MKIII with overheating issues.
 

I came across a guy looking to sell his 86 MKiii for $800, from what he says it runs great, recently had the bottom end rebuilt (7m-ge), but now runs hot due to an issue with the heads. From my standpoint it's cheap and hopefully a cheap fix so I'm considering it, I need temporary cheap transportation for now and I don't intend to keep this engine in the car for more than a few months any way. The long term plan is to drop in a 1jzgte in this fall once the temps cool down and I get some free time. I just need to get some rough ideas as to what may be causing the car to overheat before I start dumping money into it. All in all I'd like to spend less than $3-400 on repairs if I can, anything more than that is going to require I look for another car instead and try for a mkiii sometime down the road.

Not too sure about the overheating, could be rad/intercooler/hoses but ya never know 'til you have a look at it. I'd suggest taking it to a shop it's like 50$ for them to check and diagnose it I believe.

As for the 1jzgtte swap, goodluck. I was planning to do this myself but went for the 7mgte as it was MUCH cheaper and more practical for doing it yourself. Because you don't need to the stretch the wiring harness and modify the clips as well as find the right engine mounts not to mention the tight fit and not getting a chaser/soarer instead of a supra motor.

Over heating
 

overheating ? It could be almost anything. I just went thru this. What it could be. Thermostat, radiator fan clutch water pump hoses head gasket ....and on take to someone (dealer) who has good diagnostic equipment or familiarity with Supras.Some money now can save you lots of money down the road.

Who rebuilt the bottom end? Originally the stats gave the wrong torque for the head bolts, so if they were not tightened down enough your head gasket could be leaking or worse. ive been told that a lot of 86's had blown head gaskets a couple times over until toyota realized the mistake. if a shop rebuilt and didnt know about this that could be your problem.

any leak or whole in your coolant system could cause overheating. When you loose some pressure your boiling point drops and car overheats. mine was overheating... head bolts were not torqued down evenly by the person who put it together last... so i am in the middle of a bottom end rebuild and gasket replacement myself.

I believe this is a 2009 post... :)