MidniteGX

Latest update:
Spent a fair bit of time cleaning all the gasket surfaces in anticipation of reassembly. Following the FSM instructions, installed the front cylinder head with the new exhaust valve and the old head bolts. I was a bit nervous torquing the bolts that last 90 degrees with the big breaker bar, but they all held. Remembered the one 8mm hex bolt.
Installed the camshafts next with assembly lube and engine oil. Lined up the marks on the cam gears at 90 degrees. Remembered to remove the service bolt before putting on the valve cover.
The kit for the timing belt came with a cam seal that was the right diameter but too narrow. Luckily, the local dealer had one.
Everything else up to the three vacuum hoses is back on. The only drawback so far is the 14mm hanger bolt on the back left side of the plenum. Man, it’s tight back there. Still have to tighten it a few more turns.
My homemade cam sprocket holding tool worked like a champ. The torque wrench clicked pretty quick at 95 ft lbs.
The cams and crank are all lined up now. New tensioner is on and just have the two new pulleys to crank on before the new timing belt goes on tomorrow.

MidniteGX

Update; engine runs tickidee-boo. No more misfire no check engine lights, no smoke from the exhaust, engine running at normal temperature and normal idle. More details tomorrow!

salimshah

I have no idea what "tikidee-boo" means, but it seems you have the misfire solved. Update us on the difference in feel or power from all 6 cylinder.

Misfire code pop us fairly quickly, bit lot of other take a day or two df driving after a reset. I do hope none come back. It is time to drive and enjoy your vehicle. I also hope that you came even or better still ahead as you purchased the RX with issues.

Salim

Audiqv8

Congrats and enjoy the ride.

MidniteGX

Nice! Thanks for the concise definition and wishes!

MidniteGX

Thanks, Salim!
As long as the car runs well enough down the road, we'll have made off like bandits. The car purchase price was very low due to the mechanical work required and now that it's done, to the best of my abilities, I'm hoping my son will enjoy his new ride for a good long while.

MidniteGX

Update: After spending most of Friday putting the engine back together, I ran into a couple of small snags:
1. Forgot to attach a coolant hose to the underside of the throttlebody and had to perform surgery to try to clamp it back on as it was obviously easier to do with the throttlebody/intake plenum off.
2. Other son said he smelled gasoline which I noticed was dripping from the engine while running. Turns out, it was coming out of the no. 1 fuel rail right beside fuel injector #5.
I had to remove the intake plenum to get at the fuel rail, remove the injectors and inspect. This was a lot easier the second time! The O-ring was damaged and, luckily, I had the three injectors I pulled from the salvage yard. I decided to take all the injectors out, inspect the O-rings, and lube them up with silicone grease and re-install. Leak fixed, warm fuzzy feeling. Since I had taken the plenum off, I was able to properly clamp on the small coolant hose that goes on the underside of the throttlebody. Made sure the "banjo" bolt for the no. 2 fuel rail had aluminum washers on both sides of the banjo/fuel supply hose. They're small and un-noticeable when they fall off, but very important.
3. The two larger coolant hoses that are attached at the firewall above the throttlebody had to be removed when I attempted to put on the smaller coolant hose. In the process, one of the soft aluminum outlets became slightly mis-shaped and when the hoses were put back on and re-clamped, it developed a leak. I'll be investigating this tonight. I hope there's a way I can return the outlet pipe back to mostly round shape and probably add some kind of sealant before re-inserting and re-clamping the hoses.

List of parts for this repair:
1 exhaust valve (still have a box with four valve guides that I didn't use)
6 intake valve oil seals
6 exhaust valve oil seals
Head gasket
Intake manifold gaskets
Intake plenum gasket
1 camshaft timing oil control solenoid (the electrical plug connector had broken off) *could this have been how the problem started? I wonder.
Timing belt (OEM)
Water pump (OEM)
Camshaft oil seal (OEM)
Timing belt tensioner (OEM)
No. 1 timing belt pulley (OEM)
No. 2 timing belt tensioner pulley (OEM)
2 valve cover gaskets
6 spark plug oil seals
6 spark plugs (OEM)
Toyota long-life coolant
Amsoil synthetic transmission fluid (for power steering system)
New belts for ps pump and alternator/compressor

Tools I had to buy:
Leakdown tester
Compression tester
Valve spring compressor
Valve lapping tool
Metric hex nut socket set (which I "needed" anyway)
Metric E-socket set (star type)
Telescopic inspection mirror
Telescopic pickup magnet
Dremel tool with flexible remote bit extender (very handy tool!)

Shop supplies:
Rags and paper towels
Valve lapping compound (this and all below are Permatex)
Super-slick assembly lube
Dielectric silicone grease
Black RTV silicone sealant
Super-sticky gasket adhesive

Tool I had to make:
Camshaft timing sprocket holder ( thanks Bubba )

The pdf version of the FSM was invaluable as well as Mr. Google and forums like this one. Thank you all for your suggestions, comments, and ideas - I don't think this would have been possible without them!
Hopefully, anyone with similar issues will find this thread helpful. If anyone has any further questions - feel free to post or PM.