What is a good price for an 18rg cylinder head? I found one for $950 but could drop that down to $700. I think it's an early casting as it doesn't say Yamaha on it. It looks pretty beat up but the guy says he'll take it to a machine shop. Comes with cams, valves, valve springs and caps. Is this a good price?
Do you have an 18RG block? In theory, you can build an 18RG from an 18RC "just" by swapping heads but then you need to find all the 18RG specific parts, which off the top of my head are: 1. Pistons 2. Oil pump 3. Upper timing chain 4. Oil pump drive gear 5. Oil pump drive gear holder 6. Timing chain cover 7. Water pump and water pump housing 8. Oil pan Does it come with intake and exhaust manifolds? Having said all that, if you have an 18RG with just a damaged head, $700 for a machined replacement sounds good to me... There is a company in Australia, Sleeka Spares, that sells a lot of these parts.
My plan is to convert the 18rc that I have in my hilux into an 18rg. This would be a long term project and I'm in no rush to get all the parts. I've found most of the parts I'll need except for the timing cover and the oil pump drive. I believe the oil pan and water pumps are identical. I'm aware that buying a complete 18rg engine is an easier route, but judging by how rare they are to find in Canada, I'd rather just by the individual parts over time.
The water pump housings are a little different. Not sure if it matters but the RG water pump housing has a bigger diameter bypass hose (the hose that cuts accross the front of the engine). And the RG has a bigger oil pump. The RG oil pump has a 6mm spacer to accommodate longer pump gears for higher volume. I'm guessing the pan is that much deeper. Maybe not (I never measured it). I'm not sure if the higher volume pump is necessary for the RG...
Not horrible but its getting there. The condition is everything. For reference the last listing I saw for an 18rg was in pieces for 2 grand in the us.