'91 All Trac Project "Mia"-Engine Rebuild Time

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Haha sure as shit wasn't fresh water!

Anyways just an update....

Got some tools to finish the suspension removal, my dad bought me a 1/2 drive socket set for an early Christmas present after I snapped my 1/2 to 3/8 adapter off, and some other small goodies as well. I also borrowed his tie rod and ball joint remover pry bars. The tie rod ends came off without much incident, the ball joints not so much.

The passenger side ball joint came off fairly easily considering, bolts broke loose after some heavy pressure via braker bar+pipe. The driver's side however, I removed the nut first, which came off easy enough. However the two nuts seemed to not be getting any looser, and they didn't "break" free. Low and behold, the effin bolts broke free a little I guess and started turning with the nuts. Except they're not supposed to, so there's no way to grab them from the back.

I needed someway to put enough pressure on the bolt to keep it from turning while the nut broke, I took a screw driver, and hammered it inbetween the ball join plate and the (control arm maybe?) piece it bolts to on the car, working on the opposite side of the bolt I was trying to break free. It worked on the right hand bolt, but not the left. I think with it being the last one I just couldn't get enough pressure. I drove a ball joint pry bar via hammer inbetween there and that still didn't provide enough pressure, as you can see in the pictures the big gap I created, at the expense of bending metal. I'll be replacing them, so no big deal. But if the stud or bolt is stuck on your ball joints, this may work, but may destroy the mounting plate in the process.

I gave up and hack sawed about a 1/3 the way through before it got too late and I went home. Turns out I got a nice dremel for Christmas so I went to the store and got a hex set, as well as a set of cut off discs and I'll just cut the damn thing off via 35,000 RPMs. Also got a stuck stud/bolt/nut remover set (you know the socket/nut thingy with teeth inside), I'm sure it will come in handy down the line.

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I also went to the dealer today to order new rear break lines and the main gas line. We kinked the gas line a little in some places when we bent our own replacing the rusted out last one, so I wanted a fresh new no kinks line. I figured kinks would defeat the purpose of a high flow fuel pump and fuel rail and FPR, etc etc. The breaks were never great on the car (see above post lol) and some of our unions weren't the greatest so I wanted to get new rear ones which we bent ourselves last time as well. Not to mention none of the shit we made ever fit back in the clips.

The gas line was only 80 some dollars (Cheap after the hassle of custom making the one that's on there now). The parts guys usually give me a little bit of a discount, but the guy in here this time that was only the second time I saw him, told the new guy to give me price code 9 or something, and that dropped it down to 40ish? Brake lines came out to about $80 a piece if I remember. Also took the opportunity and ordered a water pump since it was good pricing. For some reason they can't order the timing belt, system won't let them. Hopefully ATS has it in stock with their kit and I shouldn't have to order anything off of 1sttoyota. So all the lines and w/p are on order.

And I forgot to get two bolts from my A/C and alt that were missing :( I'll be back plenty I'm sure.

I also burned 1k of that damn turbo money on Christmas so hopefully have enough to pick up the turbo kit and some of the seals and oil pump, and everything else can wait I won't need it for awhile anyways.

Speaking of which, I think I've decided on the GT28RS. I saw the GT28701 and was a little interested in that, but ATS doesn't seem to offer it, and I couldn't find much about it, but it would probably be a tad out of range for my goals.

I'm planning to use ATS's fuel/ecu combo kit to start. I know it won't be the greatest, but I think its a good place to start to get the car on the street again, and in the future I'll probably switch to a top feed rail and an actual FPR as well as stand alone, and I should be squared away as far as that goes.

I'm hoping to get a custom 3in midpipe made with a hi flow cat, and mate with the 3in downpipe and the to-be-purchased HKS hi power exhaust and hopefully that works out nicely. Only issue I'll have is I'll prob have to leave the stock cat on for inspection day, but not sure how this whole emissions thing is gonna work out anyways. Might have to get waiver(s)....

I also plan on rigging up some sort of intake, preferably sucking atleast partially some outside air, rather then having it just sit completely inside the engine. And of course my 205 WTA set up will hopefully workout.

So GT28RS kit, 205 WTA, fuel pump and modified fuel rail and FPR, tuned ROM, and a full 3in exhaust and an intake to get it on the road. I think once the stand alone and fuel system is finished up things should turn out pretty nicely, and I can turn to the suspension.

Speaking of which, anyone have thoughts on the moog inner tie rods? Hate to made new outers to old inners, but still can't seem to justify $100 a piece. Even the raybestos or whatever "professional grade" are $70. Beck Arnely has stock inners for like $30-$40....
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
My last update was January HAHA. Ah I love looking back and reading my posts, with my predictions of what I'm gonna do and when, if only...

Anyways I've made some progress I guess you can say, as I currently have the engine completely disassembled save for the block haha.

Everything went pretty smoothly, with the exception of removing that control arm, as I ended up bending the bolt hole trying to pry it down off of the ball joint. Little did I know the jackstand was under said control arm, preventing it from moving down. Had I moved the jack stand into proper position off of the control arm and to somewhere else, the control arm would have pivoted down with ease and the ball joint would have been off within 5 minutes, instead of a few hours. Live and learn I guess. I got a used one off a member, and it came with some poly bushings or something already in stalled, and he included the bushings for the other control arm which I I'll throw on. I'll put some pics up later of the new stuff.

The engine removal went fairly easy compared to most things I've done on the car. I was amazed how fast it got disassembled once out of the car, then I realized its because everything is so much easier with the engine on a stand. The only problem I encountered was the crankshaft bolt, which I did not use the starter to break loose at the advice of a 3SGTE wiseman. The reasoning being having the whole engine jump in place and the stressors put on the bolt, the starter, and everything else would not be good. Anyways after nearly stripping the damn thing I was able to rent from a tool rental store and electric impact gun. I don't remember the specs, except that it was a 3/4 inch drive monster, and after a few seconds it stripped that bitch out with ease. I may have been lucky since it appears my engine was rebuilt, but definitely worth a try, and its was only like $20 for a day.

Anyways the current state of affairs has the head off, awaiting funds to go to the machine shop. I decided to replace the head gasket while I have the engine out, as I wasn't sure when the current one was put in, and I wanted to upgrade to a metal one to be sure with the increased stress from the new turbo. Turns out the damn head gasket on there was almost brand fing new, but oh well. I am not sure whether or not I want to rebuild the drive train myself, or even just disassemble. I want to learn, but at the same time I want this done quickly and right the first time. Either way I plan on getting the valves redone and everything checked out. I read about some type of service porting or something (I forget what they called it) which enlarges the ports a bit, but doesn't take it out of spec really and provides a lot of gain with little loss over the original. Although reading some other things I'm not even sure this engine will make enough power and flow enough air to gain anything from porting at all. So at the very least the valves will be checked and machined if needed, and the head cleaned. Never messed with a head, anything in particular I need to tell the machine shop or get done?

The exhaust manifold is off, waiting to be powdercoated. Was going to get it done in a red or blue along with the valve cover (differing colors, red and blue), but appears that may add to the cost to order paint. I was also considering black as it matches the turbo, but that might make it harder to detect leaks at the gasket surfaces or what not. I also saw the one guy advertising his shop saying they coat the inside of the exhaust manifolds when they do them as well, which seemed interesting and worth it, might look into that.

Can't find my damn idler pulley I bought new for the timing, so guess I'll pick another one of those up. I was thinking of powder coating the cam gears since I think I'm going to keep them stock, but not really sure if I want to, they'd probably still be ugly as hell anyways. I want to get a clear timing belt cover for the top to keep a better eye on things. I also saw some small leakage on the bottom of the steering rack, since I was going to do inner and outer tie rods anyways, I think I'll just get a new refurb rack form rock auto while I'm at it just to be safe.

Now my major problem lies with the block. Since this project took so damn long, the coolant got drained about a year ago, and has sat since then. And of course it rusted everything. Which I'm cool with, because everything from the water pump on can be cleaned or hosing replaced, and the water pump and rad are going to be all new. But the block coolant passages look like hell. So I was going to disassemble that and get it hot tanked and redone. But based off some markings I can see on the crank and rods, and the head gasket being almost brand new, it appears the block was just redone. Even the cylinder walls appear to still have the honing marks and some faint cross hatching marks on it. Not that I have a clue what the hell I'm talking about, but from what I read anyways it seems all freshly done. I was considering just manually pumping some cleaning stuff through the passages from the top, and blocking off the waterpump hole to build a little bit of pressure during this if needed, but run the risk of that stuff falling down into the cylinders and on the pistons and stuff. I already used compressed air to clear out shit from the cylinders/pistons not knowing that small particles can get in the small gap and scour the inside of the cylinder walls if the engine gets ran with it in there. Apparently some recommend this enough should warrant the piston disassembly.

My only other option to is leave it be, reassemble everything and just flush the coolant systems with everything reassembled. But I hate to buy a $500 Ron Davis rad or whatever and blow 20 years of shit and a crap ton of rust through it, as well as the new water pump and hoses and etc etc.

So I guess my question is A), how should I go about cleaning these passages, and B) If I do disassemble the block, seeing as it appears freshly rebuilt, whats the minimum that needs replaced? I assume I need new piston rings, or its at least a good idea, but other then that I can reassemble with the same crank and rod bearings? Does the cylinder walls need honed again or can it be left alone? Etc etc...

My time and budget are starting to run very thin, as I'm pretty sure I now have 3 times what I paid for the car in parts, and the damn thing ran when I bought it.



My other major question is the turbo I got from ATS. I have only a rough idea of what I'm doing, as I just read the book and go at it, I'm not a engine builder or mechanic or guy whose been working on cars for years or anything. So I'm looking at this new turbo and all its hoses, which is beautiful, but its all different from stock, mainly the hose connections since the CT26 appears to use block off plates and combo together some of the hard lines. I emailed ATS to ask what was what, and they said the water hoses go on the sides, and it doesn't matter which way its connected/flows. So I guess I'll dremel off the old hard lines for the water and slid the new hoses on? That seems simple enough. But the oil and feed lines are boggling my mine.

The CT26 had a hard line from the side of the block (big ass banjo bolt) to the turbo, like the side or something, which had the water pipes with it, and then a large hose from the turbo that drained down into the oil pan. Simple enough I guess. But the new turbo has a nice thick hose that attaches on the bottom, which you would think goes to the oil pan. But it doesn't, it seems like the size of the bolt on the end that it goes to the block where they old feed line/banjo bolt goes. And then I got a tiny hose that connects to the top of the turbo, which is supposedly the feed line, and then it goes god knows where on the engine? So any advice on this would be nice...

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Feed hose?
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Drain hose?
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And the water hoses
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And the turbo
Top as it should look mounted
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Bottom
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Front again
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And some other pics

Old Clutch
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Hosting the car
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Does not look like a good diagnostic connector
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Control Arm debacle
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Oil pan stuff, hope the gasket surfaces are clean enough
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Random stuff
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Valves
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Head
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And the block pictures

Evidence of the recent rebuild
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Not a stock head bolt
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Dirty coolant passages
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Water pump hole
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Waterpump itself
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P.S. This was only supposed to be a clutch and t-belt job. :D
 

MWP

New member
The writing on the rods isnt evidence of a rebuild.
Quite often Toyota parts come from the factory with things written on them like that.

Damn that cars had a hard life :(
A car in that condition in Australia would be scrap.
 

l0ch0w

New member
That water pump is a cheapo aftermarket one too from the looks of it... I would recommend using one with correct impeller wheel.

what are your plans for block work?
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Yeah the waterpump wasn't lookin to healthy, but I have an OEM one waiting to replace it :D

I'm still not sure what I want to do with the block, I'm trying to minimize my time and money getting added on right now, but I also want to do it right and have it be a reasonably bulletproof engine.

I'm not sure what the requirements are for getting the block done; ie like if I get it hot tanked, do the cylinder rings have to get replaced and everything else can be reused? Or are crank and rod bearings and/or cylinder honing a must as well? So not sure what all is reusable and what is not, so if someone could enlighten me, I'd appreciate it. I did some searching with no luck so far.

Eitherway I don't think I'm gonna forge it or overbore it or anything, I'd like to but seems good forged parts are quite expensive and looks like it'd be another 1k or so?
 

alltracst185

New member
OK, your decision to do a forged build all depends on what you want to do HP wise with the car?? I would personally do at least pistons, rod and crank bearings while the engine is out to have a pretty much bullet proof bottom end for a mild build (like 300-350 HP) The stock rods are good till about 500 HP. Also I would deff replace the oil pump with a either ATS high volume new OEM Toyota :wink:
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
I got an ATS oil pump sitting in the parts pile waiting for her day :D

I'm looking to keep it fairly mild, looking more for a nice responsive tight and fun car to drive then raw power. Perhaps onto rally on day down the road... so I can't see myself going over 350-400. If so I can rip it all down again I guess haha.

I went ahead though and did decide to rip into the block for whatever reason today. Went well, rounded one rod bolt until I realize that crank is easy as pie to turn with nothing but pistons connected to it, so was able to get the bolts at a more workable angle. Lesson learned...

However I didn't do any of the checks that the service manual talks about. I have a harbor freight cheapo but digital caliper, but it was useless and a dial gauge is really needed, so I gave up after five minutes of trying to see if everything was in spec. I figure most of the bearings and stuff will be getting replaced anyways, so I just went ahead and tore into it. I just tried to keep a rough order of where everything is and all the pistons in one piece so they don't get mixed up. Not sure if it matters if a piston is installed 180 degrees rotated in its cylinder, but that's about my only snafu.

I got the block ripped down to just the block, save for about two bolts in place on the outside from stuff I took off. I guess I'll go head and get it painted while I'm at it. I'm thinking a gray should work nicely to spot leaks. I also decided to take a shit ton of random brackets and metal water hoses and the water outlet and even the intake manifold as well as some other random stuff to see if I can get them cleaned up and painted as well. I'll probably just get a gray as well. Though my DP and turbo are a gunmetal and black, so I may do everything in a gunmetal, perhaps the block even. I'm not familiar with the process though, so I'm not sure how broken down and clean these guys need this stuff before they get it. And I really don't know if I should get the block machined first and painted second or vice versa. I image the the machining process tears it up some, especially the cleaning, but can the painters keep all the newly machined surfaces intact and undamaged?

Speaking of block work, the cylinders seem nice and smooth, some grim at the tippy top, but I couldn't even feel a ridge that supposedly is usually there. I didn't do any machining or honing, I just pushed the pistons out. Everything feels pretty smooth and nice.

So next I'm going to try and research some forged parts. I'm reading about stuff like piston slap which doesn't sound too cool, and I'm hoping I can get pistons and rings that will fit in the cylinders I have now without having to get them honed. If I get it honed, I run into an odd dilemma, I read that you need to run the engine hard under both acceleration and engine breaking to get the hatching set even, but with a brand new clutch and fly wheel, engine braking is a no-no, and with everything being new on the engine as well, I don't think hard pulls out of the gate is a good idea. So I'll see what I can find. Any recommendations for some decent forged bottom end stuff that will work to about 350-400? Just looking for a good solid OEM replacement that's reliable and works well and doesn't need to hold to 700hp.

I also pulled out my WTA inter cooler, I'm going to see if I can get the pits and scratches on the paint on top sanded out and the thing repainted.

About all I can think of for now.

And I thought it was funny that this would be considered scrap in Australia, I thought she's in pretty good condition compared to whats around! :twisted:

Sludge in the coolant hardline coming from the block
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Not a clue what this is, but thought it was cool looking
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I left a place for the crank, then realized how heavy it was and that wasn't going on my roof
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Crankshaft's new motel for the time being
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Fox 21 Alpha

New member
So I got the engine stripped down, and took it down to a local machine shop. Appears the one cam is completely shot, and the other is close. The one main bearing (#5 maybe?) was within miles of failing, it had shrunk and was getting cut up bad. And the exhaust valves aren't salvageable, and the intakes are but not great.

The shop recommends I get new cams, valve springs, retainers, locks, seals, and valves. They can source aftermarket stock sizes for about $15 a piece, or the ferras for $20/$30 a piece for the 6000/comp if I remember right.

I've spent about 3 hours trying to figure what all to get, and where from, and seems my options are

Supertech valves, and they also make a spring and retainer kit, as well as seals, from realstreetperformance.com

BrianCrower valves and springs or retainers, which I can get direct from their website

Or the Ferra mess, with some ungodly combo of valves and retainers and maybe seals, and I'll be damned if I can find a place that has good prices on all three and sells them.

The supertechs are supposedly too short, making shimming a pain and some people also question their coating reliability. I've read mixed reviews on the BCs, and I'd like to get the Ferra Comps but I just can't seem to find a place that has everything I need in one place or a decent price. I'd like to keep the valves stock size, as I'm worried about losing the low to midrange power if I oversize them, and I'm trying to keep my powerband a little lower to keep it fun to drive in the city.

So my main problem right now is sourcing the valvetrain set up. I'm gonna get some HKS cams and adjustable wheels, though I'm not sure what duration to get.

The block and head itself appear to be fine, though they are grinding down the driveshaft 1mm and getting main bearings to go with it. Other then that I got the gas tank out and sent off to a shop to get "renu"ed, and I started taking apart the rear subframe, and somehow broke a huge bolt (see pics below). So I'll have to deal with that soon.

I also has to cut the top left nut off of the steering rack clamps, as the bolt began to spin, and there appears to be no way to access it. I'm either going to have see if it can be drilled and tapped and made into a bolt hole, or if that's not possible, get someone to cut into the unibody to access the rear of the bolt, pull it out, have a new bolt welded in place, and get that part of the unibody welded back up. So FML, typically all trac haha.

Anyone have any recommendation for the valvetrain set up and where to get it, or the cam durations?

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Does anyone know what the hell this thing is?
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One of these days I'll get a better camera I swear...
 

Street_Chally73

New member
Wow, is that thing crusty!! It's great to see you're taking the time & whole learning process to rebuild this All-Trac!!! It's funny how the snowball effect comes into play with your fun car, isn't it? Mine (the Stealth TT in my avatar photo) originally went down for a clutch assembly replacement (had a broken clutch spring perch/tab), but managed to morph into a complete transmission overhaul, front suspension/steering rebuild, & just about every other clean-up job I could do during my available time away from work/school.

Keep up the progress & eventually it'll be a great, dependable car!! (Most likely because damn near everything will have been replaced by then. lol :twisted: )
 

UtahSleeper

Active member
+1 Glad your taking your time to revive her. You may want to consider sand blasting/cleaning up alot of the rust parts as you work on them or in the area.
 

phattyduck

New member
Fox 21 Alpha":2v4lzbis said:
Does anyone know what the hell this thing is?
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OMG Rust! I'm so glad I live in California... :D

As for that pipe, it is a vent line for the charcoal canister. It just sits in a little hole in the crossmember, effectively in the open air.

-Charlie
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
So after a little vacation to the sand box we're back to it! :D :twisted:

So I went ahead and got the block and head cleaned up and machined/checked. Reused the pistons, had the machine shop clean them however and replace the rings. Crank was ground down by 1mm I believe to get it inline and they supplied the main and cap bearings and thrust washers that supposedly compensate for the 1mm. Seeing as everything was freshly machined and me and buddy had already oiled and torqued everything down, I didn't feel like ripping it all back apart just to check with plastigauge. Even though I spent damn near 2 days lookin for the stuff. Seeing as the book says to do it to check if it needs machined, and I just got everything machined, one would assume it'd be all in spec, so no need right? :|

So got the crank put in, threw the oil pan on real quick to help cover up the engine to paint and also make it easier to paint the pan itself (used the screws to cover the screw holes). I went with the dupli-color engine enamel, did about 3 or 4 coats of red then about 2 or 3 coats of clear. I really liked the clean cast iron look from the machine shop, but didn't realize that 1) That's a color you can get in the enamel and 2) You could always just use clear by itself. I think the red turned out pretty good though, we'll see how it looks when I pull the tape off. Pics below.

A few notes for painting your engine
-It was definitely easier on the stand, as long as you can spin the engine in all directions. Makes taping a little tough but worth it.
-Wear a mask, no matter how little you think you'll need it or how well vented the place is
-Use the painting plastic tarps/drop cloths everywhere, including behind you. I only did about the 180 infront of me I was painting on, and almost ruined the box of powdercoated stuff sitting behind me, luckily caught it in time.
-An exacto to trim your tape on the engine makes a world of difference from just using a razor blade (see below)
-The hardest thing about actually painting was getting all the different angles and crevices. I first was gonna paint just with the engine upside down, but then for the 3rd coat decided to flip it upright, and was glad I did. I also tried to give one coat in a left angle and the other coat at a right angle, you almost have to have it sprayed from every direction to catch everything. I ended up using the whole can and kinda almost ran out. I think more coats that were lighter would have worked better. Might have been easier to brush it on it retrospect, but I think the cans turned out well too, and it went fast.

I also got the rear subframe pulled out and disassembled. I was able to source the two main forward bolts (there's access plugs under the rear seat) from the dealer, so that solves the broken bolt issue. They were a little pricey but the guy helped me out. I'll get pics next time.

I got poly bushings for the trailing arms, but wanted to use OEM for the no 1 and 2 control arms as I've read is good. I also read that you can only get those bushings by buying the entire arms. At a good discount they run abouts $150 a piece (x4) so about $600 just for those 4 bushings. Mine look ok compared to the rest of the bushings so I'll just resuse them for now. I'll put anti seize on everything so I can replace them easier in the future when I got spare money and time.

I got mario's rear diff bushing and his subframe bushing kit. I have barely a clue how it goes together, or how to get the old bushings out, so I'll take another look at that. The search for using his bushings didn't turn up much but questions, and there's some tips for the old bushings, but no pictures. My main questions is should I reuse the old washers that go with the old rubber bushings and if so where? And do these need lubricated?

I also did some sanding under the car, but seeing as I'm using POR15 which you can apply directly to rust, it seems useless to do on the surface rust stuff, so I just got rid of the major stuff. Not sure how the POR15 will attach to the rubber coating on the bottom of the car, but as long as it grabs the bare metal that's all that's important. Only found one hole so far in the rear rocker panel, appears the water had no where to drain, so I may fix that with a drain hole when I patch it.

Still not much progress on the steering rack bolt dilemma. I looked at Meurz's build which has some good bare frame photos and it appears there's no access. The dealer some stuff up but all we could find was the entire steering rack panel which is the width of the firewall and wraps around and is welded to the car (read: frame piece). Which of course I couldn't even order let alone replace. So I'm talking to some guys who do mobile welding. I think the best two options are to cut the entire top half/third and bend it back, replace the bolts and weld it back, or cut a square around the two bolts, replace, and reweld. Hope it goes right eitherway or this car will never drive right again....

I also broke the damn pulley on the power steering pump trying to take it off, it ripped a nice size chip out of it. Ordered one for a 1.6L off of rock auto but the pulley was too big :( The MR2s don't use power steering pumps so god knows where I'll find a pulley for the power steering pump. Still trying to find a nice crank pulley and bolt to go with it...


So the plan is to get the rear subframe and frame cleaned up of the major stuff and coated with por15 (along with all arms). Gonna work on sanding and painting this week. I need an oil pick up gasket to start back up with the engine reassembly. Bouncing between things on the car kinda makes parts pile up, you forget stuff, and everything becomes a mess, but its also kinda having difference stuff to pick from and not getting bogged down in one thing, but next time I think maybe I'll try and keep it to mini projects at a time instead the about 10 I'm doing now haha.

Steering rack mess for those not trackin....(The cut bolt/stud just spins, appears it broke its hold welds in the back, and the right one is getting close)
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Some engine prep work
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Pre-exacto
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Post exacto
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Post Paint
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It ran a little, not a perfect job, but pretty good for first time I think
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This motherf'er......
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No idea how any of this shit goes back together, looks like its supposed to be precise, I'm hoping the old settings will be good :twisted: :|
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Gas tank strap pre sand...
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Gas tank strap post sand (I know its an amazing difference right? :roll:
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I feel like I should be tipping the postman...
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underscore

Well-known member
Nice work! Sucks about that PS bolt though. For the pulley on the pump, you can also use:

08/1985-07/1987 TOYOTA CELICA ST16*
08/1987-07/1989 TOYOTA CELICA ST16*
09/1989-08/1993 TOYOTA CELICA AT180,ST18*
09/1993-07/1999 TOYOTA CELICA AT200,ST204
06/1991-07/1996 TOYOTA CAMRY SXV10,VCV10,MCV10
09/1991-06/1996 TOYOTA CAMRY SXV10,VCV10,MCV10
11/1995-07/2000 TOYOTA RAV4 SXA1*

So it shouldn't be too hard for you to find one locally.
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Yeah thats what I thought and what we looked up at the dealer, so I thought I was all good when I orded one off of rockauto for the 91 1.6 Celica, but it got here and its way too big, probably by a good inch or so. Its Dorman PT# 300-403. I looked around a bit for the later Celicas and Camrys and apparently they have one listed for the Camry that's 4.12 inch in diameter, which sounds about right since this big one I got is 5.12. Now I don't know if the center will be right or the width, but might be worth checking into if someone runs into the problem in the future. I think smaller pulley is dorman pt number 300-404?

I was able to grab one off another member's 205 so that should be on the way shortly, hopin that works out instead.
 

toayoztan

Moderator
For the bushings on the subframe and what not, if you don't have a press, burn them out. I have a press, and I still burned them out.

For the toe arms in the rear, just set it all to zero, then take it to get the whole car realigned. Make sure to get a brass (or steel) brush and clean the washers and surfaces real good so you get a clean area to work with for the guys to adjust your rear toe.

As for the PS stud, that whole piece is spot welded to the firewall. You can buy a spot weld drill bit, drill out all the spot welds, and pull that off (that's what it looks to be like anyway). Thing is, you'll need to figure out a way to spot weld it back on...not sure if you access to a welder or someone who can. If you have an air gun, you may be able to thread the nut on by hand to the stud as best you can right before you would need a socket (and of course the stud to stay still). Then get an air gun and blast it on the nut, and it may spin the nut with enough force/speed w/o having the stud secured. Of course, this doesn't fix the problem, but it may work for now. However, since your motor is out, and you are taking care of everything, best to go ahead and just fix it now.

I feel you on the mini project deal. I outlined a plan on what to work on next to get the car back together, but I keep going off on tangents to take care of smaller things along the way.

Example: Put interior back together. Oh, what's this...ABS harness? I'll rip it out...damn, maybe I should rip out the AC wiring too...and now my dash harness is in shambles on the ground lol.

I just write a To-Do list. One list for major things to get done in order (I hate putting stuff on, then having to take it back off b/c I didn't think it through first - like putting your dash and center console together, then completely rip it apart to take out the harness :doh:). I make another list of "things to get done NOW" - aka, I refer to this list daily, to make sure I don't keep moving on without finishing up other things first so I don't get into a 10 project predicament :wink: . It makes me move a little slower, but keeps things less hectic for me anyway.

Bryan
 

phattyduck

New member
Fox 21 Alpha":1kltosep said:
Still not much progress on the steering rack bolt dilemma. I looked at Meurz's build which has some good bare frame photos and it appears there's no access. The dealer some stuff up but all we could find was the entire steering rack panel which is the width of the firewall and wraps around and is welded to the car (read: frame piece). Which of course I couldn't even order let alone replace. So I'm talking to some guys who do mobile welding. I think the best two options are to cut the entire top half/third and bend it back, replace the bolts and weld it back, or cut a square around the two bolts, replace, and reweld. Hope it goes right eitherway or this car will never drive right again....

Steering rack mess for those not trackin....(The cut bolt/stud just spins, appears it broke its hold welds in the back, and the right one is getting close)

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The studs are supposed to be 'loose' in their mounts in the firewall. The stud on the driver's side is probably fine.

As for the passenger side, you are going to have to cut a hole, repair the problem and weld up the hole, sadly. :doh:

-Charlie
 

Street_Chally73

New member
The progress is looking good so far, sans the busted bolt. :roll: I would have to agree with Phattyduck on the fact that the LH one should be okay after running a thread chaser over it several times to clean up any previously semi-stripped threads (my kit has saved me a TON of times already). :wink: Also, the suggestion to use an oxy-acetylene torch to burn out the old rubber bushings will save you some serious time & frustration than if you were to only use a hydraulic press or specific bushing tools.

Also, if you want to get all of those scale-rusted parts extra clean before you prep & paint them, use an angle grinder or even a drill & use a 4 1/2" cupped wire wheel and go to town on all of those parts (that is, provided you don't have access to a sandblaster). Just make sure you're wearing plenty of protective clothing (long-sleeved shirt, goggles, gloves, & a face mask) 'cause you will be impaled by small pieces of wire as you go along (consider it a session of accu-puncture in the garage, lol). :twisted:

Keep up the good work!! The engine's looking good now that it has a fresh coat of paint on it. 8)
 

Fox 21 Alpha

New member
Just realized I never updated this. I got the engine back together, but had a rough start (only firing on two cylinders, because the fuel injector wires were loose in the ECU. That only took a week and a half to figure it out.

I had a guy come and cut around the studs, and well two new ones in place. Accidentally gave him the ones that weren't stainless but hopefully they hold for the life the car. If I remember right he cut a square around the studs to remove them from the car, pulled the old ones out of the hole, put the new ones in place, welded them, and then welded the square back on and cleaned it all up.

Anyways long story short I drove the car for about a week working through various small issues, leaks, intake piping since the stock stuff didn't fit the new turbo, etc etc. I actually had to have my ATA intercooler pipe-to-turbo cut and rewelded twice to get the angle close enough to make the connection to the turbo. Very irritating. Oh but little I knew...

So the first time I get the car over 4000 RPMs, if that, is on my way to work on a nice open stretch. I think I almost hit 50 mph. Ohhhh. As I pull into work my oil pressure light began to flicker on and off. So I park it, can't find any oil leaks or anything funny, and go to work. On the ride home everything seems fine. Then about 30 mins later as I get close to home its flicker on and off more, and sometimes almost staying faintly lit. I triple check my levels, all good.

Long story short I connect a pressure gauge up to the oil level sensor port, and while cold I blow the PSI off the charts, probably thanks to the ATS high volume pump and the fresh rebuild. However as the engine heats up, I steadily loose pressure until its dipping below 4 psi at idle (which is minimum spec per the BGB). A quick look at the main bearings shows pretty decent scoring and damage.

So I have the dealer rip the engine out cause I couldn't bear to turn around and do it myself again. Tear it all down, back to the machine shop, regrind the crank even more, new bigger bearings to compensate, they take the cylinder walls out to .020 or whatever and hone them, new pistons and rings, head is checked and reworked, etc, etc etc, basically another $1000 to redo everything. By now I could have bought an ATS built long block but I digress.

So now Im finally getting ready to put the engine back in a second time. I think Im going to try doing it myself again to save some money. I just got the tranny mated up and Im doing some small chores like fixing the broken speedo and whatnot. Im hoping things go better for me this time. I also practically destroyed my brand new snow tires due to my toe being severely off in the short time I drove it. I'll be lucky to get 3 months out of whats left of them...

Good news is that the engine sounded beautiful and healthy, and besides some bullshit with clutch and brake noise and the broken speedo and few odds and ends, seemed to work and run decent. A local guy said it was the smoothest running engine he'd ever heard. Hopefully she does just as well this time, and the oversized pistons don't crack the walls, which I hear can be a problem.

Pics to come...
 

Rymantas

Member
Just saw this post here. I am a local Pittsburgher as well! It is good to see more 3s cars in the area!

Do you still have the car!? There are a few MR2s rolling around the area that I am trying to get to meet up for a few local car meets!

Hope all is well!
 
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