1987 supra turbo ?'s

[Vacationtime247]

I'm in the same situation. I like the MKIII. The body lines and styling are A1. The engine, is another story. Just taking out the 7M is a pain in the arse.

A stock running MKIII with a 7M GTE will run @$2500-$5000 and get you down the 1320 ' (1/4 mile) at best in the mid to low 14's

A converted MKIII with a 350 Chevy or any type LS engine will run $2500-$5000 and turn 12's or faster.

Let's say you got $5k to spend on this.

Spend $5k on a running and driving Supra in decent condition. Mileage will probably be in the 100k range. Sure, you can get in and drive it. But when and where will it decide to quit out on you. Then, you'll still have to rebuild the motor (or have someone else do it) at an exhorbent cost.

Spend $1000 on a Supra with a blown motor. It won't be that hard to find one. However, with any Supra purchase, you'll have to travel some to pick it up. Now you got $4k to spend on a conversion. An LS engine will no doubt cost more than a 350 would. But, the LS engines make wicked power for their size. Even a mildly built 5.3 truck engine can be built for @ $2500 and pump out 450+HP. You'd be looking at mid 12's in the Supra with that combo. Remember that the Supra's came with 3.72 or higher rear end gears. Most with 4.11's or higher. Great for the torque V8's put down.
VT247

Originally Posted by DaBoss07

Yea your right. I do love this car dont get me wrong I have wanted one since I was like 15 so you can see where I am coming from. But would it really be easier just to take the entire engine out and replace it with a LS type? Or just to take it and have it rebuilt....cause wouldnt that cost about the same?

[DaBoss07]

Originally Posted by Vacationtime247

I'm in the same situation. I like the MKIII. The body lines and styling are A1. The engine, is another story. Just taking out the 7M is a pain in the arse.

A stock running MKIII with a 7M GTE will run @$2500-$5000 and get you down the 1320 ' (1/4 mile) at best in the mid to low 14's

A converted MKIII with a 350 Chevy or any type LS engine will run $2500-$5000 and turn 12's or faster.

Let's say you got $5k to spend on this.

Spend $5k on a running and driving Supra in decent condition. Mileage will probably be in the 100k range. Sure, you can get in and drive it. But when and where will it decide to quit out on you. Then, you'll still have to rebuild the motor (or have someone else do it) at an exhorbent cost.

Spend $1000 on a Supra with a blown motor. It won't be that hard to find one. However, with any Supra purchase, you'll have to travel some to pick it up. Now you got $4k to spend on a conversion. An LS engine will no doubt cost more than a 350 would. But, the LS engines make wicked power for their size. Even a mildly built 5.3 truck engine can be built for @ $2500 and pump out 450+HP. You'd be looking at mid 12's in the Supra with that combo. Remember that the Supra's came with 3.72 or higher rear end gears. Most with 4.11's or higher. Great for the torque V8's put down.
VT247

Yea that sounds like a good idea! well I have about 2500 bucks from my motorcycle accident and im just trying to find a new a to b car (but of course with some power to it) So im guessing 1500 isnt too bad for this car since it is in running condition. But that means ill have about 1000 to do whatever with and maybe make it look nice. But this is where im at for now. Thanks so much for the details

[DaBoss07]

But does anyone think that 1500 for this car would be good?

[Vacationtime247]

For $1500 that's a pretty good deal, it still runs and drives. Even if it has high mileage and some body / paint issues. Point out the flaws and the mileage. If it's been for sale for a while, he'll probably take the cash. Take the car out and drive it. If you get that feeling of insecurity or something doesn't feel right, move on. Best of luck, post some pics up if you get it.
VT247

[DaBoss07]

Yea dude of course I will

[DaBoss07]

A little bit less expected than what I saw yesterday. Drove out to see this supra yesterday and just to say a couple of things were wrong with it.

Windsheild had a crack in the top left corner coming across,
the door handles were a little loose,
normal wear and tear on the outside (paint starting to fade),
looked and sounded like the radiator fan was knocking a little bit when we got up to speed,
I dont know if it was the turbo but something to the left was making a clug clug clug sound when it idled and drove,
also there was white smoke coming out of the back on occasion (he said it was from the fuel injector cleaner that his son added and he didnt know why it was smoking, said it had never done that before and they were running premium fuel in it), I think its from getting water in the block and or the head gasket.....but they said they replaced the head gasket a little bit ago.

If I can find out the reason of the white smoke would be great.....cause thats the only thing that bothered me really. If someone can give me some advice that would be great.

[DaBoss07]

Does anyone have any information for me?

[mirage83]

Originally Posted by DaBoss07

If I can find out the reason of the white smoke would be great.....cause thats the only thing that bothered me really. If someone can give me some advice that would be great.

White smoke and/or steam is generally coolant getting into the cylinders, and can mean a BHG (most likely), cracked head, or a cracked block. That the seller says they just replaced the hg a little while ago does NOT mean that they knew what they were doing and did a good job of it or that it fixed the problem if it wasn't the hg.

BTW, oil in the cylinders will give you greyish-dark smoke, and excess fuel (running rich) will be black.

The radiator fan knocking sounds like they may have screwed up the keyway on the crank where the harmonic balancer mounts. If so, that would really screw up the crank bearings given time. With the engine off try and rock the harmonic balancer a little, and with it running look and see if it's oscillating.

Not sure what the chug-chug sound is, though it "might" be compressor surge if the BOV isn't working properly.

All in all I'd at least do a test for exhaust gas residue in the radiator. Most radiator shops can do it quick and cheap, or you can do it yourself. That ought to tell you if you're looking at a bhg or not. In any case I'm not sure that I myself would trust the guy selling it. JMHO.

Oh, all rumors to the contrary, a properly maintained 7M is a good engine which can and will last a long time. There's no need to go to a non-7M engine in order to get a reliable engine so long as you take reasonable care of it.

[SUPRAMAN3468]

Dont you dare concider putting and american engine in that thing of beauty, if u want to do that just buy a camaro, u can find a 1 jz for a round 1000 on ebay saw one the other day, if u want a car the will bring u joy for another 20years, keep the 7m, get a 1jz, r a 2jz

[Makz]

White smoke...it may be burning oil form turbo/engine or coolant from head gasket. Try to remeber, was it smoke, or it looked more like steam?
Sounds are bad, it may be con rod bearings ...I guess, that engine gonna die quite soon(((
What was the oil pressure during the ride?
Also such sounds may do untied crankshaft pulley...it's also very-very bad

And one thing I know for 100% - Supra must be only with japanese engine...better with jz-series