Yesterday the timing belt/water pump job was started.....I say started because it's not quite back together.
I used this video as a walk through -
Toyota 4.7 Timing Belt Part 1 (updated) - YouTube
Everything went smoothly until reassembly. I was able to get everything apart pretty easily, although the lower alternator bolt was a pain due to the location of the a/c hard lines. I set the timing and checked interference by rotating the engine manually for two rotations and all was well.
Everything was fine until I reached the lower alternator bolt. It was a pain to access due to the hard lines and difficult to get started. Once it was threaded completely into the hole, I didn't understand why it wouldn't torque up. Once I got to the cooling fan bracket and the bolt wouldn't reach the threads, it hit me. I'd switched the bolts by mistake. The lower alternator bolt wouldn't torque up because it had threaded beyond the threads and onto the shoulder of the bolt. It was an absolute pain to get back out, but I did, and the threads of the alternator bracket remained unscathed, but the bolt....not so much. If anyone can learn from me, DO NOT DO THIS. It easily added 60-90 minutes to the job and prevented me from completing it...kinda.
So now I'm waiting for a new thermostat (might as well since I'm in there, and I would have put off completion to get one anyway) and 14mm long bolt for the cooling fan bracket (M10x1.25, 115mm length). I picked up some Toyota coolant, Gates idler pulley (the bearing was a little suspect on the tensioner), Type IV trans fluid (a little was lost when disconnecting the radiator, and Gates serpentine belt. All that's left is to put the bolt into the fan assembly bracket, install the t-stat, idler pulley, serpentine belt, radiator, fan/shroud, burp the coolant system, and top off the trans fluid.
More updates this week, but no pics because, well, there's hundreds out there already.