Supra is dead....
 

So... If you haven't seen or heard, the Supra is dead.

Had it at the shop getting the new wheels and tires squared away... Go to test drive to see if we can figure out what is making a rattle and a squeek and then it began... A knock... A bad knock....

So, a few weeks later I am bringing it to a friends house for temp storage until Dave can afford a new engine and it dies... So sad... Think it is a spun bearing. Anyway...

So the paint job I was saving for has become the engine swap/rebuild I am saving for.

Not sure where to go from here. I see these as options.

1. Domestic swap. Chevy short block or the like. A few Supra guys have done it. Not well received in the import community but I don't care. I'd like a strong motor that I can modify in the future.

2. Import swap. Lots of Toyota options and such. This is where my research is right now.

3. Rebuild. I have almost all of the parts to do the turbo conversion to the existing engine. Pull it apart and make it better, stronger, faster, etc...

Any thoughts or comments?

tough break
 

I have run into this before with the 86.5 I had costs alot to rebuild cost me 1300 dollars to get all the stuff I needed including crank. Fun part about the crank you have to get it from toyota it costs like 800 bucks and you get no core charge ouch. This is only if you have damaged the crank with the spun bearing which is no telling till you pull it apart and the haynes manual doesnt give you the correct torque settings for all the motors I got a toyota shop manual to get the job done works much better. Alright about the persuits of yours here the things I would go for rebuild like I said is gonna cost you and you can get a jdm 7mgte for like 800 bucks no tranny and no ecu but depends on where you look ebays a good choice but never know what you will get. The 350 looks crappy and chevy motors from experience like to eat cams and lifters and push rods for that matter kinda par for the course. So I guess what I am suggesting is a JDM swap you get a 40000 motor in good shape and fits the car with little to no mods to the body.

Rebuild/Turbo conversion would be your cheapest and easiest. If you want the car back on the road....go that way. And supradaddy, i have a lot of experience with chevy motors/v8s...ive never seen any one of them with a cam/lifter problem. Except for my dads camaro, throttle spring fell off and it ran at 8500 rpms for about...25 secs. Thats how long it took us to open the hood and pull the spark plug wires out. Of course he ghetto rigged the ignotion with no key cause he couldnt find it, so we couldnt shut it off..But the motor had a blown head gasket, a spun bearing, and one bent push rod. Not bad for the abuse. Thats the only time ive ever seen a motor with a cam problem. Unless of course your trying to make it run in high rpms with low rpm spings/valves/lifters, then you have a problem.

man that sux man sorry bout that ive been there and i bought a new engine it was down for a year

I don't really think you can get quality with a domestic swap. Maybe 50-80K out of it if your lucky. Japanese engines, especially Toyota's during the 80's are damn near bulletproof. Of course you just had a bad problem with yours but that is not typical.

I would just go with the JDM swap, it's cheaper and you are sticking with quality.

Have you ever seen a toyota with 410k miles on it? that still runs at all. I love japanese motors, And i also love american stuff, But my friend has a gmc pickup with a 350 with 410k miles on it. And it runs fine. All original motor and mechanical parts. It is so beat up but it still runs. Sometimes at parties he lets us hit the truck for a dollar a shot as long as its not a light or window.

My buddy acura integra has 350K miles on it and that sucker is still fast and runs like new it still amazes me

Jdm swap or rebuild. If you can find some serious cash for forged pistons, do both.

... why not supercharge it ? I have this image in my head of a n/a supra with flows, a boot mounted battery, a front mounted intercooler and a supercharger offa ...dunno. Something.




PS - A gmc pickup revs about this much |<-->| and holds enough oil for a small fishing trawler, all packed into a block cut with a gas plant from the side of the body shell of a burnt out sherman tank.
A jdm toyota revs about this much before the limiter comes into play |<--------->|
It's prolly something to do with the way they perform so well that they burn out faster.

Plus there's the type of driving they do in japan. Office-home, not talking D1 here. If you take the sump pan off of a newly imported rice v6 you'll notice a hell of a lot of sediment from short trips, long idling in traffic jams and such. Yank tanks get good runs their whole life, its a lot better for the engine.

Yes, i dont doubt japanese motors, But i would not go so far as to call american ones short lived. lol.

If you swap for a use engine, you may still have to rebuild it sooner or later, but sooner probably, so bite the bullet and just rebuild what you have.

Russ