NLXTACY
Wits' End
OK so the LX goes into the shop on Wednesday. Form there the engine comes out by Friday and off to Martin Davidson to have the engine completely rebuilt. So I am going to throw out all of my thoughts and questions and see what can be solved. I have not rebuilt a motor professionally in almost 20 years so I'm a little concerned because I know most of that knowledge is gone. My last rebuild was on my 68 Camero's 396. That was in the 90s.
So I am trying to maximize the time I have with the truck while the engine is out and start to work on everything I can during that time. I have spent the entire day reading all the S/C threads trying to educate myself and on occasion I am left with more questions then answers.
I am leaning towards boring out 2mm over but I am starting to question myself for doing so. 2mm will lower my compression and allow more boost but is it really needed? Is 1mm plenty? .5mm?
COMPRESSION
What is the optimal compression ratio I am looking for? Because I do not know the flatness of the block and I do not know if it will need to be decked. If its decked then sure at least a thou comes off. That changes the thickness of the Cometic gasket. So I really can't order the gasket until I know the deck height. Then off course with Cometic I can adjust the compression as needed. Again, some ideal numbers to shoot for would be very very helpful.
HEAD GASKET
Cometic seems to be the obvious choice here. The site can be found here: Cometic Gaskets
Again, I can't really order until I know what thickness I will need.
THROTTLE BODY
The throttle obviously has to come off and I will have it sent out to be cleaned up and rebuild BUT the question is, while its being rebuilt should I go ahead and get the throttle body bored to increase the throat. I did this on my 4Runner and it made a damn noticeable difference. But in doing so to the LX will it cause problems to get properly metered air/fuel?
VALVE COVER
Keep stock, anodize, powder coat, ceramic coat??
I can get anything under the sun anodized for free. Everything else costs. Anodizing isn't the most steadfast at protection but its not like the valve cover gets abuse other than oil and mud. On the other hand I will be ceramic coating some parts and could just throw that in as well. Or I could just go wild and color powdercoat it. I feel like doing something with it while I have it off.
PISTONS/RODS
Back in the day everything was about TRW. No idea what the new hotness is. I've heard about Hypatec pistons with HPC coated crown and Teflon coated skirts. What else is out there? Does Toyota have +1mm or even +2mm for that matter?
FUEL PUMP
Should I just replace with a stock one, go with the Supra or switch to Bosch or Walbro? I like the idea of having it be a drop in replacement which is why I most likely going to go the Supra route.
INJECTORS
Stay with stock but have cleaned and blueprinted: RC Engineering: Fuel Injector Cleaning
Or switch them out with upgrades fro RC Engineering or EFI Hardware or just use the WRX Blue as suggested by Landtank?
Is the stock fuel pressure regulator up to snuff or should that get an upgrade as well? Cool calculators to figure out injector sizing:
Fuel Injection calculator
CYLINDER HEAD
Martin Davidson does some really good work and way back when he was the competition. Irony. Anyway I wasn't going to do anything in particular to the head itself but I WAS thinking about grabbing the head from him when its torn apart and spend the weekend porting and polishing it. I happen to have a complete head gasket kit and I could scribe the head using the gasket and get some carbide bits and flapper wheels and polishing compound and start porting and polishing the head myself. I could I could go nuts and make block offs to do a "home version" of blueprinting. I don't have to do any traveling for at least a month so I am seriously considering this. Having this done as a service seems to be wildly expensive so if anyone has suggestions please let me know. Otherwise its just pressure test, probably new springs and valves unless the valves are good, doubt it though. 30deg back-cuts on the valves for maximum love. Wonder if he hand laps?
NEED TO ORDER:
• ARP Headbolts for the Supra. Need to hunt down the part number
• Order and apply the Second Skin Sound Deadener coating for firewall:
Sound Deadener/Sound Barriers
• Timing kit
• Water pump and thermostat along with all hoses I'm sure
• Landtanks oil pump bushing
• S/C fan as spec'd by TRICKY and CDAN
• S/C specific spark plugs, then wires and cap/rotor
• Locktite 518 for the S/C
• Red coolant
•*Oil pressure sender (mine stopped working years ago)
NEED TO DO:
• Check motor mounts for damage
• Power wash the engine bay after engine removal
• Have intake canister and exhaust ceramic coated
• Protection for the EGR Valve area. Mainly this just involves wrapping the wiring harness but man...the thought of bypassing it tugs at my heart strings
• Thinking about adding the block heater into the freeze plug while the engine is out. This is a nice to have not a must have.
• Finally install the new power steering cooler and reservoir along with PHOTOMAN's alternator mod. The alternator I have now needs to get a quick once over.
• Install EGT gauge and boost gauge. I bought a set of exhaust manifolds that are already tapped for the sensors.
• Make a new home for the VSV
• Install the oil catch can finally
• Send the blower to Magnuson to get the once over. They are in Ventura so its a quick trip
The Cometic listing:
So I am trying to maximize the time I have with the truck while the engine is out and start to work on everything I can during that time. I have spent the entire day reading all the S/C threads trying to educate myself and on occasion I am left with more questions then answers.
I am leaning towards boring out 2mm over but I am starting to question myself for doing so. 2mm will lower my compression and allow more boost but is it really needed? Is 1mm plenty? .5mm?
COMPRESSION
What is the optimal compression ratio I am looking for? Because I do not know the flatness of the block and I do not know if it will need to be decked. If its decked then sure at least a thou comes off. That changes the thickness of the Cometic gasket. So I really can't order the gasket until I know the deck height. Then off course with Cometic I can adjust the compression as needed. Again, some ideal numbers to shoot for would be very very helpful.
HEAD GASKET
Cometic seems to be the obvious choice here. The site can be found here: Cometic Gaskets
Again, I can't really order until I know what thickness I will need.
THROTTLE BODY
The throttle obviously has to come off and I will have it sent out to be cleaned up and rebuild BUT the question is, while its being rebuilt should I go ahead and get the throttle body bored to increase the throat. I did this on my 4Runner and it made a damn noticeable difference. But in doing so to the LX will it cause problems to get properly metered air/fuel?
VALVE COVER
Keep stock, anodize, powder coat, ceramic coat??
I can get anything under the sun anodized for free. Everything else costs. Anodizing isn't the most steadfast at protection but its not like the valve cover gets abuse other than oil and mud. On the other hand I will be ceramic coating some parts and could just throw that in as well. Or I could just go wild and color powdercoat it. I feel like doing something with it while I have it off.
PISTONS/RODS
Back in the day everything was about TRW. No idea what the new hotness is. I've heard about Hypatec pistons with HPC coated crown and Teflon coated skirts. What else is out there? Does Toyota have +1mm or even +2mm for that matter?
FUEL PUMP
Should I just replace with a stock one, go with the Supra or switch to Bosch or Walbro? I like the idea of having it be a drop in replacement which is why I most likely going to go the Supra route.
INJECTORS
Stay with stock but have cleaned and blueprinted: RC Engineering: Fuel Injector Cleaning
Or switch them out with upgrades fro RC Engineering or EFI Hardware or just use the WRX Blue as suggested by Landtank?
Is the stock fuel pressure regulator up to snuff or should that get an upgrade as well? Cool calculators to figure out injector sizing:
Fuel Injection calculator
CYLINDER HEAD
Martin Davidson does some really good work and way back when he was the competition. Irony. Anyway I wasn't going to do anything in particular to the head itself but I WAS thinking about grabbing the head from him when its torn apart and spend the weekend porting and polishing it. I happen to have a complete head gasket kit and I could scribe the head using the gasket and get some carbide bits and flapper wheels and polishing compound and start porting and polishing the head myself. I could I could go nuts and make block offs to do a "home version" of blueprinting. I don't have to do any traveling for at least a month so I am seriously considering this. Having this done as a service seems to be wildly expensive so if anyone has suggestions please let me know. Otherwise its just pressure test, probably new springs and valves unless the valves are good, doubt it though. 30deg back-cuts on the valves for maximum love. Wonder if he hand laps?
NEED TO ORDER:
• ARP Headbolts for the Supra. Need to hunt down the part number
• Order and apply the Second Skin Sound Deadener coating for firewall:
Sound Deadener/Sound Barriers
• Timing kit
• Water pump and thermostat along with all hoses I'm sure
• Landtanks oil pump bushing
• S/C fan as spec'd by TRICKY and CDAN
• S/C specific spark plugs, then wires and cap/rotor
• Locktite 518 for the S/C
• Red coolant
•*Oil pressure sender (mine stopped working years ago)
NEED TO DO:
• Check motor mounts for damage
• Power wash the engine bay after engine removal
• Have intake canister and exhaust ceramic coated
• Protection for the EGR Valve area. Mainly this just involves wrapping the wiring harness but man...the thought of bypassing it tugs at my heart strings
• Thinking about adding the block heater into the freeze plug while the engine is out. This is a nice to have not a must have.
• Finally install the new power steering cooler and reservoir along with PHOTOMAN's alternator mod. The alternator I have now needs to get a quick once over.
• Install EGT gauge and boost gauge. I bought a set of exhaust manifolds that are already tapped for the sensors.
• Make a new home for the VSV
• Install the oil catch can finally
• Send the blower to Magnuson to get the once over. They are in Ventura so its a quick trip
The Cometic listing:
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