[Mondo]

Hello everyone, was fortunate enough to pick up a 1988 Targa Top last weekend.

Bringing it home Thursday.

Great shape, old retired guy owned it. Very little rust, spots that are on it can be sanded away. Being that i live in Wisconsin, Rust free cares are amazingly rare.

Only thing it needs is a Head Gasket and some loving care to get it to its beautiful condition it once was.

Will get pictures once i have it at home.

Bit about me, Well, i live in Central Wisconsin and am going to College for an Associates in Computer Security and Networking. Am currently Employed at American Family Insurance and a Network Monitoring Company.

Work about 65 hours a week currently so my free time is usually spent sleep, or hanging out with my friends friday nights at our weekly mini-meets.

My plans for the car? Well, change the head gasket obviously, while im doing that I'll get the head looked at to make sure nothing is out of wack, put some ARP studs in and check the bottom end to make sure things are good.

Once its running, I plan to take all the outside moldings off, buy new where needed and sand down the rust spots, rust prohibiter, and give it some paint. Once thats done, Intake, Exhaust, Headers, Rims, and maybe Suspension.

Bought it as a intermediary to a Honda S2000 that i plan to buy in the next year or so. I will most likely keep the Supra as my DD. Turboing it is deffinetly in the air right now as is throwing in a 1JZ.

Well, thats my intro, hope to learn more and more while im here.

 

[OvenRude]

Switch that around and make the S2000 your daily, because MKIIIs are not excellent daily driver cars.

 

[88supramaniac]

Nice

 

[Mondo]

Switch that around and make the S2000 your daily, because MKIIIs are not excellent daily driver cars.

S2000 will definitely not be a Daily. What makes the 3's a bad daily?

 

[DegreE]

lol

 

[OvenRude]

S2000 will definitely not be a Daily. What makes the 3's a bad daily?

Ohh nothing much, just the engine.

 

[Mondo]

Guess im in the clouds at the moment.

Someone want to enlighten the ignorant one?

 

[Mondo]

Forgot to mention, Turboing or 1JZ are a LONG way off.

 

[DegreE]

Is this the only car you have right now at the moment?

 

[Mondo]

I got the BMW as DD but thats for sale. the Supra will be my DD once its running.

Once i get the S2000, i will think about Turboing the Supra.

 

[adidas00]

keep the bimmer for now until you finish with the mk3, once you finish that see the bimmer. Since you want the mk3 as a DD, do everything you mentioned (1jz, turbo etc) make sure the car is solid before making it a DD. I can understand why you don't want the s2000 as a DD.

 

[Mondo]

Still wondering why all of them are saying dont DD it.

Is it the stock 7M-GE or that i want to Trubo/1JZ it eventually?

 

[mdr40z]

an mkiii is a fine dd as long as you stay up on the maintenance and don't beat the crap out of it

 

[Mondo]

Any known problem areas i need to be aware of?

 

[Hitman]

headgasket.

 

[OvenRude]

Still wondering why all of them are saying dont DD it.

Is it the stock 7M-GE or that i want to Trubo/1JZ it eventually?

You should really research cars before planning on buying them. Too many people come on this website with lofty goals they never achieve because they get over their heads way too quickly with an aging auto that is prone to having lots of issues if prior owners treated the car poorly.

First of all since your location says wisconsin, I'll let you know the MKIII is a TERRIBLE car to drive in the winter. Extremely heavy and very prone to sliding sideways. Buy some winter tires.

The engine is prone to rod knock if the oil level gets even a little bit low. I check my levels every time I fill up with gas.

Replace basically every rubber hose under the engine that seems even remotely suspect, because it will go bad sooner or later. It's better to just fix them all at once and be done.

The cooling system can be a bit finicky, keep a close eye on it.

Breaking the transmission on these cars isn't easy, but since you're buying a N/A you'll have the W58 instead of the R154, so if you turbo you may find yourself needing to replace the clutch.

Personally if I were you and had a N/A with a blown head gasket, I'd save myself the trouble and buy a turbo motor and swap that in.

Make sure the head is machined perfect when you place it back on the engine, and I'd suggest a metal head gasket instead of a stock replacement.

Also, and this is rare, sometimes a giant bear pops out of the rear hatch and mauls the owner.

 

[Hitman]

You should really research cars before planning on buying them. Too many people come on this website with lofty goals they never achieve because they get over their heads way too quickly with an aging auto that is prone to having lots of issues if prior owners treated the car poorly.

First of all since your location says wisconsin, I'll let you know the MKIII is a TERRIBLE car to drive in the winter. Extremely heavy and very prone to sliding sideways. Buy some winter tires.

The engine is prone to rod knock if the oil level gets even a little bit low. I check my levels every time I fill up with gas.

Replace basically every rubber hose under the engine that seems even remotely suspect, because it will go bad sooner or later. It's better to just fix them all at once and be done.

The cooling system can be a bit finicky, keep a close eye on it.

Breaking the transmission on these cars isn't easy, but since you're buying a N/A you'll have the W58 instead of the R154, so if you turbo you may find yourself needing to replace the clutch.

Personally if I were you and had a N/A with a blown head gasket, I'd save myself the trouble and buy a turbo motor and swap that in.

Make sure the head is machined perfect when you place it back on the engine, and I'd suggest a metal head gasket instead of a stock replacement.

Also, and this is rare, sometimes a giant bear pops out of the rear hatch and mauls the owner.

Exactly what I am doing, and I tell you, I hate every bit of it.

 

[88yoda]

an mkiii is a fine dd as long as you stay up on the maintenance and don't beat the crap out of it

x2.

been DD'ing mk3s for close to 4 years now. fix her right and treat her right and you'll have no problems.

 

[Mondo]

Im completely competant when it comes to auto repair/maintenance.

The problem is that the first few posts were simple "Haha, Good Luck" posts, no insight or help at all.

I've owned older cars before, and DD them too, I know things break, and wear out.

As for my "Lofty" Goals. I said before that Turbo-ing or 1JZ are FAR away. More than a year from now. Its going bone stock, and staying that way except to do the simple I/H/E Suspension.

Starting to regret ever mentioning the Turbo or swap option as everyone is ripping on it. Keep in mind, im not some idiot headstrong teenager.

Thanks for the constructive part of your replies

 

[OvenRude]

Im completely competant when it comes to auto repair/maintenance.

The problem is that the first few posts were simple "Haha, Good Luck" posts, no insight or help at all.

I've owned older cars before, and DD them too, I know things break, and wear out.

As for my "Lofty" Goals. I said before that Turbo-ing or 1JZ are FAR away. More than a year from now. Its going bone stock, and staying that way except to do the simple I/H/E Suspension.

Starting to regret ever mentioning the Turbo or swap option as everyone is ripping on it. Keep in mind, im not some idiot headstrong teenager.

Thanks for the constructive part of your replies

I never said your goals were lofty. Just that most peoples are. This is the internet after all.