I just explained this in another forum & thought it could be a good way to begin my build thread.
Some guys asked me why I'd want to fit an old bigport plenum onto a 4agze

http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/46631-4agze-big-or-small-port/page__gopid__483257#entry483257


I know 4agze's come standard with top mount intercooler & weird little box shaped air chamber that the stumpy runners branch off unevenly from....
Why would I want to fit a (non butterflied)TVIS plenum & runners to a bigport 4agze????? (I'm actually not the first to do this)

Well, I'll break it down... the basic concept is this:



First & foremost.. "The purpose of the vehicle"
I'm an outdoors person (camping fishing surfing snowboarding) but I'm not into big beast road cars or 4wd's

The AE95 4WD WAGON is already a versatile vehicle, basically capable of 2 seperate purposes.

1) Good road ability but really needs more power
2) Good dirt & snow ability but needs better/higher suspension


So... Let's deal with the road aspect first.
The most obvious mod all 4agze owners are aware of is to upgrade the pulley system, this in turn creates higher temps, creating the need for a bigger intercooler. The biggest intercoolers are front mounted, which also allows for the use of a cooling fan.
But... being further away from the super charger & intake means some power is lost because the air has to travel further before reaching the engine.
One way to regain or even increase more horsepower, is to do everything possible to eliminate turbulence within the intake, head & exhaust system by giving consideration to pipe size, shape & cornering angles &... porting where ever possible.

In the context of eliminating turbulence, the flow shapes of the stock 4agze intake runners are probably the worst shape of all 4A** engines due to sharp angled corners, dramatic changes in pipe shape & uneven length runners - meaning some piston chambers are getting less air than others.
So that's probably the main reason I'm keen to use the good air chamber & long, torque inducing runners of a big port (non-butterflied)TVIS plenum.
I'm keen to see what horsepower gains will results. ??
So in a nutshell, this is all to create a higher volume of cooler faster flowing air to the engine. The higher the oxygen content, the bigger the bang, the more power you have.

So that's all my considerations around the road aspects of the vehicle...
but..

What about the dirt & snow ability?
Well.., aside from raising the suspension, (more detail on suspension later in the thread)
I want to install a switch for the supercharger so I can completely disengage it at will, leaving the engine to run naturally aspirated,as the air will just flow straight past the idle supercharger lobes but still be cooled by the intercooler & fan.
Combine all these aspects:
The higher suspension, the all wheel drive, (some broad all terrain tyres) the unusually low 1st gear ratio of the ATW / AE95, the big ports lack of low down torque( when it's running naturally aspirated) &... you'll end up being able to creep up steep winding muddy tracks without overheating the engine because the super charger is not in use but the air's still running through a fan fed intercooler.

All feedback / input welcome guys, if anyone thinks I'm on track or got it wrong or perhaps theres some more options you might like to offer..

happy to discuss

230mm flywheel's gonna need some machining love. The previous owner left it sitting in a garage for 10years & never wrapped it up or sprayed it something to protect it from rust.
(scuse the huge file size my windows got a virus, so I'm running Linux which only has a real basic photo application)

I was a bit disheartened to find not only had all the oil in the engine virtually dried up over the last 10 years, it looked like the original driver never changed his oil either.
All the black oil you see here looks wet but it's actually baked hard like paint.
With only 85k on the engine I'm hoping the internals are ok.
Because the engine was so dry I was wary of scratching the internals so I've taken the intake & exhaust off & removed the spark plugs. I added a mixture of fuel & oil through the plug holes & sprayed some CRC through the ports on both sides while incrementally cranking the engine over with a ratchet.

Eventually it became easier & easier to move.

Yikes, excuse the language, but that looks ugly. =(

That's all right mate, you're right - It's not great.. but really it's just 10year old oil that's dried up.. a bit of TLC & she'll be fine

I've done some patch testing with degreaser & a small fine wire brush - it came up all right.

I was going to just compression test it & if it tested well I was just gonna hook it all up & run fuel & oil treatments through it, but because it's been left idle for so long & all that old oil is baked on hard, I think it's better if I just strip it down & hand clean everything.

That way I can polish & port the head.

I used to be a silversmith & already have all the tools to do that.

I'm just not sure about pulling out the valves.

I'll make some enquiries around cost of grinding & re-seating valves.

I want to keep this car for some time to come yet, so it'll be good to know everything's been built properly from scratch.

Oh definitely theres a solvent and some elbow grease that will mix perfectly to get that stuff off! Poor engine, make'er shine! =D

Quoted from JedzWagn

I know 4agze's come standard with top mount intercooler & weird little box shaped air chamber that the stumpy runners branch off unevenly from....



In the context of eliminating turbulence, the flow shapes of the stock 4agze intake runners are probably the worst shape of all 4A** engines due to sharp angled corners, dramatic changes in pipe shape & uneven length runners - meaning some piston chambers are getting less air than others.
So that's probably the main reason I'm keen to use the good air chamber & long, torque inducing runners of a big port (non-butterflied)TVIS plenum.
I'm keen to see what horsepower gains will results. ??

here's some pics of just how uneven the intake runners are on a 4agze, the smallest being 8omm & the largest being 120mm that's a 40mm difference whereas some experts say you should have no more than 6mm difference!

sorry I goota get my windows platfrom fixed - these huge a** pics are driving me nuts,

You can see here part of the original intake casting cause an obstruction in the air flow

Update,

Well I learned that I'd bought what's known as a 1st generation 4agze.

Believe it or not, there's a lot of different 4agze's out there.

The biggest difference being one type is set up for rear wheel drive & the other for front wheel drive.

OR

Transverse vs. standard north south configuration.

The other big difference is 1st generation have bigport holes for the intake & exhaust the 2nd generation have small port holes.

There are many other differences too numerous to list here but many parts are interchangeable so it's not worth worrying about too much.

I was under the impression that all 4agze's had ceramic coated pistons which can handle higher boost applications, Not so...

The first gen that I bought doesn't have these & also in the second gen 4agze toyota engineers incorporated oil squirters beneath the pistons & rods which mine doesn't have.

So.. I found some ceramic coated pistons & when I met the seller, we got to talking & he sold me the 2nd gen block that the pistons came out of too

I was stoked. He'd cleaned it up & done all the work on it & threw in a whole bunch of GZE stuff that he was going to part out.

So now I've got the bottom end I want / ceramics with oil squirters.

I've cleaned all the rust off the flywheel, it's looking good but needs just a bit more attention to clean it right up.
Also bought a bigport intake set up from a 1st gen 4age. Haven't decided whether to stay supercharged or go turbo yet...

At the moment I'm sticking with the supercharger

I've spent the last 2 days completely emptying the shed. It was full of my deceased grandfather's & uncle's junk, cobwebs & had a vine growing through it.

I'll be banging in a few nails here & there, putting up some shelves etc. ...& slapping around some paint over the coming days.

I've bought an engine stand, trolley jacks, wheel inspection ramps that you can drive a whole car up onto.
It's cost me a bit of coin but remember these engines drop out from under neath. At least this way I'll have lost of room under the car & a lot of the gear I can decide to re-sell once the projects done.

The neighbour's lent me a block & chain pulley for raising & lowering the motor but the roofs made of old wood so I'm gonna weld up some angle iron to make sure it can carry the load.

Still haven't found a model with a sunroof yet but I have a few email alerts set up to notify me of all used corolla wagons in Australia - I'm checking every couple of days.

Hopefully once the shed's fully set up & resembles something more like an auto garage, the right model alltracwagon will turn up. Sunroof, power windows & towbar is what I'm praying for.

I'll sort out some pic's soon.

Cheers Jed

Awesome Jed... congrats on the haul!  Setting up your own workspace for car stuff is a great idea.
When I bought my house back in April, I couldn't wait to get the garage set up for repairs and such.
I still have a ways to go, such as more lighting on the ceiling, and more shelving.  Keeping stuff
off the floor is wonderful, lol...

Thanks Rogue, I've been hard at it for seven days straight, completely gutted shed, was in worse condition than I thought. To make matters worse it's clad with asbestos so I was repairing the cracked sheets here & there wearing a dust mask all the time, but it's coming along.
Got the steel ramps in tonight but x-mas break is over now so back to work in the morning

Haven't set up the block & chain pulley from the roof yet but getting there.. just bought my dad's old welder off him & found some old steel pipe when I was fixing the shed that'll do nicely for hanging the block & chain pulley.

I'm enjoying the work.

Here's how that rusty old flywheel is looking...

Currently negotiating with a guy in Adelaide (about 10-11 hours drive away) on an SR5 with sunroof.
If all goes well I'll fly over & drive it back & the project will begin

A guy in Adelaide? Damn, I knew I shouldn't have left the keys with Dad! Good luck with the drive, If the wind is South East, go past Robe on the way back for some waves or check out the motor museum at Birdwood. Ohh watchout for those speed traps!

Wow, that flywheel really cleaned up!  And good luck with the sunroof SR5... hope it's not DownUnder's lol...

yeah down under I tracked your car down & offered you old man a slab of beer - He was stoked & so am I! ..he really enjoys a drop eh?

Nice wagon - Don't worry - I'll treat her good

Nah.. the one I'm going for has a steel sunroof. If I remember rightly yours is glass, I think what they call a sun/moon roof ...which I would've preffered but I gotta get this show on the road.

I've already got a 'CARIB' badged wind deflector for the sunroof. very hard to come by in Australia & I found a company in New Zealand that makes the monsoon window shields for the doors ..not sure how much they'll cost..

If it has a spoiler on the roof I'll be removing it & sourcing roof raks from the wreckers that fit the full length of the car.

This not going to be a street build like Lars & Kebin's. It'll be more of a pragmatic Sports Utility Vehicle.
...but the oversized suprcharger & exhaust set up I'm planning should make her rip.

Change of plans guys.

Building 7agze instead.

Having considered the weight of the wagon & having driven stronger vehicles. I decided a 1.8L supercharged engine was far more suitable to powering the weight of the wagon, especially when it's full of camping gear or if I decide to tow something.

I like it's size. Not too big not too small. Just wish toyota had've raised the suspension & put a more powerful engine in it.
So the goal remains the same. Suspension lift & engine conversion.

Interesting... are the 7A series of engines the same basic size (fitment in the engine bay) as the 4A series?  I thought I read that the series of engine is by the letter (A in this case) and the number preceding is the "generation."  So a 1.8 liter... I agree that these wagons should have had a more powerful engine in them, especially that they're AWD/4WD.

Jedz, can I make a request?  I asked this in Oldskewl's topic, but I figured I'd ask you as well since you post here a little more frequently.  If you currently have the engine out of the wagon, but the tranny / transfer case is still in there... can you snap some pics of the engine bay while the engine is removed?  Also, could you take some measurements of the 4AFE and the engine bay?  Basically, from the center of the spline of the transmission straight to the front (radiator), and from the spline sort of towards where the transfer case is, and from the spline over to the other side of the engine bay (going straight through where the engine sits).  I just want to know the clearances of the tranny / transfer case where an engine would sit.  I know the 4AGE engine needs to be ground down to clear the transfer case... I was thinking about another engine though...

For the engine, basically these points in the pic below (this is not a 4AFE, couldn't find a decent enough pic of that flywheel side).  



I'd greatly appreciate it!

Hey Rogue,

Sorry I'm still using my base model wagon to run around in & haven't found the optioned up SR5 that I'm looking for yet. I can do some measuring of the engines that I have on engine stands. 7afe & 4agze

What is it that you're trying to figure out?

For those who are interested, here's where I'm at.
Most of my time has been spent converting the shed (which is done now) researching the 7agze build & sourcing parts.

My engine build is loosely based on some of the info here

http://www.superchargerperform.....ota-a-series-engines

I have 2 engines, bigport 4agze & 7afe plus almost enough parts for a small port engine. forged 7afe con-rods
HKS PFC F-con (Programmed Fuel Control) piggy back system Which is like an added dimension to the 4agze ECU
Plus a HKS GCC (Graphics Control Computer) from Japan which compliments the PFC & irons out any tuning glitches - helpful given that there's no stock ECU for a 7agze hybrid
I've also bought HKS ignition boosters which basically double the strength of the spark in the combustion chamber which enhances combustion time.
A couple of different options of old school mags ....(but have changed mind again - looking for some bigger ones to help gain some height)

Will probably have to buy a digital adjuster to get the speedo set back to factory setting.

Many custom parts will need to be made such as air intake & cooling pipes & a few more things to be bought like front mount intercooler & 3sgte throttle body.

The deal with a guy in Adelaide selling a steel sunroofed alltrac wagon fell through.., so I'm still looking for an SR5 alltrac with all the fancy options..
In the meantime I'm getting advise on the 7agze build from this guy here. (& a few others on toymods)


http://www.twincam.org/topic/18070-7agte-blacktop-ae92-levin-gtz/

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2131056/1988-toyota-levin

I'll have enough left over to do a basic gze conversion with my current model..
(which I think will be good to lower as a sleeper street wagon & give to my mum.)

GREAT NEWS LOOK WHAT JUST CAME UP FOR SALE!!!

http://vic.gumtree.com.au/c-Ca.....O-W0QQAdIdZ289826515

It's a bit more than I wanted to pay - I was hoping to find one at a reduced price with a bung engine or somethin but the guy still did me a good deal. he was asking $2400 aud & sold it for $1950 so I'm pretty happy.

It's got a towbar, steel sunroof, tacho, no rust except a few bubbles on sunroof, decent stereo, rear storage compartment between the speakers, power assisted steering, power adjustable rearview mirrors, factory mags...

Unfortunately it didn't have power windows & I forgot to check if it had tilt adjustable steering but being an SR5 I'm pretty sure it would have.

I pick it up tomorrow - stoked

The project begins!

These pics are from the seller's ad'

Congrats, she's a beaut!  Weird that it's an SR5, and has the thinner side moldings (the black pieces that wrap from the bumper across the doors to the back).  But then that bumper (which I still love so much more than the US one!) has a thinner molding to match them.

Good buy! glad you got onto it. Does it have AC? either way I think that condition is more important than the amount of km's travelled at this age. I think you can add just the door internals and interior skins rather than the whole doors when you find one with power windows. I reckon the SR5 improvements turn the whole car from a practical workable car into something to be enjoyed. All the aussie corolla awd wagons had these strips and smaller bumpers than the USA ones. Maybe think about changing the gearbox oil to something synthetic? what else are you thinking of doing? Stoked for you Jed!

Re door skins - D.U.R's reffering to a private email where I said I'd swap the doors with one that has power windows - yes I meant the skins & the mechanicals inside of course.

I didn't actually check if it had A/C - being an SR5 I'm alsmost certain it does. I went to set the window demister & noticed there was no light on the dash, so it's either a fuse or a bulb, but these are only small things really.

By & large I've got what I was looking for & am glad the search is over.
Just got confirmation a moment ago funds have cleared in seller's account, finish of paper work & pick her up tonight!

Yeah... haven't looked into gearbox oils etc. but definitely will... & you can be assured I'll be aiming for the best products.

Plans are grand & will take some time.

• sc14 7AGZE engine with adjustable cam wheels & bigport cams which have higher lift & duration
  custom suspension raise - have been quoted 4grand for this - so looking for some more affordable quotes
  custom exhaust pipes, with quite long primraries before they merge 4 to 2 pipes to 1..probably 2&1/4 inch final exhaust diameter.
  Wheels I need to calculate a bit more..., current thinking is 16" x 8 with agressive tyre all/terrain-snow/mud patterned treadwhich will protrude outside the body depending on the offset. (which is the part I need to calculate) I'll be using 4x4 rubber mudguard strips to extend the cover over the wheels to keep it legal.
  Thinking about AE86 limited slip dif which come in different ratios, slightly different widths & disc brakes - would prefer discbrakes all around.
  The change the suspension raise creates requires that the dif be re-angled upwards to meet the drive shaft, otherwise you get all sorts of weird angles that look like a dogs hind leg... This means everything that's welded to the rear axle needs to be cut off & re-positioned so I might as well fit an LSD axle but they come in different dif-ratios... so the final result needs to be thoroughly researched & carefully considered. time, money, purpose, end result, value for money etc.
  I'd like to make custom bumpers too
  & quite a lot of interior mod's
  but we'll se what reality & budget dictates as time goes on...
  The over all idea is a very capable weekend vehicle for camping & fishing that's versatile enough to be fairly mean on the street & suprisingly capable off-road with creature comforts inside the make things feel more cruisey.
  

Quoted from Rogue

Congrats, she's a beaut!  Weird that it's an SR5, and has the thinner side moldings (the black pieces that wrap from the bumper across the doors to the back).  But then that bumper (which I still love so much more than the US one!) has a thinner molding to match them.

suprisingly "no" it doesn't have air con which is a dissapoint ment - I'll have to swap it over from my original wagon.

Guess what??

I bought another one..

Yep...

In the search for an SR5 with power windows I found this rough diamond for $500 bucks, a few blocks from my home.

So now I've got my power windows, but this car is in real good nik.

It's also got cruise control, exhaust headers & has had the rear suspension done.
Fitted with tow bar too. As you can see the seats are also in very good condition.

I started pulling apart the 7afe engine last week & have got as far as taking the head of the engine.
I've been taking lots of 'how to' type photo's too. Will post soon.

This week I'll drain the oil, remove the sump & start looking at the internals.

Nice!  You have two now, or three?  I forget, lol...

This engine build interests me, if only because it seems more achievable than my crazy idea of putting in a Honda K series motor.

Nice one!. That has the electric window setup from one of the Japanese Caribs as well. It's a different interior door skin with the full length door pockets. So I'm not sure where they are from. The cruise is a nice touch.. Do you want to sell that? Those velour seats are nicer than the pre 1990 SR5's as well.. what year is this one? Did this one have Power steering and AC? either way you got a bargain even if it has done a lot of clicks.

So I guess your going to get all the best parts and put on the red one? Then fix up the Grey one and probably sell it for $2000 or something all detailed? I just masked off my wipers and all the black window surrounds and touched them up with a rattle can of black paint and they came up looking really good

good luck with it dude.

I have emailed every major seller of springs and shocks in Australia. I will get back to you with the results! The girl selling the car from Tassie just said the suspension lift was a "custom job by the husband" so no joy there- sounds like a hack job with cut down springs I reckon.

Sorry for posting the same pic twice guys.
So yeah.. now I own 3.

Does that make me officially crazy???

Wagon is still at the mechanics - waiting to hear back on what it needs for roadworthy - not sure what's taking so long but they did have 24 cars to get through when I was there & were looking pretty stressed.

Down Under - it sounds like you know more about the wagon than me! ..and no - cruize control aint for sale.   sorry mate...

Yes. that's right - everything's going on the red one. it's a shame because this latest (silvery green) one is in better nick.
Can't remember what year - roughly 1990 I think - Hey it had the doors I wanted & was just a couple of blocks away at a good price. I just jumped at it.

Current thinking is build the ultimate AE95 7AGZE with all the trims & personal touches I want.

There's now enough spare parts to build a 2nd old school 4agze wagon... This will be street orientated & the current idea is to give it to my mum, as my mum n dad just share a land cruiser between them & she's getting old now. I think she's like something to move around the street in that's a bit lighter than a huge 4wd.
She went camping with me once in the original white one & was really impressed with it. So I don't think she'll argue with me when I offer it to her.

My original white one will get a basic tickle up & then get sold. But before I do that.., I have some plans for all you guys who just want to do budget mod's.

So I've got a 2nd gen air intake & some 5SFE injectors ready to go... Combine this with a cold air intake & I think most guys will be pleasantly suprised.

Nice!  Maybe only a little crazy   I can't say I blame you though, that 4AGE AE95 would be damn tempting if I saw it for sale in my area.

Quoted from Rogue

Congrats, she's a beaut!  Weird that it's an SR5, and has the thinner side moldings (the black pieces that wrap from the bumper across the doors to the back).  But then that bumper (which I still love so much more than the US one!) has a thinner molding to match them.

That '89 SR5 has a bumper and thinner side mo(u)ldings reminiscent of the '91 and '92 All-Tracs sold in North America.
Interesting.

A quick pik of the red wagon on ramps in my very pokey garage.

7afe engine block on the stand, now completely stripped down

I was reading over this topic again... several posts back, about the engine measurements, basically I was curious what size the engine is because I was thinking about putting a Honda motor in mine.  But it's a newer Honda motor (K series, 200 HP at the flywheel), and much larger than these older motors.  (The pic I posted, showing the measurements I wanted, is of a K series.)  I'm not so sure it would fit.  I measured approximately 20 inches wide of space to work with from where the tranny sits in our engine bays to the side frame.  I'm thinking the K series would be too big, it's definitely taller than our engines...

So a 7AFE block with a 4AGE head?  Netting you a 1.8 liter engine, more displacement, more torque (?), more HP (?) than just a built up 4AGE?  I'm curious about this "Frankenstein" build because I've pretty much abandoned my K series idea.  At least a 4AGE bolts up relatively easily to our wagons (cutting down some of the ribbing).  I'd do an NA build though, so I might be a little more limited than going super- or turbocharged.

Hi Rogue,

The 7A block is 15.4mm taller at the deck (where the head sits on top) Other than that it's the same as early 4A blocks with 3 main ribs (so not as reinforced as a GZE 7 rib block) but the whole idea is you don't need to rev a 7AGZE too hard nor force feed it too much air to get significantly more power than the 4AFE.
I've read & am yet to confirm that some 7A's have the notch in the block & sump similar to the AE95 block & sump but not all 7A's have it.... to be honest I've found conflicting info including an AE95 guy who said the 7A was too big...
Having bought 1 full 7AFE plus forged con-rods, 1 full 4AGZE bigport & most of the parts for a smallport 4AGZE I'm too far gone to stop building the engine/s

If the 7AGZE doesn't fit, I'll either on-sell it or find a suitable front wheel drive to put it into... (although I'm not a fan of front wheel drives & a rear wheel drive would involve more work)

The whole idea of a 7AGZE is to have EAZY pulling power without the screaming top end revs of a 4AGE or 4AFE for that matter.

I want a strong cruizey & somewhat quiet ride. I'm not taking it as far as some track guys have with blacktop 20valve turbo'd heads. These guys make amazing horse power figures but oftem have to re-adjust their head studs & so on.

I want a set & forget approach.

I still have a lot to learn & obstacle to get around. for example I'm considering mounting the SC14 supercharger on the exhaust side so as to still maintain the vaccuum drum actuator for the central diff-lock.This has already been done on 4AGZE's.
In doing this I will probably also install an oil filter relocation kit, as even servicing the current oil filter since fitting exhaust headers, is a real b****.

I've been taking photo's for each step in the manual, although there were a couple of times I didn't have my camera. The eventual goal here is to provide a full photographic step by step process. But I won't do that untill the build/s are complete.
I just don't have time to write an instruction manual as I go... I'll be in a better position to do it once the work is completed, including all the mistakes & lessons along the way.

I've only ever seen three of these including this one. I bought it not too long ago. It was built specifically for the AE95, so the basic dimensions are close to the factory bumper. I'm currently considering cutting off the skirt  (& installing a bash plate) to allow more entry clearance at the front.

So jealous!!

I'm probably going to end up buying a used one for another vehicle (that fits closely enough to the front end) and my friend and I will modify the hell out of it.  He has a couple welders and the skills to use them... more on that later...

I'm very interested in this 7AGE build.  Can you test fit the 7A block to the 4WD tranny/transfer case to see if it fits?  I mean if you had a drivetrain sitting out somewhere, it's just a matter of having someone give you a hand and try to align the two.

The 7A block is currently empty - no crank conrods or pistons inside at the moment. No head or sump atached either.

I think the quickest way I could do a test fit would be to attach the sump back onto the empty 7A block, start stripping the engine bay of the red wagon & then just offer up the empty 7A block & sump.

In fact this will be a lot easy to lift up & down on the block & chain for test fitting & grinding.

Then I can take the new forged rods, & 7A block & crank, GZE pistons & head to an engine builder and make sure all the tolerances are good and also make sure the crank is harmonically balanced.

I was hoping to do it all myself but I don't have the engineering equipment and full skill set for tolerances in the thousands of a millimetre, harmonic balancing and all that.

I'm going to New Zealand soon, hoping to meet up with Barry the guy I linked in this thread who's got a 400+kw 7AGTE Levin (1.8L turbo)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2131056/1988-toyota-levin

Hopefully I'll learn a lot more from him.

Awesome... I look forward to seeing how the 7A block fits.  I'm guessing it will be mostly direct since it's an A series engine.  I wonder about the flywheel & clutch, if you have to use something special instead of the 7A's flywheel and the 4WD/AWD clutch?

If I end up doing a 7AGE build, I'd probably just go NA instead of turbo or supercharged.  Hmmm...

If you look at the 7AFE block on the stand in my shed in the picture picture a few posts back, you'll see the sump side is facing the veiwer.
If you look along the edge of the block that's facing up to the ceiling, you'll notice that the machined face where the sump bolts up has a drop down notch in it, instead of running in a straight line like the other side does.

This is the notch for clearing the transfer case. So even if it is less of a notch than the 4AFE block, the will be far less grinding to do than on a 4AGE or 4AGZE block.

oil squirters machined into 7A block for keeping the piston skirts cool, under boosted aplications.

3 x Hardened steel dowels press fit into crank. made to fit 'neat' into drill holes in the flywheel.
This because the 7AFE engine uses a 6 bolt flywheel as opposed to an 8 bolt flywheel on a 4AGZE engine.

I will be replacing the 7AFE flywheel bolts with 'ARP' bolts which can be torqued a little more but they most importantly they are much stronger than the original factory bolts.
So the 6 ARP bolts will provide the clamping force needed to keep the crank and flywheel together while the 3 hardened steel dowels resist shearing force against the 6 bolts.
Not necessarily needed in a 7AGE application but definitely worthwhile in a 7AGZE supercharged application.

The 2 most common weaknesses of the 7AG or 7AGZE build are shearing the flywheel bolts and bending, breaking or throwing a connecting rod, as they weren't built for sports applications like the high revving 4AGE & GZE rods were.

There are threads that suggest 4AGE enthusiasts who make the change up to 7AGE on the cheap by keeping their stock 7AFE rods without making any changes to them run the risk of severely damaging their engine (and all the work they put into it). This is most likely because 4AGE enthusiasts are used to taking the very stout 4AGE up to it's factory redline and beyond.
1st gen Bigport TVIS redline was: 7,600rpms from factory.
Whilst the late model silvertop was 8,000rpms from factory
Other generations fell roughly between these 2 figures (except for the blacktop)
Many 4AGE enthusiasts re-set their rev-limiters to run all the way up to 8,000rpms and beyond! However the 7AFE's redline is only 6,300rpm's (just like the 4afe)
The mistake of revving a 7AGE with stock con-rods past 6,300 rpm's is easily made from the driver's seat when taking the rev's up to an audible sound that the driver's used to hearing in their 4AGE, but without keeping an eye on tacho, the driver is asking for engine failure! ...perhaps not straight away ...bu sooner or later for sure.

For this reason I've also chosen forged 'H-beam' connecting rods.
So...it's out with the old (7AFE rods and pistons sitting on the bench)

and soon to be 'in with the new' SPOOL-forged con-rods!
(Sorry haven't got photo's of them unwrapped yet.)

When ever you're doing a 'mix n' match' build like this, it's important to start with new bearings and take it all to an engine builder / machine shop and have them properly maching everything to the correct 'thousandth of' tolerences...

Obviously this build will take me a while.. In the meantime I'm still happy putting around in my original factory granny spec base model

Here's a pic of the front end.
With a bit of luck I might get to meet 'DownUnderRolla' for the first time face to face this weekend and together we'll have a look at dropping the engine and gearbox out in one go...

It's getting there!  Good on you for upgrading the internals.  I'm sure it will be much better for the long run.  I'm curious, which
GE head are you using?  Bigport or smallport?  I thought I've read that bigport is better for boosted applications.  For me, finding
smallport stuff is next to impossible.  I think I'll be using a bigport head, if not the one I currently have, then another in better shape.
I would like to use a smallport intake, though.

It's funny re-reading older posts I made, when I didn't know as much about the different GE and FE engines and their features / quirks.
I'm still learning, but by the time I'm done I'll know my car inside out more than most people.  It's a pretty good feeling to have
But I don't look forward to the electrical side of things, especially since I'm going with a chipped Honda ECU & Honda distributor...

Hey Rogue,

You are on the path dude - That's all that matters.
There's still a lot I don't know... & I will read back on these current posts in the not too distant future only to realize how much I 'didn't' know...
I don't think that ever changes unless you specialize in only one type of car and motor.

OldSkewelToy's logo "Knowledge is power - learn the facts" pretty much sums it all up.

I would also add in the concept of being able envisage you car in it's ideal state, just the way YOU want it.
Then research research research your way to that end result.
"Allow" yourself to have a go..

..budget always plays a part ...but so often people fall victim to a "poor" mentality.
Cutting corners because they don't 'believe' they can afford the time or money, only to find out later that they've reasoned themselves into an 'average' result...
that falls anywhere between a rough unsatisfactory ride to fully breaking things and endangering themselves.
The most common result is they pay twice, both in time to repair/rebuild and financially, usually there's other costs too like time away from doing other things with important peeps in your life.
..it's false economics.
A lack of funds requires more knowledge & patience - that's all.

Were lucky to be in the information age.
2 hours on the net can be like 2 weeks in old world time, searching for parts, trialling and fitting and testing items to get results. ..but you'll always have to roll your sleaves up and get your tools out.
So 'people' don't just be internet dreamers either.

Look at OldSkewelToy's 4afze using the much despised 1st gen 4afe.
How many people do you think told him not to waste his time with that engine?

Bet you it pulls like a beast and is a safe reliable build that he'll enjoy for some time to come.

Re: heads. Bigport Vs. Smallport.
I have a GZE bigport and GZE smallport.
I've always thought I'd use the bigport because of the larger 1.8Lcapacity ... but recently I've been rethinking that.
There's a lot of complexities to consider.
Not just the cross sectional area of the port but it's cross sectional shape and the way that shape changes or curves as it leads into the combustion chamber.
The smallport is Toyota's researched and developed improvement on the bigport.
You mention you've heard bigports are better for boosted applications.
How much boost???    (Would be the next question you need to ask.) if it's only a small amount ..say under 10PSI, you 'might' find that the smallport still works better.

There's also intake and exhaust harmonics...
They are so often overlooked in favour of the concept of 'flow' only.
Flow is only one factor in the engine's performance.

Ever been accelerating in 2nd gear, waiting for that powerband to kick in? That sweet spot where your wagon lifts for a moment before you change into 3rd..
That kick is harmonics at work.

..think about this..

All the mechanicals at this point are the same. So why does the engine suddenly lift into action??

This is your optimal rev range and harmonics at work.
Less to do with port shape and more to do with pipe lengths. Mathematics plays a part. There's plenty of articles out there. I suggest you look into it.
These harmonics are a shockwave created by the combustion valve closing and the incoming air slams into the closed valve and bounces back up towards the plenum.
So with the valves opening and closing all the time these shockwaves sometimes bounce around and fight each other, causing a lack of torque response.
Whilst at certain revs they harmonize and scavenge the incoming air to pull even faster into the combustion chamber, thus creating a little higher volume, bigger bang and more power.
The same applies for exhaust lengths in regards to the length of the pipe from the exhaust valve to it's merge points.
Certain pipe lengths give best results at a certain rev range. It's natural physics at work.

For this reason, I personally believe it's good thing to pay attention to your most common rev range.
If this is your daily driver. Your most used rev range is what I 'personally' would advise you to build your engine around.
Ultimately it's up to you to do your own research and find a way of VERYFYING that research before you put your money down.


I saw your pic's of that bigport head in another post and am concerned for you because of the easily visible rough and uneven 'work' that's been done to it. I can't see it clearly enough to know if it's worth tidying up or if too much damage has already been done.

If you are running only naturally aspirated and can only lay your hands on a bigport.

I'd suggest the following.
1) You can't match up a smallport intake to a bigport head. so forget about that idea.
2) focus on getting the best out of what you've got - research
3) if you have the TVIS adaptor plate and valves, keep it for the low down torque, Our wagons are heavy. They need lowdown torque Keeping the TVIS will give a a broader torque range. The bigports do quite well at high revs too.
4) So.. you might find it's cheaper in the long run to buy a whole bigport engine package including loom, ecu TVIS etc, than it is to piece together a bitsa engine.
5) Another easy way to squeeze power from your engine is increasing the compression ratio. The easiest way to do this on a budget for a 4age (IE no money for machining the head or decking the block) is to use the thinnest of all toyota A series engine gaskets..
The 7afe head gasket.. but keep the redline / revlimiter stock
6) You can also learn about reshaping the port using an epoxy product called JB-weld, to create what's called a 'venturi effect' (narrowing the port a little as it reaches the inlet valve to mildly compress a higher volume of air into the combustion chamber)
http://www.mototuneusa.com/power_news_--_think_fast.htm
http://www.mototuneusa.com/power_news_--_homework.htm

Nice job..looks like its going to be fun!!!

Cheers mate,

Believe it or not. It's all new to me so I'm carefully plodding my way forward.

Should be fun so long as I stick to it and see the epic project done..

Thanks for the reply / info / links.  I certainly have more reading to do.  I also have patience, even though I was hoping to get this motor built by the end of the year (and hopefully running).  Money is somewhat an issue, I only wish I made more so that I can save more money at a time (instead of taking forever).  But I definitely don't want to take the cheap way out.

Quoted from JedzWagn

You can't match up a smallport intake to a bigport head. so forget about that idea.

Only thing is... this: http://technotoytuning.com/productdetail.php?p=374 will allow you to do just that   I'm looking for a smallport IM/TB because of that plate.  I had the chance to buy a JDM smallport IM/TB with sensors and the Techno Toy Tuning plate for what I now know was a hell of a good deal.  I'm really kicking myself for not buying it now. (I listened to bad advice from someone on the West coast who is swimming in Toyotas out there, whereas here in FL they are pretty scarce!)

I've considered just keeping/using the TVIS system, but the cams I'm thinking about are going to put me at a range where I can do as well without it (252-264 cams).  At least according to the Billzilla site guy (http://www.billzilla.org/4agmods.htm).  I'm planning to run 10.5:1 - 11:1 for compression.  Whatever would allow me to use 93 octane gas, since that's the highest available here.

I knew when I was typing that some one would come back and mention the adaptor plates

If I'm reading it correctly though, the trchno toytuning link states 'bigport mtached up to smallport head, not the other way around as you intend to do... You'll also need to adjust your shims and possibly upgrade your lifter springs if your cams are significantly bigger than factory cams

Sounds like you're figuring your way to an end result.

That's half the fun

Progress.

Subframe and sway bar removed - more pics later.

Still have to remove power steering gear, clutch and transmission connections to engine, then remove the last 2 engine mounts and the whole thing (engine and gearbox) will be ready to drop out.

sudden news.
I have to vacate my premises in 6 weeks...
Car project and belongings will have to go into storage while I search for a new place with lock up garage.

Ah man, that sucks!  I hope you can get everything packed up in time.  You've put a lot of time into this so far, it would be terrible to lose parts, tools, etc.

ah should be good.
An aunt owns current property and can be a handful to deal with (that's putting it very politely)
I'm moving closer to work, moving in with girlfriend (who's very supportive of the project and occasionally helps out in the shed..) etc. many other private pros to moving... just have to pass through the eye of the needle so to speak.

Put the hard yards in.. Tidying up current property, searching for the next property and moving all the gear. Most of my shed, car parts etc. are already very organised in groups boxes etc. so shouldn't be too hard to pack up.

Hopefully in 2 months give or take a week, I'll be back up n running with more time on my hands and less distance to travel and less obligations.

keen to make more consistant progress with this project. (then get out of the rental market altogether.)

Yeah, renting sucks.  I was living at a friend's parents' house for a few years before getting my own house.  It was nice being there, especially that they had all sorts of tools, but I couldn't leave things out in the garage for weeks on end.  It was like a trade-off, lower cost of living / more money in my pocket / less freedom, or higher cost of living / less money / total freedom.

Have to put red wagon back together again in order to move it!
Good for the mechanical skills!

Have completed the move but am yet to set up the work shop.. may take a few pics of that.. Nice double garage better than the pokey shed I was in before..

Will post more once I'm back on with the project..