the newb question

ujawa69

New Member
Oct 23, 2008
13
0
0
Oklahoma City
just got this 91 automatic.....:cry: wish it was a 6 speed.....:cry: but anyway, i am needing to rebuild the engine. should be pullin it tonight or tomorrow. any suggestions as to what to look for seein as how ill have the car in various pieces by the end of the week. hopefully... it had a knock so i decided to rebuild it. got to takin things off and have found that just about every gasket and seal on the engine was never torqued/tightened. the head seems to be in pretty good condition, but any suggestions as to what kind of damage i should be looking for to the internals of the block....

oh, and when i drained the radiator.... bout half of it was oil.... so yeah... how is that happening??? :1zhelp:
 

AJ'S 88NA

New Member
Jul 26, 2007
2,419
0
0
Florida
ujawa69;1171410 said:
just got this 91 automatic.....:cry: wish it was a 6 speed.....:cry: but anyway, i am needing to rebuild the engine. should be pullin it tonight or tomorrow. any suggestions as to what to look for seein as how ill have the car in various pieces by the end of the week. hopefully... it had a knock so i decided to rebuild it. got to takin things off and have found that just about every gasket and seal on the engine was never torqued/tightened. the head seems to be in pretty good condition, but any suggestions as to what kind of damage i should be looking for to the internals of the block....

oh, and when i drained the radiator.... bout half of it was oil.... so yeah... how is that happening??? :1zhelp:
It's called a blown head gasket. You are probably looking at a complete rebuild. There are plenty of threads here just search. Look in the stickies too. Goo luck and let us know what you find. Pics say a thousand words :)
 

87tomanymods

87tomanymods
Oct 25, 2008
193
0
0
lansdale
www.myspace.com
check the toller ances on the cam journals it took me 3 junk heads to find one that wasnt worn out past spec and still had to order new billit cams they were out since there are no replacable bearings in the head i think they are called babbets and make shure and use a tripple layer metal head gasket and arp head studs oh and make shure your valve clearances are perfect thats where all the power comes from good luck
picture.php
 

AJ'S 88NA

New Member
Jul 26, 2007
2,419
0
0
Florida
87tomanymods;1173498 said:
check the toller ances on the cam journals it took me 3 junk heads to find one that wasnt worn out past spec and still had to order new billit cams they were out since there are no replacable bearings in the head i think they are called babbets and make shure and use a tripple layer metal head gasket and arp head studs oh and make shure your valve clearances are perfect thats where all the power comes from good luck
picture.php
ARP studs are not needed nor a MHG on a GE. The head should be checked by a machine shop, they can also tear it down, do the valve job and clearence the valves. The bottom end should also be done if you want it to last a while.
 

ujawa69

New Member
Oct 23, 2008
13
0
0
Oklahoma City
thanks guys. ive got the head at a shop being checked. gotta wait for the rest till i get some money. but yeah. know any companies with a cheap gasket set?? as in low price, not low quality..... i havent ever built anything back to specs so i dont know where to begin looking for appropriate parts with good quality and price. help in that area would be most appreciated. ill post some pics of the car at least soon.
 

AJ'S 88NA

New Member
Jul 26, 2007
2,419
0
0
Florida
ujawa69;1177273 said:
thanks guys. ive got the head at a shop being checked. gotta wait for the rest till i get some money. but yeah. know any companies with a cheap gasket set?? as in low price, not low quality..... i havent ever built anything back to specs so i dont know where to begin looking for appropriate parts with good quality and price. help in that area would be most appreciated. ill post some pics of the car at least soon.
http://935motorsports.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1740
 

Figit090

Fastest mk3 GT4 1/4 mile!
Jan 7, 2006
1,835
1
36
Humboldt County
You shouldn't need a stronger-than-OEM-toyota headgasket on a stock powered 7m-ge. Go steel if you have a turbo.

Eman - this is a GE forum, if he posted in the right place he wont be anywhere above atmospheric pressure ;) So in other words, no point in going above 80ft-lbs...and no need for a bulletproof steel gasket -- overkill.

I haven't used felpro or any other headgaskets, but I was told when I did my BHG fix to use OEM. I ordered the headgasket set direct from Toyota. I think it was less than 100 dollars but its been a while. I can look around for the reciept but call your yota dealer and price the set. I'd reccomend doing so and torque the head down to around 72ft-lbs.

Do some searching or wait for more replies on the head torque, I'm going from memory. Shouldn't be less than 70 or any more than 75ish though...

AND since it usually comes up, you can re-use the stock bolts, you don't need new ones unless you see obvious signs that the bolts you have are shot (stretching, damaged threads, or if they are not stock bolts and happen to be single-use bolts).

Some searching on blown headgaskets will give you an encyclopedia worth of info on BHG rebuilds, symptoms, blah blah....make sure you check that out. Any debate or question about this HAS already been asked, I can almost guarantee that.

good luck!
 

gaboonviper85

Supramania Contributor
Jan 13, 2008
3,236
0
0
38
Northeast Philly
87tomanymods;1173498 said:
check the toller ances on the cam journals it took me 3 junk heads to find one that wasnt worn out past spec and still had to order new billit cams they were out since there are no replacable bearings in the head i think they are called babbets and make shure and use a tripple layer metal head gasket and arp head studs oh and make shure your valve clearances are perfect thats where all the power comes from good luck
picture.php

you are an idiot...stfu please...and don't post in tec sections when you have god damn idea what you are talking about!
 

gaboonviper85

Supramania Contributor
Jan 13, 2008
3,236
0
0
38
Northeast Philly
Eman14j;1177713 said:
I hate stock head gaskets go with steel 1 or more mil. I know how ya feel I've blown 3 and also tork the head down to 75 through 85 pounds it helps not to blow them... unless you start boosting over 14 psi (which is safe with stock internals but still i like steel head gaskets) then you may want to look into some internals work. Good luck :)

You fail also!
 

ujawa69

New Member
Oct 23, 2008
13
0
0
Oklahoma City
Figit090;1177735 said:
You shouldn't need a stronger-than-OEM-toyota headgasket on a stock powered 7m-ge. Go steel if you have a turbo.

Eman - this is a GE forum, if he posted in the right place he wont be anywhere above atmospheric pressure ;) So in other words, no point in going above 80ft-lbs...and no need for a bulletproof steel gasket -- overkill.

I haven't used felpro or any other headgaskets, but I was told when I did my BHG fix to use OEM. I ordered the headgasket set direct from Toyota. I think it was less than 100 dollars but its been a while. I can look around for the reciept but call your yota dealer and price the set. I'd reccomend doing so and torque the head down to around 72ft-lbs.

Do some searching or wait for more replies on the head torque, I'm going from memory. Shouldn't be less than 70 or any more than 75ish though...

AND since it usually comes up, you can re-use the stock bolts, you don't need new ones unless you see obvious signs that the bolts you have are shot (stretching, damaged threads, or if they are not stock bolts and happen to be single-use bolts).

Some searching on blown headgaskets will give you an encyclopedia worth of info on BHG rebuilds, symptoms, blah blah....make sure you check that out. Any debate or question about this HAS already been asked, I can almost guarantee that.

good luck!


thats awseome. bout the head bolts. it was the next question to come up. haha. thanks. and i hate going to the dealership!!! i had to a few times with an old subaru... yeah, they raped me for a crank pulley. hahaha. but seriously, thanks.

ok, got a story and now need an opinion...
when i got the car it was running fine. good power, no noises, so on and so forth. short time later, im drivin home from work, the oil pressure drops out of it completely and she starts knockin really loud. i got it shut off and off the road immedeiately. maybe 30-45 sec of HARD knocking. should i be worried about bottom end damage, like rods or something?? any opinions or suggestions welcome..... especially if your a tech.... hahaha.... but yeah, tryin to not dismantle the bottom end if i dont have to.
 

surf24365

New Member
Aug 19, 2006
17
0
0
35
New Jersey
Hey man, I have put almost 40,000 miles on my engine after the dreaded BHG happened to my 7mge three years ago. I went ahead and used the Felpro permatorque gasket set i ordered through my company(Autozone). the set ran just under 100 bucks if i remember correctly and came with everything including new valve stem seals (which would be a good idea to have installed by the machine shop doing you head) figit090 was dead on with the head torque, stick to 72 ftlbs and you'll be good. If you want I'd be happy to get the part number for the set for you, just PM me. Good luck!
 

AJ'S 88NA

New Member
Jul 26, 2007
2,419
0
0
Florida
ujawa69;1178807 said:
ok, got a story and now need an opinion...
when i got the car it was running fine. good power, no noises, so on and so forth. short time later, im drivin home from work, the oil pressure drops out of it completely and she starts knockin really loud. i got it shut off and off the road immedeiately. maybe 30-45 sec of HARD knocking. should i be worried about bottom end damage, like rods or something?? any opinions or suggestions welcome..... especially if your a tech.... hahaha.... but yeah, tryin to not dismantle the bottom end if i dont have to.
That is rod knock. You are going to have to rebuild the bottom end also. Probably happened when the HG blew, bearings don't like coolant, oil won't stick to them after that happens.
 

ujawa69

New Member
Oct 23, 2008
13
0
0
Oklahoma City
AJ'S 88NA;1179102 said:
That is rod knock. You are going to have to rebuild the bottom end also. Probably happened when the HG blew, bearings don't like coolant, oil won't stick to them after that happens.

yeah, figured as much. so basic bottom end rebuild... how much would i be lookin at?? or would a new used engine be a better route?? also heard that the bearings in the bottom end are not replacable??? sounds fishy, but insight there would be appreciated.

slightly random question here... anyone know how much that block would weigh?? stripped down just the block and internals obviously. everything else is pulled but im trying to determine whether or not i really need a cherry picker to get the block out. never tried to pull a flat six block out of a car by hand before. haha. dont really have the option of dropping the subframe out of it either. believe me thought of that one. but not my garage so its not an option. car has to stay moveable.

any info or help is much appreciated. thanks for all so far.
 

benchwarmer

Straight Cougar
Aug 2, 2007
510
1
16
Lancaster, CA
Whoever told you the bearings are not replaceable is an idiot. As to how much the rebuild will cost, that will depend entirely on how much damage was done. If the bearings were damaged but did not spin then you will probably be able to polish the crank, buy new bearings, and be on your way. If you spun a bearing, more likely unfortunately, then crank and rods both will need machining. Depending on how serious the damage is you may need a new crank.

I have no idea how much the block weighs but it is quite heavy. Unless you have some exceptionally buff friends I would use a cherry picker rather than risk a hernia.
 

Clip

The Magnificent Seven
Oct 16, 2005
2,738
9
38
35
Virginia
im about 3500 miles into my NA rebuild with a stone oem-type head gasket sprayed with permatex copper spray. i heard some iffy things about these so i went with arp studs torqued to 75lbs. i figure i can always swap them over to a gte if the money situation plays out right.
 

88 Blue_Dragon

Wish i hadn't sold my sup
Dec 3, 2008
45
0
0
Beaverton, Or
don't use the stock bolts again if anyone would do some reserch they would know the stock ones are torque-to-yeld (bolted down to all most breaking point) so either buy new ones from toyota or go arp
 

88 Blue_Dragon

Wish i hadn't sold my sup
Dec 3, 2008
45
0
0
Beaverton, Or
jetjock;1199877 said:
The stock bolts are not TTY. Furthermore they're *obviously* not TTY. Post what research you've done that proves they are....

yeah you're right they aren't TTY. the guy at the toyota parts over here was wrong. he told me they were and i read alot online but its a bunch of crap. i founded it in my manual sorry bout that guys. i feel stupid now, but i guess thats why im on here to learn. well thanks for telling me and making me look like an ass jetjock you bastard lol jk