Empty's 01 Build

How it sits today: 7-12-20 (well... half of it)


Got this truck from my father when I turned 16 in 2012. When I first got it it was slightly modified with a spacer lift up front and deaver leafs and bilstein shocks in the back as well as a set of American racing atx Mojave wheels.
Drove it like that for about 2 weeks before I put a hole in the frame changing oil.At that point it went in for the frame and 4 days later I had it back and this is when the modding really started. first was the exhaust, doug Thorley headers and magnaflow cats and catback.
Then I proceeded to land a job at a Toyota dealer and took advantage of the parts discount and bought some FJ trail teams wheels for some tires I had coming to warrenty my yokos that had tread separation problems.

After that I drove it for a couple months before the rear axle started leaking through the pumpkin due to the rust that had formed. So I bought a new axle housing, and decided to do the full suspension. New Deaver leaf packs and icon coilovers and absorbers front and rear. While everything was apart I replaced the pinion seal, wheel bearings and drum backing plates. While inspecting the ring and pinion I was surprised to see the paint from the factory still on the ring gear after almost 300k miles! I also bought a new Toyota black bumper to replace the rusted out chrome bumper while I was installing the suspension



After all the suspension work i drove it for about 7 months and then did the timing belt. While doing the timing belt i replaced the grille front bumper marker lights and headlights with new oem Toyota and had the grille and marker lights painted by a local bodyshop to color match the front end. as well as satin black on the bumper. As for the fender flares I used rustoleum bedliner to refinish them.

Few months later I got the email from Toyota regarding the superchargers being discontinued so me being me I had to have one and placed my order. couple days later and I had it and started to install it when I found out the tensioner mounting hole had rusted out and after attempting to timesert the hole and having the insert pull out while trying to torque the bolt I decided I'll replace the block and build a new motor (Isn't it amazing how fast things escalate on a project vehicle).


Found a new block from Yotashop and bought it, couldn't be happier with it. Much better shape externally than mine and the cylinders still had crosshatching in them.

With having a block to build from I decided to overbuild the engine. First part I bought was the crank. Doing some research I found out the 3vz-fe crank out of a 1993 Camry would work so out of curiosity I check the parts department where I work to see if they even had a new one in stock and low and behold there was one left in the country. So for 50 more dollars than a new oem 5vz crank I scored a factory 3vz-fe forged crank.


And that's where it sits. I'm currently waiting on pauter rods from LCE and misc. parts to build the bottom end from Toyota, once the bottom end is done I'll source 2 new cylinder heads and do what I can to eek a little more power out of the ol 3.4.

 

Forgot that somewhere along the lines the side steps came off. Man how I hated those.

 

How you like the Doug Thorley headers?

 

They're nice, definitely changed the tone of the exhaust and they've held up great through 2 winters now. Install was a bitch as many would tell you but once they're on I have not had a single issue. if you have the 2001 or newer with 2 cats the front cat needs to be cut and a new flange welded on closer to the cat, but other than that straight bolt on. Was there a gain? a bit defiantly up top but nothing that will blow your socks off.

 

Thanks bro!

 

got a new daily since my truck will be down for a while come end of April. 2006 Avalon 44k miles base model

 

just a little interior sound clip from the beast.

 

More parts came in. ARP head and main studs, brass freeze plugs, and Pauter chrome moly billet rods.

 

Just a little update. Pulled the transmission today in prep to get it rebuilt to handle way more power then it will have going through it. And got word that I should be able to send the block out Monday. Things are starting to move. Still waiting for pistons and still need to sort out the valve train.

 

Finally got the engine out today. bought the Engine hanger NO. 2 from Toyota to make removal easier.

Got the intake manifold, wire harness and valve covers off. I'll be using new cylinder heads but reusing the old cams.

Overall the engines in pretty good shape for 300k. I found 3 exhaust valves with a little oil around them but nothing major. Debating pulling the heads off to see inside but I doubt I will until I find a truck to put this engine in.

 

Got the cams and cylinder heads pulled today. All I can say is WOW. This thing was in amazing shape and I honestly feel horrible for tearing her open like this. All the cylinders have strong crosshatching marks left and the pistons have a very fine layer of carbon. Not what I was expecting with just about 300k on her. This engine has officially sold me on the 5vz for life.

 

Wish I had this skill man.

 

Its easy to take it apart. Its putting it back together that is the challenge! lol. Research is a big part and The FSM helps. I got into engines with little briggs motors, this is just a larger version

 

Most I've done was supercharge and swap in a 04 motor into my 97 lol. May be doing a headgasket in the near future

 

Subd, Your Engine with 300k looks 300x cleaner than mine with less than 200k. I did my valve covers a month ago ago and it was scary how much buildup there was. I like where this build is going with built internals with the SC.

 

I have to say I'm sold on my fathers formula for oil changes. mobil 1 full synthetic and 10k interval if in city driving, anytime before 20k if all highway. His 06 corolla is in the 600 thousands now.. but odo quit at 299999 5 years ago.

This engine is overkill for the supercharger, theres a bigger reason I'm building it, but that will have to wait until I'm out of emissions hell, and obviously, the other reason - money

 

Figured I should post this here for documentation purposes to help those who seek the answer like me. This is going in the old engine which will be subject to some swap in something (probably an mr2) but here it is, I just picked up 92 Camry 3vz-fe cams today to test fit in the 5vz-fe cylinder heads and I'm happy to say they do indeed fit! Now what I don't know is the timing belt situation, being the block is the same I should be able to use Camry cam gears and crank gear and run a Camry timing belt, so timing should be correct and run right, granted it WILL need a standalone ecu to run. Now this is a picture of the Camry cams in the Tacoma heads, main caps do fit but I just loosely fitted this to check it all lined up and indeed it does.



Finally a picture proving it, I've searched for a few years now to no avail, but the answer is yes, they fit, will they be able to be timed, that's yet to be determined.

 

Hours have been all over the place at work so money isn't flowing in well enough to send the block out. Planning on sometime mid august to send it hopefully. then the build will continue.

Gotta love book time... at least one of the tool guys is paid off.

 

New taillgate fresh from toyota today, Racing season is almost over, block should be getting done some time this winter. Sucks waiting, but now's the time to get body work in order

 

You are a fucking savage . You need to change your build title to include the word "forged" because I am just noticing this thread for the first time and this is some unprecedented shit right here. Don't think I've seen a documented forged 5vz build. If you're planning to use the CX headers I'd highly recommend fitting them on while the engine is out of the truck. Not sure if that's possible for you where you live but I would definitely advise you to make adjustments if it's not too far of a stretch. Tight space is an understatement. In my case, even getting the headers in place required I remove all of the studs yet two of the studs (don't recall which but it should be easy to reason which seeing them in person) could not be installed while the headers were in place. Yeah... I don't know how to better describe the torment. The geometry of the headers also posed a handful of problems as there just wasn't enough physical space to drive the nuts onto the studs at least not with any appreciable force. I'm certain I have now, or will have in the near future exhaust leaks at the headers.

Awesome work man. Keep it up. Any reason you chose 9:1 pistons and not lower?