I've been looking for a 3RZ for probably 5 years, mostly at my local U-Pull. They have had a few 2RZ Tacomas, but never a 3RZ in anything. Recently I decided to suck it up and start watching the local full-service boneyards. Last week, there was a "new arrival" at one of the yards. A very wrecked 2WD 1998 4Runner. I went. I looked. It was pretty messed up and I could see lots of damage to the engine. I had them give me a quote, and they agreed to sawsall the engine out so I could get a closer look.
While I was waiting for them to perform surgery on the 4Runner I did a little homework on the truck. On the quote was the VIN. This truck started out its life in Texas. Over the course of its life it never once, ever, saw a Toyota dealer for service. In fact, the only service on the Carfax was only after it appeared in New Mexico. The truck had around 250K miles on it.
They called. I went back. I looked again. The damage was bad, but nothing I couldn't fix. So, I bought. Yesterday, with the help of a few buddies, that engine came home. Yesterday and today I stripped everything off the long block. Now, I wait.
Because of this little thing called "budget" this is going to be a long term project. If I'm going to go through all the effort to drop this between the rails of my 4Runner I want it to stay there for a long time. Which means rebuilding and base-lining. I intend on taking care of anything that would be easy to fix with the engine out, and a challenge to fix once it's installed. So, let the journey begin. Here are the required pics.
First, the damage.
While I was waiting for them to perform surgery on the 4Runner I did a little homework on the truck. On the quote was the VIN. This truck started out its life in Texas. Over the course of its life it never once, ever, saw a Toyota dealer for service. In fact, the only service on the Carfax was only after it appeared in New Mexico. The truck had around 250K miles on it.
They called. I went back. I looked again. The damage was bad, but nothing I couldn't fix. So, I bought. Yesterday, with the help of a few buddies, that engine came home. Yesterday and today I stripped everything off the long block. Now, I wait.
Because of this little thing called "budget" this is going to be a long term project. If I'm going to go through all the effort to drop this between the rails of my 4Runner I want it to stay there for a long time. Which means rebuilding and base-lining. I intend on taking care of anything that would be easy to fix with the engine out, and a challenge to fix once it's installed. So, let the journey begin. Here are the required pics.
First, the damage.