Supra Forums banner

Two Supras Obtained

9K views 90 replies 17 participants last post by  Suprabruhh 
#1 ·
Greetings,

I have been a supra addict since I was 15 and got my first supra, the lack of patience, time, money and well the way life works in general I ended up buying and selling four Supras between age 15 and 20. Fast forward to today age 22, I am now living in Northern California with my wife and son and happened to trade my 2000 Lexus RX300 with 131k miles which I purchased for $2800 2.5 years ago, for two 1987 Turbo Supras, one of which is a white manual, Targa Top 179k miles and the other a red turbo auto hardtop 159k miles.
The white supra has a rod knock, the red has been sitting so long it will not start, ( I have only cranked on it for about 30 seconds or so). Both cars appear to be in very good shape, hardly any rust on either, and the interior on both is actually very clean, not many rips or tears. It also came with a plethora of parts, tires rims, interior trim, 6 seats in nice condition, basically a whole interior for a car.

I realize this will be a long process, given my history of giving up on the four past supras, and always regretting it I plan to try and stick these two out, my goal currently is to get the red one running, and potentially jz swap the white one, for just in the little of amount of time (2 years) I have been out of the supra game, I have been astonished at the increase in prices for these cars.
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive wheel system Coupé
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sports car
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Bumper
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Bumper Sedan
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Hood
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Engine Auto part
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Coupé
Vehicle door Vehicle Car Windshield Glass
Vehicle Car Engine Auto part Scrap
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Steering wheel Sedan
 
See less See more
10
#3 ·
I don't get the "inherited" part? Inherited means you give nothing to receive something. You traded a running car for two that don't.

Good luck with them.

Al
 
#7 ·
Update here: One thing i forgot to mention is the car came with a TON of extra parts, such as all manuals i need, struts with TEMS, Front and rear seats in nice blue cloth 9/10 condition, Side panels for the doors, brake calipers, whole A arms, a rear diff, a rack and pinion, two heater cores, a whole gauge clutser and more.... Check it out.

Auto part Technology Tire Automotive tire Vehicle
Motor vehicle Auto part Automotive tire Vehicle Engine
Room
Material property Label
Tire Automotive tire Auto part Automotive wheel system Room



Motor vehicle Vehicle Car Auto part Engine

gauge cluster maroon.jpg supra parts garage.jpg supra josh sitting on tank.jpg
. overall parts.jpg 2nd overall parts.jpg supra manuals.jpg

Progress on these, have attempted to get the maroon supra to start with no avail.. yet... It cranks great but my guess it's been sitting almost 15 years, the registration on the plates it has on expired in 2004. Ran a compression test on cyl 1 with over 130psi, going to check the other 5 cylinders tomorrow. Engine light comes on when key is turned on which is good, spark on cyl 1. The gas is bad, so I pulled the fuel tank and am going to swap over the fuel tank from the white one as it sits since I know that car runs. I took off the air filter housing to find a K&N air filter caked with dirt! Cleaned it out. Going to put brand new plugs and wires (brand new ngk wires came in the car) on and see what happens. Broke a lot of hoses, they are all very rotted. Definitely needs alot of TLC.
Auto part Automotive wheel system Wheel Automotive tire Automotive exterior
Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle Carburetor
Auto part Engine

broken hose 7m.jpg valve cover shot maroon supra.jpg supra pulling fuel tank out.jpg
 
#51 ·
Update -

So over the last week I have been doing some maintenance, I changed the timing belt, waterpump, cam seals, most all radiator hoses and alot of vacuum/intake hoses, thermostat and painted and fixed some odds and ends. Also picked some rims and tires up for 100$, decent deal. Got everything together and it runs great, am getting a little overheat but I'm guessing I didn't burp the system well enough or maybe the new thermostat is busted. (no heat) Will look into it soon. Anyway here is some pics - Still have yet to wash it lol.
View attachment 248766 View attachment 248767 View attachment 248768 View attachment 248769
The car won’t start is caused by a bad igniter. When you open the hood it is up front on the driver side fender. The bad news is there are no new ones. Call every junkyard you can find and see if they have one. I have an 84 and I drove it and turned off the engine. When I went to restart it, it cranked, had fuel and compression but wouldn’t start. Took it to my Toyota dealer and the mechanic that has worked on it since new diagnosed it. Found one at a junkyard for $130. In Virginia and as soon as we hooked it up the car started. But because there were no parts in the US the dealer was able to call the manufacturer of the igniter in Japan who said they no longer made them, so the junkyard is your only option. No other way around it. Terry Hronek 3309874760. Good luck
 
#11 ·
The red one compression above 130 on all cylinders besides cyl #4 which is about 100. I drained the oil and out came a milk shake...... Clumpy creamy caramel looking milkshake.. So I am assuming BHG. The car runs fine, and doesn't seem to overheat in about the 10 minutes I ran it, and actually runs surprisingly well.

So at this point, I have 2 complete 7mgte motors, 1 which has a rod knock and 1 that has a BHG I assume.

I plan on putting a 2jz in the white Supra.
I also had the thought of attempting to rebuild a 7mgte, i've never rebuilt a motor before so I feel like It would be a good oppurtunity to learn, only thing is cost, is it really worth it? If i did I would want to keep the HP numbers right around stock. Could I get away with just rings, bearings, seals, gaskets and some machine work? How much would that look like in $$$?

What would you guys do?
 
#12 ·
well to be honest, if you have never rebuilt a motor before you have a lot to learn. you will be outside your skillset so it will take a lot of time to learn / gain confidence and do it right. this will be hard with a young family (finding the time...).

why not start with the head gasket on the red car ? its possible the bottom end is fine, will be ok for a while yet. its still a very involved mechanical operation....but the procedure is well documented. yes milk shake oil can very will trash the lower end, but not always.

one thing to keep in mind is "if it aint broken don't fix it" at the beginning of a project. you can be assured that once the car runs it will need a whole bunch of stuff (tires, suspension, brakes, anything rubber: belts hoses, tune up parts etc). no point in rebuilding the motor yet only to find out the car needs 2k of other parts to be road worthy. plus you can always rebuild a spare motor (white car motor, or 7mge you find locally for a few hundred) out of the car.
 
#13 ·
well to be honest, if you have never rebuilt a motor before you have a lot to learn. you will be outside your skillset so it will take a lot of time to learn / gain confidence and do it right. this will be hard with a young family (finding the time...).

why not start with the head gasket on the red car ? its possible the bottom end is fine, will be ok for a while yet. its still a very involved mechanical operation....but the procedure is well documented. yes milk shake oil can very will trash the lower end, but not always.

one thing to keep in mind is "if it aint broken don't fix it" at the beginning of a project. you can be assured that once the car runs it will need a whole bunch of stuff (tires, suspension, brakes, anything rubber: belts hoses, tune up parts etc). no point in rebuilding the motor yet only to find out the car needs 2k of other parts to be road worthy. plus you can always rebuild a spare motor (white car motor, or 7mge you find locally for a few hundred) out of the car.
I like this reply, I'm gonna do minimal to the red one and probably shift gears to 2jz swapping the white.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
Update - Changed the oil today in the burgundy and no milkshake! Looked really clean, i'm guessing who knows what happened in the 15 years or so it sat? Condensation build up inside the engine? Also maybe that's why the compression was down to 100psi on cyl 4? Gas varnished, creating gunk/ ring was not sealed due to no oil being in the cyl? (atleast that's what I hope for.) Will do a compression check soon. It does run well. Drive well? Not really. Just pulled it into my garage and got it on jack stands, changed the oil, now will put nicer tires on, change shocks (I have all 4 that came with the cars spare that look in good condition) I busted my fan blade because the shroud was broken.. Going to steal alot of parts off the white 7m since that's getting a jz motor one day. Will do more diagnosing and keep you updated.

Here is how the cars look now, I just moved into a new place last week. -
Vehicle Car Automobile repair shop Garage Subcompact car
Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Vehicle door
Vehicle Property Car Transport Room
 
#16 ·
feb28 and you have sun and green grass. that garage view is killing me....

here is the view from lower canada (Wi) this am ~ 15 degrees F.... but no wind so us natives think its a warm sunny morning

an no, I am not an eskimo.... there is heat in here when the door is shut !!

248551
 
#17 ·
Greetings, I would build the white car, because it's a manual trans, nobody wants a Supra Turbo auto, but the choice is yours.
feb28 and you have sun and green grass. that garage view is killing me....

here is the view from lower canada (Wi) this am ~ 15 degrees F.... but no wind so us natives think its a warm sunny morning

an no, I am not an eskimo.... there is heat in here when the door is shut !!

View attachment 248551

I have been a supra addict since I was 15 and got my first supra, the lack of patience, time, money and well the way life works in general I ended up buying and selling four Supras between age 15 and 20. Fast forward to today age 22, I am now living in Northern California with my wife and son and happened to trade my 2000 Lexus RX300 with 131k miles which I purchased for $2800 2.5 years ago, for two 1987 Turbo Supras, one of which is a white manual, Targa Top 179k miles and the other a red turbo auto hardtop 159k miles.
The white supra has a rod knock, the red has been sitting so long it will not start, ( I have only cranked on it for about 30 seconds or so). Both cars appear to be in very good shape, hardly any rust on either, and the interior on both is actually very clean, not many rips or tears. It also came with a plethora of parts, tires rims, interior trim, 6 seats in nice condition, basically a whole interior for a car.

I realize this will be a long process, given my history of giving up on the four past supras, and always regretting it I plan to try and stick these two out, my goal currently is to get the red one running, and potentially jz swap the white one, for just in the little of amount of time (2 years) I have been out of the supra game, I have been astonished at the increase in prices for these cars. View attachment 247804 View attachment 247805 View attachment 247806 View attachment 247807 View attachment 247808 View attachment 247810 View attachment 247809 View attachment 247812 View attachment 247813 View attachment 247814
 
#18 ·
Yeah that's the plan, but it's gonna be awhile because of funds. The plan right now is 2jz swap the white one. That could be a year out from now, acquiring parts for cheap, saving for the actual engine, pulling the curent engine, ect ect.

But the burgundy runs well and actually has alot going for it currently, so I'm gonna do a nice tuneup - timing belt, waterpump, belts, tensioners, hoses, basically fix the minimal things that are within my scope of knowledge and attempt to daily drive it.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
#19 ·
Update -

So over the last week I have been doing some maintenance, I changed the timing belt, waterpump, cam seals, most all radiator hoses and alot of vacuum/intake hoses, thermostat and painted and fixed some odds and ends. Also picked some rims and tires up for 100$, decent deal. Got everything together and it runs great, am getting a little overheat but I'm guessing I didn't burp the system well enough or maybe the new thermostat is busted. (no heat) Will look into it soon. Anyway here is some pics - Still have yet to wash it lol.
Auto part Engine Darkness Metal
Engine Vehicle Auto part Car Automotive engine part
Engine Vehicle Car Auto part Automotive engine part
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Coupé
 
#20 ·
So the ol BHG hit me today on the maroon one.. Which i had tall tell signs of from the beginning so not very surprised..

What to do? Headgasket job as cheap as possible?

(Budget is nill due to family and in California lol)

Or...??

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
#21 ·
bust that car into hundreds of small parts and ship it (get an ebay seller account)

you are sitting on a gold mine of used parts that will sell. if I was in your shoes, that is what I would do. easy 4-6k in sales. not exaggerating at all, have done exactly that myself 2x in the last decade.

the money coming in from the used parts then can be used to buy shiny new parts for the other one. the trick is to not sell the handful of things you need for the other one.
 
#27 ·
bust that car into hundreds of small parts and ship it (get an ebay seller account)

you are sitting on a gold mine of used parts that will sell. if I was in your shoes, that is what I would do. easy 4-6k in sales. not exaggerating at all, have done exactly that myself 2x in the last decade.

the money coming in from the used parts then can be used to buy shiny new parts for the other one. the trick is to not sell the handful of things you need for the other one.
Madison I like the idea of selling the maroon one to fund the white supra, I'm hoping this headgasket job goes well and I can post it for sale and drive it until it sells.

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
#22 ·
I figured the head gasket was coming as I read through you thread. Madison is right money to be made in parts. I got some from him to get ours running. I soon will be doing a auto to manual swap. It took a while to find a donor car, but it was easier than just parts and cheaper.
As for your car I would change the head gasket on your red car and drive it some more if you enjoy the car. We had a rod nock after bringing our car back to life and purchased a JDM 7m motor with a warrantee. Your plan to swap to a 2jz will give you new problems with your experience. I would look at dong something like that as you get funds to buy the engine then start parting the red car. Or if you don't need the spare parts for your cars sell them now for some funds.
good luck
 
  • Like
Reactions: h20dies
#23 · (Edited)
Guys, I have over 150psi in all 6 cylinders. I have white sweet smoke coming out of the exhaust,seems to be going through coolant lile crazy, also overheats, also runs rough randomly (also had the milkshake on the very first oil change after it had been sitting for 15 yrs) My 2nd oil change which it ran for about 1 hr had no milkshake... Is it possible to have a BHG with good compression?

Obviously I believe it's a BHG i just want confirmation before I replace it. Does anyone have an answer?

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
#25 ·
intermittent / very small failure

stop driving before you take out the bearings / cams. milkshake oil is awful to run on, very hard on things

your compression is good, and if even across all cyl I would just slam a HG and arp studs in it and be done. have a machine shop verify the head is square and give it a light plane to clean it up.

be very careful taking the head off and work the bolts out in the opposite pattern of installation. I always step the head bolts loose in several passes, staring with 45 degrees on each bolt.
 
#28 ·
Update -

So I got the head off, both times I took the turbo and the lower intake manifold off coolant fell out on the ground below. Lol. Anyway I don't see any signs of Blown Head Gasket, do you? I'm thinking throw it back on and re torque.
Vehicle Engine Car Auto part Mid-size car
Auto part Engine
Engine Auto part Vehicle Automotive engine part Car
Engine Auto part Automotive engine part Vehicle Car
Auto part Metal
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Metal
Auto part
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Metal
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Metal
Skull
 
#29 ·
So i got quoted 140$ for the head to be resurfaced, the guy i talked to specified that's with everything taken out and a bare head.. My question is.. How hard is it to dissasemble and reassemble the head? Is it worth it to just pay more or what? I'm pretty clueless on this topic. Could someone please shed some light on the subject?

Sent from my LM-G820 using Tapatalk
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top