>>>*Hi!
Well, from that pic of your gasket I would be a bit concerned about the deck surface.
If the two mating surfaces aren't flat and properly finished, no gasket made will hold forever.
We cheat when we clean a block deck, we have this big old surfacing machine...*LOL**... Doing it by hand is a pain.
Once you are sure, bolt her up and go. By the way, letting a trusted professional do the head for you can save a lot of trouble....*EB

So I would be "OK" doing it with a large honing stone and some WD-40 to keep the surface lubricated? As long as I keep an eye on things and don't gouge the surface of the block? I've done some hand stoning while setting up machines here at work, so I have some degree of patience.

I should be taking my cylinder head into a pro tomorrow-- I don't have the degree of patience it takes to clean that up by hand LOL!

Dang cheaters and their big machines... <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

After a long wait for various reasons-- it's done!!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I fired up the engine on Sunday night/Monday morning about 12:30, and proceeded to break the cam in for about 20 minutes in my nice quiet neighborhood-- I didn't care-- I wanted to get this thing done! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/butwiggle.gif" alt="" />

Here's what I ended up doing: I did take the head to the machine shop-- had it cleaned, pressure tested, valves and valves seats ground, and then resurfaced. It was so pretty I took pictures of it! I'll post those later-- they are at work and I am not. I was REALLY pleased with the work the machine shop did.

I got all my parts in from EB last week-- which included the 270/.430 cam, head bolts, rocker arm set, and head gasket set. I also got my fuel injectors back from Rich at Cruzin Performance, and I highly recommend his services. He has a great way of doing business, and all my injectors came back to me within 1% of each other and ready to install.

So, I started the re-assmebly Friday night. I still had one issue to deal with, and that was tearing down the rocker arm assembly and installing the new rocker arm set. Unfortunately, everything was binding as I took it apart, and didn't slide "nicely" apart like the manual said it should. Long story short, my brute force broke several of the cast iron mounts for the rocker shafts. I was very distraught at the thought (hey that rhymes!) of having to wait for new mounts and shafts to be ordered, because of course, when I called around Saturday morning, no one had them in stock (which I knew would be the case-- honestly-- who would be stupid enough to break something like this <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />). But oh how happy I was when I found a salvage yard 5 minutes from my house that possibly had some Toyota trucks. I went there in the rain, and all the trucks' engines were gone. I was about to leave when I decided to look around again, and found an 84 Celica that was 22RE equipped. The engine had not been touched, so I yanked the rocker arm assembly off (again, in the rain), and paid my $20 for it and was on my way. I consider that to be one of the best things that has happened to me this year so far. I was so relieved to be back on track. And lemme tell ya, the motor on this Celica was super clean. WAAAAAAY cleaner than mine was underneath the valve cover. I wanted to take the whole engine with me. And the rocker arm assembly from that was disassembled in about 2 minutes. Everything slid apart very "nicely".

So, I took the rest of Valentines Day off to spend with my wife, and got back to it on Sunday. When I fired the truck up, I let it warm up, and then proceed to set the timing, but it was right where it needed to be!! I was really shocked that I didn't have to move the distributor in the least. So, I proceeded to break in the cam at about 2000-2100 rpm for 20 minutes, and double checked everything, and then drove her on down the road to get gas, because I was almost out! On a side not, I replaced the radiator cap again-- this time with an ND unit from the Toyota dealer, and it is working fine. I wonder if the Stant cap is crap? I've had two that don't seem to work. But thank the good Lord, if that cap hadn't been working, I could be a lot further down the road with a cracked head or worse. It's what clued me into this whole high pressure problem/ hose bursting saga and being able to see all those telltale bubbles coming up through the radiator.

I'm on day 2 of driving it, and all seems to be well. I had the idle jump up and down on me at a light when I left work today, but after it warmed up fully it was fine. I have my idel rpm set at about 1000 right now, but I may have to bring it down just a touch. How long until I need to retorque those head bolts-- 500 miles? I can't remember. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> I'm just happy to have a running truck again.

Thanks to all you guys and gal for the help. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> I'll have to say what my impressions of the new cam are once I really lay into it. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Congrats! Glad it all came together for you!

on your jumpy idle, cut your idle speed to under 1000 and it shouldn't do that when you're on the brakes.

Also, be sure that all the air is burped out of the cooling system.

Party Time! Congrats on getting it done! See wasnt so bad was it? Next project: Get ahold of a complete used engine, tear it down to bare bones and rebuild it...taking your own sweet time. Then you have the option of a spare motor, or acquiring a project rig to intall it in. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

I wouldnt wait 500 miles to retorque the head bolts...but thats just me. I do it usually the same or next day depending on what time I finish installation. Get her up to temperature then shut it down...by the time the valve cover is off you should be able to get your torque wrench on the heads without getting burned. Once the head bolts have been retorqued, move onto rechecking your valve clearances and you should be golden.
As Greg mentioned, turn your idle down below 1K...try burping the cooling system again just to be safe.

~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

FINALLY! Here's some pics of the head. Work finally got the high speed internet back up.

Beauty, eh?





I had a tiny little leak from the coolant system the other day, but since I burped it thoroughly, I haven't had any leaks.

I set my EB cam valve clearance to .007 Intake and .009 Exhaust (cold) when I broke it in. That was what was written on the box. What are you EB cam runners running for valve clearance?

Pretty!

BTT for my last question. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Im pretty sure that I have mine set to .007 intake and .010 exhaust cold on the 88'. Actually Im positive, since I havent had any performance issues or noises warranting me to go back in for the last 6 months. I'll get a chance to check them in a few weeks while replacing the valve cover for a freshly painted and stickered one.

4Runner is stock profile cam and valves for now, set to .007 and .010 warm. After I get a few things sorted out like who's 4Runner it is I will get another Street RV head built for it. Aint putting another penny into it after last night though.

~Darin <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/baby.gif" alt="" />

Wha' happened? You can't make a statement like that with no explanation!! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />