Stef's 7A-FE Rebuild, up and running since 12/16/07 Options

[hurley97]

So obviously my oil problem is only getting worse, I decided it's finally time to do something about it.

so I went and picked up Defgeph's old 7A...
177,000 miles and was begining to use some oil before he swapped and it sat in the garage for 2 years.
but since I was getting it for free from a friend I decided to pick it up and hope for the best...



so I picked it up Fri (8/24) and the next day it came with me to work (I work at a Toyota dealer) where they unloaded it into the brake lathe room and it stayed hidden for a while. this past Saturday (9/8) me and one of the techs began tearing it apart. I was pleasantly surprised to find that it is actually in incredibly good condition for its age...

I will be spending close to $500 in parts replacing every bearing, seal, gasket, etc that we can think of. What I need from you guys are your suggestions as to what I can do to make this motor a little stronger and better flowing. I'm keeping the stock pistons and considering bigger cams and having the head machined.

We work for about an hour each morning before customers start coming in. Between Sat, Mon, and Tues (today) we have everything pretty much apart (except for the valves since I haven't decided to send them to the machinist with the head or not yet). This is a huge learning process for me and happy to have the oppotunity to do it. I'll add more pics and info so maybe some of you can learn some things too.

This post has been edited by hurley97: Mar 6, 2008 - 9:09 PM

[Silver94CelicaOw...]

as long as the stock rod bolts can take it.

Haha. Lets put it to the test!

[hurley97]

as long as the stock rod bolts can take it.

Haha. Lets put it to the test!

oh you know I will Corey


Finally! the main bearings came in and we got back to work...

There are two sides to each main bearing, one is smooth and the other has a groove and a hole in it.
remember these bearings corresponded to the number ont he crankshaft + the number on the block, I had four #3 bearings and one number 2, so here you have to make sure you put the bearings where they belong.

the smooth half goes on the caps that hold the crankshaft in, there are little notches in the bearing that match up with a notch on the cap, you can see them on the two caps all the way to the right in the pic...


the other side of the bearing goes on the block itself and lines up with the journal hole and the same kind of notch as on the cap...



the middle bearing seat also contains the thrust washers. there are four of them in the set, two with little tabs and two without. there are also two side to each of them, one side is smooth and the other has some sort of material on it (sort of like a brake pad).

the two without the tabs go on the block, we put some vasaline on the smooth side and stuck it to the indentations provided with the material side facing outward...


the two with the tabs go on the cap in the same orientation, vasaline on it and smooth side in...


then we oiled up all the bearings and placed the crankshaft back in place.


then oiled up the bearings on the caps and put some oil on the bolt threads as well before putting the caps on and torquing them down to 44 ft/lbs


next was the rear main seal and the crankshaft seal. hammered the seals flush with the housing, put some FIPG (Form In Place Gasket) on each side of the regular gasket, lubed up the inner part of each seal, then put them in place and bolted them in.



And that was it for today. Pistons and top part of the oil pan are going in tomorrow morning and that will pretty much be all for the bottom end.