Swapping Rocker Covers side to side for Non VVT 1UZ

[ivan129]

1UZFE Non VVT. I plan to swap my rocker covers, putting the Left on the Right side and vice versa. The reason for this is because the intake plumbing is being moved from the right side to the left. If I swap the rocker covers, the oil drain holes in the metal baffles inside (under) the rocker covers will no longer line up with the drain holes in the head and block and will mean that oil will drain over the side / top of a bucket. Will this cause oil usage? My other option would be to remove the baffles from both rocker covers. Advice / opinions welcome. Thanks.

 

[Zuffen]

When I ran my supercharged engine I had the covers on the wrong side for clearance reasons.

Worked well and didn't seem to cause any issues.

 

[gloverman]

1UZFE Non VVT. I plan to swap my rocker covers, putting the Left on the Right side and vice versa. The reason for this is because the intake plumbing is being moved from the right side to the left. If I swap the rocker covers, the oil drain holes in the metal baffles inside (under) the rocker covers will no longer line up with the drain holes in the head and block and will mean that oil will drain over the side / top of a bucket. Will this cause oil usage? My other option would be to remove the baffles from both rocker covers. Advice / opinions welcome. Thanks.

Toyota made these engines very swappable with parts. Intakes can be swapped, tappet covers, exhaust manifolds and even the cylinder heads are the same part both sides.

 

[ivan129]

Toyota made these engines very swappable with parts. Intakes can be swapped, tappet covers, exhaust manifolds and even the cylinder heads are the same part both sides.

Thanks Gloverman, and nice video.
When you swap rocker covers the oil drains from the rocker cover baffles don't quite line up with the drain holes in the head and block however I've come to the conclusion that there's not enough oil coming from them to cause a problem.

 

[ivan129]

For those who might search for Rocker Cover baffle removal I thought I'd add some content here based on my experience. The baffle plates under the rocker covers create a void / cavity or barrier between the PCV inlet and outlet so that engine oil isn't picked up and sucked directly into the intake or where a catch can has been installed, pushed down the hoses and fills the catch can. If the baffles are removed its very difficult to make smaller shrouds that stops oil from being picked up and pushed down the PCV hoses. To make matters worse a forced induction engine will produce more crank case pressure (more blow by) than an NA engine and will force more oil into the PCV system. Long story short... from my experience the OEM standard baffles and PCV system work best. Having said, that, Zuffen is correct in that its a good idea to remove the baffles to clean the muck behind them if rebuilding your engine. A hot tank clean won't remove the deposits that build up there.