Project-T: Disassembly - Part 2

The easy dis-assembly stuff has been done. Now on to the more difficult parts! ... When I say difficult I mean, annoying. By annoying, I mean a pain in the ass.

First, the carbon canister needs to be removed. It is clipped on to the rear wall of the engine bay. But before removing it, the vacuum lines should be disconnected. Be careful, once you disconnect a vacuum line, fuel vapors will most likely start seeping out. What the carbon canister does is it allows the fuel system to breath, but the fuel vapor gets filtered through the carbon canister and then back through the intake. The reason why Toyota (and other manufacturers) installs these guys is to comply with emissions.

Remove the vacuum lines, but to prevent the place smelling like fuel (plus it's not good for you), disconnect the line and cover it up with masking tape.

At this point, the carbon canister can be relocated. I chose a little place to the rear right of the engine bay as this was basically dead space anyway. I went ahead and replaced the existing vacuum hoses with new and longer ones that can be routed more neatly. To mount the canister I was going to use a new bracket and bolts, but as it's quite firm in the new position, I decided to simply use mounting tape and rely on the tension/friction of the factory loom. The canister is quite light; it's not going anywhere!

 

Next the pain! Oh the pain! The removal of the factory exhaust headers. The most annoying part of this is that the bolts have almost fused to the threads from heat and age. But after some tapping with a hammer, lots of elbow grease and patience, they come out. Care needs to be taken however, depending on how aged the bolts are, if too much torque is applied, the bolt head could be snapped right off the bolt shaft, leaving half the bolt in the thread. If this happens, the only option is to drill the bolt off. Luckily it didn't happen for me!

 

Now for the next set of pain! The exhaust is held by two additional frames. They are simply bolted on, but again, these bolts are a pain. What helps though is soaking the bolts in WD-40 lubricant. For me, I soaked it almost over night, then after some nudging and elbow grease, the guys finally came out.

Wooo! The pain never ends! The last part of the exhaust is connected to the down pipe by two spring-loaded bolts and nuts. To reach these guys I had to go under the car and connected extensions for my socket wrench. Yet again from heat and age, these guys are really stuck on. Persevere! They actually DO come off.

Again I soaked them in WD-40 lubricant for a while and used as much leverage as possible. After a while of bicep curls and triceps extensions (my arms look like Arnie now), the bastards came out.

With the bolts removed, the exhaust header can now be lifted out.

  

After dancing and clapping like a cheerleader, I went ahead and removed the factory exhaust header gasket and cleaned the area from craps. Phew.

Now the fun stuff can happen! Next, it's time to trial fit the turbo and exhaust manifold!