Starting an MR2 post with a photo of the 4Runner with a trailer in front of a junk yard is never a good sign. Unfortunately just a few days after getting the clutch fork sorted out I started hearing some noise. You may remember that while this engine was in Whitey it wiped out the distributor gear on the exhaust cam. I think that is finally coming back to haunt me.
I was a bit tempted to small port swap the Hachi, but that may have to wait.
The small port appears to be in good shape over all. It was a bit dirty when I started, but cleaned up well.
The leak down test showed good numbers across the board.
Time to get the old engine out.
I feel like were starting to collect a few spare parts again.
After getting the old engine out, I took a bit of time to confirm what I thought I was hearing. Sure enough the rod bearings are on the verge of being done. A repair probably could have been done, but I think we all know I wouldn’t have stopped there. A full rebuild with upgrades is likely what would have happened.
We just need to swap the cams over to the slightly more aggressive “Big Port” cams, before things go in.
Red is back up and running and able to take us to dinner. I’m not quite ready to show off the new engine bay yet, but its coming soon.
