The end ?

[lumbee1]

The motor in my opinion is easily resurrected with minimal fuss. I wouldn't even machine the head. Lap the valves, replace the gaskets and seals, Replace the distributor O-Ring, oil pump seal and bushing, update the slippers and reseal the oil pan and replace the connecting rod bearings with clevites and drive it another 300,000 miles.

The condition of the under carriage is an entirely different story. IMO the condition of the under carriage is the determining factor on whether or not you more forward in resurrecting the truck.

I would definitely replace the valve seals while the head is off.

I pulled my engine in fall of 2021 for a rebuild for new pistons, valve seals, rear main, lower oil pan reseal, upper oil pan reseal, valve cover gasket, etc..

Fall of 2022 I installed a supercharger.

Spring of 2024, my head gasket blew.
I removed the head and installed an OEM version 2.0 head gasket and ARP studs. Everything else checked out just fine.

Cylinder #6

 

[Tachycardic]

Have you reached out to any one in High Desert to help you? They may have more resources around to help. I agree with others here. The shop you are working with, either does not know what they are looking at, nor trained very well. Or just taking advantage(mabe a combo). With out seeing more pictures of the other Bores, I can not tell you if your engine is viable with a little work or a full rebuild. I would also want to see inside the oil filter, and how the oil looks. More to all this, than seeing a few picturers and saying it can be easly saved.
What I can see is the head gasket was failing in several places, not just the one that allowed coolant into #1. Be interesting to see how the cross hatching is on that cylinder. If water has been leaking for a bit of time, it can take out the cross hatching. I see no signs of that block being sleeved.
If the gasket material is cleaned off, one will see no sleeves on the bores( that is a first generation head gasket, that engine has not been opened up before).
I agree with Landtank. Seem like you have a bit of a rust problem. I have seen owners do what ever they can to keep a favored Cruiser running, even when the frame is rotting thru, and not listoning to reason. Passon is one thing, stupid is another. (maybe stupid is too strong???).
At the end, it is your money, your cruiser.

Does the OP have that big of a rust issue? Love to see more pics. Sure, I'd replace the lower arms, as well as a few nuts and bolts, but what I see is surface rust that could be prepped and treated.

 

[Broski]

Does the OP have that big of a rust issue? Love to see more pics. Sure, I'd replace the lower arms, as well as a few nuts and bolts, but what I see is surface rust that could be prepped and treated.

It all come down to what you think is tolerable for me any rust is to much. But that just me
The picture that he provided shows that the rear axle upper control mounts were replaced which suggests considerable rust !
IMO the picture also show way more then just surface rust.

 

[efjayatee]

That's not just surface rust. Anytime a rust cause a hole in the battery tray, it's bad.
Looks like Por-15 was applied over the rust....to either hide the rust or to stop the cancer. The proper way is the sand/grind off the rust and then apply the rust inhibitor.

 

[CharlieS]

Discussions about corrosion are all relative. Here in the northeast (where the OP and I live) we have significant rust issues resulting from the way they salt/brine the roads for snow/ice control. Folks from other parts of the country/world are shocked by it, but for many of us, it is just normal.

 

[CharlieS]

That's not just surface rust. Anytime a rust cause a hole in the battery tray, it's bad.
Looks like Por-15 was applied over the rust....to either hide the rust or to stop the cancer. The proper way is the sand/grind off the rust and then apply the rust inhibitor.

Spilled battery acid will cause that. It isn't a general indicator of the corrosion level of the whole vehicle.

 

[Kernal]

Welcome back @powderpig.

We appreciate your knowledge and experience.

 

[Broski]

Spilled battery acid will cause that. It isn't a general indicator of the corrosion level of the whole vehicle.

Is replacing control arm mount ?

 

[FJ404345]

@RCWRX

As the market is right now, option 4 can be your best option

Buy a rust free same color one and keep the old one for parts and body parts

Then you're also set for a lot of years to come

 

[Ecliff5]

My first 80, east coast rusty truck, lost oil pressure and I decided to throw a brand new engine in it, short block, head and all the bits. Paid a shop to build and install the engine. A year later the rust had gotten much worse, way faster than I expected but that's the east coast for you and I had holes and cracks in the frame in places that are not extremely obvious unless you are looking deep for it (next to the gas tank on the inside of the frame I had about a 6" hole that weakened the frame and started to crack inside and out around the body mounts. The rust you can see easily is nothing compared to the hidden rust inside the frame. If I were to go back in time, I would not invest the money for a new engine and put it in a rusty truck, but I did and I was pretty committed at that point and ended up buying another 80 from out west completely rust free to put my new engine back into. It didn't even need an engine swap but I had the new engine and I paid less for the rust free 80 than I did the new engine. After paying a shop to do the engine swap the first time, I learned how to do it myself the second time. Your rig looks pretty crusty, more crusty than my old 80. If I were you I would look for a rust free 80 with a good engine and say goodbye to the crust and learn to love fluid film or your choice of coating. If you're willing to spend the money on a new engine, shop around for another 80 that fits the bill, sell as a whole or part out your current 80 to recoup some money. That's my 2 cents after dealing with a rusty 80 and needing a new engine. Best of luck and I hope it works out for you. 80's are a labor of love and if you aren't willing to do/learn the work or fork out loads of cash it can get hairy quick.

 

[clx16]

, I learned how to do it myself the second time. Your rig looks pretty crusty, more crusty than my old 80. If I were you I would look for a rust free 80 with a good engine and say goodbye to the crust and learn to love fluid film

^this is pretty key. I used to live in the north east. I now enjoy rust free vehicles but I still fluidfilm stuff just out of anxiety.

 

[RCWRX]

Can’t argue with the logic around rust and appreciate the advice. I have been over the frame extensively, but yeah those rear axle mounts were not in great shape and I am glad to have them dealt with.

In other news, i’ve acquired additional photos of the cylinders with the gasket off… in my opinion they all look pretty OK ..
Cylinder 1 looks worst…
Should we just clean up the block and head replace the gasket and send it?

 

[RCWRX]

Cylinders #5 and #6.

 

[clx16]

There is an oring behind the timing cover that is leaking or will soon. I would take care of that and am chain and or guides that need it. But if it were me, yep I would clean it up with a new gasket and get back on the road. Also easy time to replace the pesky heater hose and the fuel filter.

 

[Broski]

Have you been by to see it in person? Is there a discernible lip at the top of the cylinders.
Who's we, Wouldn't let that shop work on it.

 

[RCWRX]

We, potentially meaning me and the emotional and technical support of the crowd ; )
I will try to get over there to look at it in person today.
What would a “lip” at the top of the cylinders mean?

 

[RCWRX]

There is an oring behind the timing cover that is leaking or will soon. I would take care of that and am chain and or guides that need it. But if it were me, yep I would clean it up with a new gasket and get back on the road. Also easy time to replace the pesky heater hose and the fuel filter.

I’ve got a fuel filter ready to go and just did the PHH in september

 

[clx16]

The piston rings push outward on the cylinder walls. They don't reach all the way to the top of the piston by the way they are made. A cylinder wall will eventually develop a lip at the top where the rings are not wearing the walls. This is the lip being mentioned.

 

[BILT4ME]

Can’t argue with the logic around rust and appreciate the advice. I have been over the frame extensively, but yeah those rear axle mounts were not in great shape and I am glad to have them dealt with.

In other news, i’ve acquired additional photos of the cylinders with the gasket off… in my opinion they all look pretty OK ..
Cylinder 1 looks worst…
Should we just clean up the block and head replace the gasket and send it?

View attachment 3809712
View attachment 3809713

View attachment 3809716

View attachment 3809719

I cannot tell which cylinder these are, but there are two pistons that look like they've been hit with a hammer on the top edge and swaged the piston towards the sidewall. It does NOT look like this has been dragging on the cylinder wall, so this may be something done by the current disassembler, especially since it looks "fresh." Very clear on the bottom left of the bottom cylinder in the bottom picture and on the upper left on the cylinder above it.

Upon further review, it appears these must be cylinder 3 and 4. There is a picture of the HG in post #24 that would appear that the HG has corresponding sealing ring failures in corresponding locations. I wonder if this is NOT the original HG, but a poorly done replacement and not a Toyota gasket. If this indeed looks like it's been running like that, then you may be OK.
I see some discoloration in the one cylinder directly above the dent on the piston. If this looks "fresh" maybe the PO did a shytty job of a HG and knew this was an issue. This would have been discovered at startup because this impact would have "seized" the engine unless the starter was able to ram it past this point.

This is very concerning to me. The fact that there is no carbon trace on the edge of it is what makes me think this is post disassembly. Let them explain. Ask them how they went about disassembly and if they stuck a pry bar in there or hit it with a hammer to break anything loose. Don't be accusatory. Just keep asking for information.

These are the only red flag to me. If those were not a problem before, they will be now because it also may have affected the clearances on the top compression ring. It may cause the ring to hang up and not rotate like it's supposed to do. It will also drag the wall as the pistons heat up and expand.

As far as ring groove, there is not one visible. It becomes a lip at the top of the cylinder wall about 1/4" to 3/8" down where the top ring stops and the end of each stroke. When the cylinder fires, it creates an enormous amount of pressure at ignition and is causes the ring to exert more force at that point, so it wears more right there. On the old SBC's, you could catch a fingernail on the ring groove and it would have to be cut out before you could remove the pistons.

There is some slight wear on the left and right of the cylinder walls, but it is minor, especially with 271K on it. It's not enough to cause sealing issues with the rings.

If you need to pull the pistons for this inspection, you need to pull the engine. If you're pulling the engine, you have crossed a line and may just need to go with a new short block to offset the cost of labor, disassembly, inspection, and machining.

 

[mudgudgeon]

The least amount of money in would be new head gasket & seal kit, new timing chain guides. Button it up as is and send it.

It's also the maybe the most risky. It may be good for another 200k, it might crap the bed in a month
I see the marks @BILT4ME is commenting on, and they may be nothing, but they for sure raise another question on the condition and viability of the engine.

Next cheapest option (could be the cheapest if you're patient and/or get lucky)
Find a running engine and swap the engine over.
This could also be the fastest turn around option.
Risk is, you still have an unknown engine. It may need work immediately, it may be good for 200k.
I put a used engine in my 80, and it had a blown head gasket, so I was back to square one above.

Least risky, but most expensive would be but a new factory short block and am the parts to build up a new engine.
2nd to that, source and install a freshly rebuilt engine.


There's some solid advice above in regards to rust. Structural rust would be a deal breaker for me. Nothing you can do will stop the rust you can't see or treat effectively.

Tough decisions. I've put way to much effort and money into these conundrums