my 80 series head gasket saga

[Wheelingnoob]

Its worth doing the oil cooler gasket while you are in there. Most of the coolers are filled with sludge by this age and its good to clean them out. And it should be a quick job while everything's apart. FWIW

hmm interesting suggestion, it is really easy to get to with the head off. I'm going to take mine off and see I think.

[brentbba]

Replace the pesky heater hose (PHH) while everything is apart too!

[cruisertoy]

So I'm an idiot. I dropped the head off yesterday for a dipping and surface job. I also picked up the gasket kit from Menlove. I didn't even think about the gasket kit coming with new Valve seals! I should have dropped them off so they could be installed while they had the valves out for surfacing. I guess I will go rent a valve spring compressor.







Here the pile of Vac. hoses that I removed. I left the longer ones on and will replace them as I do the install.



I replaced the brushes in the Alt. while I had it out. Not too much wear for the mileage.

[Wheelingnoob]

So I'm an idiot. I dropped the head off yesterday for a dipping and surface job. I also picked up the gasket kit from Menlove. I didn't even think about the gasket kit coming with new Valve seals! I should have dropped them off so they could be installed while they had the valves out for surfacing. I guess I will go rent a valve spring compressor.







Here the pile of Vac. hoses that I removed. I left the longer ones on and will replace them as I do the install.

WOW your head looks like its new! I'm dropping mine off this afternoon with the new Valve seals How much did that run you? I was quoted $200 for tank, deck and Valve seal install.

Another good think to do when you have the head off is get the injectors cleaned. Not sure if you are already doing this or not though but worth it wile you are in there. Mine are getting cleaned now and should be ready Friday.

[freshspecbluegt]

Why not do a full valve job while the head is off? I would give them the cams as well and let them set the valve clearances if you do have a full valve job done. Working with the shims is tiresome and can get expensive. Just went through all this on a 3vz rebuild

[cruisertoy]

I had the injectors cleaned and tested this week as well. Well worth the $90.

The tank dip and decking cost me $130 including dipping the valve cover to get it nice and clean. Sad, It actually looks 10x better on the inside than it does on the outside. I'm tempted to buff the outside of the cover.

The machine shop does a full pressure and Vacuum test on the head with the valves in to make sure they are seating correctly. They said it was perfectly tight and there was no need for a valve job. If they did do the full valve job it would have been over $500. Funny, they did say they don't do very many mid 90's Land Cruiser heads. This head is so long that it barely fit on their machine.

[freshspecbluegt]

Sounds like theres no need for a valve job then. Everytime someone pulls one of these engines down its really amazing to see how little wear there is, even when the engines have 200K on them.

[Willman]

I paid right around $500 for the complete package on my 60 head here local...Cleggs...I had a blown valve....

So far so good!

I have heard 80 heads are a nightmare to pull....I guess if you have the time and money......anything can be done....

[Wheelingnoob]

Why not do a full valve job while the head is off? I would give them the cams as well and let them set the valve clearances if you do have a full valve job done. Working with the shims is tiresome and can get expensive. Just went through all this on a 3vz rebuild

I did not do mine as I had 165-170 compression all the way across the board and no leak down (5% so normal). No need spending money were it is not needed. Doing the Valves would have required the valve adjustment after and would have made the head shop costs over $600 in my case + my time after setting up the valves. My valve seals were not even leaking and the truck ran awesome no misses or any valve train noise.

[cruisertoy]

Just an FYI. If your replacing your Vacuum hoses, Toyota doesn't sell the hose by the foot off a roll. You have to buy individual hoses. My parts guy found the longest hose for the best price and I bought 6 of them. They were $3 each and I ended up using 4 of them to replace every vac hose I could find. Use part # 90999-92003. And do them one at a time so you don't get confused.