More updates.

Replaced the idler arm and steering stabilizer. Wow... they were shot. Almost couldn't get the Steering stabilizer out.
Truck is now on the ground and in my driveway. Pretty close to getting started on the engine cleanup now.

I might drive this someday after all!!

 

Update from this weekend.

My friend came over and helped me rip out pretty much everything off the engine. Found a couple issues in the process.
First, my upper control arm bushings are totally shot. They look a lot like the leaf spring bushings I pulled out. Ouch.
There's a coat of oil in the bell housing. That doesn't sound fun.

We're pulling the motor next weekend, then I can get to work on the front end, and clean up the motor. I pulled the plugs from the motor and 3 of the 4 were covered in crap. I can't believe that they even fired! That bodes well for this motor that it ran AT ALL with plugs like that. I've had engines that would foul plugs with almost nothing on them compared to these. At least that's a good sign. The tops of the pistons were pretty clean, as were the intake runners.

Probably gonna ditch the EGR and just about everything I don't need. Going to be a much much cleaner engine compartment.

 

Actually had 10 minutes today, pulled the dash panel in the garage and mocked up the stereo. Joe I'm gonna have to cut the radio opening... Finding one that fits isn't exactly practical!

Don't worry I'll do a better job than the guy who cut the panel I had in my truck!!!!

So I was wondering, there's a bar that bolts in right underneath the oil pan. Looks like a brace between the frame rails. If I unbolt this I can pull the oil pan without having to pull the engine. Anyone unbolt this, and is it a bitch to put it back? It will take me maybe an hour to replace the oil pan and front cover gaskets if I pull this bar vs. pulling the motor. With as little time as I have, this will make a huge difference to when I get the truck done. Any thoughts?

 

More messiness...

This is my mess.... LOL!!! (part 1 of 2)

 

Part 2

 

So this weekend I've done some work, not as much as I'd hoped. I got the valve cover off, the front cover loose, and all the bolts on the oil pan off. Problem is, these have never been removed, so it practically too a sledge to get the valve cover loose, and the oil pan won't let go. I have the front cover pushed out a little, so I'm going to use a wood drift to tap the oil pan until it pops.
The amount of oil and grime on this thing is beyond anything I've ever worked on. I've gone through 2 sets of work gloves, and I'm going to have to soak them in water and dish soap all week to get it out. It's really incredible, as you can see on the pics.
Once I get the oil pan off the front cover should just come right out. Just hoping the pan will pop loose. Then it's cleaning and replacement time. That's the easier part.
Since i sold off the Rav4 wheels I found a set of 15x7 Jeep steel wheels for the truck. Will slap some 205/60/15's of them and call it good.

 

dropping that crossmember DOES MAGIC!! good luck

 

Gotta keep up the progress man!

That Idler looks brutal. IDK if I would drive on it...

 

That got replaced a few weeks ago. Right now the steering up front is nice and tight, wasn't gonna even take any chances with any of it. Once the new bushings are in it'll drive nice. Of course, first thing getting done is the motor, then I'll start with the rest. As soon as it runs and drives, I'll tear into the rest of it. Until it runs there's no point in screwing with the rest.

 

Nice.

 

I pulled to front cover today, and got a nice suprise... the chain guide on the driver's side fell out, and the bolts are ground almost flat. Time to drill and EZout!

One day it will run again. I hope.

 

So I got a bit done today. Pics soon, since I had to bust ass to get to work afterwards.
Got those two bolts out that were holding the chain guide on. top one I tapped loose, bottom one drilled and EZout. Took a bit but that's fine, it's OUT! Lifted the motor and pulled the oil pan. Cleaned the oil pan and the rails.

Next stop, clean the outside of the motor, replace the timing chain set, and start buttoning up the motor. Feels good to make progress. At least now I know there's no more hurdles or suprises, I've torn it all down now! I'm hoping to fire this thing back up in the next few weeks.

Then it's on to the front suspension. One task at a time!

 

Progress. Finally.

I had some time this morning since my wife and daughter are out of town until later today to get some stuff done.
Wound up being able to clean all the engine parts, so they're ready to go back on the motor once I clean up the motor. Since I'm not sure how it's gonna run I'm gonna just get it decent and see how it does. If it runs good I'll do a nice cleanup job on it. Here's the parts all cleaned up:


After I finished that, I had to make sure the Jeep wheels fit. They look pretty good. They're only 1/2" wider than the stockers and 1/2" less backspacing, so they fit with a decent amount of space between the wheel lip and the ball joint. Looks like I can lower the thing and have no rubbing issues on the fender.


Here are the bolts extracted that used to hold on the chain guide:


And the ACE Hardware studs and nuts / washers for the exhaust:


Gonna try and spend 30 minutes a day and assemble the motor as much as I can. Shouldn't take too long, the timing set is going to take the most time.

 

Progress. Finally.

I had some time this morning since my wife and daughter are out of town until later today to get some stuff done.
Wound up being able to clean all the engine parts, so they're ready to go back on the motor once I clean up the motor. Since I'm not sure how it's gonna run I'm gonna just get it decent and see how it does. If it runs good I'll do a nice cleanup job on it. Here's the parts all cleaned up:


After I finished that, I had to make sure the Jeep wheels fit. They look pretty good. They're only 1/2" wider than the stockers and 1/2" less backspacing, so they fit with a decent amount of space between the wheel lip and the ball joint. Looks like I can lower the thing and have no rubbing issues on the fender. I'll wrap them in BFG Radial T/A 205/60/15's. Not until everything else is done, though.


Here are the bolts extracted that used to hold on the chain guide:


And the ACE Hardware studs and nuts / washers for the exhaust:


Gonna try and spend 30 minutes a day and assemble the motor as much as I can. Shouldn't take too long, the timing set is going to take the most time.

Progress, finally.

 

sweet. i just finished up all the same stuff. just take your time, itll come together.

and those wheels should fit with a drop, a guy here has the same wheels on the same truck. forgot his name on here off the top of my head. its blue and in the march hilux meet thread.

 

that's weird... double post?

 

http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTricks/EngineMods/TimingChain.shtml

Ok, so I installed the new chain, sprockets, and tensioner. I found the above write up and it helped a lot. One thing though, it shows 2 bright links that match up with the marks on the sprockets. My chain had one dark link on one end, and two dark links on the other. With the mark on the crank correct, and the dark link right on the mark on the cam sprocket, the mark on the crank sprocket wound up right in between the two dark links. I have no idea if this is correct, but everything went together perfectly. No struggles at all to get the chain on, so from the write up that means it is correct. Can someone confirm this for me? I just wanna make sure before I throw the front cover back on.

I also got the BFG's put on my rims, gonna pick those up tomorrow, I'll get some pics u p this weekend of both the wheels and the timing chain. It's pretty late so I'm done for the night.

 

Do you know anyone that is selling the chrome front bumper? I don't mind if it needs some work. Pm me if you know anyone....

Cheers

 

My new tires / rims. Nothing special, but they look MUCH better. Will post pics of them on the truck later.

 

Installed... before and after. The tires are just about the same height, new ones are barely shorter... but maybe it's the sidewall difference. Looks much better though.

Progress.