Open heart transplant! *UPDATE* IT'S ALIVE!, The operation was a success, doctor! Options

[presure2]

i just use a heavy duty degreaser (its used to clean fryolators..lol) and brushes of diffrent sorts.
the little brass and steel ones work well on the caked on stuff thats normally all over the front of the block and head.
it takes time, but it'll look GOOOD when your done.

[6strngs]

Thanks. Yeah, so far I've been using a gasket scraper, which works good on the larger sections, but can't get into the tight areas, so I bought a couple of steel wire brushs last night. Now I just need to find some masking tape so I can blow the dust off it with my compressor without getting dirt into my exhaust valves, lol. btw, I picked this guy up last night:



All I've done so far is the break-in procedere and then used it to take off 3 bolts just to test it out.

[stephen_lee]

lookin good man!!
trust me, take the time to clean it now, you'll kick yourself later if you dont!

yeah, that was the original plan... what do you use for cleaning parts with the caked on grime that just does not want to come off?

pressure washer LOL

seriously, i took my engine to the car wash in the back of a truck and sprayed it senseless lol. came out pretty clean

[enderswift]

I have that same compressor. I <3 it. runs quiet and can keep up with my cfm demands

[6strngs]

well, I can already say it's not getting done today. I didn't get any work done on friday, and I kinda splept in today. Oh well, I'm not in a big hurry, I'd rather go slower to be sure I get everything right. Btw, the fed-ex jerks changed their "estimated delivery time" of my toyota parts from yesterday to tuesday! grr. I don't see why it had to make a pit-stop in oregon. oh well. well, my goal today is to get everything back together on the engine, making sure all vacuum hoses are hooked up correctly and are in good condition, getting everything clean, hopefully including the engine bay, and basically everything I have to do, right up to actually dropping the engine into the bay, so that on wednesday which is my next day off work, I can start doing that. I start school this week though, so it's going to be even harder to find time to work on this engine now. And I'll end this post with a pic of her how she sits:



yes, the FMIC is still in the front bumper. lol. and look how much gap there is between the fender and wheels with no engine weighting it down. lol

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Jan 18, 2009 - 2:32 PM

[6strngs]

yay for more pics from todays work! I'm sorry if they're hard to see. Here's a dirty transmission:



And a clean one!



I never noticed it before because it was hidden beneath so much dirt, but somebody took some paint or something and wrote the number "96" on the top of the transmission... I wonder if the previous owner didn't get a newer transmission from a junkyard or something from a 96... hmm. I'll have to compare the vin number on it to my car. I guess that would be a good thing though. I never had troubles with this transmission.

anyway, here's a dirty engine bay:



and a clean one!



also cleaned and spot painted a couple spots on the block. here it is looking much better than before:



And, I did some work on the engine too. I put the manifold back on, got a flywheel and clutch on it (I thoroughly inspected the spec clutch to see if the springs were popping out like on supershannon's, but they weren't at all, so I decided to re-use it.) and also got the transmission on it! it's just about ready to go back in!!

[njccmd2002]

this is quick

[CelicaST_CALI]

great to see this thing back up and running(sorta)!!!

[6strngs]

this is quick

It's amazing how much better I am at this sort of thing than I used to be! If I were to be doing this a year ago I think it would've taken me way longer! having the right tools really helps too... now instead of struggling for 15-20 minutes trying to get a bolt loose, I just grab a bigger ratchet or an impact gun, lol.

[6strngs]

nothing like seeing this on the door step! (never mind the oil filters part, there was more that filters in there they just used a box that filters come in, lol)



Hopefully tomorrow I'll be putting the engine into the car. My goal is just to get all the motor mounts attached, it's pretty smooth sailing from there. (or so I hope)

[presure2]

got a flywheel and clutch on it (I thoroughly inspected the spec clutch to see if the springs were popping out like on supershannon's, but they weren't at all, so I decided to re-use it.

did you mark the relationship between the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate and reinstall it in the same way?

if you didnt, it may chatter some.

[6strngs]

No, I didn't think to mark them when I took them off... hopefully I don't get any chatter...

anyway:


took forever, but the engine is in the bay with 2 engine mounts secured. that's all I had time to do before I had to go to school. hopefully I'll have more time to work on it on friday after work.

[presure2]

good job!

[zero07]

Commin along nicely!

[nightryder]

i did a similar job a few months back, gl with all this, def nice when its done.

[6strngs]

unfortunately no update tonight... I had to choose between working on the car or doing my math homework. guess which I did... lol. well, hopefully on sunday I'll put in a solid 5-6 hours and see if I can't get it at least 99% ready by then. I still need a few parts such as belts, a heater hose, and an intake. The intake I was probably going to do the $40 "custom" CAI from an accord, so I'll have to order one of those. though I have smog in april, so maybe going with a stock or injen intake would be better... I no longer have my stock intake so I'll still need to buy one somewhere. And the heater hose isn't available at my local parts place so it'll have to come from toyota most likely. So, I will try to get it 99% done while I wait for these parts, and any others I find I need during the process.

[njccmd2002]

are you selling the car

[trdproven]

got a flywheel and clutch on it (I thoroughly inspected the spec clutch to see if the springs were popping out like on supershannon's, but they weren't at all, so I decided to re-use it.

did you mark the relationship between the clutch/flywheel/pressure plate and reinstall it in the same way?

if you didnt, it may chatter some.

What if you never had it manual and could not make any markings?

Is it bad for chatter or is it something that goes away?

[6strngs]

are you selling the car

why you wanna buy it? lol. probably not for a little while.

[6strngs]

Alright, so a little update on my progress from yesterday. I got it all 80% back together. I just need to put in the radiator, the axles, the exhaust, and a new rear motor mount (mine was so hacked up from the other times I've taken it out and couldn't get it back in, I decided I should just start over with a fresh one). After that, it just needs the fluids put in, a battery, some interior pieces put back together (I won't be going anywhere fast without a shifter in there... lol), the hood put back on, and I think that's about it. I'm going to try to get 90% of that done on wednesday, then some more done on friday, and anything leftover plus all the tidy up done on sunday. should be drivable by then! fingers crossed!