Bought a 7mgte, how'd I do?

[HeroEnVec]

The guy told me he pulled it from a running car, this is possible from my perspective as it has a relatively fresh oil filter on it. The guy that had it wanted to keep his adjustable timing gears, but included the originals. Also, the guy supposedly had some fancy injectors, and kept those also (thus no injectors) I have not tested the compression yet. The pictures in this post are as it was unloaded... its now covered and waiting further action.

The guy I got it from said he had never taken the head off, but the intake and exhaust manifolds have certainly been removed, as well as the valve covers... I know this because several bolts are missing from all those parts. he said the turbo was working on the engine and not causing any problems, but that he planned on rebuilding it. that turbo has a chip on the compression wheel and is missing its wastegate actuator. It also has some shaft play. I also received a R154 bell housing, though the flywheel and clutch parts are all missing.

Most parts are there, some things are missing. How did I do?

[Dylan_rose]

Please use the embedded code instead of the links. clicking all those is tedious

[SupraLee]

Looking good, I see a future 7MGTE swap?

[HeroEnVec]

Please use the embedded code instead of the links. clicking all those is tedious

I hear you... but I figured it'd be kinder to people with slower connections.

[spud3861]

You did good.

[HeroEnVec]

thanks for the feedback guys, I really appreciate hearing what other have to say.

So I figure it would be a good idea to pull the head. I'll likely take it to a local machine shop and have it completely rebuilt. I figure if I have to pull it off anyway, might as well have it put back to spec. Having the head off will allow me to look at the cylinders and examine them for damage also. I've never gone in depth examining the bottom end of an engine, can I tell if there is a problem with the crank and bearings if I pull the oil pan off? I thought I might pull the pan and re-torque everything to factory specs. Trying to get out without fully rebuilding the bottom end if possible.

By the by, I'd like to make ~300hp with the engine while retaining reliability, so i am boosting a max of about 10 psi. With the state of my present turbo, would a rebuilt CT26 be fine for this or should I look for a different turbo? I also stress about the missing waste gate. What about a stock set of fuel injectors? I read they should be fine for my goals

I suppose I will source a decent clutch kit and stock R154 flywheel. I also need to source the cam gear cover and a variety of engine parts/pieces (as you can see from the pictures).

So, provided the bottom end is OK, and I have the head rebuilt, I should be able to use ARP studs and a good metal head gasket and have a solid engine. I'm very tempted to scrap all the stock intake tubing. I'll be running a FMIC, so I suppose I might as well upgrade to a aftermarket BOV. Also, I believe a walbro 255 fuel pump should provide everything I need pump wise. Do you guys see R154 trans' pop up for decent prices very often? Most I see are $6-800.

The engine is going into my sweet pickup (shown below) so i need to source some 5mge engine mount brackets and a stock 7mgte radiator. I need to start searching some junk yards also... as I need to find a nice 8" toyota 4 pinion rear end with a LSD... my 7.5" 2 pinion open diff would grenade in a minute with the above described set up.

[spud3861]

I wouldn't pull off the head just to see what's inside. You should be able to get enough info by condition of the oil, compression test, spark plug condition etc. Shouldn't be too much hassle to examine a couple of the crank bearings with oil pan off.

[HeroEnVec]

I'm told its Very important to re-torque the head if you are not going to replace the head gasket though. I'm also told its for the best to replace the gasket and go to ARP studs. For my relatively modest power goals, is that not seen to be "as necessary" as those shooting for huge boost numbers?