioned next and try to pull it form the side of the truck.

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Pushing the Cruiser away from the hoist is safest, FYI.

Cheers

 

[SNLC]

Check the top of the block for true.

Cheers

 

[NKP Garage]

Back to working on the engine rebuild. For the life of me my old man eyes couldn't see the number stamp on the rod bearings to figure out which size bearings I needed to order. To my surprise my phone camera could see it better than me and my glasses. Here is where the number stamping is if you are replacing your rod bearings:

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[NKP Garage]

Got the block cleaned up as best that I could. Degreaser, scrub, rinse, brake cleaner, rinse, brass wire wheel, blow off with air, spray down heavily with denatured alcohol, blow off again, then finally go over it with a MAP torch to dry up anything else remaining.

Then primed and painted. Used Rustoleum 600f engine primer, then followed with Rustoleum 600 ceramic enamel paint. Used the "cast aluminum" color, but in hindsight I really should have gone with a darker color. I thought it would be a mild gray tone, but it turned out to have a TON of metallic flake in it and is very bright. Almost looks like slightly polished metal in a way. Oh well, look 100x better than before.

 

[FMC80]

Got the block cleaned up as best that I could. Degreaser, scrub, rinse, brake cleaner, rinse, brass wire wheel, blow off with air, spray down heavily with denatured alcohol, blow off again, then finally go over it with a MAP torch to dry up anything else remaining.

Then primed and painted. Used Rustoleum 600f engine primer, then followed with Rustoleum 600 ceramic enamel paint. Used the "cast aluminum" color, but in hindsight I really should have gone with a darker color. I thought it would be a mild gray tone, but it turned out to have a TON of metallic flake in it and is very bright. Almost looks like slightly polished metal in a way. Oh well, look 100x better than before.

View attachment 3881177

View attachment 3881180

Looks great, I can do my eyeliner in the reflection. Wait, wrong forum. You’ll be able to see any discrepancy very well!

 

[NKP Garage]

Looks great, I can do my eyeliner in the reflection. Wait, wrong forum. You’ll be able to see any discrepancy very well!

Haha, love it! I guess at least this way I can see when there's a leak easily. Maybe I should paint the axles white too

 

[NKP Garage]

Finally got started on reassembling the cylinder head.

I went with new OEM Toyota intake valves and exhaust valves. Lapped the new valves to the valve seats. Hand lapped them, and they came out great. And got new OEM Toyota valve stem seals installed.

Here's the next video update:
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[NKP Garage]

Next I got brand new OEM Toyota valve springs and retainers. Got them installed and fitted to the cylinder head. Went pretty well and the spring compression tool made it a breeze.

Video of the installation of the valves, springs, and retainers here:
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[NKP Garage]

Time to set the valve clearance between the cam lobes and the buckets/shims. If you've never done this, it is pretty easy. Just takes a little bit of time to install/remove the camshaft a couple of times to measure, move shims around, and re-measure. Out of the many many cylinder heads I have rebuilt over the years, there was probably twice where I needed to order some different thickness shims, every other time you can usually use your existing shims and just move them around to adjust your clearances to be within the proper specs.

It's been really fun getting back on this rebuild with my, now 13 year old, son. Finding any reason to hang out with my boys and spend time together is always a blessing.

Here's the video:
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[NKP Garage]

Time to move on to the short block. We got the rods pulled, inspected the rod bearings, and we're going to order new OEM rod bearings. Also pulled the main crank bearing caps, and they look great. Washed and degreased the block. Started by pressure washing. Then went through 5 cans of degreaser with with brushes. Then used 4.5 cans of brake cleaner to get all the surfaces clean and remove any of the left over degreaser. Then finally used the high pressure air nozzle from the compressor to blow out all the holes, blow out all the fluid hiding in various spots, and get it all clean and ready for next steps.

Here's the short video of what we did.
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[NKP Garage]

Spent a bunch of time prepping the short block for paint after the last round of cleaning. Started with wire brushes on the drill to knock off anything on the surface. Then a spray down with denatured alcohol. And lots of blowing off with the air compressor in between rounds of cleaning. Then masked off all the surfaces that I didn't want paint on. Primed the block first with Rustoleum enamel primer. Then put down several coats of Rustoleum ceramic 600f engine enamel paint. In hindsight I would have gone with a darker gray color, but most of the short block will be hidden under other things, so the bright silver shouldn't be too much of a bother. Overall, well worth the effort while the motor is out.

Full video here below:
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[NKP Garage]

Don't know why I filmed all of the removal of the masking tape. But came across all these video clips and thought it made for a good ASMR video peeling off tape
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[FMC80]

Looks good, need sunglasses to stare at that block!!