Engine Rebuilding Story in progress - for those curious

[spanke311]

One or two of you may remember seeing an old post of mine talking about the timing chain tensioner and a knocking noise I had. Well, update time: The problem turned out to be a spun rod bearing which I blame on faulty oil control piston rings and myself for not giving it enough oil luvin. Cylinder #4 (nearest tranny) was the problem (last in line for oil I might add), the bearing was toasted, crank out of round, and metal shavings all up in my engine. Other than that, the engine was in great shape and showed no other excessive wear. I got nervous about bying an unknown used engine, so I've decided to rebuild the engine myself (my first one too!). The current situation: The block is in the shop for cleaning, decking, and honing. I'm still waiting for all my parts to arrive, but in a nutshell, here's what I've bought: new nippon pistons with rings and pins (std size and cheap), refurb. crank kit w/all new bearings, one refurb. connecting rod, head bolts & gasket set, remanufacted head, new timing kit, new oil pump, new oil pick-up assembly, new axle seals, new crank seals, new pulley belt, am flushing the tranny and clutch with new fluids, new pcv valve, new primary O2 senser (while I'm there, I figure), new spark plugs, and a new thermostat. Crazy, huh? I'm very excited.. I plan to slap her together next weekend.. Also considering new wheels (for a white '01 rolla, s) and a short shifter. Any thoughts?

[Bitter]

new radiator hoses i'd hope as well?

[huangxin]

keep us posted on the progress.

where are the pics? :-P

[Chris Corolla S]

Brave of you. Good luck!
I'm curious why you got a new head when you had bottom end problems?
Are you re-using your old vavles and springs and what not?
Did you get shims from toyota to set the valve clearences or are you sending it out for that? I heard they are expensive and take a long time to order.
-Chris

[spanke311]

Radiator hoses all looked fine upon inspection, therefore I let my parts guru at my local auto store talk me out of replacing them for the time being; I will just check them at oil changes.

Pics you say? I'll see what I can come up with..

As for the new cylinder head: I figured since I'm basically replacing the short block, I might as well go the distance and top the block with a properly re-manufactured head. Although I could've had a good cleaning, valve job, surface milling, and new seals installed on mine for just under $300, I opted for the $400 exchange through a heads place with polished cams and a 1 year unlimited mileage warranty (although they could probably weasel out of this quite easily, these guys seem reputable and I like the plug-and-play). I'm just assembling all the new and cleaned pieces and checking oil clearances. I'm just not brave enough to attack the valves, I suppose.. Also, should I use the cheapy Eristic head gasket I got with a head set online, or should I play it safe and spend the extra $62 on a Felpro? I would sure hate to have a problem there.

Also, to clarify my first post: I am not flushing the clutch with new fluids! I meant to say, I'm putting in MT-90 tranny fluid, replacing the clutch, and resurfacing the flywheel.

[DynamiX]

Sounds like a great plan. Can't wait to see how it turns out. My 01 Corolla is due for a re-build but i'm not qualified to do such a thing. I actually just 5 minutes ago joined the forum in hopes of finding out other alternatives to a rebuild. I am scared to drop a used engine inside, but I know mine is in bad shape. It's drinking oil like crazy.

[Bitter]

cough cough everything is apart why not get some mildly upgraded cams for an engine with a little more fun that'll still pass emissions.

[PhatRoyale]

I like stories

Hopefully there's a happy ending after all of this.

[Bdub215]