"Roach" build thread

[mikebontoft]

"Roach" build thread ('94 SR5)

Yeah. Apparently that's its name now.

Anyway, I found this at the beginning of the summer just sitting there with a blown engine. What a mess.

The boss had already gone though and found the problem with it so I had some fun trying to put everything back together.

The busted piston, #6

All the icky crap coming out of the oil pan

TEARDOWN:
The replacement, before I tore it down and did a minor refresher to it

bearings (all standard replacements were used. plastigaged within specs)

REBUILD
Decided I had to make things pretty!

TO BE CONTINUED IN NEXT POST

 

[mikebontoft]

After timing kit, water pump etc was installed. intake was just a test fit. If you've ever replaced one of these engines, you know what I mean.

INSTALLATION
On install day I came across another problem. The clutch was completely worn out. Hmm. It was Sunday and I only had a week to get it running and registered. I HAD to get it installed at least. Fortunately the Oreilly's down the street had one in stock for $120. Lucky save.

Mind you, I've never worked on a 3VZE before this. As I mentioned earlier, I didn't take it apart. I spent about 12 hours in the shop that day just doing what I could. To make it worse, half of my parts were now outside as someone decided to clean up the shop; I had to go on a scavenger hunt each time I wanted something.

Now came time to crank it and... no compression. Damn it. turns out we looked at the wrong timing mark (if you can call it one) and ended up 180 out. Half an hour later I had the timing reset and everything put back together.

SO.... I went to fire it up after getting the rest of the parts together... and in the process dumped most of my oil on the ground in a matter of seconds by way of the oil cooler. New gaskets from toyota the next day solved that problem.

At first when I had no compression, I thought the rings on my $100 motor were stuck so I filled it with oil. It smoked SO BAD that the tire shop down the road called to make sure we weren't on fire :biggrin2:

All back together now

CLEAN UP TIME!
Finally couldn't wait any longer and cleaned her up

and once more, to be continued

 

[mikebontoft]

MODIFICATIONS

And I finally started modding it.

Did a quick plastidip job on my wheels because I wasn't sure how they would look. Turns out I like them and the stuff is pretty durable. I also flipped my tires around, cleaned and touched up the white lettering.

Then I got rid of the side steps... much better

Then a few days ago I ran it on a mustang dyno just for kicks to see what a stock 3.0 could make. Lower than you might expect, but I'm at 5,891ft above sea level.

So, what's next? well I'm not really sure. I'm putting on my Moog CC255 coils on Monday, and after that I'm looking for something else to do. I do a lot of canyon driving, sometime at night so I'm looking into some lights to mount on my front bumper. Think I'll go with some 6" 130w spot lamps (similar to kc hilites).

After that, I think I'll probably modify the intake some and grab the passenger manifold from the old engine so I can eliminate the crossover entirely. Then upgrade the rest of the exhaust.

Future plans are a 2" body lift, my own plate bumper (similar to the shrockworks plate bumper for newer gens) and rock sliders. Roof rack with four lights mounted on it as well. Not sure what else.

 

[mikebontoft]

ah my new springs! only intention was to fix that saggy butt. Had hoped to install it friday but the idiots decided it was the perfect day to paint the bay doors :/ Monday it is, hopefully.

 

[cometobanks]

slick

 

[helo-mech]

Heck yeah man. That is one good looking $100 engine. I see you where looking at coming to Moab next week. Come on over man. Especially since you are only 2 hours away. There will be some trails that we hit that you will have no problem with. Some will be a little more extreme but from what I understand there are bypasses for the really difficult parts.

Heck I doubt there will be much difference between what I can take mine through and yours. If you decide you want to come, send me your contact info so I can throw it in with all of ours. That way everyone will have some contacts in case they need some assistance on their travel day and you will be able to get in touch with everyone in case we are already out on a trail when you get in.

 

[SilentYoda3]

is it a 94? How'd you get your seats to go all the way down like that?

 

[KidVermicious]

So, what's next?

Moab! If you have time to rock out a set of sliders, great. If not, we'll just have to be a little more careful spotting you.

That's a beautiful truck, and you need to come get it dirty.

 

[4runnin83]

is it a 94? How'd you get your seats to go all the way down like that?

You take the headrests out.. doh.

 

[Footofgod]

Very nice so far! You should definitely meet us in Moab.

 

[mikebontoft]

I'll do my best to see if I can make it out there. I'm part of a Compressed Natural Gas installation class and I may be mistaken but I think they are changing the schedule from M-W to later in the week. If that's the case, I can't miss it. So I'll see if I can figure out exactly what's going on then and hope that I can make it. Sounds like a lot of fun.


Decided that since half of my interior lights are burnt out, Im going to get some LED lighting for all the dome/map lights and red led's for the gauge cluster.

 

[hoe_nah]

What color red is that?

 

[mikebontoft]

metalcast red from duplicolor. Tried it and I actually love it. make sure to use the base though. It's a two part system.

Also can't make my mind up... I want to make some rock sliders and weld to frame (or should I just do bolt on? I could do either) but I want a 2" body lift.

If I sell my chevy 350 I may go for the lift.

 

[SV_Dude]

Good job bringing the runner back to life!! I would do weld on sliders, just make sure you plate the frame where the tubes attach to it. Also, gusset it if you can.

 

[mikebontoft]

Good job bringing the runner back to life!! I would do weld on sliders, just make sure you plate the frame where the tubes attach to it. Also, gusset it if you can.

I believe I know what you mean... weld the tube to a plate welded to the frame, right? just like roll cages...

I think I gotta get my stuff set straight.. sell engine, get body lift, build sliders and find time to design a plate front...

the body lift... reading the instructions makes it sound harder than I think it is. this true?

 

[SV_Dude]

Why do you want a body lift? I always try to convince people to stay away from them. They aren't always a bad thing, just don't use it as a cheap replacement for a suspension lift. Lift the suspension accordingly for ground clearance and use minimal body lift or trim the body to fit your tires if necessary.

And yes, plating the frame between the legs of the sliders and the frame is a good idea. It reinforces the frame which is only 1/8" inch thick. Get some 3/16"x3" strip steel and cut 3" sections off. That will give you 3x3x3/16 plates so you can reinforce the thin frame. Same idea applies for roll cages. or any structural part that is welded to thin material.

It sounds like you have good priorities. I would do the armor sooner than later though. Armor, lockers, tires, lift, accessories...

 

[mikebontoft]

well you do have a good point about that. I'm only about $2k into the whole thing and wanted a quick lift.

not lifting the body means I can build some armor first though. down the road I may as well go with a suspension lift.

sweet... guess tomorrow I'll grab some measurements and draw up a blueprint just for the hell of it. bumper is going to be the pain one.

 

[Pyroboy]

I didn't want to weld sliders to my frame so I made mine bolt-on with some 5/16" plate and 1/2" bolts. Take a look at my build thread for some pix.

 

[4runnin83]

What type of paint did you use on your valve cover and pulley?

 

[mikebontoft]

OK I'll take a look at it... I may find I hate my rock sliders and it would be easier to unbolt and make new ones.

Paint used was duplicolor metalcast. It was the only red I thought was suitable.