V6 Noob. Advice required.

[Si_Crewe]

Hi,

Having just had the engine in my 2 self-destruct I have been considering my options. By luck I have sourced a decent 3SGE engine for peanuts and have (eventually) found a mechanic who is prepared to bung it in for a couple of hundred quid.

The whole event has been a bit of a kick in the arse for me, however, and I've pretty much decided on getting a V6 conversion done.

Much as I respect Pauls ability, I am currently considering buying a Camry and doing the engine work myself.
later on, depending how things go, I might drive the car and V6 up to Paul to fit or I might have a go myself. Depends how I feel and how much work I get this year.

First thing I am wondering is what should I actually be doing to the V6 once I get it out of the car?
Obviously it needs stripping down, cleaning and rebuilding.
Is there much I can do (easily) to increase the HP while I'm doing this?

What do you guys do for service parts?
Are you buying belts, gaskets, shims, valve seals and other items from Toyota or are there reliable after-market suppliers?

Do you replace oil seals and big end shells when you rebuild the engine?
Do you replace oil and water pumps?
In other vehicles I've worked on this has usually been "the thing to do".

Any idea how much it's going to cost me in parts to refurbish an engine?

I freely admit that I'm just "tyre-kicking" at the moment but I seem to find myself searching the Autotrader website for Camry's more and more these days.

[Jiff Lemon]

A lot depends on your camry; If you get a decent car that you can drive about for a while, you'll get a feel for WHAT needs doing;

Despite mine having FSH, I still replaced headgaskets, waterpump, had the heads overhauled, new headbolts and timing belts.

Headwork is the key to more HP in these engines; Or whack a supercharger on there! :D

Parts? got a lot of stuff from http://www.sapmotorparts.com/Car_Part.htm