First, The Engine

Old school Toyota's are known well for their top tier and robust engines providing unprecedented reliability and never ever ever blowing head gaskets. So naturally, after MisterTwo's powerplant nose dived into catastrophic engine failure after it's first full track day, I took to CL to find an organ donor with a beating heart. Once the perfect match appeared I road tripped across the state to pick it up. The previous owner of the newly acquired parts bag apparently went full send during a rain storm and ping ponged between freeway barriers, leaving significant damage to every corner of this otherwise great running and driving car. Driving home I learned I had purchased yet another shining example of Toyota’s superb head gasket technology.

After 8 hours of limping the poor thing home to its grave, the little 1.6L 4AGE engine fell out, along with the rest of the usable remaining pieces. Although I was not planning on rebuilding the engine before it resuscitates MisterTwo, it quickly became apparent when not only did I have head gasket failure, but 50% of my already limited number of cylinders showed over 30% leak down through the bottom end.

With the engine torn down and cleaned thoroughly, new life started to look more promising. Add in a couple cans of spray paint and some overnight parts from… china, and presto! A whole new engine! I ended up installing new pistons, rings, and bearings, but decided to reuse the old rods. They measured out in spec, and I don't have plans to push this engine beyond what the factory rods can do. The cylinder head was checked and the valves still made good seals, so we cleaned it thoroughly and machined the surface for a nice new head gasket seal. All new gaskets, new spark plugs, rebuilt the distributor, and all new silicone radiator hoses. It sure feels good to hear MisterTwo roar to life once again. Get ready little guy, many more track days are yet to come.