Questions before buying a Supra

[pwpanas]

Originally Posted by Meanmachine04

I agree dont start with a POS. Here is what I was going to do and most likely will do if I ever buy a MKIV supra. Most supras are gettin up there in miles no matter what and for the ones that are still very very low miles I see people often asking 50-80k for them :/ ...

If you don't mind me pointing it out, 60K-ish is still an EXCELLENT value for a low mileage mkiv. Look at it this way - a brand-new Mkiv TT sold for about $50K in 1993. Adjusting for the price of inflation, this calculates to $76,112.11, in 2008 dollars (try the calcs for yourself if you don't believe me). Add to that the fact that the guys that were buying the car brand-new at that time HAD NO IDEA the 6spd driveline would handle 1500rwhp, and the engine would put out 1000hp with no internal modifications, and the fact that less than 7000 tt's would ever be imported into the US (making this literally an ultra-rare collector gt sportscar), and you're pretty much looking at $60K being a real steal for an low mileage mkiv tt.

Tip: When you plan for maintenance of this car, remember it's a $50K+ gt sportscar, and budget accordingly. If you go into the project thinking you can get away with maintaining it like a corolla, your budget will be in for a real shock.

Originally Posted by Meanmachine04

...Then I would save up a little if needed and purchase a brand new TT motor....

Why? I've seen 100K+ well-taken-care-of 2jz-gte's that are perfectly fine. Only a compression/leakdown will tell you the condition of an engine - don't plan to pay good money to replace something that isn't broken.

Originally Posted by Meanmachine04

...Ok so now you would have a supra with 60-150k miles on the frame which I would think if its never been wrecked you could restore it and make sure its good to go and then you would pretty much have a nice supra with low miles on the engine....

The part your plan is missing is consideration for how well the car was maintained, and how hard it was driven. If it was poorly maintained, you may literally need to budget several thousand to bring it up to spec.

Originally Posted by Meanmachine04

...Most likely I would think if you are going to make an investment into the supra that you would keep it for awhile so almost starting urself over with newer parts imo doesnt seem like a bad idea since your in no rush to build it if you wanna do it right. So then you would drive it around stock for awhile and save up if you need then take out the twin turbo system and replace it with one big single turbo. My friends I believe is a T67.

I like this part of your plan*. Even bone-stock, the mkiv tt can be a LOT of fun to drive. Plan to drive it hard at every level as you upgrade it, and your driving skills will improve to match the car's performance at each level. Imho, this is MUCH better than upgrading everything up front and stepping into a 700rwhp+ mkiv turbo as a n00b.
* Except that with the T67 you'll need an upgraded fuel system, or meth injection...

Disclaimer: All just mho, fwiw, ymmv, etc...