Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFormer
just read the whole thread for the pass hour going back and forth. im a jeep guy going the toyota route. I actually acquired a free 4runner with a blown motor from a kid in san jose ca. he just wanted it off his driveway for sitting since December of 2016. Im now looking to just drop a JDM motor myself. just reading your thread and weighing out my options. im watching your thread to see how much your into the whole build. i read on here that a jdm motor would be a better choice because its an untouched Toyota motor and that rebuild motors are not as reliable. but i don't understand that theory because i feel like stout built OEM parts used in the rebuild process would be just as good if not better than factory. I don't know. I do want to know why you went to rebuilding route instead of the JDM route. I like to pick peoples brain and man you are deep into this build. you inspire me. I worked on TJ and 4 XJ's from installing lockers and re gearing:alien. but putting in a motor is something i have never done. even when the whole Honda civic swap was going on in high school..lol...Honestly I am a bit overwhelmed as im the only guy who made the jump from jeep to Toyota among my group and feel like an outcast but im looking to make friends locally who are Toyota guys. do you feel overwhelmed at times dealing with this project?  |
So, I'll start by saying thanks for looking and commenting, my whole hope with this thread(once it turned into a motor build) is to document the rebuild in a way that makes it seem doable from a guy who wasn't planning on doing it in the first place. I make mistakes, I have to double back on work and be patient when things go awry but all in all i'm learning more than i ever thought about this vehicle and if i want to be wheeling in the middle of nowhere, i want to trust that this motor will get me home. Also, I've never rebuilt a motor from the block up and i have always wanted to.
I paid a grand(delivered) for the 4R with the JDM swap installed thinking i was getting a steal until i saw the sludge. Part of me wanted to chance it and run some cleaners in the oil to try breaking down the sludge and just run it till it died, but another part wanted to do it right and start fresh, build it to run like it was supposed to and get a fresh start on a 2-300k or more motor. That sludge motor is in a T100 already running but who knows for how long? guy bought it off me for 300 bucks(fully disclosed) so he probably doesn't care but i'm building mine to last and of course that means OEM parts that add up real fast. Didn't help that i rebuilt the motor at my friend's shop who is anti-mod/aftermarket/anything but OEM and he was constantly driving home the need for OE parts. Luckily selling my other project car has covered the motor build and some. Most of the time an unreliable rebuild would be due to subpar parts going into it and considering i have made sure to keep everything OE i am hopeful that this thing lasts. It hurts at times when you see aftermarket parts for 20 bucks but OE is 100 but i've been just closing my eyes and paying for it. If it ends up being 3500(including initial purchase) into a 4R with a fresh start i'll be pretty happy about it and i'll probably park my daily for a while. I'm at about 2K in the rebuild right now but i'm just expecting more.
There were a few times i questioned if i should be messing with all this and it seemed worse than it ended up being but once down to the long block things get real simple. Any time electronics are not involved is good for me so following the manual made it pretty simple and straight forward. Honestly i'm more worried about figuring out all the vacuum lines being that it was never fully assembled while in my possession. Also, i will say, after tackling the whole motor build, head gaskets seem like a cakewalk.
Can't say yet but i imagine the feeling of firing it up for the first time will be awesome and make it all worthwhile... if not i'll let you know
