Looking To Buy A MKIII Supra

[TomFraser]

I live in New England and a MKIII supra in good condition that is for sale does not exist.

When looking around at different supras for sale I have narrowed it down to two ads.

One ad is obviously written by an experienced mechanic type and he details that the car needs a coilpack, ecu (turbo + manual) and a fuel pump. It has a new metal headgasket as well. Since he replaced the headgasket with an aftermarket metal one should I be very worried about it leaking again? He also says that the rear wheel wells are rusted pretty bad, I don't care about this as long as it will last a while, if the rust was incredibly bad will the car run for a while?

The other ad has little info, states that the car overheats quickly. This makes me assume it is the headgasket leaking coolant. Are there any other possibilities?


Thanks for reading my essay and thank ahead of time for responses.

also if you prefer, please email me at tom@tomfraser.net

[89basemodel]

Its pretty much a guarantee that if you buy an MKIII in the northern states (I.E. where there is snow and salt on the streets) it is going to have rust on the rear wheel wells. They were notorious for this because unlike the front wheel wells they did not come with plastic splash shields in the rear. Most of this can be cured, it is just a matter of how much sanding welding and repainting you want to do. It will have to rust all the way up to the shock mounts however before it will affect performance of the car (other than rattling).

[TomFraser]

Originally Posted by 89basemodel

Its pretty much a guarantee that if you buy an MKIII in the northern states (I.E. where there is snow and salt on the streets) it is going to have rust on the rear wheel wells. They were notorious for this because unlike the front wheel wells they did not come with plastic splash shields in the rear. Most of this can be cured, it is just a matter of how much sanding welding and repainting you want to do. It will have to rust all the way up to the shock mounts however before it will affect performance of the car (other than rattling).

thanks... i have looked around and decided I would try some of this
Rust Prevention - Rust Inhibitor Corrosion Protection Coating

if that doesn't work then I will have my uncle fix it the proper way.


Also... if a metal headgasket is used to replace the old one, and the head is torqued to 72 ft/lb should I worry about another blown headgasket, as long as I am taking care?