new project 87 4runner 22re build

[nuclearlemon]

so, i've missed my little clampy (https://forum.ih8mud.com/showpost.php?p=5032563&postcount=16) for the seven years it's been gone, but finding an unmolested, rust free 80s pickup for cheap ain't easy.

so, i found something almost as good. an 87 4runner, almost rust free and somewhat cheap.

supposedly the engine had been rebuilt, but something let loose and it locked up. someone else bought it and was going to rebuild it, but came across a better running deal, so i bought it from him. all he knew was he got the pan down enough to see there was an issue with a missing rod bolt.

yep...was definitely missing a bolt. and it apparently happened while at high speed or was run til lock up.

 

[nuclearlemon]

$75 got me this motor, which the owner thought had a bad head gasket, but said had not overheated. got it home and began teardown to find one cam lobe was flattened and the corresponding rocker shot. i'd hope the head on my original engine was good. the crank and cylinder walls however looked great.

i did have one stubborn head bolt. tried heating the block with mapp gas (all i've got) and spraying the bolt with a liberal amount of freeze and release, but nothing. grabbed the jack handle to put on the breaker bar, but that only proceeded to snap the head of the bolt off. oh well, i can let the machine shop ball hone the cylinders and clean the block up . only thing i still needed was an oil pickup and that was sourced from yotajim.

 

[nuclearlemon]

today, i took the day off work to run a couple errands and work on the runner. on yoda jims advice, i unhooked the ecm and fed the harness through the firewall to come off with the head. a little work and the manifold was off, the trans/xfers were drained, the power steering and ac pumps removed and set to the side, head assy removed and the block almost ready to come out. the head does show a recent rebuild so i'm happy about that. now to wait and see what the block mikes out at so i can order an lce kit


the bolt that started everything...these will be replaced with arps and i'll double check them

 

[KLF]

It was probably that POS Fram oil filter.

Might as well have the machine shop check the head out.

 

[nuclearlemon]

i wanted to get a look at the head since the donor head had a bad cam and rocker and it does appear to be a fresh rebuild, although poorly done. rod bearings show he didn't work clean and then there's that issue with the rod nut that wasn't tightened up and caused mass destruction. anyways, current update is donor block is at machine shop getting cleaned up. engine and trans are out, original head is cleaned and bagged for reassembly and original block is in teardown stage..we'll see which one is best.

did find a sketchy electrical connection at the alternator...anyone have any clues on how this connector comes apart so i can eliminate the bare wires?

 

[nuclearlemon]

rod didn't do too much damage so far. there is a gouge in the wall, but it's very thin. working on getting the crank shaft out, but the pulley bolt is beyond stupid tight. i was bending my breaker bar and bouncing the engine with stand up and down and it won't pop..stopping for the night before i do something stupid. (plus loading pics from my phone with poor signal takes forever )

 

[KLF]

That alternator plug is a real pain to get apart, I've done it once. I'm converting a harness over to work with a GM hi-output alternator, so I pulled it apart. It's even harder to get back together. It's a short harness, about 2' long, you should be able to just get another one from a junkyard or on eBay.

 

[nuclearlemon]

That alternator plug is a real pain to get apart, I've done it once. I'm converting a harness over to work with a GM hi-output alternator, so I pulled it apart. It's even harder to get back together. It's a short harness, about 2' long, you should be able to just get another one from a junkyard or on eBay.

awesome...i'll check with jim when i go down this weekend.

 

[Kris]

I think I have that portion of the harness laying around. I'll have to take a look. What part of the country are you in? I would make you a killer deal.

 

[nuclearlemon]

i'm in denver. going to check jims tomorrow.

today, got the crank journals and cylinders mic'd...nothings been machined, all specs are stock and within spec....wooohooo.

rod and crank journals get measured based on different assignments. the rods are stamped with letters to match what they should measure at and the main journals should match measurements based on letters stamped in the corner of the bottom of the block.

even got time to let a bit of my woman show through....four cans of brakeclean and a seriously tweaked copper bristle scrub brush later, i'm halfway to clean.

 

[uwabaseball]

Looks great so far. I'm planning on do the same thing with my 4runner in process of purchasing the rebuild kit. So will be tearing her a part in next few weeks. Good luck to u

 

[nuclearlemon]

got a little bit more done. mostly worked on another project. got a junkyard harness for the alternator, finished cleaning trans/xfer, cleaned the block a little and scrapped gasket surfaces and honed everything. was a bit of a scratch in the 2 cylinder but i got it down with the dingleberry. still what appears tobe a scratch in no 3, but i can't catch my fingernail on it, so i'm going to let it go...i'll order rebuild kit tomorrow.

 

[nuclearlemon]

yesterday, between housework and other projects, i checked out the rebuild kit, got the new pistons ringed, attached to rods and installed with the crank and oil pickup.

today, i finished off the engine, with a few issues, but all is good now

 

[nuclearlemon]

here's where it sits tonight. next week, most of the tune up parts show up from toyota, i'll get a ground to firewall hooked up, get exhaust manifold on, and get trans/xfer ready to be stabbed.

 

[flash02]

Wow you work fast, looks good, what did you and up doing with the head?

 

[nuclearlemon]

Wow you work fast, looks good, what did you and up doing with the head?

The head from the original engine was good. Original motor had been rebuilt recently, so a quick check on things like valve clearances and a good cleaning are all I did. Surprisingly, the piston did not get into the bottom of the head at all

 

[nuclearlemon]

and i was so close....took today off since i worked a double last week and was hoping to get trans/xfer in and have it almost ready to fire, but ran into a snag. i remember when i pulled the trans, the release bearing just falling off and thinking that's weird. well, i should've looked into it more...looks like the p.o. didn't put the clips on when he did the engine....now i'm going to be on hold while i wait for clips.

also still waiting on a new fuel filter and dizzy cap and plugs from my local toy dealer. tomorrow, i'm going to get a new lower rad hose from napa since this one's a little soft. but dangit...two lousy release bearing clips

 

[Highluxx]

Can you show me the wasted cam? Is it an aftermarket cam? As in non toyota? I had a cheapie cam go bad like that. Unusual for a factory cam to do that. Did the head look newish? Maybe it was an ebay head and cam for the rebuild?

Thanks.

 

[nuclearlemon]

cam is in the second post. it wasn't on the rebuilt engine. it was on donor engine.