Builds Pippy's 97 CE Build Thread (Now with TURBO) (1 Viewer)

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Sep 28, 2014
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Well guys, I'm past the point of no return on this so I figured I'd do something I've always wanted to do: Start my very own build thread and join the ranks of the great and mighty mud contributors!

I've had a 91 FJ80 for a couple years, and it's been great. When I bought it, the brake lines had rusted through and I spent a lot of time bringing it back to life. Birf seals, FZJ front brakes, replaced most of the vac lines, plugs, water pump, all the PM stuff. It has been my DD for a while now.

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I love the rugged old tractor, but it spent the first few years of it's life in Illinois and has the "patina" underneath to prove it. This has made wrenching less than enjoyable. With the rear brake drums in serious need of a rebuild, I started thinking about a full float axle swap so I could get discs in the rear. I bought an axle from another mudder and had it shipped. The day after it left his place, I got a craigslist alert. A fully locked 97' Collectors Edition in emerald pearl, with 155k miles, and a "seized" engine. It was so cheap I called the guy and told him to take the ad down and that I would be there in the morning to pick it up. The next day, I brought this home:

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I spent a while troubleshooting, and actually got it to turn over and start, but it sounded like a couple of skeleton cats fighting in a steel garbage can. Some of the helpful folks here suggested the old "Italian tune up", but I figured I should go ahead and pull the engine and see if it can be rebuilt. I cut open the oil filter and my suspicions were confirmed. Merry Christmas.

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So this week, I got busy disconnecting everything. I downloaded the FSM and followed it exactly. It is excellent but it does gloss over some of the connectors that need to be disconnected. For anyone who needs it, here is the link:
http://www.markspeterson.com/FSM/1996 Toyota Land Cruiser Repair Manual v111.pdf

Last night, it came out. My friend who always talks a big game was going to come over and help but he backed out at the last minute. I ended up doing it all myself, which was quite a challenge.

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I have never done a job involving moving this much weight before. Some of my methods may have been.. well... questionable, but I got her out and onto the floor after about 4-5 hours. Lessons learned:

-Take off the front valance so you dont mangle it like I did.
-Take off the AC Condenser. It's gonna get in your way.
-Recover your refrigerant and dont just crack open a line filling your garage with strange stinky mist that gets you high and almost makes you pass out.
-When you hook up the load leveler, keep the chain in the back of the engine as short as possible, otherwise it can be hard to tilt the engine to get the last bit over the bumper.


Next step will be getting the engine on a stand and opening it up. From there I will either rebuild or find a good core that can be rebuilt. Also got a lead on a pretty sweet bumper for a good price, so that may happen sooner than I expected.
 
Nice. I like the steelies on your '91 :D
 
Well if you don't end up in this hospital this should go pretty well. For cryin out loud, hang a couple lights in there!

Lol. Yes, mistakes were made :flipoff2:. Luckily the dangerous part is over at least until it comes time to put it back in.

In true longsausage fashion, I didn't run electrical when I built the garage last year, and all power comes from a big orange extension cord off the back porch, which admittedly is janky as hell. I wasn't planning to have a project car in the near future, so I'm kind of making due any way I can. If you look closely, you can also see all the boxes that I stacked to the ceiling while hastily making room for the truck so the tow truck driver could roll it into the garage. I did put a sleeve in the slab though so running the power should be easy aside from digging the trench through my yard which I have determined to be composed mostly of tree roots. Planning to run 120v and 220v. Getting lights out there is high on my "to do" list.
 
It's a big job, but a lot of fun. I used a come-along between the lift point and the transmission to lift the heavy end. Scary as well, but it worked. Pulled the thing myself as well.

Lots of pics and info in my thread:

1FZ-FE Rebuild full overhaul - picture heavy

I can't believe I didn't think of that! I used a rope over a joist to try to pull it up. A comalong would have been so much better. Dang it.
 
I can't believe I didn't think of that! I used a rope over a joist to try to pull it up. A comalong would have been so much better. Dang it.

You still get to put it back in!

I have a TON of pics of the process but not an overall shot of the thing on the lift. I was anxious to get it to the ground as quickly as possible!

This is the closest I can find.

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You still get to put it back in!

I have a TON of pics of the process but not an overall shot of the thing on the lift. I was anxious to get it to the ground as quickly as possible!

This is the closest I can find.

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I just spent way too much time reading your thread. Excellent work. Definitely going to use it as a reference.
 
I just rolled over 25K miles since the rebuild. No issues with the engine, runs great!
That's awesome. Definitely inspiring. The rest of this truck is in such good shape, I'm hoping this will be a lifetime truck after all the rubber bits are replaced.
 
Got busy tearing down the motor today.
I took the lower oil pan off and swirled a magnet around. lots of metal.
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Then I got the head off and checked out the cylinders and they look better than I expected. There is very faint scoring on cyl 6, but I cant detect it with my fingernail and it is almost more like a stain. The crosshatch is still visible. I'll get better pics tomorrow, the poor lighting in my garage is not great for taking photos.
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I have a lead on a good running engine from a 97 LX. I'm considering just going for it and skipping the rebuild all together. Going to open the bottom tomorrow and get a look at the crank shaft.
 
Better pic. #4 is in pretty bad shape, and I can feel the groove with my fingernail. Going to look for a good donor engine now.

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See, you already have crud on those cylinders. I can't see how you can get away from that reality. How would you scour the tops of the cylinders if you don't use an abrasive?

I think you should go for a different motor. This one seems like the block is toast. You have the stuff on this one though, so you should be able to make a running motor happen, even if you just use the new block and lower end.
 
See, you already have crud on those cylinders. I can't see how you can get away from that reality. How would you scour the tops of the cylinders if you don't use an abrasive?

I think you should go for a different motor. This one seems like the block is toast. You have the stuff on this one though, so you should be able to make a running motor happen, even if you just use the new block and lower end.

Howdy Red. The only way I've ever done it is with a razor blade, and it takes for EVER, and I am usually spitting and cussing the whole time. I get the feeling it's not your first rodeo either, and the sandpaper method may well be just fine, but it's not my personal preference. I'm a shade tree mechanic and certainly not an expert so I would never tell you that you're wrong, just that I wouldn't do it if it were me. I wasn't trying to bust your balls in the other thread.



Anyway, I was still kicking around the idea of taking it to the machine shop today, and disassembled the bottom end. Here's where the real carnage began. Almost all of the rod bearings are toast and a few of the mains. The crank looked great until I got to #4. It's proper fooked. I'm having a tough time digesting the idea of buying a junkyard mystery box motor and driving it, but I think that may be the way to go after today.

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No worries and I am not upset about the sandpaper vs. scotch brite debate, but I think my block would have been worse off if I didn't use the sandpaper. I did use a razor blade too, but once it couldn't pick anything up but I could still see a rise or something that needed to be removed, I removed it. I was getting hung up on the dimples the gasket causes with the iron block as far as pits go. Even a shade tree guy stops to ask a question if they feel like they may be on the wrong path.
 
What causes this? these bottom ends are tough. Low oil pressure?
 
Must have ignored the low oil level light or it doesnt work. make sure it is working once you get it all together.
 

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