Compression test - White smoke *Cracked head*

Honestly hasn't been too bad at all.. Only hiccups that have ruined the mood have been the high pressure fuel line nut getting seized, got that off but ruined the flare nut in the process, still haven't decided how I'll get it back together.
And one of my down-pipe exhaust nuts are currently stuck. Its free spinning about 80% off the stud, but wont come off the stud, I think I'll have to cut it off..

For how many things have come off, I'll take two problematic nuts any day. With most projects I undertake it seems like I'll have a total of just 5 bolts/nuts to remove and 2 of them will seize and screw me over for 6 hours.

The $$ side is the worst part for sure.. At least now its all paid for so I don't have to think about it anymore, just waiting for parts to arrive and doing the work

 

Heads are off!


Those head bolts were a killer..
Lot of gasket material on the block, I can’t see how a bunch of that isn’t going to fall down the coolant passages while cleaning the gasket surface, is there anyway to get stuff out of them other than a good coolant flush after putting the truck back together?

 

Wow
Really good pix….never seen V6 with heads off

623
Not that this is correct method to answer your question about crap down coolant jackets…..
But I would do this
Cut a Brillo pad to size and stuff it into the coolant passages
Scrape off head
Then can remove the seated Brillo with needle nose pliers afterwards
To be sure/safe
Maybe when pulling pads out….have shop vac in one hand/pliers in other hand

I’m sure another member has encountered same issue and probably has better method thou

Great progress!!!!!!!

 

You gotta turn the truck upside down to clean it haha

It's all definitely fun until you get to the point of buying the big ticket items. I've been doing all the same things as you but I'm goin the more expensive route of getting a rebuilt from Yota1. Definitely using this downtime to get every part of my oily ass engine looking almost brand new..

 

The truck is all back together, and seems to be running pretty well. Smoke is gone, smooth idle and acceleration, and maintaining proper temperature.

The biggest job I've tackled before this was valve cover gaskets. And it went overall pretty smooth, but I also had the truck out of commission for about a month. Much of that was just waiting for the heads, which took about 3 weeks. In that time, I was able to slowly tear down the engine. If you can, I think this is the best way. It allowed time to order parts (like a fuel line flare nut) that were broken during disassembly, and not hold up the job. Probably don't need a month, but at least two weekends and a couple hours a day after work would've probably been enough for me. This is for a complete novice to engine work.

Putting in back together was done in a weekend. Could be done in a day if you've been that deep into the engine before, but I was going slow following along to Timmy's videos, and getting stuck for hours on stupid things like getting the power steering belt on. I also spent probably 10 hours total cleaning the block using Timmy's scotchbrite method. It was extremely slow and tedious. In the videos they said it took elbow grease, but I don't know if it was because of the age of the old composite gasket or what but it was much worse than expected.
I have since seen a lot of people across the internet suggesting not to use scotchbrite. I started with razer blades to get most the junk off, and when it stopped getting anything I moved to the pads. It seems like every block cleaning method has a long list of people telling you its terrible and ruins everything, but unless you are going to take it to a machinist you're going to have to pick some method.. I think scotchbrite is on the better side of methods, and much less potential damage then the rolloc disc method.

All in all, went pretty far over my predicted budget. Pretty expected, especially with some of the more specialty tools needed.. And a couple convenience tools that made it easier, like a bigger impact wrench.

For anyone else that is battling this decision, hopefully this thread can be helpful in that decision.

All in, I'm at nearly $3k. Though that does quite a few "While you're in there" replacements.

So for $3k what do I have. A brand new top end, and a bottom end with almost 300k miles. Is that worth it? I'm not sure. But a rebuilt engine would've been ~4-6k+ with lead times in the 6 month range, and local JDMs were going for ~3200+. How much are you going to spend replacing consumable/maintenance items on the JDM engine anyway. In all cases you're going to end up spending a lot more with the 'while you're in there' replacements.

I'll add a list of most everything I bought/replaced, which I think its a pretty standard list if you're going this deep into the engine.
The biggest 'while you're in there' I did was the injectors, the biggest I didn't do was knock sensors, those would've added I believe another $500. Definitely do the knock sensor harness though, mine fell apart in my hands while I was trying to move it out of the way.

Heads: $1400 from Clearwater
Gasket Kit: $430 from YotaShop
Injectors: $300 Motorwest (You can save a lot by sending yours for refurb, which if I had planned better I would've done. Instead I paid full price for a new set.)
Timing belt kit: $205 Aisin
Radiator hoses: $40
Heater hoses: $40
Heater valve: $20
Machinists straight edge: $40
Feeler gauges: $8
Cam seals: $30
Pulley Holder/Crankshaft holder: $60
Crank bolt: $15
PCV Hose: $15
Drive belts: $30
Coolant: $50
Coolant overflow reservoir: $30
Oil: $50

I had already replaced the thermostat, spark plugs, wires, and most vacuum hoses in the couple months before this. Otherwise, add another like $125 for all those.

Convenience tools bought:
Impact Wrench: $200
No-spill coolant funnel: $40
Bent nose pliers: $10
25" breaker bar: $20

Misc:
Probably $75 in brake cleaner, my engine was and still is pretty filthy.
Like $10 in shop rags, ruined like $20 worth of cardboard moving boxes

 

Awesome! Hopefully you had fun like I did

 

Great Freakin Job!!!!!!!!

those ‘bent nose pliers’……….
5yrs so far…….best tool I have bought.
Keeps my temper in check when wrenching 120%

 

Ha!
$75 in brake cleaner!!!!!!!

I was over $100…….hilarious!!!!!

 

I was running back to autozone almost everyday to pick up two more cans. Got pretty close to the guys there

 

yep
I was like ‘I went through 4 cans already?’

said that 5 times
UGH