Mean Green T4R build & restore
I've been lurking around here for tech info and a few things, but time to finally post up a build & restore thread! She's a 99 SR5 (need confirm), not planning anything major, possibly an addition of a custom roof rack, an e-locker rear (prev. owner took out), and some new suspension bits.
PO's picture:
The previous owner got the car in a condition with blown HG on a supercharged 5VZ engine and took some goodies out of the car before selling it to me (SC, e-locker, sport hood). I've never worked on a SUV, but have been working on cars for awhile, and I figured this shouldn't be a difficult task, so I jumped on it.
Here she is, at my house!
First order of business was to remove the blown motor. I put in a few hours each evening after work, and I got her out in about 3 nights work from 7P-10P. The most difficult part was getting to the upper bellhousing bolts, but I used the same trick I use on every car by removing the transmission x-member and tilting the motor to gain access.
I went to undo the ECU harness and look what I find... a rat's nest from the previous SAFC install! :faint:
Snipped the lines, pulled the motor, and it was time for a new motor.
I began searching for a decently priced 5VZ and found one on local CL for $500. Turned out the engine was from an 01' and in a wrecker shop. I thought the price wasn't bad for the engine SET, but the wrecker basically took every accessories and gave me a long block :-/ . Shady business, but oh well.. I had a 30-day warranty, so I went to work on installing the motor with help from an old friend. Went to install the exhaust manifolds and apparently the 99' and 01' are different, so I switched em up and bolted the crossover pipe. Mounted all of the accessories and the motor was ready!
The actual install wasn't too bad, but lining up the tranny and the engine was a bit of a challenge. After a grueling & scorching 5 hours, we dropped in the engine and called it a day.
Next day, I started buttoning up the harness and bits and pieces of hardware. Took me a good few hours buttoning everything up and ran into a standstill because the when the wrecker took the accessories off, he took the belts too. :doh: I also found out that I'll need a few new coolant hoses for the TB bypass and a new throttle cable bracket. :ybrick:
Found a few pieces of coolant hoses to rig up a bypass hose so I can start the engine and she took a few cranks to start, but started up good. Then the smoking... I kept her idling for about 5 minutes and the exhaust just started POURING white smoke. :gun5::gun5: I thought it was a bad engine and was ready to blow up the truck, but calmed down and gave it some thought. Since the previous motor had a bad HG, I assumed that there may be some residual coolant in the exhaust pipes. I let her idle for another 5 or 10 minutes but the smoke was still there... at this point, I said **** it and went to bed, haha.
Today, I came out and gave her a look over, started her, filled up some lost transmission oil and took her for a short drive around the block. She drives fine, but I have no idea how to use the 4WD "J-shifter"! Did a quick google search and found out that the 2H will be good for daily driving, so I stuck it in there and drove around. She rode O-K, but had some serious bogging issues under load. I just ordered a new fuel filter and NGK plugs, hoping it'd fix the bogging.
That's how far I've gotten in the past two weeks that I've had her, but when it's all done, I hope to go play in some mud!
Current:
285/75/16 BFG All-Terrain TA/KO
Random step bars
Unknown 3" lift
Plans (in order):
Suspension overhaul (LBJ, bushings, etc)
Interior insulation
New shocks/springs
e-locker rear end
Custom full-length roof-rack
Custom step bars(?)
Far-fetched plans:
Fab'd front & rear bumpers
Turbo setup (T3/T4) or a TRD supercharger
I've been lurking around here for tech info and a few things, but time to finally post up a build & restore thread! She's a 99 SR5 (need confirm), not planning anything major, possibly an addition of a custom roof rack, an e-locker rear (prev. owner took out), and some new suspension bits.
PO's picture:
The previous owner got the car in a condition with blown HG on a supercharged 5VZ engine and took some goodies out of the car before selling it to me (SC, e-locker, sport hood). I've never worked on a SUV, but have been working on cars for awhile, and I figured this shouldn't be a difficult task, so I jumped on it.
Here she is, at my house!
First order of business was to remove the blown motor. I put in a few hours each evening after work, and I got her out in about 3 nights work from 7P-10P. The most difficult part was getting to the upper bellhousing bolts, but I used the same trick I use on every car by removing the transmission x-member and tilting the motor to gain access.
I went to undo the ECU harness and look what I find... a rat's nest from the previous SAFC install! :faint:
Snipped the lines, pulled the motor, and it was time for a new motor.
I began searching for a decently priced 5VZ and found one on local CL for $500. Turned out the engine was from an 01' and in a wrecker shop. I thought the price wasn't bad for the engine SET, but the wrecker basically took every accessories and gave me a long block :-/ . Shady business, but oh well.. I had a 30-day warranty, so I went to work on installing the motor with help from an old friend. Went to install the exhaust manifolds and apparently the 99' and 01' are different, so I switched em up and bolted the crossover pipe. Mounted all of the accessories and the motor was ready!
The actual install wasn't too bad, but lining up the tranny and the engine was a bit of a challenge. After a grueling & scorching 5 hours, we dropped in the engine and called it a day.
Next day, I started buttoning up the harness and bits and pieces of hardware. Took me a good few hours buttoning everything up and ran into a standstill because the when the wrecker took the accessories off, he took the belts too. :doh: I also found out that I'll need a few new coolant hoses for the TB bypass and a new throttle cable bracket. :ybrick:
Found a few pieces of coolant hoses to rig up a bypass hose so I can start the engine and she took a few cranks to start, but started up good. Then the smoking... I kept her idling for about 5 minutes and the exhaust just started POURING white smoke. :gun5::gun5: I thought it was a bad engine and was ready to blow up the truck, but calmed down and gave it some thought. Since the previous motor had a bad HG, I assumed that there may be some residual coolant in the exhaust pipes. I let her idle for another 5 or 10 minutes but the smoke was still there... at this point, I said **** it and went to bed, haha.
Today, I came out and gave her a look over, started her, filled up some lost transmission oil and took her for a short drive around the block. She drives fine, but I have no idea how to use the 4WD "J-shifter"! Did a quick google search and found out that the 2H will be good for daily driving, so I stuck it in there and drove around. She rode O-K, but had some serious bogging issues under load. I just ordered a new fuel filter and NGK plugs, hoping it'd fix the bogging.
That's how far I've gotten in the past two weeks that I've had her, but when it's all done, I hope to go play in some mud!
Current:
285/75/16 BFG All-Terrain TA/KO
Random step bars
Unknown 3" lift
Plans (in order):
Suspension overhaul (LBJ, bushings, etc)
Interior insulation
New shocks/springs
e-locker rear end
Custom full-length roof-rack
Custom step bars(?)
Far-fetched plans:
Fab'd front & rear bumpers
Turbo setup (T3/T4) or a TRD supercharger
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