AE92 Corolla SR5 - GTS goodies swap-in mini-build-thread

Huh so what are the two in the 2nd pic with the pistons attached? Is there more than one type of rod used in the silvertop?

This also suggests that this engine has had its rotating assembly changed before, this was a super-late model redtop.

Anyway the only complete set the guy who sold me the rods had that would work was a set of polished and balanced silvertop rods, so he gave me those

Now the problem is finding a set of crank thrust washers, the dealership is out of stock, if they're not available locally that's going to cause a big delay. The mechanic said the ones in the engine now are in bad shape.

Edit: Found a place that has them. Now I just need to get my crank pulley, crank timing wheel and a head gasket from the (former) engine builder, who neither I nor the owner of the shop where he works has seen or heard from since at least last Wednesday night.

if you want to KNOW - weigh the rods... 526 grams is the heaviest, next are 514 grams... earlier 40/18 rods are 459 grams.

Here are some pics of the engine apart. It should be back together by now with the stock silvertop rod bolts (the ARP ones I got don't work with the new pistons) and a no-name thin metal headgasket which seems to be the best locally available option.

How do these bores look? They feel perfectly smooth but they don't look smooth.

Still haven't found the crank pulley, that's the last part needed to get the car running. The car has to be parked for storage on Tuesday night whether it's running or not, because I'll be going on vacation in Ontario.

If it's not running, I'll have to bring back another T3 crank pulley and trigger wheel. Now that the redtop oil pump is gone I should be able to put the trigger wheel on the back of the crank pulley, then I'd just need to get a new, shorter CAS bracket fabbed and have the timing re-set.

Got back the crank pulley yesterday and should get the crank timing wheel today, but the keyway on the crank pulley is damaged so that has to be replaced. I might need a new crank timing wheel if the keyway on that is damaged too. At least getting the engine running will be a quick bolt-up job once I get all the parts.

Edit: Just ordered the crank pulley.

So nice to see real progress instead of the circle jerk the previous mechanic was giving you.

Funny thing is when I saw him yesterday he had a whole long story about what happened, trying to paint me as unreasonable - the story was riddled with holes, and it's not the first time he's tried this tactic on me, but frankly I don't have these problems with other mechanics so the reasons behind them are an academic issue to me now...not my problem anymore.

Stopped by the shop yesterday evening and the transaxle and block w/ accessories were in, the head's going on last. Wish I'd taken more pics but it's been a mad rush getting ready to travel and getting the car as close to finished as possible at the same time.

Those hone marks do look a bit excessive... but looks can be deceiving....

Got the car parked back at home now. Just before I left I heard that the local dealership has the crank timing wheel in stock at a reasonable price, so at least I don't have to worry about that. When I get back it won't take much work to get the engine running.

Got back from vacation a couple weeks ago, then started working on getting to the Challenge, then tropical storm (now hurricane) Matthew ruined all my plans at the last minute.

So now I'm working on getting the car finished up. Brought back a new T3 pulley, here you can see the damage to the keyway of the old one. I thought silver would look better.

Here's the adapter ring that puts the trigger wheel on the face of the pulley. I noticed a possible design flaw that might've had something to do with the keyway damage.

That flange at the bottom is the same diameter as the hole in the pulley, that means that the nut that holds the pulley on is no longer clamping to the pulley itself but to the adapter. I'm thinking the safer way is to mill this flange off (so the ring has the same diameter all the way through) and have it clamp straight to the pulley as originally intended. This eliminates any potential thread engagement or centering problems, although I suppose it means the adapter and trigger wheel wouldn't be so strongly attached. I know the current setup results in a damaged keyway so I have to try something different.

The mechanic's got a new lower timing wheel so it's just a matter of putting it all together now.

Modified adapter ring:

New crank pulley ready to go on:

Home sick from work today. Been doing small stuff over the last week, dropped the AE92 back at the shop yesterday to be finished up. Now I've been thinking about the PCV system. Originally the car came with a system like this, I think that's how it was from the factory:

I put in an oil catch can like this:

The only potential downside of this vs. the stock system is that it could cause more pressure to build in the crankcase near full throttle. The oil catch can adds restriction to the system. So I've been thinking I should add a PCV valve that can bypass the catch can like this:

There's more vacuum before the throttle than after when it's wide open, and this will make it easier for pressure to escape if it builds. I still don't know what exactly wrecked the engine so I want to eliminate any potential problems.

Stopped by the shop yesterday and he already had all the hard work done:

Looks like he moved the timing wheel on the pulley, I'll have to see what that's about.

OK so I should have the car running by tomorrow night, it looks like the damaged keyway did affect the position of the crank trigger wheel and the MS3x's settings will have to be adjusted to suit. Everything except this is done. New brake discs are on with the hats painted black, calipers are re-painted. I'll get some pics this evening.

Had to go back to start and read from the beginning for this to all make sense...You live in Barbados don't you? Or any other Island in the Caribbean; only tropical paradise comes with service industry nightmares of this magnitude.

For those that have never lived on an island, accept the fact that the experience with the original engine builder is pretty much the norm.

Yep...I wouldn't say it's the norm but a lot of businesses operate like that and manage to stay in business, sadly...I'm having a hard time finding a 5/8" coolant bypass cap right now, had to pull one off the Toyota to get my Samurai running last week when one of the caps on that ruptured. After I found out that the radiator specialty shop where I usually get those was out of stock, I tried another shop that specializes in cooling system work and a car parts store at lunch, but no luck. I want to get the coolant system filled up tonight.

One of those shops happens to be where I bought the donor car from and I told the owner what had happened this year. He thinks that running 10W30 in a 4AGE in this climate is totally asking for it. He recommended 20W50 full synthetic. That seems pretty damn thick for a fresh engine. I'll check the viscosity/temperature chart in the manual this evening and see what the options are though.

Got a 5/8" cap. New brake paint:

Got the engine running last night. The timing didn't need adjusting, it was the crank sensor distance that was off.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2s9SBNQUxnw

If it sounds odd that's because the hardware that seals the header to the downpipe needs replacing again, I'll have to take a day off work to get that done. There were many small things left to tidy up and it was getting late so I'll get the car back this evening.

I'm looking at putting in Redline Synthetic 10W40, seems like a good viscosity for a ~30C year-round climate based on the chart in the manual:

Got the car back yesterday but it's not all rainbows and unicorns. First I had to stop on the 3-minute drive home to correct a slipped sway bar connecting tab AGAIN, so that ruined the moment. Back on Thursday morning, it turned out one of those coolant leaks was from the head gasket The mechanic managed to salvage the current one and seal it back up, but he says that next time it needs to come off, I'll need to either use a regular head gasket or get the block milled (figure I'll go with the second one).

There's a lot of tidying-up work to do and one new problem - it sounds like an accessory bearing's gone bad. Slight chance it could be a slipping belt. I hope it's the AC or idler because I have spares of those.

Dropped it off again today to get the squeaky pulley looked at. Picked up Redline 10W40 to put in at the next oil change, which I'll do next Saturday before the autocross. I also have a magnetic drain plug to put in the actual drain hole.

Got to give the new steering a little test on the way there, feels good, quick and sporty but not heavy at all. Similar to an NB Miata in fact. I've been watching for leaks like a hawk but none so far.

Got it back last night, I'm not sure how he did it but the mechanic put a belt between the crank and PS pump with no idler pulley...I'm pretty sure the position of the PS pump isn't adjustable. Well, it works anyway.

Once I got it home I tied up the oil cooler lines in the front (I probably made them a little too long...better than too short right?) and did some cleaning up but there's more work to be done before it's ready to drive. I have to adjust the crank sensor distance (it had to be removed to change the belts), attach the front-right engine shield and bumper, and clear the rest of the Project Car Stuff out of the trunk and interior.

Last night I got the sensor adjusted, engine shield on, and the bumper mostly attached, but found a couple of other problems, most importantly a couple of oil leaks - one from the unused oil return hole (a copper washer should fix that) and one from a corner of the head gasket. That one could be trouble.

Also it looks like the brake caliper rebuild kits I got are some of those that come with a rubber-destroying grease to use on the sliders (a very common problem apparently), all the boots are ruptured and crumbly so I'll have to fix those soon.

Drove the car to work today...sitting in traffic for 45 minutes in the sun without AC left me exhausted. Car seems to be running OK at least. I'll have to try to get an alignment done tomorrow, it seems to have a slight pull to the left, trouble is that the alignment shop is only open at the exact same hours as my office.

GameboyRMH wrote: Drove the car to work today...sitting in traffic for 45 minutes in the sun without AC left me exhausted. Car seems to be running OK at least. I'll have to try to get an alignment done tomorrow, it seems to have a slight pull to the left, trouble is that the alignment shop is only open at the exact same hours as my office.

You DROVE the car? Sweet!

Yeah drove it back and forth between the shop and home a couple times over the last few weeks, but today was the first real drive (since the bottom-end rebuild) not just for the purpose of transporting the car, and the first drive in a while when I didn't have any kind of trouble. I want to get these brakes worn in before the autocross on Sunday and find any problems early.

Edit: Closest things I found to problems so far are the slight steering pull (on a car where very nearly everything that can be adjusted has been moved since the last laser alignment, big surprise) and an occasional engine stall when the revs fall fast to idle...might need to increase the minimum RPM for fuel cutoff or raise the idle (currently about 900rpm).

Did a little work on the car on lunch break, and there is very bad news with the brakes. Only the front-right seems to be wearing in normally. The right-rear might be completely seized, the rust is only wearing off in two narrow bands. The left-rear still looks almost new, and the front-left, for some reason, is heavily grooved. It might need resurfacing.