Well, it's been 4 and a half years since I rebuilt the engine and ever since, it has taken the abuse I've given it like a champ. High EGTs and 87 octane fuel was the order of the day. It took it like a man. Compression was perfect across the board, and everything else was good to go. Well, you know how they say that you shouldn't have sexy time in your car because it jinxes it? Well, I think that actually is true, because before breaking a piston the first time, my car was the place of some love encounters with my girlfriend, LOL. It can't be coincidence that it broke again after I disrespected it with my current girlfriend. Blown tires and some other things happened before, too.

Anyway, the last straw that broke the camel's back was a 15 PSI test run after tuning it with the eManage. We were gonna take it to the dyno to tune it at that boost level, so we needed to test if the engine would hold or if it would blow like a grenade. Too bad I forgot I had moose piss 91 octane watered fuel from a gas station I never go to, but I had to this time because I was running low. I thought I had Shell 93 and well, nothing made a sound. I nailed it from a dead stop, it just roasted tires with the 17s, put our heads against the headrest, and then coolant was all over the windshield when I let go the gas. Good times. The auto tranny is holding well. No signs of slippage or anything. I ordered a Cometic headgasket and should be here this week. This engine can sure take some punishment. I need to up the boost to see if a rod gives up before a piston. I need an excuse to install the Belfab rods and some other pistons I found.

Well you're taking it like a champ - that's right - it's just an excuse to upgrade
Sorry to hear about it tho.

haha as i said 7AFTE POWA

Is that an OEM 7A headgasket? Because that would answer my question as to whether or not the 7A always had a metal one or if it's a 96+ thing, both engines I had are 97's so not much of a comparison. At first I thought it was a 4A headgasket because I saw the rubber gasket for that big return opening in the front but then noticed that all the holes pretty much line up with all the jaskets.

I think that's aftermarket.
Did you rebuild the motor with an aftermarket gasket kit ? that would help contribute to the problem...

woah! took long enough man. congrats

>

I'm not 100% sure if it's Toyota OEM, but I did buy it at a Toyota parts store around here called Toyo House. It's a crappy thing. A sorry excuse of a gasket. It has metal, but it's very thin. Maybe it's a replacement? It says Made In Japan, so I'm not sure. What I'm sure is that the pistons, bearings and rings are made in Israel. I think they're King or something. I ordered a 4A-GE Cometic gasket. The fast guys around here rave about them. It's the only brand I've heard people recommend.

>
As far as I know, yes. Now that you say it, I don't think I used any Toyota OEM part except for a seal. They weren't in stock, and I was in a hurry because I had to fly back to Virginia in a few days, so I got what they gave me.

This post has been edited by OOBE: Jul 7, 2008 - 9:48 PM

>
Yeah, man. Thanks. Haha. Tomorrow to the machine shop to get the head inspected for cracks, get it resurfaced and maybe do a little something to it to improve flow. Not sure. I'd like to stay as close to stock as possible to see what this motor can do.

>

What is there to rave about with a headgasket? It's either leaking or it's not, right?

Anyway, the holes in the 4A headgasket don't line up 100%. I had them order me a 4AGZE headgasket at work so I could compare it to mine then send it back. I would say it matches up about 90%. You can see how the 7A gasket still covers up some of the coolant jackets, but the 4A covers up way more of it. The oil passages are pretty much ok, there's a couple that are off if I remember correctly.

very nice work brother!

20psi next time

Yeah no sexy time in the car. Truths

So you're saying that the gasket will not work, Steph? It shipped on the 7th. I swear I'll boost 20 PSI with it if it covers the coolant passages too much. Blow that son of a gun for good.

Off-topic, not sure if it's a placebo effect, but I borrowed my sister's car to go see my girlfriend and I...you know...fell into carnal temptation. : Now the car's tranny is slipping.

oobe i know you still aren't in high school, stop bangin in the car!!!!!

You have to understand that I didn't get to do any of that in high school. I was poor. I didn't have a car. I didn't have a girlfriend. Like Eddie Murphy said in Delirious, "These are my f@ck years...I f@ck now." Anyway, I just came back from the machine shop. As soon as the dude saw the head, he said, "You shouldn't use a 4A-GE gasket on it. The holes are different and it COULD cause overheating. It's not a 100% sure but there's a possibility." How he knew it was a 7A-FE head, I don't know. He wasn't an old man, so it's not that, LOL. He asked me what I needed done and I told him he was the one that knew, and he said he was just going to resurface it so it's straight again. He then looked at where the exhaust manifold mounts to, then looked at me all serious and said, " I need the turbo manifold too because it is warped. Bring it when you come back". So I'm gonna wait a few hours to go pick it up.

EDIT: GTFO of here. I just looked at the turbo manifold, put a ruler underneath it and it is indeed warped. This guy is good.

This post has been edited by OOBE: Jul 9, 2008 - 11:47 AM

HAHAHA did you check for his little spy in the backroom that followed you there??

>
Oh it'll fit and probably work just fine...for a while...under normal 7A conditions. The right 7A head gasket covers some of the coolant jackets too but the 4A covers way more of it. The slight possibility that it could restrict the flow of coolant is the reason I didn't use it.

Hmmm. I'm not going to risk it. The guy explained me how the headgasket works and the reason why they cover the jackets some. I'll just use an OEM one. Besides, it broke not because of the boost, but because of the detonation, because I boosted 15 PSI before with 93 octane fuel and it was fine.

I noticed this headgasket was very rusty also. I found out it wasn't a Toyota OEM one. I'm gonna buy a spare head and order a custom headgasket from Cometic. If this OEM one fails, I'll have the head ready to go with the good headgasket.

HAHaha bad bachi strikes again!!! i've always told my friends never to. damn man 15psi and wanting 20.....shoot i wish i can do that with the 5s.......or drop a 3s inside.

should've taken a vid or something

Well, I had two buddies of mine in the car, but we weren't planning on breaking it because I didn't even know I had that crappy gas in the tank. If not, it would've held fine. It pulled so good, LOL. What surprised me is that the tranny didn't slip. I wonder how long it's gonna last. First to second gear is really abrupt. It's got some good wheelspin, but third and fourth will only chirp if anything and the change is smooth.

So any idea what you were putting down at the wheels?

I have no clue. Maybe 180-190 WHP. It felt pretty fast, though. It climbed to 80 very quick, and that was with two other people.

This post has been edited by OOBE: Jul 16, 2008 - 3:08 AM

>

hmmm.


I am looking for 225 to 240 at the wheels. But I am unsure if I want to just put the money in to the 7a or put more into a 3s. I have also considered a 7agte. Trying to do a budget road course car, so I would rather not dump $5000 into just my motor setup.

This post has been edited by Harold_Fastwaker: Jul 16, 2008 - 10:06 PM

I'm surprised that the 7A can put down that much power. Like thats double the stock HP, its kind of scary. How much did that set up cost you?

I lost track long time ago. Between the price of brand new parts (I never bought cheap brand stuff or used parts) and redoing some things over and over, I could've done two 3S-GTE swaps plus mods for both. Whatever. You only live once. It's disposable income. Yeah, it's more than double the stock wheel horsepower, which is more than fine and dandy by me. The car feels great.

>
ehhhh...nik did a 7agte and hit like 330 i think..

330 WHP is overkill on our cars. All you get is wheelspin and passengers screaming for you to stop. I rode on my buddy's 5th gen Celica (which is heavier than ours) and he was pushing about that same horsepower on a 3S-GTE and it felt twice as fast as my Supra when I was pushing 470 RWHP on it, and even when on high boost I was pushing 530 RWHP, it didn't feel as crazy as in the Celica. Power to weight ratio is a beautiful thing.

This post has been edited by OOBE: Jul 27, 2008 - 9:28 PM

Well, I finally got around putting the head in. I ended up returning the Cometic 4A-GE headgasket and getting an OEM dual layer metal one. Car started up fine, but I noticed compression went back to 210, from 185 that was with the thicker, crappier headgasket it had before. No biggie. I'll try to see if I can get this thing dynoed this week (please Lord, let me finally do this) and have some numbers for you guys. Another goodie is that my registration expires this month, which means it'll be an excuse to drop it off at the bodyshop the 31st to get it fixed and painted.

sweeet!!!!!

>

Hi OOBE,
so does your Cometic 4A-GE headgasket fit in 7AFE?

I ended up returning the Cometic headgasket. It needed modification and I didn't want to gamble. I'm planning on breaking this engine (so I can install forged internals) but I want to do it in a safe way so that I know the limits of the rods or pistons or whatever breaks because of the power, so we can end this taboo once and for all. I don't want to break it while doing something unreliable, because then I will not know how much the internals could've handled. I ended up installing a new stock 2 layer metal gasket instead. Since I leaned out at 15 PSI with the 560cc injectors at the dyno, so I'm sure the fuel pump is the culprit. I bought a new one and I'm getting a bigger turbo today or tomorrow and crank it to 15 PSI again to see if I can break the 220 WHP barrier.