It's been over two years since i updated this thread, and i still have the car, although since my move to the UK, it's been kinda languishing in France. It still starts & drives, but still needs the valve clearances to be sorted and for it to be fitted with an AFPR. It'll take me a few months until i can get it trailered back to the UK to properly work on it, so in the meantime, i bought a spare 7M-GTE from my friend stuey (supradupra on here, the guy with the fantastic JZA70 GT Limited). Got basically everything i need, barring a CT26 - even comes with the often missing turbo stays!
Here it is, sitting in a garage, on an rubber backed carpet (don't want it rotting away on the damp concrete!):
Now that my financial situation is vastly improved, and more stable than before, i've made the decision to do a proper engine build, from the block up, rather than just a top end rebuild - which i'm still not entirely happy with. It'll take a long time - at least two years, to get all the parts together, but i'm taking a leaf out of JDMMA70's book - don't rush the build, don't skimp on parts or machine work, do it slowly as i can afford it.
The chassis will need work doing to it as well, although now i'm back in the UK, getting friends round to give me a hand will be much, much easier. Even the fact i have a CHOICE of machine shops within 20 miles of me is a damned luxury, compared to rural france. Welding will be required on the front drivers side strut tower, something i hadn't noticed before - and the rear drivers side outer arch section will need some work doing to it. Not happy about the emergency patch welds on the inner arches either, will have to sort those out as well - just hand me a MIG welder and i'll be off for a week
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So - how does the engine stand at the moment? Well, in the process of stripping it down and determining it's condition. Head has been skimmed by 0.019" (0.48mm) in the past, and has a good finish on it. Was used with an HKS Bead type headgasket - something i gather is like finding rocking horse poo now. The only slight concern, is the fact a lot of the exhaust studs were replaced with helicoils (engine BHG'ed in the distant past), and another stud chewed up the head when i was stripping it down. I do have another two heads on potential standby, thanks to JDMMA70's texas contacts. Gasket has very little use on it as well, and it's in good condition, so i'll be more than happy to re-use it once i've stripped off all the viton. Took the head through the local jetwash, too, and it came up a treat - barely any varnish, it's been well maintained, this engine.
The rotating assembly still spins freely, despite not having been run for a few years, the bores are mostly clear of rust, although theres a little bit of surface rust and pitting on cylinder #2, nothing too bad.
So, what's the plan, overall? Well - i like the phrase 'go big, or go home'. But it's not going to be a mega-hp build, but aiming for a comfortable 450rwhp, which is about right, for the chassis - i don't want the back end stepping out on me, and in almost constantly damp/drizzly england, grip is not something that is abundant for 6 months of the year. I'm being absolutely meticulous with this -everything that comes off is labelled, bagged and tagged.
Machine Work:-
Cylinder Head Checked for Surface Hardness - if it's annealed, keep the shims, bin it.
** TOP PRIORITY **
If it checks out okay, then;
Drill out & Helicoil Exhaust Stud #6 with 7/16 kit from DM.
Thoroughly clean, remove all traces of viton from head surface with Acetone
Check & Machine valve seats per TSRM spec
Polish & de-burr camshaft lobes, check for minimum height.
Port & polish the head (do that myself with a dremel, die grinder etc)
Port & polish the inlet & exhaust manifolds, give the exhaust manifold a thermal coating (any recommendations?)
Get block magnafluxed to check for fracturing
Clean Block thoroughly, remove rotating assy. & have bores checked for ovalling & crosshatch, if possible, avoid boring, just re-hone.
Have the block surfaced to remove no more than 0.15mm material, preferably to an RA of 30 or better.
Get crankshaft checked for oval journals, polish regardless. Plastigage clearances with stock rods & bearings, replace with new.
Balance whole rotating assembly.
Components:-
Full Toyota OEM Engine Gasket Set
Plastigauge - lots of it!
Permatex Assembly Lube
ARP Head Stud Kit
ARP Main Stud Kit
ARP Rod Stud Kit
ACL Duraglide bearings & thrust washers
Eagle Rods
CP Pistons
Ferrea 6000 series Intake & Exhaust valves - stock size
Ferrea 6000 series valve springs & collets
Titan Motorsports Adjustable Cam Gears (210N’s)
Sound Performance SP5557 CEA Turbocharger - bolts to stock manifold.
Aeromotive AFPR Kit
RC 550CC Injectors
AEM v2 Engine Management from Driftmotion
AEM 3.5bar MAP sensor & IAT
IS300 Coil Packs x 3
That's about it for now - how about you guys? Opinions/thoughts?