For the rebuild, I ordered the rebuild kit from Toyota. It consists of all (or at least, almost all) the gaskets you will need to rebuild the 4A-GZE. Unfortunately, I can't remember the part number, but if you call up your friendly local Toyota dealer, tell them what you need, and that you are rebuilding an engine by yourself, and that you need the best deal they can give you. Typically, if the guy on the other end of the phone is cool, they can usually swing about 10-20% off list price. Trust me, you'll need whatever help you can get.
The part number for the rebuild gasket kit is 04111-16112. -Carl.
Find yourself a competent machine shop to do the work that you cannot do. I used Manuel's Automotive in Hayward, but I don't think they are around any more. Again, learn to haggle, but not pester the guy. Most people will cut you a better deal if you are cool about it. Bug 'em too much, and they may jack up the price! Now is also the time to purchase as many things as you think you'll need. We decided to play it safe, and go with ARP fasteners all around; quality stuff. CAP (Cyberspace Automotive Performance) provided us with the correct parts. ARP originally packaged six (6) bolts in their flywheel kit, but we straightened that out with the help of Graham at CAP and now ARP sells the kit with the correct number of flywheel bolts. 98% of all 4A-G flywheels use the 8-bolt flywheels. Sure, the ARPs are a little more expensive than OEM, however, why take chances? We knew we wanted to run close to 14psi of boost later on down the road, and the ARP stuff was calling our name. Most of the standard 4A-GE stuff will translate right over to the GZE application, as I believe that most of the ARP stuff was under that listing. We decided to stick with oem pistons (but went .020 oversize), so we also went ahead and ordered new pistons, rings, bearings, etc. from Toyota. We spoke to several Toyota gurus regarding the need to go with an aftermarket, forged piston, however, the OEM GZE pistons are already forged, so why bother messing with a good thing? Couldn't justify the additional cost, either.
And don't forget that the OEM US-spec 4A-GZE pistons are ceramic coated above the # 1 compression ring. -Carl
One week and $900 later, Carl and I went back and picked up the nice, clean engine:
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One word of warning. Make sure that you remove all items that the machine shop does not need. We forgot to remove the knock sensor, and it somehow did not make it back to us when the job was finished. This was one of those things you find out when you think you're all done. Don't say I didn't warn ya!
Okay, as far as the rebuild goes, I highly suggest that you stick to the BGB for the correct procedure. Make sure that you either know what you are doing, or have a friend close by to slap you upside the head if you are about to/did do something wrong. This was my first engine rebuild, so it was a great learning experience for me. Remember to stick to the manufacturer's torque specifications and sequencing as well, and pick yourself up a nice, accurate 3/8" torque wrench for the critical fasteners.
Some "action" shots of Alan working on the main bearings. -Carl
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While installing the new bearings, caps, and ARP fasteners, we ran into a little clearance issue. The bolt head for one of the con rod caps was making contact against the bottom of the cylinder bore. We called ARP to notify them of the problem, and also spoke to the machine shop to see what to do. No biggie, as we just had to bust out the die grinder and slightly grind away the lip of the cylinder bore to allow for adequate clearance. We discovered the problem when we installed everything, and hand cranked the engine for kicks. Good thing we did!
Make sure that you remove just enough material to clear the rod bolt heads. If you get too enthusiastic, you can eat all the way through the block and expose the water or oil passages. I dunno about you, but that'd totally ruin my day. =) -Carl
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