is it worthit to upgrade my supra with stock turbo?

[fantasma87]

my fantasma it`s a 87 supra with stock turbo, i bought already some upgrades for it, 550 injectors, walbro 255 pump, light flywheel, fuel regulator, aftermarket intercooler, arp studs, and a few more things. my question is that if it`s worth it to leave the stock turbo or should i get a bigger kit? my plans for now its to put my supra to respond realy nice when i step on the gas. i was looking at some turbo kits on ebay and most of them have a t04 turbo with the manifold. they sell them for around $600. please let me know if its a good idea. thank you . Q

[Travis89Turbo]

stay away fron all un named eBay turbos. Especially etd motors I bought there turbo for my old 7m. it lasted one dyno run I tried another one from another company. Dont remember what the company was called stay away from any thing but name brand. A turbo is the heart of a boosted motor. Not the place to chimp on. Plan on spending Atleast 8 bills just for a turbo. Or an upgraded ct26 for 6 bills from driftmotion. Which is the only company I would buy an upgraded ct from. Imho

[Grandavi]

I personally like the 57 trim in the CT26 housing. No real hassle adding it.. but it all depends on what your goals are. You already have the 550 CC injectors and fuel pump setup.. i assume you have the lexus afm for the ECU to control it properly.. and have opened up the engine with a 3" exhaust. Now its all dependant on if you have a good engine core to handle added boost. You dont want to kick an old engine hard unless your sure its not going to fold on you.

Can someone explain why I would want an aftermarket intercooler unless I was going for over 450 HP?

[fantasma87]

wwaaooo thanks a lot for the respond , i believe you guys saved me some good $$ here. man I still don`t have the maf but I will try to get it soon, and yes I put the 3" exhaust. About the aftermarket intercooler thing is that I like the way it looks behind the stock bumper. I didnt cut the bumper to place it out but it fitted perfectly behind it. how much psi you think I can put with the upgrade i have already? Remenber I will place the hks 2.0mm head gasket and the apr studs. I want it safe for the engine but i want it to kick ass when i step on the gas. thanks . Q

[Grandavi]

Metal Headgasket = Shaved head if I understand it correctly. And you will want to have the block lapped as well. (of course.. I have not done this, nor am I a mechanic.. I am going off of my personal understanding from reading) Going metal headgasket is (from my understanding) the worst way to go if you do it wrong. I would research that prior pretty strongly... I wouldn't trust a shop unless I understood that myself.

After that, I have heard of people running 16-18 lbs boost, but again.. having never done it.. I dont know if I am right. Remember, its not only the headgasket when you start going in this direction. Really, though, unless your going to run it on a track (racing it) I dont see the need. Running a car with over 450 HP on the street is kinda insane.. lol. Would love to, but I drive fast and afterwards always think.. "man.. am I glad I didnt get caught doing that". At my age it would be embarassing.. lol. (not to mention very expensive if not criminal)

I dont know about the highways where you are, but 150 kph (think thats about 90 MPH) is very common on the runs between the 2 major cities here so I want to be able to do that without stressing the car too much. Its at 180 KPH and higher that I start to really worry... (although I think my 88 MKIII currently tops out at about 185 KPH)

[fantasma87]

i thought the head gasket when its replace the only thing that it have to be done is to clean realy good the old one from the block and head , then just istall the new one. man now you got me

[btwilson86]

Originally Posted by fantasma87

i thought the head gasket when its replace the only thing that it have to be done is to clean realy good the old one from the block and head , then just istall the new one. man now you got me

You shave the head and the block to remove small defects, such as defects in casting or from wear. The metal head gasket is much less forgiving than an OEM styled one, which is why they require more prep work. Also, have the machine shop that shaves the head/block record how much material they removed. Add that number to the thickness of the compressed OEM gasket, and look for the MHG that's closest to that thickness. This way you are able to maintain the stock compression ratio

[Grandavi]

yes.. compression! Thats the one thing people forget about when redoing a head gasket (some people...). When you redo the head gasket, do the valves as well (stupid not to) and check your compression prior to starting. The pistons/rings/valves/head gasket all are facd with the same pressures throughout their lives so there is a bit of wear and give that takes place. When you redo the head, if your rings are weak, you'll have a problem. If you have valve issues .. they will be increased.

Its not a huge problem, but I would not ever (personally) pull the head off and not redo the valves.. especially with the amount of people I have talked to with the same problem as mine.. oil leaking past the valve seals while sitting and blue smoke on startup.

Because I have only had my car for 3 years (about 7-9000 kms since buying it) I had a professional do a leakdown and compression test on it so I had a very good idea where it was standing at present. That tells me what to expect out of it. So far.. I am lucky.. all seems to be rock solid other than the valve seals.

[fantasma87]

thank you grandavi and btwilson and the rest that comment on my post. thats why its important to ask questions or listening to other people ,they may save you time and money on a problem. THIS IS MY DEAL, i will remove the engine and tranny with a friend at my house, i live in Kansas and around the area i havent see any auto shop capable of doing the head. if compression its good and i work with the valves and give a good clean on the block and gasket , it will be ok to replace the gasket with a normal one rather than the metal one? i`m planning to boost it up a little more, not for racing but to feel the joy when i step on it , "short trips"

[Grandavi]

In the old days, a good clean meant "draw-filing" the block and the head. With the Supra, i dont know if I would do that, all depends what you find. I would go ahead and then take pictures of your block and head surfaces and post them up here for us to peek at and then it will be easier to advise. The more pictures the better advice you will get. Also, note the spark plug condition of each cylinder (line em up and take a shot - in order...) as they also can tell a story. Expect to find oil in the spark plug galley if the valve cover gaskets were leaking (very common with the 7mGTE). You should use something like rags or a turkey baster to remove that oil so that it doesnt give you a wrong picture of the pistons when you remove the head if you pull the plugs first.

Good luck!