Well... it's been a while since I've made a project thread on this website, though I've been lurking and posting here and there. After months and months of trying to get myself out of some debt I was in from buying a new car (alltrac in the sig) and some other stuff, and save up enough money for this, I'm finally fixing the 6gc. I drove about 3 hours one way today to meet up with PhilipK from this website who no longer needed his 5s after he swapped in a 3rd gen 3sgte, and he agreed to meet me halfway. So, here's a shot of it it strapped down in the back of my parents truck:



though this engine came with pretty much EVERYTHING, right down to the wiring harness, alternator, manifolds, etc. I'm still going to have my work cut out for me. It's going to be tough trying to remember where every bolt and hose connects to, even if I do have most of my bolts labeled. I'm definately going to need some help with though! lol. So anyway, that's step one I guess, is actually getting the engine. I want to do some service to it, such as a timing belt and water pump, and stuff like that that is going to be super easy with the enginge out of the car before dropping it back in. So I guess that'll be step 2... and step 3 is going to be cleaning... lots and lots and lots of cleaning!!! I want that engine bay clean enough to eat out of! lol.

btw, I know it's going to be asked, but I do not intend to turbo it again. That's why I bought the alltrac, so I could have a fast, turbo engine to modify, but also have AWD. IF I decide to keep the 6gc, it will recieve a CAI, cat-back, some springs again (I already sold mine.. lol) and the wheels I had on it before (the work knock-offs) and call it a day. fun to drive, still easy on gas, and nice looking with daily drivability. Anyway, this'll be my project thread that I'll update with as many pictures as I can. I suppose I should invest in a digital camera as part of the project... lol

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Feb 21, 2009 - 3:23 AM

i love to hear ppl keeping the 6gc and fixing it rather than selling or junking. i love these cars lol

Cant wait to see your progress! Awesome!

Looking forward to this thread! I love hearing about any car, especially 6GC's that get a new life. Best of luck with everything!

I'm looking forward to working on it! it's been awhile. lol. Unfortunately, time isn't too abundant for me right now... and I'll be starting school again next week, so I'll have even less time then. I wish it didn't get dark so early so I could see what I was doing after 5 pm... I'm really hoping it'll be done in a few weeks, but I'm not going to estimate anything yet.


btw, if anyone wants my old 5s, or any pieces off of it, PM me. I need it out of my garage.

what happened to ur 5s?

>
well, basically the compressor wheel on the turbo I had on it shattered into 1000 pieces and got sucked up into the engine and ate up the sides of the pistons. or at least that's my theory since the engine blew and the compressor wheel went missing at the exact same time. I did take the engine apart and there definately is metal flakes in there. It's probably re-buildable if you used .020 or .040 oversized pistons and had it bored out for them. But I'm no machinist and I don't have a micrometer.

lol thats a story and a half my friend srry about the luck, did you sell all the turbo gear already?

>
mostly. I put a couple things in my alltrac. and the rest will probably be sold after I get the car running again, along with all the other "extra" parts I've accumulated.

good to see you getting it back up and running man!

so.. I've made a list of parts to get... anyone wanna look over it and point out anything I might be missing?

timing belt kit
water pump
top-end gasket kit
rear main seal
spark splugs
axle seals
Fuel filter
Oil filter
thermostat
t-stat housing
dist cap and rotor
spark Plug wires

I'm thinking that'll be about all I'll need... I'm thinking of sending the injectors out to witchhunter too, and re-using my spec stage 2 clutch which only has about ~8-9K miles on it. I'm not trying to replace everything, just the general maintanence type stuff.

good luck!! glad you got back to fixing her

So tonight I placed an order for some parts from toyota, and got some pther parts at an auto parts store. Work should begin tomorrow!!!

I have to do this same thing when i get home from Iraq, my 1st cylinder locked up in my motor now its got almost 200k on it so its time for a swap. Im buying a complete rebuilt long block for 1G offline and swapping all my components over to it after I clean them all real good i have never messed with a toyota motor before only hondas so this thread will help me out a good bit. Please keep it updated and add pics of your progress lol Thanks man.

This post has been edited by foxcraze: Jan 14, 2009 - 6:40 AM

well, got some work done today... sorry for the blurry pics, I had to take the pics with my cell phone since I have no other camera. Here's a shot of the backside... just cause:



I got it lifted with an engine crane and got to work. Replaced timing belt and water pump:



got the timing covers back on after cleaning them:



and a shot under the valve cover. It's not looking so great in there, but the engine does have ~120K on it. I'm not too worried about it.

god I really need a better camera.



anyway, did some stuff today. replaced valve cover with my old one cause I like the paint. even if it's chipping and scratched. lol. Umm, removed exhaust manifold and replaced a couple water line gaskets underneath. CLEANED a lot off the front of the engine block... I know I said I wanted the thing to sparkle, but god I hate cleaning sooo much. I think I'm calling it good enough how it is now, I'll just need to still do some cleaning of the engine bay still. Let's see, I also removed the clutch and flywheel. I'm thinking I'm going to be putting my fidanza lightweight flywheel and my spec stage 2 clutch back on.

Anyway, I'm picking up and air compressor with some tools tomorrow that I ordered a couple weeks ago. That should help speed things up I'm really hoping the engine is done and ready to start going back in by tomorrow. I won't really have time to work on it saturday, but I'm hoping if I start early on sunday, maybe I can get it all in by that night... well, 99% in, I'm still waiting on some parts from toyota. but it's easy stuff like fuel filter, dizzy cap and rotor, etc. that I can do with the engine in the car... Yeah, this went by a lot faster than I was expecting it to. I was thinking it was going to be 3-4 weeks before I got this thing in, but I've been working on it so much, it might be about a week! lol. I guess having the right tools for the job really do speed things up (hooray for recieving a crap-load of tools for christmas!!!)

lookin good man!!
trust me, take the time to clean it now, you'll kick yourself later if you dont!

>
yeah, that was the original plan... what do you use for cleaning parts with the caked on grime that just does not want to come off?

Just got an e-mail from 1sttoyotaparts, my parts shipped today and should be here tomorrow So they'll be here before the install on sunday (if I can get my arse in gear and get to work tonight...) I should be going to pick up that air compressor tonight too. Just called, and they said they have it in.

i just use a heavy duty degreaser (its used to clean fryolators..lol) and brushes of diffrent sorts.
the little brass and steel ones work well on the caked on stuff thats normally all over the front of the block and head.
it takes time, but it'll look GOOOD when your done.

Thanks. Yeah, so far I've been using a gasket scraper, which works good on the larger sections, but can't get into the tight areas, so I bought a couple of steel wire brushs last night. Now I just need to find some masking tape so I can blow the dust off it with my compressor without getting dirt into my exhaust valves, lol. btw, I picked this guy up last night:



All I've done so far is the break-in procedere and then used it to take off 3 bolts just to test it out.

>


pressure washer LOL

seriously, i took my engine to the car wash in the back of a truck and sprayed it senseless lol. came out pretty clean

I have that same compressor. I <3 it. runs quiet and can keep up with my cfm demands

well, I can already say it's not getting done today. I didn't get any work done on friday, and I kinda splept in today. Oh well, I'm not in a big hurry, I'd rather go slower to be sure I get everything right. Btw, the fed-ex jerks changed their "estimated delivery time" of my toyota parts from yesterday to tuesday! grr. I don't see why it had to make a pit-stop in oregon. oh well. well, my goal today is to get everything back together on the engine, making sure all vacuum hoses are hooked up correctly and are in good condition, getting everything clean, hopefully including the engine bay, and basically everything I have to do, right up to actually dropping the engine into the bay, so that on wednesday which is my next day off work, I can start doing that. I start school this week though, so it's going to be even harder to find time to work on this engine now. And I'll end this post with a pic of her how she sits:



yes, the FMIC is still in the front bumper. lol. and look how much gap there is between the fender and wheels with no engine weighting it down. lol

This post has been edited by 6strngs: Jan 18, 2009 - 2:32 PM

yay for more pics from todays work! I'm sorry if they're hard to see. Here's a dirty transmission:



And a clean one!



I never noticed it before because it was hidden beneath so much dirt, but somebody took some paint or something and wrote the number "96" on the top of the transmission... I wonder if the previous owner didn't get a newer transmission from a junkyard or something from a 96... hmm. I'll have to compare the vin number on it to my car. I guess that would be a good thing though. I never had troubles with this transmission.

anyway, here's a dirty engine bay:



and a clean one!



also cleaned and spot painted a couple spots on the block. here it is looking much better than before:



And, I did some work on the engine too. I put the manifold back on, got a flywheel and clutch on it (I thoroughly inspected the spec clutch to see if the springs were popping out like on supershannon's, but they weren't at all, so I decided to re-use it.) and also got the transmission on it! it's just about ready to go back in!!

this is quick

great to see this thing back up and running(sorta)!!!

>
It's amazing how much better I am at this sort of thing than I used to be! If I were to be doing this a year ago I think it would've taken me way longer! having the right tools really helps too... now instead of struggling for 15-20 minutes trying to get a bolt loose, I just grab a bigger ratchet or an impact gun, lol.

nothing like seeing this on the door step! (never mind the oil filters part, there was more that filters in there they just used a box that filters come in, lol)



Hopefully tomorrow I'll be putting the engine into the car. My goal is just to get all the motor mounts attached, it's pretty smooth sailing from there. (or so I hope)