Happy 4th! Today I took some time to clean my guns & put together an engine as I reflected upon what it took for a scrappy group of folks who finally had enough of someone else's shit to stand up for themselves and boot one of history's largest empires the fuck off their property. I LOVE this holiday!
Looks like we're getting close to the finish line. With the top & bottom assembled we're basically just bolting on accessories & covers. With the timing set & the chain installed, it's time for the front cover. The last piece in that area is the tone wheel for the crank sensor. It gives the sensor a signal every time a notch passes by it. Note the flat spot at the 10:30 position - that spot signals #1 TDC for the sensor. The smaller notches are used to translate engine RPM for timing purposes:
Cleaned up the front cover as I did the other sealing surfaces:
Give it a nice bead of FIPG:
And slap it on. One thing I wanted to point out is something that makes Toyotas so easy to work on. Here's a shot of the front cover hung in place & flush to the engine. All the bolts are installed by only a thread or two. Almost all of the bolts are different lengths, but the standoff distance once the threads meet the holes is the same across the whole engine & most of the chassis for that matter, meaning that the installed grip length of every bolt is identical.
It makes it VERY easy to sort out a pile of bolts & figure out what goes where. Additionally, everything on this engine (and the rest of the car) is 10, 12, 14, 17, or 19mm 6 point (with the exception of the head bolts). You can basically be a Toyota Master technician with a toolbox the size of an oven.
Next is the chain tensioner. It's hydraulic, & plumbed from the oil pump.
To install it you press a small pawl, collapse the piston, & swing a little hook over a bar to keep it collapsed:
Then you slide it through the cover. It won't mate all the way at first, you have to keep pressure on it & rotate the crank until the chain gets to it's sweet spot. Once that happens you catch the threads with two nuts, then keep rotating the engine until you hear a click of the hook releasing. Pretty nifty.
Flip the engine over, install the oil pan. FIPG like everything else:
Flip it back over hopefully for the last time, install a new crank seal. Smear a little grease on the seal, drive it in with a 36mm socket, pop on the crank pulley:
New valve cover gasket, install the valve cover, & we're done for the day. Check timing again, because you always double check timing. I probably rotate the engine & make sure the marks line up 25 times during a build, I'm always thinking some little gnomes are gonna screw with my engine.
Time to go over to my buddy's house to drink beer, eat ribs, & let the kids ride ATVs. Fireworks will be on the menu later despite the fact that Utah likes to try & move the 4th a day early when it falls on a Sunday thanks to the LDS church. Luckily I live right outside a huge Air Force base and the local community isn't having it.
Enjoy your 4th & please take a moment to consider what it really took be able to let the American experiment play out. Also make sure you wake up tomorrow with the same number of fingers that you woke up with this morning.
