Foyer photos
20R4Runner
This page and my 1989 4Runner are getting built at the same time.
I bought this 1989 4Runner with a pretty clean body and a blown head gasket. As you can see the original motor had mud as lubricant. I was pretty sure the truck had been driven for a long time with a head that was probably cracked. I had a 20R that I kept from my broken in half 1980 Toyota 4x4 short box pick-up. It ran nicely until the truck's body died. I decided to make a 20R-E with it and put it in the Four Runner. I rolled the 20R motor on leftover frame inside my garage. I was now ready to start the transformation from 20R to 20R-E.
As far as I know, an electronic fuel injected 20R was never manufactured. An EFI intake manifold can't be bolted straight on to a 20R. I got a 1984 Celica head on which I could bolt the 4Runner's EFI intake. I pulled off the 20R head. Carbon deposit galore! Another problem I discovered was that the timing chain had been grinding the guide bolts. I changed the damaged bolts and put the cover back on.
There was a bit of work to be done to the Celica head. When I put gasoline in the combustion chambers, it leaked on all but one of the cylinders. I used lapping compound to get the valves to seal properly. I fabricated a board to keep from mixing up the parts from the different valves. To remove the valves, I used a big "C" clamp and a camshaft cap. One of the valves was quite a bit pitted and I suspect had a bent stem. Lapping it didn't make it seal. I took a good valve from the original 4Runner's head to replace it. I used the original '89 4Runner's camshaft.
Before putting the '84 Celica head on I started by getting a shop to shave off .005 in. because the surface was a bit rough. I used a gasket I bought on Ebay for around 15$. I dropped the engine in the 4Runner. The 20R block needed a place for the knock sensor. I bought a 12mm x 1.25mm tap and made one near one of the frost plugs. I installed the knock sensor. I installed all the rest of the stuff. The '89 exhaust manifold needed an extra hole drilled to fit on an '84 head. So with everything in place I could cross my fingers and turn the key.
superpapa550f@yahoo.ca
