The best $20.00 you will spend this holiday season will be to purchase a silver star here on ih8mud. That will allow you to upload more pics, and allow you to enter the inner scrotum (or sanctum, i forget which).
I'm in the middle of a HG swap on one of my 80s. I've amassed just about everything I need to do the job. My replacement head is at the shop getting some love. I'll figure out my next steps once i get the call saying its ready (hamom vs shopping it out, i go back n forth on that).
Some handy tips from someone who is there...
Get the full OEM head gasket kit. I think I ordered mine thru macgregor toyota in virginia. Beno is also a great source for parts (he was out of pocket when I ordered mine). It will come with pretty much every gasket and seal you will need to do what you need to do.
Things to do while youre there (in addition to the HG).
Press in new spark plug seals into the valve cover. They come in the kit, and the valve cover will be off. Decide if you wanna get all crazy and clean/prep/paint, or go full in idiot and polish said valve cover.
Pesky Heater Hose, either replace the small 2 inch piece, or run the bypass. Search is your friend. Use good constant torque clamps.
Replace all of the small heater hoses on the back of the firewall. There is one that is next to impossible to reach while the head is on. Take the opportunity to do them all. Again, use good constant torque clamps (they are avail at napa, along with their Yellow Stripe hose, comparible to Gates Green Stripe). There is a hose with a small 90 degree bend on the passenger side firewall that is smaller than the other hoses. Carquest/Advance Auto parts B87310 hose to go from the T fitting down to the firewall. Its slightly smaller than the 5/8 hose
Heater Control Valve- top of firewall above the head where the coolant lines all converge. Thats 20+ year old plastic, and it is brittle.
Oil Cooler gasket (under the exhaust manifold)
Fuel Filter (under the intake manifold)
Oil Pump cover seal, main crank seal. A guy on mud sells torx head screws to replace the phillips head screws on the oil pump cover seal. Get a 5 pack of GOOD quality #3 phillips bits, PB Blaster, and heat to remote them. Learn a new language when one of those strips or breaks.
I've got the dow/corning grease for the new oring you can use.
Replace the distributor oring.
Alt belt pulley and aircon tensioning pulley.
Drive belts (Use toyota oem belts)
OEM thermostat and gasket.
New Denso plugs.
PCV valve and grommet.
Radiator hoses if they look old or feel brittle.
Order a starter rebuild kit (contacts and plunger), and rebuild the starter. Will take longer to unbolt and rebolt the starter than it will to rebuild it. Also, you gain previous hand room when doing the PHH by yanking the starter.
If youre feelin really randy and want to spend more of the money youll save by doing this via HAMOM/yourself, get an Aisin water pump and fan clutch. if you still have money leftover, splurge for a new radiator. get the oem one that is for a 93 or 94. all metal, no plastic. A less expensive option is a denso radiator. Stay away from Koyo and noname ones.
Order a starter rebuild kit (contacts and plunger), and rebuild the starter. Will take longer to unbolt and rebolt the starter than it will to rebuild it. Also, you gain previous hand room when doing the PHH by yanking the starter.
Rather than risk head bolts that are iffy, im installing ARP studs on mine. They were less than new head bolts, and arent torque to yield. (I did this because @Rice is going to want to buy my 80 series and boost it
)
Once my head swap is done, I'll make you a sweet deal on my old head (assuming its not cracked or warped all wonky). That will further lessen your cost.
