Not sure about this

[shadowman]

1st post here we go! I've always been a fan of tacoma's and 4 runners but never could find a deal on one when I had a few bucks to spend (you guys really love your rigs and have a hard time letting go haha). Anyways a "possible" deal has fallen in my lap and I'm here for as an un-biased opinion as you guys can offer. This guy I work with blew a head gasket and decided him and a friend would try to rebuild it themselves. It's a 93 4 runner 4x4 with the 3vze 3L. Well they aren't sure if it's the mechanical timing or what but they can't get it to turn over. He has had it with the vehicle and is ready to dump it and is asking $1000, not that I'm going to pay that. Since we are both marines and I told him to bring it over to my place and I'll have a go at it. Now if the motor is just screwed I was looking at a reman long block from here
Toyota Car Parts
Does anyone have anything for me on what they think about it all, worth it or not. The company I posted about, experience with them or others. I hoping they just screwed up the timing belt install, but if they did, are these interference motors (pistons and valves could possibly contact each other if their timing job is way off)? Thanks for any response.

 

[KidVermicious]

The 3.0 is not an interference motor.

Having said that, my local classifieds are full of running trucks for under $1500. I wouldn't buy one that wasn't running unless it was a screaming deal, and I knew I could get it back on the road cheaply.

There's nothing super-wrong with the 3.0, but if you're going to plan on replacing the block, I'd look into replacing it with a newer 3.4 v6. It's a relatively easy swap, as swaps go, and would net you a decent increase in power.