The Toyota 3.0L V6 was introduced in Toyota trucks in 1988 with single overhead cam heads. This engine was designated as the 3VZ-E and was available for the truck line until 1995. This eight-year run means there are literally tens of thousands of these engines and heads out there for remanufacture.
According to Carl Simmonds, production specialist at VEGE Manufacturing, the 3VZ-E SOHC heads are very good heads with very few problem areas. The Toyota cams are particularly good, but only have about .001˝ hardening and you can’t grind them, but that is normally not an issue.
This article originally appeared in the July 2001 issue of Engine Builder but is no longer available online. A downloadable PDF of the original article is available here.