[Fatedi]

1989 Toyota Supra · Liftback 2D - Cars & Trucks - Duvall, Washington | Facebook Marketplace

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I just wanted to bother you guys a little and get an opinion on this car and if you think it’s also in good shape.
It’s weird he didn’t post engine pics. I’m not too in love with the engine though I don’t much about engines in general haha.

I’ve recently got my first project car road ready and I’m preparing to get it painted soon. It’s NA and I’m just looking for a little more power. I love the car as it’s my first,
But my goals for the car which is a 2j swap seems impossible or even a 7mgte for that fact, I just don’t think I have th funds for a mechanic, an engine, tranny, and all the other stuff needed to do a swap.

what do you guys think? Anything I should consider? Appreciate your time thank you!

edit: I would be selling my car for 3k, solid engine 190k miles. (That’s fair price?)

 

[signalpuke]

But my goals for the car which is a 2j swap seems impossible or even a 7mgte for that fact, I just don’t think I have th funds for a mechanic, an engine, tranny, and all the other stuff needed to do a swap.

That's typically why people sell a project half way through.
Buying someone's project can be a great deal, or a massive headache as you find more and more stuff that needs replaced later. I see that the car is in WA, so I'd be concerned about rust/rot. The V8 swaps are pretty straight forward, and it being a 5 speed manual is nice. If the interior looks good, and there isn't any rust, I'd consider checking it out. Ask the guy who did the work. If it was a shop, go to it and ask them about the car. If he did the swap, ask him about other mechanical work he's done.

 

[Strokercharged95GT]

I don't think I would buy a project from anyone who describes the engine as "327 tuned port injection" ....

 

[Wreckless]

Years ago when it was more common to see them, I worked on several 3rd Gen Fbodies/C4 Corvettes with Tuned Port V8's in them. I recall one, exactly one 383stroker 5.7 that made 360whp or so with a very hot camshaft, expensive heads, and a lot of fucking around with mailing EPROM's back and forth to the chip tuner, back when it was actually 'chip tuning'.

A 327ci 'tuned port' is without a doubt a 5.0L aka 305 TPI V8 with some sort of hillbilly bore/stroke work done. In which case I'd bet this entire fucking website that there's no way it makes 400whp without at least a 125 shot on top of whatever it's got.

Give it a look, but have a very healthy skepticism about everything. Concerns about rust/corrosion are also incredibly valid.

 

[Fatedi]

Oh that’s smart to gauge his experience instead of just asking if he did it himself, he’s about two hours away so gonna ask a buncha questions then take my time looking and test driving if I do go.

Ha maybe I shouldn’t be buying a car not knowing what 327 tuned port will injection is, (fuel injection?

 

[Fatedi]

@Wreckless you know I was thinking that, cause I was reading about the engine on wiki. Didn’t know if it’d be rude to asked if it’s been dyno tested? That’s when they officially see how much horsepower you actually get out the car?

 

[Fatedi]

Update. He said he’s got a lot of experience with building engines and hot rods and this engine he built himself. He also said he had the car dynod to get the fuel injection computer dialed in.
Edit: speedo and fuel gauge don’t work

 

[Wreckless]

Not rude at all to ask for dyno sheets. If it's honestly a TPI on pump premium gas that's making 400whp naturally aspirated, then he cracked some sort of code a lot of people with a lot of money never did back in the day. I'm still highly skeptical of that dyno number myself.

Personally I'd pass on it. Better to spend a little more money and have one already JZ swapped.

 

[Fatedi]

Thanks man, I been thinking about this car all day specially since I got passed by some rich kid in an evo lol. I’ll ask for the dyno test. Im still pretty interested it also seems a white 93 mk3 recently popped up with a 7mgte for 4.3k I’m asking about now.

 

[te72]

Thanks man, I been thinking about this car all day specially since I got passed by some rich kid in an evo lol. I’ll ask for the dyno test. Im still pretty interested it also seems a white 93 mk3 recently popped up with a 7mgte for 4.3k I’m asking about now.

First lesson in life, there's always somebody with a faster car than you. Always will be, no matter how fast your car is. Work on the driver mod, then worry about how fast the car itself is. I've embarrassed many many many an actual fast car with my bone stock Miata at autocross events.

Second lesson in life, there's no such thing as a $4000 Mk4 Supra that isn't an overpriced scale model or RC car.

Third lesson in life, projects are almost always projects for a reason. Not a bad idea to check them out from time to time, but know that you're potentially getting into someone else's headache.

As for this specific car, that front left fender looks questionable. I'd be concerned about rust. In general you couldn't convince me that an iron block V8 is a good idea in one of these cars. I'd pass, personally.

 

[Fatedi]

Haha appreciate the lessons Sir! I’ve decided to pass, gonna just work on mine I’d be sad to lose my first project car. Specially since I found out you can turbo the GE.

You know what’s funny is someone literally just tried to scam me with a 4K mk4 lmao I thought it was a mk3, as soon as I sawNit, I knew it was some eBay scam. They tried pretending to be an old lady not knowing the cars worth lol.

Edit: So since I’m in WA also is there anything I can do to prevent rust? I heard car covers aren’t actually a good idea. I don’t have a garage.

 

[pham]

No pics of engine is a red alert warning sign imho

 

[ChrisZ32]

No pics of engine is a red alert warning sign imho

Agreed...

 

[Mr Ree NZ]

Edit: So since I’m in WA also is there anything I can do to prevent rust? I heard car covers aren’t actually a good idea. I don’t have a garage.

Fish oil can be useful to stave off rust forming in areas that you cant reach easily, but keeping the car washed regularly, with a good coat of wax on it, will go along way too.

 

[madisonMK3]

Man that 7m motor is better than any chevy v8 until you get to modern gm ls engines (aka 4.8,5.3, ls1 5.7, 6.0L).

The 5 speed is actually a tell. Pretty much most gm 5 speeds are wrong for the supra. T5, could be from an s10 and too light duty.camaro t5 is weak too. Nv series, first gear is granny low and also weaker then a w58

Has to be a 6 speed swap. But even then it's somewhat worthless because the ls v8 engines don't rev as high and mk3 supras (na shells) typically have 4.3 rear ends.

Don't forget that rear diff that holds 800 whp of jz power will blast itself apart with even the na v8 bc it's torque at low rpm + rotating inertia (mass) and gear shifts

 

[Wreckless]

Man that 7m motor is better than any chevy v8 until you get to modern gm ls engines (aka 4.8,5.3, ls1 5.7, 6.0L).

The 5 speed is actually a tell. Pretty much most gm 5 speeds are wrong for the supra. T5, could be from an s10 and too light duty.camaro t5 is weak too. Nv series, first gear is granny low and also weaker then a w58

Has to be a 6 speed swap. But even then it's somewhat worthless because the ls v8 engines don't rev as high and mk3 supras (na shells) typically have 4.3 rear ends.

Don't forget that rear diff that holds 800 whp of jz power will blast itself apart with even the na v8 bc it's torque at low rpm + rotating inertia (mass) and gear shifts

You're right in that a Gen I/Gen II SBC is an expensive engine to make 'good'. Much more so than a properly sorted turbo 7M-GTE, in my experience, especially once forced induction is involved. May be an honest toss up for 300-350hp though. But who cares about only 350hp these days?

Definitely some weirdness going on in the driveline since 5-spd manuals were usually stuck behind TPI 305's in F-bodies, which is why I suspect the engine in question is just a punched out TPI 305 with an overbore or crank swap of some kind. And 305's are sad, sad engines.

Rear diff though I have to disagree. What nukes rear ends is driveline shock and wheel hop, both of which are available in abundance with a high HP JZ or 7M when launching on sticky street tires, especially drag radials. I've seen quite a few V8 swaps in MK3's over the years and I've never seen one damage the stock MK3 rear diff. Perhaps if anyone ever gets one of those CXracing TT LS kits up and going we'll finally see that happen.

 

[te72]

Edit: So since I’m in WA also is there anything I can do to prevent rust? I heard car covers aren’t actually a good idea. I don’t have a garage.

Corrosives can be an issue for any car. Road salt, magnesium chloride, that sort of stuff, it does not play nice with older cars. Hell, even newer cars... Do you have to deal with snow much where you live, or just lots of rain?

Worst and most common place I've seen rust on Mk3's are in the spare tire well and behind the interior trim that covers the rear wheel wells. You know, the pocket on the left side that the jack and tool bag would have been in, and underneath the antenna. Both of these are likely caused by a bad hatch seal. I've also had the seal at the the base of the rear glass leak on me in my first Mk3, that was all sorts of fun to try sealing up. I think I used silicone. Not sure if it ever really stopped leaking though.

The other place I've commonly seen rust on these cars is underneath the battery, because it really is quite literally the most impossible thing in the universe to reinstall that tie down hook that keeps the battery from smashing around everywhere.

General good practice, look for rubber plugs along the bottom of the car. There are one or two in the spare tire well, two in the front subframe if I recall, and likely a few along the body just underneath the door. The harm can come from when dirt gets into those areas that are hard to reach by hand, and then water eventually finds its way into those places. The dirt traps the water and holds it in place...

For the most part though... these cars were pretty well built, and in my experience don't seem to rust away too badly. That said, most of my experience with these cars is in Wyoming, where it's dryer than a fossil in an oven.

 

[Fatedi]

Thanks that’s funny my hatch is leaking thankfully it hasn’t rained for awhile. I’m gonna go recheck all those spots. I moved back home for awhile so I can garage it now!.
@madisonMK3
@Wreckless
Thanks for the info guys! I might trade mine for a gte but I’ve worked so hard feels weird thinking about letting it go. But from some of the posts I’ve seen doing a NA-t isn’t as pricey and difficult as it seems and with Wreckless advice on getting a 2jz GE instead of a gte it seems more possible now cause the GE is way cheaper.

 

[madisonMK3]

Remember a cheep 2jzge has two problems:

Mid sump pan (500+ to convert to rear sump)

Weak connecting rods bc it's a vvti ge that is cheep

Much lower cost to turbo the 7m imho, and honestly debatable as to which is stronger (Not better haha) bc vvti rods mean you have to open up the 2jz if you plan on going na-t and running more than 8-10 psi.

 

[Fatedi]

Yeah wreckless made it seem a lot more simple to NA-T it. A lot of old post say it’s not though and costly so im still trying to research a lot. I’m thinking maybe it’s cause they’re old posts and things was different back then?