the motor came out of a manual 4Runner. i was thinkin about that, and i might be able to do that, since our next semester down here is the engine repair class. i might talk to the teacher about possibly rebuildin the motor, instead of doin the usual pull and rebuild that they have kids do down here...if i did that, id plan on porting and polishing the intake and heads, and boring the motor out about 20-30 thousandths. i think it'd be a good idea, but i think i might need new headers, because the fitting on the passenger side header for the air suction reed valve is kind of stripped, and probably wouldnt take bein pulled off and put back on again.

snowtoy, how much was the entire rebuild of your motor, and what all did you do?

Ya ain't gonna do this fast, that's the short and sweet of it. Yer gonna need more than just the long block and what's hangin' off of it.

This is in our Toyota Tech Archive

I've got a bunch of other stuff put together on this subject, just can't publish it yet.

i understand its not gonna be fast. do you think two months to do the build will be enough? or should i plan for more? if i do this, then im going to pull the heads and intake once i get back home in march to have them machined, then have the block machined when i get back down to school. do you think that would work?

2 months should be plenty of time for the rebuild, unless you ship things off, or are trying to do the port and polish yourself when you have the spare time, etc. It took me 24hrs to pull it down to the block, and I put it back together in about 16hrs 4weeks later, I was out of town for a week and then down for 3weeks after tearing up my knee.

Using it for a semester project seems like a good idea, and would be your best bet, and would allow you to really go through the it and start off w/a fresh engine.

I only rebuilt the upper end due to a second burnt valve, the bottom end was fine. I left the heads alone. I ghad considered getting the over sized valves along w/port and polish done through DOA, but when I called he was going on vacation and it would be a couple of months before I would get them back, so I just left them stock. The block was bored .040(IIRC) , back in Auguts of '90 after I hydro locked it during a river x-ing. Since it would have been 6 nmonths before a new engine could come in from Japan, the dealer didn't have any choice but to bore the cyls. to get rid of the rust and scarring/ gauges. I think this is the best mod you can do t these 3.0's. A buddy of mine has always commented on how well it performs compared to every other 3.0 Runner or truck that comes into his shop either before or after the repairs.

I think you should be able to weld on a need mount for the reed valve, mine still leaks until it is warmed up and it will be 4yrs this May since the headers were installed.

i think im going to try and do this next semester. im going to pull the heads and manifold off of the other motor as soon as i get back from school in march, and send them to the machine shop that my dealership uses. while thats happening, im gonna order parts, and tear it down to block, and have the block bored to. then, ill bring it back down to school, put it all together, then drop it into the truck. sound like a plan?

Sounds good to me, granted you wont have the same hp as the 3.4, but you also wont have to spend the $4-5k for the power gain either. The 3.4 swap is nice and worth the money, but with you going to school, you can always wait a few years to do the swap when your done. Just make sure to use quality parts, a new knock sensor and knock sensor wire, and new headbolts.