Once I got down to the valve covers, the real fun began. The plastics were brittle enough to crumble in my hands—loom covers, clips, electrical connectors—you name it. I broke a few despite being careful, and after dropping more than one bolt into the abyss, I ended up pulling the skid plate just to retrieve them (note to self: start with that next time).

When the covers finally came off, I was greeted by what looked like an RTV art project. Someone had gone way overboard—there was sealant on everything, even the spark plug tube seals. Those were so brittle they basically disintegrated when I tried to remove them. I spent a good while cleaning out debris, blowing out the plug wells with compressed air, and brushing everything down until it looked halfway decent again.

From there, I replaced the seals and gaskets, installed new half-moons and cam seals with Toyota FIPG, and moved on to the passenger side—which was just as bad, if not worse. Once both covers were buttoned up, I swapped the plugs and wires, gave the throttle body a good cleaning, and started reassembling everything with the proper OEM gaskets.