good deal or not

Gengus · 10-14-2007, 02:08 AM

hi all,
i am considering buying a '91 supra turbo 5 spd. The current owner took the head off because it was burning oil when started up. He broke his arm and has to sell car. The body and paint are close to perfect but the undercariage has rust. it dosnt look to deep but there is a good deal of it.i could not find rust anywhere else on it. Block and head both look good inside and comes with head gasket. 1500 hundred is the asking price. it has 116,000 miles

kwnate · 10-14-2007, 03:33 AM

Pics? If its blue or black I'd buy it in a heart beat so long as the rust was only on the crossmembers and not the actual body (easy to replace).

Gengus · 10-14-2007, 09:27 PM

I didnt take any pictures but im going to try and go back tomorow with a camera. does burning oil at startup sound like valve seals and would i be able to tell by looking at them since the head is already off.

supramacist · 10-15-2007, 04:19 AM

The problem is you don't really know what's wrong with it.
You don't know how much bondo is in the body work and if it's bad underneath.., there may be a reason the paint and body are done so well.

Iff you haven't already estimated the prices on all of the things you'll want to do to the car, you should. Because you'll drop another grand rather quickley on small shite and still not have done anything important to it.

Alot of us guys have crawled around on these things like jungle gyms.
That's why some would think it a deal.

If you have never done this type of thing before and you can't do it yourself, it's going to cost an a$$ load to get it done.

How is it you can tell the head and the block look good?? Did you remember to take your machinists level with you to look at the car??

It sounds like you are all about what the car could be instead of what it is.
It's 15 years old dude. If you do not own a timing light and a torque wrench and a multimeter.

You may want to think about something that already runs. Because you could put it back together to find out it has real problems and then have to tear it all down again.

You could drop another 10 grand into that car in the first year.
so ask yourselk if 11.5 still sounds like a good deal.

I have a 91 na. I have 10k locked into it and another 3 to finish.
Don't make the same mistake I did, and mine ran when I bought it.

Gengus · 10-16-2007, 09:21 PM

thank you for your reply,
i understand what you are saying about not knowing very much about the car because I cant hear it run which is the main reason i havnt purchased it yet. when i initially saw the rust underneath it scared me but upon further inspection i realize that it is all surface rust, most of which is from sitting for four years ( it sat in a garage that protected it from rain but not the large amounts of humidity we have here in va) rust is only on bare metal underneath car and all of the ruberized undercoating is still holding up strong.

It is possable that the car has been repainted but i cannot find any signs that would indicate it.

there isnt really much i can tell about the block but the owner did allow me to take the head with me to have it looked at and i just had a machine shop take a look at it. it has slight warpage: 45 dollars to shave off. the big problem (that i know of) is that it needs valve stem seals, a valve job and possibly guides. if i where to have all of this done at the machine shop it would run about $500

i plan to put the head back on myself but i am not sure about the valve work (obviosly some of it has to be done by a machine shop). I have the needed tools except the torque wrench which i am getting as a birthday present.

You say your gonna have 13,000 into your car by the time its done, does this include modifications? did you do most of the work yourself or how did you get that much money invlolved?

when i go look at the car a third time i am going to inpect the trans fluid (burnt particles in it, etc) at the moment its looking like im gonna buy the car, though i am taking my time in my decision as this is a pretty big gamble, all advice is greatly appreciated

Gengus · 10-19-2007, 01:07 AM

just seeing if anyone else had any opinions as it looks like im going to buy it tomorow

10-14-2007, 02:08 AM	#1
Gengus Stock Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 17	good deal or not hi all, i am considering buying a '91 supra turbo 5 spd. The current owner took the head off because it was burning oil when started up. He broke his arm and has to sell car. The body and paint are close to perfect but the undercariage has rust. it dosnt look to deep but there is a good deal of it.i could not find rust anywhere else on it. Block and head both look good inside and comes with head gasket. 1500 hundred is the asking price. it has 116,000 miles Last edited by Gengus; 10-14-2007 at 02:12 AM.

10-14-2007, 03:33 AM	#2
kwnate SP58GT Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: USA Posts: 633	Pics? If its blue or black I'd buy it in a heart beat so long as the rust was only on the crossmembers and not the actual body (easy to replace). __________________ Nate

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10-14-2007, 09:27 PM	#3
Gengus Stock Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 17	I didnt take any pictures but im going to try and go back tomorow with a camera. does burning oil at startup sound like valve seals and would i be able to tell by looking at them since the head is already off.

10-15-2007, 04:19 AM	#4
supramacist 1000whp postwhore Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Escape from the Prison Planet Posts: 1,356	The problem is you don't really know what's wrong with it. You don't know how much bondo is in the body work and if it's bad underneath.., there may be a reason the paint and body are done so well. Iff you haven't already estimated the prices on all of the things you'll want to do to the car, you should. Because you'll drop another grand rather quickley on small shite and still not have done anything important to it. Alot of us guys have crawled around on these things like jungle gyms. That's why some would think it a deal. If you have never done this type of thing before and you can't do it yourself, it's going to cost an a$$ load to get it done. How is it you can tell the head and the block look good?? Did you remember to take your machinists level with you to look at the car?? It sounds like you are all about what the car could be instead of what it is. It's 15 years old dude. If you do not own a timing light and a torque wrench and a multimeter. You may want to think about something that already runs. Because you could put it back together to find out it has real problems and then have to tear it all down again. You could drop another 10 grand into that car in the first year. so ask yourselk if 11.5 still sounds like a good deal. I have a 91 na. I have 10k locked into it and another 3 to finish. Don't make the same mistake I did, and mine ran when I bought it.

10-16-2007, 09:21 PM	#5
Gengus Stock Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 17	thank you for your reply, i understand what you are saying about not knowing very much about the car because I cant hear it run which is the main reason i havnt purchased it yet. when i initially saw the rust underneath it scared me but upon further inspection i realize that it is all surface rust, most of which is from sitting for four years ( it sat in a garage that protected it from rain but not the large amounts of humidity we have here in va) rust is only on bare metal underneath car and all of the ruberized undercoating is still holding up strong. It is possable that the car has been repainted but i cannot find any signs that would indicate it. there isnt really much i can tell about the block but the owner did allow me to take the head with me to have it looked at and i just had a machine shop take a look at it. it has slight warpage: 45 dollars to shave off. the big problem (that i know of) is that it needs valve stem seals, a valve job and possibly guides. if i where to have all of this done at the machine shop it would run about $500 i plan to put the head back on myself but i am not sure about the valve work (obviosly some of it has to be done by a machine shop). I have the needed tools except the torque wrench which i am getting as a birthday present. You say your gonna have 13,000 into your car by the time its done, does this include modifications? did you do most of the work yourself or how did you get that much money invlolved? when i go look at the car a third time i am going to inpect the trans fluid (burnt particles in it, etc) at the moment its looking like im gonna buy the car, though i am taking my time in my decision as this is a pretty big gamble, all advice is greatly appreciated

10-19-2007, 01:07 AM	#6
Gengus Stock Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Charlottesville, VA Posts: 17	just seeing if anyone else had any opinions as it looks like im going to buy it tomorow