A long over due build thread of a love, hate relationship.

This is my 93 2wd std cab short bed 22RE w/ w56 gearbox.
This thing has had it's better days, as I found this truck serving as a parts pickup truck for a local auto shop. The dude who own the shop was running it off hose water in the cooling system and about 3 quarts of oil. SMDH. I got her with about 163k miles on the clock and is now at 240k on the chassis. The engine however, since then has blown 2 HG, the first one was the factory gasket and then 60k later the felpro went too. Honestly it was the head that had rusted, clogged coolant passage ways and blew in between cylinders 2/3. So I parked it and came up on an 1986 MR2 as a daily, so I thought. That got parked quick once I felt too much vibration within the rotating assembly. So went back to work on LEXXXI cuz why not?! After having my 3rd kid recently, 60+ hr work weeks, and starting up a side business, not much got done. Motivation has kick into high gear and reviving this old tired truck is becoming fun and necessary. I MEED MY TRUCK BACK! But if I'm doing to it right, it's going to be a process. Everything got splashed with hot oil for about 2 months once the HG blew. Causing not only horrible engine bay but wires got toasted stiff! New head, stage 3 clutch kit, flywheel, full gasket kit, oil/water pump for my and rear main seals( mandatory ) are ready to be placed.

Also, I'm the type of guy to put my touch on everything I work on so if I'm going to clean 3 decades of grime off everything, minus well make it look good!!

Debating if I should go .040 or .060 pistons with 3mil over SS valves from 22reperformance. I'm going to match it with either Redline Beast cam/Rv3 cam or LCE Pro EFI cam. And of course an EBAY special header! Going to weld up the flange more.
Got pretty much everything I need exhaust wise, 2.25" piping, from new o2 sensors to high flow cat and Cherry Bomb glass pack.

 

Currently I'm focusing on prepping the engine bay as much as possible. Since I'm doing damage control and degreasing the bay, I minus well tuck the harness as much as I can. Replacing hard, crack wires and adding some length to some of them is time consuming.. but worth it! Going to be relocating the fuse box as well as running the harness within the wheel wells.

Looking to add a oil filter relocation and cooler kit along with relocating the fuel filter to the fire wall. Might need to extend the front hose that feeds the rail.

Slowly but surely all angles being worked on. Playing with the idea of C.O.P. but that might be after I driver hee to work a few times!

 

I've decided on Belltech 444SP 3/4 drop kit. Ball joint flip! And Belltech lowering leafs with an experiment addition of Sumo springs in the rear. If they work in reality the way I have the theory in my head, I'll be taking out a lot of body roll from the corners. Also looking to buy 1ton torsion/sway bars.. sway away is cool but OEM for the win!!

 

Here's a good question, RV3 CAM from yotashop with springs/rockers/retainers or.. LCE EFI Pro cam/retainers and 22reperf. Dual springs and 3mm oversized valves?

 

depends on what you are doing and want from your engine. For my rebuild I got the specs for lift and lobe rotation and such for a few, and took them to a guy who knows a lot about cams to get his input on which would work best for my application.

Any O/s valves will requite new seats in the head, so take that work into account as well. If you push too much air, you may also need larger injectors. Depending on how much work you do, a wideband is a good idea.

 

Wonder how much I can bore my stock TB?! Has anyone bored/ported theirs?

 

I'm sure you could, someone's likely done it. I think instead of boring/polishing, usually people just swap to a larger bore TB and AFM - I believe they use parts off a 5am-ge engine from an 80s Supra/Cressida (?) You can look it up, it's pretty common. Dunno if it's really worth it though, you'd have to do quite a bit to these engines for big $ to even see any gains

 

Somewhere on here i have the size measurements of the 22re vs 5m AFMs. LCE and a few places used to sell bored throttle bodies. They weren't bored much, and it didn't really matter because the AFM and air box are the real choke point.

 

Yea I e seen ppl attempt that swap but mines has the aux air valve at the bottom and the supra TB doesn't. Also the bolt holes don't add up. I'm not going to pay an arm for the LC unit when I can have the same results for 30/40% the cost at a local shop. Plus gota match the intake as well. And the spacer if installed.

 

Agreed on the vafm. Air box delete for sure. My real question is how much, is TOO MUCH.lol

 

I might just play with a junkyard TB till I max out the bore and start making holes in it.. and yes, I understand by increasing the volume of any airway it slows air flow down, but I'll be fine in this case.

 

It is all a balance. You engine is essentially an air pump with an input and output. All must be in balance to work the best.

 

View attachment 22872 I have been contemplating on this particular set of wheels for my truck. Some 15x10 +0 off Jeggs. Tire size available 3..smh 15x8 has a lot more options. Plus I definitely don't want a stretched tire. Even tho I planned on a square wheel setup, I might give in on 15x8 in the front, possibly with a 1in spacer, rolled 4wd fenders.. Azenis or Proxes or Nitto ?!?!

And yes,BJ flip, Belltech 444SP drop kit with spindles and lowering leafs are still in the plans. Also looking at 1ton sway bar and torsion bar upgrade along with Sumo springs to smooth out the bumpy ride out back. Miss driving her!

 

Cyber Monday come up's got installed.

kinda matches the engine bay theme
Also scored a set of white 4wd fender this weekend with chrome trim for the looowwwwww.. idk if I'll use the trim yet but still cool to have it. 96 SR5 limited runner was the donor.. #arigato

Their are no dents or scratches on them but I did forget to take one of the bracket+bushing that connects the fender with the bumper brackets. Lame.


Going to sand them down and prep them but not paint them just yet. I want to duplicate the pin stripe pattern they have and carry it all the way back to the tailgate...which reminds me, I got to pull out some dents in the bed.

 

Baby was taking a nap, so I got a little busy. I'm liking how the colors are coming together. Must of the hardware/brackets will be black to contrast the block and head. My initial plan was to paint the head titanium blue along with the valve cover and intake, and the block 24k gold to match the w56, what do you guys think?! Should I go(engine) titanium blue everything/ 24k gold everything, or black head/24k gold block ?? Haha it's all fun at the end

 

I have been neglecting this part ever since I took it off. Stupid Allen bolt has stripped threads and is stuck in the manifold!! Arghhh
I tried pressing it out, but can't get pressure centered enough on the angle the manifold sits at.. dnt really want to take a lot of heat to this soft metal. And as you can't tell, locking pliers still dont clamp down enough to pull it out.. I think my next plan of attack will be an easy out on the already cracked head or even drilling it out.. I have new hardware/ head all I need to salvage is the mani. Any suggestions?!

 

Got some time in. Pulled the trigger on the engine bay the past days and said fu€k it black it is. Took it down to under the cowl, even sprayed the cabin vents silver. Couldn't leave it the way it was with the block that's going in.
Cleaned and wiped everything of oil. Sanded and primed the rough spots including the rad support. Some parts of the fire wall didn't get prepped all the way, if paint fails it will be there, first! Lmao. I dnt expect this to be show quality, just neat. The paint is VHT high hest BLACK caliper paint . It's what I had.. lol and a real light coat of high heat clear enamel. Didn't want things too shiny. Wiper motor installed, booster and clutch master are good just need tlc.

Only thing left is to reroute the harness under/outside the passenger side wheel well, and make it weather proof. I have a lot of small misc things in transit, but I'm trying to knock out what I can with the parts at hand. What's next?! ...idk Radiator support gold/silver/titanium blue?? Gota also finish the harness repairs.

 

Just getting Lexxxi ready.. can't wait to cruise down the beach with this truck. Need a front bumper still. I'm also making a support bracket out of the lower valance for the Street Scene valance I got for this truck. Updates on that soon!

 

Yup. Went with Gold up front! Something to contrast the black grille/headlight housing setup.

Should be visible through the valance opening. Which will look good behind a remote fed oil cooler.

 

Holy shit thats a lot of gold but it looks good. Keep up the progress