Need help with decisions, Looking for best quality combination

[pyrows666]

So im trying to take car of everything in one shot...

My 7mgte is leaking oil, Coolant, and has a very very mild rod knock.... (yes ive checked with a ear scope thing)

My thoughts were to Remove the Engine. Get a master gasket kit and a cometic head Gasket, and some Rod bearings...

Now while the engine is out i wanted to clean the engine bay and (re-loom and make pretty) all the ends of the Harness. Do what i can do while the engine is out...



I am getting overwhelmed with Brand Names, Cost, quality i need to find a Good combination of the items i need...

All I have is $510.00 <---- I have to make this work to buy this stuff...


1) Bearings (whats better an upgrade or OEM) (ACL - King - Clevit) <--- Ive been reading but i Can not make a decision.

2) Master Gasket set. ( Im scared of Ebay's $53 BIN Has anyone used any of those unknown name brands?) to cover all the usual ( Valve cover - timing gaskets ect ect.)

3) HKS or Cometic Head Gasket. ( ?? Thickness ?? for a stock Head.)

4) Head ( I just got a stock 7MGTE head.(FREE). {my current head was already milled from the previous owner, I dont know how much they took off so, im not going to mess with unknown specs)

5) HOSES -- I would like matching hoses... ( For some reason the internet has a way of not letting you find somthing you are looking for, with the idea that you have seen it before. It turns invisible. ( I have seen heater hoses and coolant hoses ALL in one KiT... why cant i find it. Any suggestions..



Now ive done this combination a dozen times.. and i think the real issue is i just dont know what kind of quality people are pumping out.. i mean, I would like to do this with the best quality for the budget i have... CAN anyone help me make a decision with this budget?

 

[Nick M]

$510 will not cover the costs needed to go MHG, and repair the short block. Or is that your budget for parts only?

 

[bioskyline]

2) the ebay cheap gaskets kits arnt bad, just toss the HG but the rest are fine

3) 1.4mm is stock thickness

 

[Grandavi]

Measuring the head is fairly simple.. but 510?? That will probably get you the gaskets/seals.. but you can not take apart a 7M and rebuild it without prepping the block/head properly. Plus.. your dealing with a motor that had an issue.. so.. what caused it? You may want to look at the engine entirely.. from oil delivery to valve seals... You can do it cheap, but you will end up with issues down the road (unless your really good and really lucky.. lol). If your planning on keeping the car long term, you should recondition the head (even the free one, unless its already been done), just because its a P.I.T.A. afterwards.

As for hoses, are you talking Silicone or mix of Silicone/steel braided lines.. (vacuum, coolant lines, clutch/brake, etc.. ) There are "packages" out there .. Hose Techniques comes to mind...

 

[speedy]

well said (grandavi)

 

[IBoughtASupra]

1) Bearings (whats better an upgrade or OEM) (ACL - King - Clevit) <--- Ive been reading but i Can not make a decision.

2) Master Gasket set. ( Im scared of Ebay's $53 BIN Has anyone used any of those unknown name brands?) to cover all the usual ( Valve cover - timing gaskets ect ect.)

3) HKS or Cometic Head Gasket. ( ?? Thickness ?? for a stock Head.)

4) Head ( I just got a stock 7MGTE head.(FREE). {my current head was already milled from the previous owner, I dont know how much they took off so, im not going to mess with unknown specs)

5) HOSES -- I would like matching hoses... ( For some reason the internet has a way of not letting you find somthing you are looking for, with the idea that you have seen it before. It turns invisible. ( I have seen heater hoses and coolant hoses ALL in one KiT... why cant i find it. Any suggestions..

1)Clevite are reboxed NDC bearings which are good bearings. OEM bearings are fine, UpgradedSupra, runs those on his 1000+ WHP 7M.

2)Get a Eristic or Safety Gasket master kit. DO NOT use the oil pan gasket that comes with these sets and the throttle body gasket is always wrong, you will need to do a little trimming on it. When you receive the kit, you will see what I am talking about. DriftMotion has the Eristic kit, you could find it cheaper by looking around. Your local machine shop should be able to get a kit for you.

3) Stock Gasket With ARP Studs

4) You can replace the valve seals, they come in the engine gasket kit. You can measure the kit to see if it was ever milled. Replacing valve seals are easy, if not, you could get your local machine shop to do it but check out there prices.

5) DriftMotion has a full coolant hose kit for the 7M.

 

[Poodles]

All the gasket kits outside of OEM have a paper EGR cooler gasket as well, it will blow out. Stock is a metallic gasket. Throttlebody gasket is wrong, but can be fixed, and exhaust manifold gasket is very poor and prone to leaking.

Honestly, $510 is too low to do the work that needs to be done unless you have access to a full machine shop for free...

 

[Grandavi]

The quote I got on having a shop in my town do a full rebuild (this includes a rebuild of the head) from top to bottom on my 7M to handle about 600 HP+ at the crank was 10,000.00. And.. that was just an estimate, but it would be guaranteed to stand up to the power.

Since then, from reading other people's posts, etc.. I think that number is correct. To cut corners and do an "adequate" rebuild (this is not doing the work yourself mind you) if you dont have to do anything to the manifolds, etc.. you may get away with just over 3000.00. But.. I wouldn't run that engine on anything over stock boost. Plus, a 7MGE (NA) engine costs about the same to rebuild as a 7MGTE (ignoring any turbo work) because it has to be done just as precise. From everything I have read (not in practice.. just in theory) the engine life is based on the precision of the build. There is a LOT of little things that can trip you up... which is fine.. it keeps the car in the cheap range as I buy the ones that dont run.. lol.

My personal recommendation is think VERY hard before you start. Decide exactly what HP range you want to go with or if you are just looking for a nice stock 6-7 psi 7MGTE for a daily runner. My engine was rebuilt for just under 6k in either 2002 or 2004 (cant recall which) and is still running strong. The only compaint I have with my motor is that the valve seals let oil seep past. (its a "gravity" thing along with seal shrinkage.. and only noticable at startup) I run stock boost currently but will be building for about 400'ish rwhp later on. I will be doing the build with the stock engine with the expectation that the engine may not be able to take it, but I maintain my 7M religiously.. so it actually may stand up to the extra workload.. considering its a summer DD and not on the track. Its only "occasionally" that I would ever run wide open.

The inital thinking though will let you research and ask questions so that your map suits your needs and you do it once.

 

[pyrows666]

@Nick M - $510 is what i have to spend on the 5 Items i need... like i said, i could get away with ebay stuff... But im concerned about the quality...

@Bioskyline - Thats what im talking about... i knew it can be done... have you ever used the Ebay master gasket kit before?

@Iboughtasupra - This is the answer i am looking for- suggestions on the 5 items i need... thanks for your input.

@poodles - Do you have an idea of what gasket sets you trust? judging by the 5 ITEMS i need.. i think things are going to work out..

@Grandavi - I am not doing a Full Rebuild... Im doing a poor mans rebuild. Im replacing the head and trying to fix a rod knock i caught very very early. Im hoping my build will allow me to clean my engine bay, paint my engine, and not have anything leak, while my motor is out. I have been racking my brain and trying to ask questions related to the 5 items i need with concerns for quality. the head i have is at the machine shop at the moment getting cleaned up... i hope i can still run my 11PSI after this build.. Im hoping that the CLEVITE bearings will hold up to my daily abuse...

 

[Quin]

This is doable if the crank and rods are okay and don't need machined down. It'll be tight though, so be sure you don't fuck up! lol

1) Clevites are reboxed NDCs as mentioned above. They're good. New OEMs are good, too.

2) Ebay gasket set is okay, not great not horrible. Throw out the oil pan, EGR cooler, head gasket obviously and all the exhaust gaskets. Make an oil pan gasket out of Toyota FIPG ($$$), or just use a quality RTV. EGR cooler needs to be a high temp quality RTV. Buy a new Toyota exhaust manifold gasket or reuse your stock one if it it's good. Same goes for manifold to turbo and turbo to down pipe. Basically anything other than Toyota here is probably going to cause problems. I've had mixed luck with cheapo cam seals and valve cover gaskets, but YMMV. I've used high temp RTV for these gaskets and it worked on that car, but again, YMMV.

3) You can't run a MHG without machining the head and block. Get a Fel Pro or an OEM from Toyota. If you run a MHG without machining the head and block, it's got a 99.99998% chance of fucking up immediately. Not worth it, especially if the car isn't going to be making 400+.

4) I'd get the head checked for flatness and hardness, minimum, even if it came off a good running car. Valve stem seals would be a good idea, but not essential. I really don't like fumigating myself on start up, so I would do them.

5) Not sure what to tell you on hoses. I've got a couple feet of various size regular black hose laying around and I just make my own. I strongly dislike flashy, brightly colored hoses.

One last thing, if you can dig up a little more cash, you can hone the cylinders and throw new rings in for pretty cheap. Then you've refreshed the whole motor and you're still sliding in under $700 (safe high estimate). I've done this minus bearings in two cars with good results.

 

[pyrows666]

i have a few concerns about my head on the 7MGTE according to this shop.. "i have a lucky head gasket leak." My oil and coolant ARE NOT mixing... ive brought the temps to the red a dozen times, when the coolant level got low, but i wait for it to cool down add some coolant and it runs fine for the next week or so if i dont beat it... my temps only get high when im accelerating for long periods of time.. like going up to the mountains. i like to drive "spiritedly" though the mountains. i do have leaks in the rear of the engine and then when i shut the engine off it leaks water from some where back there or out of the overflow... Is there a chance that i could have warped the head? The car still starts everyday and gets me to more then point A and point B.. not to mention daily abuse...

 

[suprarx7nut]

I'd be surprised if you didn't warp the head.

If the head is still good, you may get away with your budget. If the head needs any work you don't stand a chance.

Forget about mhg. That's not even close to an option at that budget.

Stuck to basics and you might get away with the rebuild.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

 

[Nick M]

The head and block must both be flat, OEM style headgasket or not. It doesn't need the mirror finish, but it has to be flat. The book has the max specs on warpage.