[pham]

Firstly, it's original, I'm the 3rd owner, speedo says 187k miles. Runs good, brakes good. Some power steering belt squeak.

Here's what I know is wrong with it and some parts are en-route already:

1. It’s got an oil leak or power steering leak, I can’t tell which probably both. Need to de-grease it and power wash it.
2. The headlight stalk switch is broken and hanging, the lights are stuck on bright. The whole steering column needs to come apart – I already found another headlight/blinker stalk - ordered, but the column trim is fubar'd. Dash is fubar
3. Targa top leaks water in the passenger seat, needs new seals - ordered
4. Radio doesn’t work, I see hanging wires
5. Speedometer doesn’t work, have to figure out what wrong with the cable to the transmission.
6. Glovebox is broken and hanging open, won’t close - ordered
7. Missing the e-brake leather boot -ordered
8. Trunk/hatch cable doesn’t open
9. Missing rear window wiper - ordered

She's been trailer-ed home and sitting in her final resting place now:

Tell me what an idiot I am or take guesses at what I paid for it?!?!?! ????????
Tell me what to check for, I'm new to MKIII's lol

 

[billybob9187]

The good news is you appear to have a complete car. Your not missing random trim pieces or anything. Also you and this car get to go over every system together and anything that needs work will get done right. Im guessing you paid around 6k for it.

 

[pham]

The good news is you appear to have a complete car. Your not missing random trim pieces or anything. Also you and this car get to go over every system together and anything that needs work will get done right. Im guessing you paid around 6k for it.

That's the fun part! I'm thinking I'll try to restore it to as "original" as possible, but if that can't happen - then the real fun begins! $3400 ish plus tax/tag/title/etc. $4000 even out the door. They were asking $4800 and I offered $3000

 

[Piratetip]

Great price.
They must have wanted the car to go away.

 

[pham]

Great price.
They must have wanted the car to go away.

I get the same feeling. Maybe they thought they could restore it or people would jump at the price but it's got a list of problems - solid $2000 worth of repairs/parts if I had to guess. Still though, A mostly original, mostly complete MKIII that cranks and runs w/ most of the electrical in working order.... I couldn't walk away from it.

 

[Piratetip]

Great find.

 

[pham]

Disassembled the steering column and trim enough last night to replace the wiper/blinker stalk; I got lights now!

 

[madisonMK3]

I was falling off my chair @ the price until I saw it was an auto. still - great price and I love the white on white, looks very nice. you can't go wrong really with an original clean car, great investment imho

 

[pham]

I was falling off my chair @ the price until I saw it was an auto. still - great price and I love the white on white, looks very nice. you can't go wrong really with an original clean car, great investment imho

Riiiiight. The MKIV I bought maybe 15 years ago for $18k I can definitely get more than that for now. I've always loved the MKIII's but I've never just stumbled on one that A) was in decent condition,unmolested and B) so dirt cheap I can just piss money away on one. Pretty happy with the car overall although I haven't even gotten it over 55MPH or driven it on any actual roads yet. - just back alleys and driveways. I siphoned out all the old ( I don't know if new or old) gas last night put some fresh gas in and let it idle for an hour and it didn't overheat or seem to, so that's a good sign. I can't wait until the weather warms up so I can pressure wash and degrease underneath and start finding leaks - YAY! I would have preferred a R154 manual tho fo sho

 

[pham]

Hey guys I also have a new question because I'm new to MKIII or I can't locate the information but can someone tell me if these wheels are original to this car? How can I know/tell? and if they are original to this car, would they be white like this? I ask because they are in decent shape but the paint is starting to flake/chip in some places. No curb rash, but the flaking paint makes me think someone has painted them. If they are OEM white, I've got a local shop that restores and powder coats wheels to original and I'd like to do that IF the wheels were originally white.

Any Ideas?

 

[Wreckless]

What a hell of a nice score!!!! Wow!!

Yes, a white package 90, 91, or 92 will have color matched wheels. In the 91-92's case they'd get those 5-spoke 16x7's you've got now. The pinstripe is original too and that's awesome because where there's a pinstripe, there's original metal and paint!
The front bumper and factory lip are in fantastic shape too. My hat's off to the previous owners for caring about that car as long as they did. With less than 3000 1991 Supras sold in the US new, and fewer of those being turbo models, and even fewer of those being factory white package cars with blue interior, that's a pretty damn rare car to find!

As for refinishing the wheels - the centercaps are very, very difficult to paint to match powdercoating exactly. Honestly if you were going to refinish them I'd stick to doing high quality paint with some clearcoat/etc to seal it, or expect the caps to be just a little off.

MK4 factory TT 17in wheels painted white to match also look fantastic on a white package car like that, too. A set of KYB's and some lowering springs would round it out perfectly without adding the harsh ride of 99% of the coilovers available on the market.

 

[pham]

What a hell of a nice score!!!! Wow!!

Yes, a white package 90, 91, or 92 will have color matched wheels. In the 91-92's case they'd get those 5-spoke 16x7's you've got now. The pinstripe is original too and that's awesome because where there's a pinstripe, there's original metal and paint!
The front bumper and factory lip are in fantastic shape too. My hat's off to the previous owners for caring about that car as long as they did. With less than 3000 1991 Supras sold in the US new, and fewer of those being turbo models, and even fewer of those being factory white package cars with blue interior, that's a pretty damn rare car to find!

As for refinishing the wheels - the centercaps are very, very difficult to paint to match powdercoating exactly. Honestly if you were going to refinish them I'd stick to doing high quality paint with some clearcoat/etc to seal it, or expect the caps to be just a little off.

MK4 factory TT 17in wheels painted white to match also look fantastic on a white package car like that, too. A set of KYB's and some lowering springs would round it out perfectly without adding the harsh ride of 99% of the coilovers available on the market.

Thanks Wreckless that's exactly the kind of information I need to hear. Thanks for the excellent feedback.

 

[pham]

My daily is a G37 sedan dumped on HKS hipermax III coilovers and it's a rough ride but it handles like it was built for the track - I understand what you're saying about the coilovers for sure.

 

[suprahero]

Nice car. My wife had one like that for a few years. She sold it and went with a grocery getter. I still have mine and don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

 

[pham]

Nice car. My wife had one like that for a few years. She sold it and went with a grocery getter. I still have mine and don't plan on getting rid of it any time soon.

Suprahero! Yo what’s up man, you know it might just be your wife’s, I found it over in Pelham. I’ve tried logging in over on Supramania, but idk the password and the forum won’t sent the password reset email. Anywho, it’s probably been 10 years but we’ve met and been on a Supra meet.

 

[SupraCooled]

I think you got a grease boot that fell off the steering rack.......no oil leak or PS leak

 

[pham]

I think you got a grease boot that fell off the steering rack.......no oil leak or PS leak

You might be right because fingers crossed the car hasn't dripped a drop of any fluid on my shop floor yet. I changed the oil this weekend and jeez what a PITA the oil filter is to get on and off of a MKIII. Changed the spark plugs too with NGK R's and 1 & 2 had some rust/corrosion on the plug or the seat inside the wire boot that I cleaned with alcohol and q-tips. the rest of the plugs were clean in terms of corrosion but they were all definitely in need of a change. No oil in the spark plug valley so the valve covers aren't leaking that's a fact.

I took if for a quick ride and then realized that I did not install the wiper/blinker stalk correctly because I can't turn the steering wheel very far to the right but I can spin it around a few times to the left - I have to take all that apart again and re-do that.

So many goodies on the way from ebay to make this thing as OEM as possible.

 

[chevydude]

What's coming in from eBay?

 

[pham]

Oh you know, random pieces to return it to OEM as possible to unfuckulate the things whatever the previous owner half-assed? Why? How many parts did I buy from chevydude already on eBay? You didn’t sell me these busted ass targa top seals with the blue paint overspray on them, did you ???

steering column headlight blinker stalk module, OEM radiator hold downs, glovebox, interior screws, speedo cable, blue targa cover for the hatch, targa seals, steering column trim, center console trim,ebrake boot, and on and on... radiator fan shroud....

an actual OEM muffler would be the tits

 

[chevydude]

Why? How many parts did I buy from chevydude already on eBay? You didn’t sell me these busted ass targa top seals with the blue paint overspray on them, did you ???

What, me? Ol' chevydude would never do such things! chevydudes a regular fella'