I don't know, i got a long ways to go before i can prep for a rebuild. I still need a second vehicle to drive, then the money for parts.

 

if i were you, i would pick up a junkyard engine that appears to have still been running and rebuild it. then your rig stays on the road until the day you decide to swap them.
that gives you plenty of time to do everything right without the stress that it has to be done this weekend

 

Yeah I guess that isn't a bad plan. Is the risk of buying a motor with a cracked block or internal block damage worth it though? I guess if they go for a good price it would be.

 

you can usually tell the condition of things at the junkyard, especially if you get to pull it out of the truck yourself. the best ones to pick through are the ones that have obvious body damage or a similar reason to be in the junkyard, as those are very likely to have been running up until the time of the damage.
also look for engines that have fresh paint on the top end, sometimes i find engines that are pretty fresh but the old guy who owned it died or something so they sent it to the yard for scrap.
the pick-n-pull in tacoma shouldn't be too far for you to get to, and they even have engine hoists available for you to use in the yard. costs one dollar to walk in the door, and you only pay for whatever you leave with. check their website for pricing, but things are cheap there

 

Alright thanks for the tip, my local yard it's free to walk in and they usually will write bad motor/tranny on the vehicle somewhere depending on if it is bad or not. They also like to pull the good stuff to resell for a higher price before putting it out for everyone else. It's unfortunate but since it is so close to me, it doesn't bother me as much. Besides usually when I go there I am looking for small interior parts or other small cheap things.

EDIT: also it turns out I didn't really fix anything I set out to fix. My engine still backfires on deceleration and is still hard as ever to start in the cold. Maybe i need to keep advancing the timing till it starts and runs better. The only issue with that, is when I go to start it warm the starter will rotate half a turn the stop and rotate then stop and eventually fire up. It also gives a nice ping as it fires up.

 

Oh christmas was OK. I bought my self a 94 van that I am going to make into a 4x4

 

sounds like fun!

yesterday i started tearing into the toyota pickup that needed the front end resealed, spent about 20 razor blades getting all the old gasket off the cover and engine block, and got it all put back together this morning. fired it up and it all looked ok, took it up the road a couple miles and came back to find that it now had a steady stream of oil leaking out between the block and timing chain cover. so i tore it all back apart and found a little scrap of gasket material that adhered itself to the block in a hidden area, and had smooth tapered edges that my razor blades slid right over. well crap, i get to do the job twice - but at least the second time is always faster, and i found where the one leftover screw i had was supposed to go - i'll get it perfect this time

 

A 4x4 van? Are you gonna lift it with big tires too? That would be pretty cool. I hardly see anything like those around.

Sucks about the Yota but it's better to do it twice and have it perfect rather than once and have a mess. I know this pretty well unfortunately.

 

yeah i finally got it right, got back in the house about an hour ago. i let it run for 5 minutes with no leaks, i'll take it for a real test drive in a day or 2. it happens i guess.

and i've only seen a few 4x4 vans, i dream about mine being a 4x4, but the extra height would suck getting tools all the time, and i can't afford the downtime of converting my daily work vehicle.
i've seen a couple of them on the roads around here, but not many

 

I have seen vans with a solid axle swap done in the front so they have 4wd but they weren't lifted more than enough to fit the tires under. It would be an interesting project but to use one as a work vehicle like you do josh, it would be difficult.

 

it will probably only have 35's on it

 

What kind of lift are you thinking?

 

I love the look of 4x4 vans. There was a 15 passenger 1 ton ford van, v10, lifted on 38's, with some sweet looking rear corner guards and front and rear bumpers at Stevens Pass the other day.


Jameson

 

just making it 4x4 will give a 4 inch lift witch will be enough for 35's

 

Good afternoon Washington...December is winding down, ready for the new year? Stay safe.