[supragenius]

Hey folks. Just bought a 1987 Supra for $300. 5 speed manual with sport package normally aspirated. Thought this would be a great car for the Race of Lemons which in a nutshell is a 24hour endurance race for cars that are $500 and under, race prep included!! Although safety items do not count towards the $500.

The car runs real well and has 200k on it. Were basically gonna change all the fluids, pull the interior, put a rollcage and race seat in it, brake pads, tires, etc.....

performance wise I was thinking of goin to a junkyard and pullin a turbo off of another car but it doesn't seem neccessary or easy for that matter. I think with all that weight out of the car and the smog gear pulled out it should move real nice....

Anyway we are also gonna put a new timing chain and head gasket on it.

Any other ideas or weak pints on these cars that should be addressed.

Thanks I ll keep everyone posted....

 

[oldsking]

haha sounds like a junkyard wars deal! DO it, good luck and PLENTY of pics!

 

[supradreamz]

umm i got a suggestion save that poor supra and sell it to me!

seriously supras shouldnt be "race of lemons cars".

 

[thorpedo]

Sounds like fun actually.

sell your spare parts on here and you'll recoup all the costs of the race I bet.

Slap a bigger exhaust and an intake on it. Best hp gain/ cheap mod. Maybe one of those dryer ducting cold air intakes would be nice.

Good luck with that new timing chain.

 

[Nocheez]

umm i got a suggestion save that poor supra and sell it to me!

seriously supras shouldnt be "race of lemons cars".

Be quiet. It's better to see these old cars ran out on the track rather than rusting in a junkyard somewhere.

A Supra won the 24 hours of LeMons not too long ago.

 

[Wreckless]

Timing Chain????!? LOL

Skip the turbo - having a car that stays together is what matters in the LeMons races. Don't remove crash beams for the sake of weight reduction, either.

Just gut out all the truly unnecessary weight and have at it!

 

[chrgd 89]

they have those races in here in Texas, and it sounds like fun! Good luck

 

[88supramaniac]

Rip the whole heater and a/c bullshit out..from under the dash take the seats panels and anything that isn't neccessary..just don't put ur life in danger over it...then put an exhaust and intake on it..run the timing alittle advance or retarded and have fun..make sure ur headgaskets ok or u will be leaking antifreeze and overheating everywhere looking like a dumbass..haha

 

[toyzforme]

Yep we have them twice a year just outside Columbia SC at the Carolina Motorsports Complex. I was trying to get a car together for the Apr race but it didn't work out. Then I met some folks who I race autocross with and they need a driver for next year so I will up and running in the race myself.

The main thing is just a good running car. Pay attention to the flaggers because not all the drivers have racing experience and you might get rearended or vice versa.

 

[boricua114]

damn i bought my 5 speed turbo for 400$ all it needed was to finish rebuilding the head gasket, only paid less than 100$ to get it running, do i qualify, its my daily driver lol

 

[OvenRude]

Team Sofa King from a well respected shop won it easily a couple years ago.

I would suggest copying their build as they had a team of engineers figure out what to do.

 

[topguncam3888]

Timing chain lol.

Good luck finding the old one.

You can't just throw a turbo on you know. I don't know how much experience you have with boosted cars so this might be redundant, but there is a parts list that goes along with the turbo.

I'd run the car NA personally.

 

[chrgd 89]

yeah, I'd run n/a for that race. I dont think a turbo supra will last 24 hrs of getting beat on.

 

[FrankT]

He said "Timing Chain" :fart:




:worthless

 

[sixpack]

Yeah, let that thing die in the heat of battle !
What is nice about the Mk3, there is pleanty of weight to lean on people with.

 

[AlexSmith]

Sounds like a fun little event. Hell I'd do it just for kicks! Sounds like you are on the right track just remove all the unnecessary stuff that will weigh the car down, and get it tuned up right. Ditch the turbo idea as it is far more work that necessary for this type of event. Plus as another said, unless you build it right, the turbo version would be a huge longevity gamble for this. Good luck, let us know how it goes.

-Alex

 

[scottevil]

i hope the head gasket was fixed on this supra, it would suck to have to stop racing because of BHG

 

[88supramaniac]

Hahahah hell yea...it will most likely blow anyways

 

[91SUPRA-B]

I would run the coolant with 25% antifreeze or less, even down to 0% if they even let you use antifreeze. It cools better without it, just doesnt have the boil protection. Also get some redline water wetter. If they dont require you to have exhaust, save money and just take the catback off, I ran a daily driver for about 2 years like that. That will save some weight and gain power. Normally I would also say save the supra but if its beat up so bad it isnt worth fixing then I say sell what parts you can to help out those that need hard to find parts, recoupe some money and go for it. They are pretty heavy too, my 90 n/a targa 5spd was 3500 lbs with about 6 gal of gas in it.