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

[6strngs]

Well... it's been a while since I've made a project thread on this website, though I've been lurking and posting here and there. After months and months of trying to get myself out of some debt I was in from buying a new car (alltrac in the sig) and some other stuff, and save up enough money for this, I'm finally fixing the 6gc. I drove about 3 hours one way today to meet up with PhilipK from this website who no longer needed his 5s after he swapped in a 3rd gen 3sgte, and he agreed to meet me halfway. So, here's a shot of it it strapped down in the back of my parents truck:



though this engine came with pretty much EVERYTHING, right down to the wiring harness, alternator, manifolds, etc. I'm still going to have my work cut out for me. It's going to be tough trying to remember where every bolt and hose connects to, even if I do have most of my bolts labeled. I'm definately going to need some help with though! lol. So anyway, that's step one I guess, is actually getting the engine. I want to do some service to it, such as a timing belt and water pump, and stuff like that that is going to be super easy with the enginge out of the car before dropping it back in. So I guess that'll be step 2... and step 3 is going to be cleaning... lots and lots and lots of cleaning!!! I want that engine bay clean enough to eat out of! lol.

btw, I know it's going to be asked, but I do not intend to turbo it again. That's why I bought the alltrac, so I could have a fast, turbo engine to modify, but also have AWD. IF I decide to keep the 6gc, it will recieve a CAI, cat-back, some springs again (I already sold mine.. lol) and the wheels I had on it before (the work knock-offs) and call it a day. fun to drive, still easy on gas, and nice looking with daily drivability. Anyway, this'll be my project thread that I'll update with as many pictures as I can. I suppose I should invest in a digital camera as part of the project... lol

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Feb 21, 2009 - 3:23 AM

[stephen_lee]

i love to hear ppl keeping the 6gc and fixing it rather than selling or junking. i love these cars lol

[njccmd2002]

[zero07]

Cant wait to see your progress! Awesome!

[richee3]

Looking forward to this thread! I love hearing about any car, especially 6GC's that get a new life. Best of luck with everything!

[6strngs]

I'm looking forward to working on it! it's been awhile. lol. Unfortunately, time isn't too abundant for me right now... and I'll be starting school again next week, so I'll have even less time then. I wish it didn't get dark so early so I could see what I was doing after 5 pm... I'm really hoping it'll be done in a few weeks, but I'm not going to estimate anything yet.


btw, if anyone wants my old 5s, or any pieces off of it, PM me. I need it out of my garage.

[TRD_Ian]

what happened to ur 5s?

[6strngs]

what happened to ur 5s?

well, basically the compressor wheel on the turbo I had on it shattered into 1000 pieces and got sucked up into the engine and ate up the sides of the pistons. or at least that's my theory since the engine blew and the compressor wheel went missing at the exact same time. I did take the engine apart and there definately is metal flakes in there. It's probably re-buildable if you used .020 or .040 oversized pistons and had it bored out for them. But I'm no machinist and I don't have a micrometer.

[TRD_Ian]

lol thats a story and a half my friend srry about the luck, did you sell all the turbo gear already?

[6strngs]

lol thats a story and a half my friend srry about the luck, did you sell all the turbo gear already?

mostly. I put a couple things in my alltrac. and the rest will probably be sold after I get the car running again, along with all the other "extra" parts I've accumulated.

[presure2]

good to see you getting it back up and running man!

[6strngs]

so.. I've made a list of parts to get... anyone wanna look over it and point out anything I might be missing?

timing belt kit
water pump
top-end gasket kit
rear main seal
spark splugs
axle seals
Fuel filter
Oil filter
thermostat
t-stat housing
dist cap and rotor
spark Plug wires

I'm thinking that'll be about all I'll need... I'm thinking of sending the injectors out to witchhunter too, and re-using my spec stage 2 clutch which only has about ~8-9K miles on it. I'm not trying to replace everything, just the general maintanence type stuff.

[Jaws4God]

good luck!! glad you got back to fixing her

[6strngs]

So tonight I placed an order for some parts from toyota, and got some pther parts at an auto parts store. Work should begin tomorrow!!!

[foxcraze]

I have to do this same thing when i get home from Iraq, my 1st cylinder locked up in my motor now its got almost 200k on it so its time for a swap. Im buying a complete rebuilt long block for 1G offline and swapping all my components over to it after I clean them all real good i have never messed with a toyota motor before only hondas so this thread will help me out a good bit. Please keep it updated and add pics of your progress lol Thanks man.

This post has been edited by foxcraze: Jan 14, 2009 - 6:40 AM

[6strngs]

well, got some work done today... sorry for the blurry pics, I had to take the pics with my cell phone since I have no other camera. Here's a shot of the backside... just cause:



I got it lifted with an engine crane and got to work. Replaced timing belt and water pump:



got the timing covers back on after cleaning them:



and a shot under the valve cover. It's not looking so great in there, but the engine does have ~120K on it. I'm not too worried about it.

[6strngs]

god I really need a better camera.



anyway, did some stuff today. replaced valve cover with my old one cause I like the paint. even if it's chipping and scratched. lol. Umm, removed exhaust manifold and replaced a couple water line gaskets underneath. CLEANED a lot off the front of the engine block... I know I said I wanted the thing to sparkle, but god I hate cleaning sooo much. I think I'm calling it good enough how it is now, I'll just need to still do some cleaning of the engine bay still. Let's see, I also removed the clutch and flywheel. I'm thinking I'm going to be putting my fidanza lightweight flywheel and my spec stage 2 clutch back on.

Anyway, I'm picking up and air compressor with some tools tomorrow that I ordered a couple weeks ago. That should help speed things up I'm really hoping the engine is done and ready to start going back in by tomorrow. I won't really have time to work on it saturday, but I'm hoping if I start early on sunday, maybe I can get it all in by that night... well, 99% in, I'm still waiting on some parts from toyota. but it's easy stuff like fuel filter, dizzy cap and rotor, etc. that I can do with the engine in the car... Yeah, this went by a lot faster than I was expecting it to. I was thinking it was going to be 3-4 weeks before I got this thing in, but I've been working on it so much, it might be about a week! lol. I guess having the right tools for the job really do speed things up (hooray for recieving a crap-load of tools for christmas!!!)

[presure2]

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

[6strngs]

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?

[6strngs]

Just got an e-mail from 1sttoyotaparts, my parts shipped today and should be here tomorrow So they'll be here before the install on sunday (if I can get my arse in gear and get to work tonight...) I should be going to pick up that air compressor tonight too. Just called, and they said they have it in.

[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!

[Batman722]

[6strngs]

got a lot done yesterday. in fact, I was making such good time that the thing might've been running if I when I was putting the passenger axle in I didn't hear something, look back to see grease on it, and wipe it away and see that there is a hole in the boot So, I run down to the parts place and they can't get one in until tomorrow (today) unfortunately I don't have time to work on it, or even pick the part up today... So, tomorrow after work it is. I'm hoping it'll be done then.

btw, I'm gonna need some help, I found one vacuum hose and one connecter on the wiring harness that I don't know where they go. I'll take pics later.

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Jan 29, 2009 - 11:02 AM

[6strngs]

ARGH! So, after going to the parts store twice, I get my axle and bring it home and it's way too short and looks identical to the driver's side axle. So, I had to take it back and the correct (hopefully) axle is coming tomorrow. But, with some good news, I got my intake today!



Also, I figured out where that one clip on the wiring harness went... I forgot there were two plugs on the transmission, not just one. as for the vacuum hose though, I found where I think it's supposed to go, but I need a second opinion. Here's a diagram:

Now, down in the lower box where it says california spec, there's a hose that connects to the hard lines behind the intake manifold that comes up near the throttle body, says it's for idle-up (it doesn't say that in this diagram, it's labeled 17341D), and then there's also a hose that connects to the back of the cylinder head where the fuel rail is kinda that runs up and also connects near the throttle body, labeled 17341-74510. Now, I know for sure one of these connects to the bottom of the throttle body, and the other connects to my intake pipe... but which one goes where? currently, the odd-shaped one from the head is connected to the throttle body, but I thought before that one connected to my intake... so I want to make sure this is hooked up the right way... so, anyone know which one goes where?


I guess it goes without saying that it won't be running today

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Jan 30, 2009 - 10:47 PM

[presure2]

IIRC 1734D goes to the throttle body (IAC) 74510 goes to the intake. (i think) lol

[6strngs]

IIRC 1734D goes to the throttle body (IAC) 74510 goes to the intake. (i think) lol

yeah, I was thinking about it more, and I think I remember it being that way too. And since that is the way it was hooked up, I'm gonna go with that! lol.

anyway, just got a call about 2 minutes ago that my cv axle came in. I'm just on a lunch break from work right now, but I'll try to pick it up after work and maybe install it tonight if my girlfriend is willing to be understanding, lol. as soon I'm finished eating my hot pocket and typing this message I'm going to see if I can install my shifter in under ~27 minutes or so. lol

[6strngs]

Well, I started her today! started right up and purred like a kitten Though, it has a gas leak from the bottom of the fuel filter for some reason though... even though the fitting is tight... ?

[stephen_lee]

teflon tape ftw haha

[6strngs]

teflon tape ftw haha

are you supposed to use teflon tape on that fitting?

[presure2]

teflon tape ftw haha

are you supposed to use teflon tape on that fitting?

no.

[6strngs]

I didn't think so. I guess I'll take it back off and try to thread it back in... if that doesn't work, then I'm not really sure what to do... new fuel line?

[6strngs]

that appears to have done the trick! No more fuel leaks! or any leaks for that matter! I also burped the cooling system, and topped off the transmission fluid (I only bought 2 qts cause I thought the spec was 1.7 qts, but it was actually 2.7 qts. so I just added the extra .7) I also put the rest of the exhaust system on. So, all that's left to do is: bleed the clutch fluid, put the wheels on, find my battery tie-down and put that on, put the hood on, and put the stock strut bar on. I might try to do all that tonight after school to take it around the block for a test drive! I'll leave you with a pic of the 98% completed car:

[presure2]

congrats!

[Zeros2]

wow that car came together fast i cant wait till i have the know how to be able to tear down rebuild and swap engines!!!!!

[Batman722]

congrats guy

[6strngs]

I swear this car hates me. lol. So, I did bleed my clutch system. and i got my hood back on (looks like I need a smaller battery for it to close better...). put the wheels on, and took it for a test drive! it was fricken amazing to be able to drive it again, but it's apparently not 100% yet. for one it was making a clunking noise when I turned... not sure what that one is, but I wiggled my tire before I put it back on the ground to check my tie rods and stuff and it's got play both up and down and side to side... that means bad tie rod ends and ball joints, right? I don't know if that would be making the clunking sound though. anyway, by the time I got back it had a pretty bad coolant leak too... turns out when my friend was putting the thermostat housing on, one of the studs snapped... he did tell me about it, but it just slipped my mind... so now I have to try to get that stud out of there and maybe replace it with a bolt... guess it's time to invest in a stud remover?

anyway, other than that the car runs great! I've decided I won't use anything other than redline transmission fluid from now on! I've never driven a car that shifted so smoothly! It's my first time using synthetic fluid for my transmission and I have to say it's worth the extra money!

[6strngs]

so after fiddling with that stud for a few days, after buying a stud remover and a set of easy outs, I'm thinking the only way to fix it is to replace the water pump. so what I decided to do was pull the water pump, take it apart, and replace the part that the thermostat housing bolts to with the one from my other engine. (I put a new water pump on this engine, but only the pump itself that contacts the timing belt.) so, tonight I pulled the water pump. I've never done a water pump or timing belt with an engine still in the car, so it was an experience. Honestly I'd have to say it was not as bad as I thought it'd be. I managed to get the timing belt off, the pump out, and the housings switched in about an hour and a half. Now it's just got to be put back together... unfortunately I accidentally destroyed one of the gaskets trying to get the water pump out so I need a new one, but all the parts stores were closed already. I also found I need a new timing belt guide... kinda embarrassed to say this, but I put the guide on the wrong side of the timing cover, and it got bent way out of shape... and when I took my timing cover off, I saw that my timing belt was working it's way towards coming off the pulley's... I don't think it really would've had enough slack to come completely off but I'm sure it's not exactly good for the belt. So hopefully I'll be able to get all these parts soon, though they might have to come from toyota which is going to delay me... but hopefully I'll be able to get them soon so I can get this thing back up and running!

[6strngs]

sorry for the lack of updates. Well, I took the water pump out and replaced it finally which was kind of a pain, but I got it done finally. I just didn't have enough coolant to put back in the car, since I spilled alot... oops. So I haven't started it yet, but it's almost there. but then I noticed a small puddle of transmission fluid under my car and I think my driver's side axle is popping out a little bit, which might explain the noise I was hearing. Should be pretty easy to put it back in, and hopefully that's all it'll need.

once it's running good for sure I'm going to inspect the front end because I think the driver's side tie rod has some play, so I might need to replace that. Then I'll put the lowering springs and my wheels on it, get it aligned at school, and it'll be done! I'm excited!

[crankyelbow]

good to see you have maintained a positive outlook

Inspirational thread indeed!

[6strngs]

well, turns out it wasn't my tie rod end with the play in it, it was my wheel bearing and it wasn't just a little bad, it was very very VERY bad. just from driving the car for maybe half a mile I put a nice gouge in my brake rotor because it would rub on something due to the bad wheel bearing. that's what the noise was! Well, I pulled my whole steering knuckle out last night and went and got the bearing and seals. ended up being like $62 for them! and I took it to work where we have a bearing press and had one of the mechanics do it for me. Now I just have to button it all back up and she should be drivable!

[6strngs]

well she's 99% complete now! I put the steering knuckle and hub back in. Along with a new tie rod end. I finished getting my tein springs and my wheels put on. All that's left is to find a battery tie down, put the cruise control back in, put one exhaust mount on (had to order it from toyota), and get an alignment and it'll be done! I'm going to take it to work and get an alignment tomorrow hopefully. I don't want to drive too long without one because I don't want to mess up my practically brand new tires. I'm so excited to drive it tomorrow without it making terrible noises.

here she is. The springs should settle a little bit more after a few days. I can pretty much get 2 fingers between the tire and fender... I used to barely be able to get my pinky in there



This post has been edited by 6strngs: Feb 21, 2009 - 3:21 AM

[grasby]

congratulations
and props on keeping positive
i have a bad habit of losing my temper when a job on my car repeatedly goes bad
lol, nice car man