For years almost any question I had about my 05 Sport, I could find answers here with a search, and somebody--usually 10 or 20 people--had already been there done that and came back with pictures and schematics. You guys are awesome. Thank you for being able to change my dash lights and find the right steel brake lines.

Now I've got a bigger problem. A couple of weeks ago, I got forced off the freeway while avoiding an accident during a big storm, and plowed into deep water at about 50 mph. The engine hydrolocked. I found pieces of one of the rods in the oil pan.

The correct engines I can find from places like LKQ are at around 120k miles, and are still running $2-3k, plus another two grand in parts and certified mechanic labor necessary to get a warranty. Seems like a lot for an engine with an unknown history.

I've looked at remanufactured engines, and after reading several pages of BBB complaints against nearly every company in that game, I've decided to bite the bullet and rebuild the engine from the ground up. Especially as I plan to keep my V8 Sport forever. It's a beast.

So I'm looking for ideas and recommendations on several of the key decisions on a rebuild: Compression, stroke, rods and pistons, cam, ecu, exhaust, peripherals.

I know there are endless areas of debate, so I'll frame my own decision with this objective:

I want to get the most power I can get from an NA engine (yeah, I know, but no, I'm not supercharging it), and still get 150k miles out of it. The question is, how much power can I get, and with what setup, with a budget of around $7k?


Main Build Questions

I get the impression that there's not a ton of room to bore 2uz cases, but there is a lot of room to stroke. Is that correct?

Assuming forged rods and pistons, can anyone point me in the right direction for figuring out the sweet spot of crank (if not stock), heads and cams to get a good balance of power and reliability?

I'll be putting on Thorley headers and new catback exhaust. I assumed dual all the way back, but the shop is saying that keeping the y-pipe won't have a big impact on power, other than sound. Any recommendations on exhaust?


I'm sure I'm just scratching the surface, but I appreciate any input on the build. I'm pulling the motor this weekend and shipping it off. Hoping to get my homework done to make some decisions.

BTW: I cross posted at Lextreme after reading through a lot of build threads there. If I get some good feedback, I'll post it back here. Thanks!

That's what I found in the oil pan.

I have nothing to add, but this thread intrigues me. Subscribed.

Interested as well, how many miles were on your v8?

it will be interesting to see what you come up with, not sure there's a lot of 'hot rod' parts available though. Forged rods a definite, bump the compression half a point, can do that by milling the heads, get a mild port job and if any cams available that not too wild in conjunction with your headers should give you a nice boost.
keep us posted!

That's actually pretty close to what I've arrived at.

The fun part was pulling the motor in the rain. Seems like every weekend it's been raining, so I finally scheduled to pull it rain or shine. Of course we got the Polar Vortex Atmospheric River. 40 degrees and pouring rain. I pulled the motor under a tarp. Good fun.



Stripped the engine down and brought it up to Yota1 Performance in Modesto. They specialize in machining and building Toyota performance engines. Looks like they do more 22Rs, but the owner, Nick, said he's seeing more 2uzs.




Got a quick tour of the machine shop.



And then we talked about the build. The plan so far--assuming the block is okay--and pending a little research by the shop:

forged rods
forged pistons
upgraded cams
milled heads to increase compression to 10.2-1
port heads

I'll get the details on the parts and machining as everything comes together. Combined with headers and ecu tune, that's about the best balance I can find between performance and longevity.

I'm also taking the opportunity to refresh the whole motor assembly--replacing most vacuum and water hoses, cracked electrical connectors--and replacing lca bushings.

One thing I need to research is how to clean the air intake assembly. The machinist treated it delicately but said it needed to be cleaned. There's a lot of plastic so I'm assuming solvents are a bad idea.

One thing I'll say about the project. It's looks pretty hairy when you start pulling it all apart. I'm used to wrenching on a 65 Mustang, which has pretty much nothing but iron under the hood. The 4Runner looks like a bowl of spaghetti. But once you start pulling the systems apart, it all starts to make sense. You just have to be meticulous about tagging and bagging nuts and bolts.

To whomever asked: the motor had 145k miles on it. The pistons were the weak link when I hit deep water. Apparently powder metal rods have great longevity, unless they hit something hard. Water in a cylinder under compression is really hard.

Quick follow up note on some rebuild additions/precautions.

1. Machinist strongly recommended replacing the starter with an OEM unit. I never realized this before taking the motor out, but the starter motor is *under* the air intake, along with the smog air pump unit. Significant pain to replace, and with 150k miles on it, not a bad call to replace it.

2. Similarly, I'm going to likely replace the secondary air smog pump for the same reason, but with the GM unit that is comparable/cheaper. Last thing I need is to have the infamous smog pump problem with a fresh motor, and with my luck that will happen right after I start up the new motor.

3. Will also replace the radiator. Spending several thousand on a brand new build and not replacing the hundred dollar radiator doesn't make a lot of sense.

Am I missing anything obvious in that category?

Sorry to hear about your 4runner that's really rough. I don't have that level of mechanical skill but was eventually thinking about an engine swap. My v8 is rated at 260hp and 306lb ft. I can do the typical air intake, thorley headers and exhaust to liven it up and if I really want get the URD supercharger but its 6k+. Ive been looking at NA engines but haven't a clue which will fit. The 4 7 is 286cu inches...would the bay hold a 350? 🤔 Best of luck on the rebuild

But dang it's all purrrrdy. I just got my V8 and she's got some miles, all you're doing is making me drool... And my money bladder is already crying . Excited to see your results.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

Just think what you have to look forward to as a fun project in the future.

Does your V8 have an adjustable cam gear? If yes I'm jealous. Or is that the VVT-I variant?

And you are correct, you don't want to be putting the exhaust studs in when the engine is in the bay. So much easier with it already out.

Appears to be the vvti version; you can see that damn injection system valve assembly in the second picture by the rear coolant crossover/coolant hose fittings. @scribb I'm assuming you'll be installing bypass plates and the electronic bypass module for the air injection too?

Correct, it's vvti, with Kelford street cams. The cam specs are further up the thread. Since I had the engine apart, and my goal is to pass California smog inspection if possible, I serviced the air injection system and replaced the pump--using the vastly cheaper GM pump noted by several users on this forum. I just installed the engine with the stock exhaust, which I'll switch out when the smog verdict becomes clear. The only thing I didn't reinstall were the heat shields on the manifolds, because they make it a lot harder to get the manifolds on and off. May be a problem on inspection, we'll see. But I'm ~hoping~ I'll be able to smog it, then take it to the tuners with the new exhaust. If it won't smog, I'll move on to plan B.