Well the project is suddenly underway again today. Yesterday I told the mechanic that if he can't have the engine out by Saturday to just make way for the tow truck, he's going on vacation on the 14th. This morning he asked if he should pull the engine out and I told him to if he thinks he can have it back in before he leaves.
Also yesterday I got a call from the restoration shop that they were able to rebuild the GTZ rack, got it today:
After work I stopped by the engine builder's shop to see what he'd decided to do, and got good news I guess:
Time is already tight so I did a few minor things this evening, cleaning up and storing parts, changed some crusty zip ties, and took off the front air dam and installed the new bigger PS cooler.
I'm planning on swapping the pusher fan for a slim puller BTW. It's super-heavy, probably weighs almost as much as the whole front air dam.
Meanwhile the engine and transaxle were being separated:
First thing tomorrow I'm going to drop off the starter for a rebuild, then bring the new PS rack to the shop for installation, then head back out for some shims to go in the new oil pump, then move onto the oil pan mods, and then if there's time just do whatever I can to speed things up.
I'm on schedule so far, got 3mm of shims for the oil pump, got the starter fixed, got all the PS rack stuff together, and now I'm working on the oil pan mods.
The mechanic worked on disassembling the bottom end this morning, first big problems are that the oil pan is full of copper-colored (but magnetic) shrapnel and the #3 rod bearing is spun:
The bearing for #2 is still OK:
Tested for magnetism with my new Gold Plug drain plug, it grabbed the shards off my fingers:
The starter repair shop just put a whole new solenoid assembly on:
The mechanic got the crank out yesterday, all the surfaces look good except for the cyl3 rod. I heard the oil pump gear wouldn't come off the crank. So it looks like a new crank, new rod (hard to find redtop oil squirter rods), and new bearings and new oil pump (already have that) will be needed at a minimum.
Got the oil pan ready, it took a solid 3 hours to clean out the copper shards and fine silver particles. The Twos-R-Us baffle kit is easy to install in concept only. In theory, if you do the math on the dimensions of the pan and a common blind rivet tool, the tool can't fit down in there to install the rivet. In practice, you can just barely fit it by flexing the pan and baffle and being as careful as you can to not snap the rivet before it's installed.
I can see why it didn't come with installation instructions, visual instructions would have to include either the world's tiniest blind rivel tool, or an Escherian distortion of space to illustrate the rivet being installed. Written instructions would've had to cruelly gloss over the difficulty of this step which would've just been insulting.
For the record, while the Dorman 264-301 has identical baffling to the factory oil pan it does not use the factory pan's thread in the drain plug. It uses that thread in the oil return port. The drain plug is M12x1.25. Put the magnetic drain plug in the oil return port. Also applied aluminum tape to where the exhaust runs past.
Well this mechanic's trashed all my plans yet again. Rather than putting his nose to the grindstone to finish before he leaves, he put my car in storage off to the side yesterday evening and started his vacation early. I told him not to pull the engine if he couldn't get it back in before he left, this wasn't even a credible effort. Dunno when he's coming back, I heard he's usually gone for a week this time of year.
I figure I'll wait until next weekend before I haul the car away in pieces...exactly what I didn't want to do. I'll need to find a used crank and rod in good condition to put the engine back together.
Mechanic got back today, got confirmation that I need a new crank and rod, and also a new flywheel since the mating surface to the crank has already been milled down once already and is now damaged again.
I have a spare 42mm rod journal crank that needs to be turned... but otherwise is fine... also... what do you mean by, "hard to find redtop oil squirter rods"
You're right, was doing some research on the rods yesterday and it seems that all 4AGE squirters are in the blocks, and late redtops like mine use the same rods as silvertops (which is good news since silvertop stuff is easier to find).
I might be able to find the parts locally, that's about the only way to get them fast, I want to have the car running for the next autocross in early August.
Awww crap looks like I might have to import parts, with hardly more than a week to go! Local parts sourcing options are almost exhausted now.
Still searching frantically for rotating assembly parts locally, if I can't get anything in the next 24 hours or so I'll have to rush-ship them in. The crank is the hardest part to find. The mechanic's found a couple that would need to be turned but he's against going that route - he hasn't said why but I'd guess the difficulty of finding non-standard-size bearings locally. Having to import anything later in the week would certainly mean a missed event.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Toyota does have bearings for a turned crank........ 11704-16010 the only problem is they only sell them as a set..... .25mm undersize (.010" + or -)
Other companies service undersized, I know ACL does, and likely clevite does too
Well I've got a plan now, it's an affordable plan but it's a real nail-biter and would involve intense work at the last minute. I've got sources for a rod and flywheel locally. I've got a source for a crank that may be in good enough condition to run as-is, or may need turning. Won't find out until Wednesday evening thanks to a convenient long weekend of partying right before the conveniently moved-forward event date. Whatever happens I'm gonna use that crank. If it needs cutting and I can't find the correct bearings locally, the car doesn't make it to the event and I accept defeat. If it is good or we can find the nonstandard bearings, then we rush to reassemble the engine and stuff the powertrain back in the car between Thursday morning and Saturday afternoon.
Picked up the flywheel yesterday, scored a blacktop model:
As you can see, a blacktop flywheel is just a trimmed-down late redtop flywheel. I'll get the rod and crank later today.
Got the rod last night, the plan was for the mechanic to do whatever can be done ahead of time this morning and I would deliver a crank in about an hour.
But this berkeleyer building the engine is berkeleying me over yet again! I gave him a chance to back out if he didn't have time late last week, meticulously planned everything with him, and now he's totally AWOL at a critical time. Gonna have to use my best non-professional-mechanic smarts to choose a crank myself today and deliver it to a shop where he might not be working. If there's no sign of him after work then I'm towing the car away in pieces.
tuna55
MegaDork
8/4/16 10:31 a.m.
Why are you still paying this guy?
He was going to cover labor costs (on the rebuild). No savings is worth working with this guy though. Joke's on him too though, he's not getting paid now.
tuna55 wrote:
Why are you still paying this guy?
Exactly. We've been watching him sodomize you with the concrete dildo of hate for YEARS. there's got to be someone else.
Taking the car back to him to fix the self-destructing engine he built was a mistake. I underestimated how awful this guy is. He does great work for his big-money customers, but I can just get berkeleyed, apparently.
Organizing car transport now. This guy is a berkeleying monster.
Got a crank, it looks minty fresh. Moved as many of the loose parts at the shop that I could haul. Car's moving this evening. It's just too bad I lost 40% of the time available to work on the car before doing so. The guy I'm taking it to works fast like a rally mechanic though, so there's still hope.
Took the car to the guy who did the flywheel replacement & brake MC rebuild a while ago. This guy works FAST all the time, but probably not fast enough for the amount of time left before the event.
Dusterbd13 wrote:
tuna55 wrote:
Why are you still paying this guy?
Exactly. We've been watching him sodomize you with the concrete dildo of hate for YEARS. there's got to be someone else.
Even if there isn't someone else, with the guidance of the pros on here he could do a much better job in his backyard with primitive hand tools. 
Last stopped by on Saturday morning when I dropped off a set of new bottom end bearings, he already had the engine completely apart and the rebuilt GTZ steering rack going in with the SuperPro urethane bushings:
(Don't worry, I have new boots as well)
The cyl1 & cyl2 oil squirters weren't squirting, so it seems that some kind of blockage might've caused this.
Saw this more stock but more flashy 4AGE 16v being worked on at the same shop:
GameboyRMH wrote:
The cyl1 & cyl2 oil squirters weren't squirting, so it seems that some kind of blockage might've caused this.
Not likely... squirter[s] stuck open maybe... but stuck closed should not be an issue for a bearing... piston, and or rings... maybe, bearing not likely.
Check that all the rods are facing the right direction.....
Apparently I'd been holding up the mechanic and didn't know it - he lost his phone on Saturday and couldn't contact me. I drove by his shop yesterday and he told me I need get new crank thrust washers - apparently the old ones were pitted - and a new crank key. And that the rod I'd picked up was the wrong model, and my engine uses a rod for a 42mm journal but not a silvertop rod. Here you can see a rod from my engine on the left and the replacement I picked up on the right:
Apparently rods specific to the 16v are impossible to find, and since mine are rather heavy compared to most other options, I figured I'd go to a full set of silvertop rods. But in a rush I left with a mismatched set. These are silvertop rods:
Not the same as the one above on the right which I also picked up 2 of, have to exchange those this evening.
the rods you have(rod on left in 1st photo) are from 1988-89, they were in all 4AG engines, n/a, and S/C. Rod on right is silvertop.
