Used Supra engines from Japan. Are they OK?
 

I am thinking of replacing my whole engine (150,000 miles) rather than just changing the head gasket on my 1991 Supra. For $1,400 I can get a low mileage (40 to 60 K) engine from Japan. But I still will have to deal with the head gasket somewhere down the line.
Any advice? Anyone bought one of these Japan specials? Are they any good?
Thanks,
Stan

Why not just cut the middle man and replace it with a 1JZ they have no problems with head gaskets and plus the beauty of 11 PSI from the factory and a metal head gasket to boot. You can put 18 PSI through the stock turbos for a whilw before the fail and the motor can handle 700+ without internal mods. Plus being that you have a 91 then you got the right crossmember and they usually run about the same price as what you are looking at.

japanese engines are usually very good i heard somewhere that the japanese are encouraged to get rid of their old cars at certain mileages and buy a new car to boost up the economy, and they barely even drive their cars they ride bikes and trains most of the time, the japanese man i bought my 1jz from said supras are considered japanese muscle cars and the owners usually ride bikes and trains by day and cruise in their supras at night

Good idea, I guess
 

Well, that defintly sounds like the way to go, but I don't know anything about 1jz engines. What car do they come from? Will they swap out with the original 1991 mk3 without much of a fuss? Or are there modifications that must be made?
Thanks

They are a 2.5lt twin turbo. Standard about 206Kw. They came out in a few toyota's including the Supra 90-92 but only released in japan. I imported 1 and have been very happy with it. Just bought a single turbo conversion to replace the stock twins so hopefully i will be even happier with it soon...

When you look at a 1JZ next to the 2JZ in the mark 4 supra they look almost the same. This is because they are from the same family the 1JZ was the start of the 2JZ. Most of the parts for the 2JZ here in the states will fit the 1JZ and they have a metal head gasket from the factory. Pretty much from what I have seen most of the turbo kits for the 2JZ also say they are for the 1JZ as well and I have pulled the manifolds and the bolt hole match up. But there is actually a lot of stuff out there for that motor just have to go to the right place like here www.RHDjapan.com .

I mean that's what I'd do.
I would listen to someone that has around 100 posts or less.
They aren't going to be there to help you rebuild the JDM.

You can't run jdm engines without a complete rebuild before installation.
If you do it's a crap shoot.

Inevitabley you will be sorry for not going USDM.

Hmm, who told you that? Unless you know from it personialy happening to you, They have low milage i have never heard of anyone having to rebuild a jdm motor, my manager fixes imports and he replaces the engines with jdm and has never had to rebuild one, you better do some research before knocking jdms... im sry if you got ripped off on your jdm motor.

not necessarily a rebuild is needed but more like maintainence like replacing gaskets and seals here and there making sure theres no leaks, they do sit for a long time, and new fluids. it would be easier to rebuild a 7m with new headgaskets while its out of the car whether it jdm or usdm right?

i got a jdm engine, i bought it with the big turbo on it and the forged pistons
new rods, all arp studs, hks metal headgasket, hks cast iron exhaust manifold
it was ported already, the intake manifold wasnt sold to me cuz it was a jdm FFIM, plus more to list all this was with the jdm motor that i bought
somebody was playing with the motor i got at japan b4 they junked the car

and guess what, i ddnt rebuild the motor, and its running fine