Can my 1982 Supra be saved?

CraiginCentral · 02-05-2009, 04:08 AM

Hello, I am glad to have found this forum of fellow Supra owners. I am hoping to find some advice and suggestions from some of you friendly and knowledgeable enthusiasts. I almost don’t know where to begin.
I have a 1982 Toyota Celica Supra, L-Model. (That’s the automatic.) It is white with the black hatchback. I bought it in 1983, almost new, with 8,000 miles on it, and it has been my “baby” ever since. I have always done my best to take care of it. But that has not been easy.
The car now has 171,000 miles. While I live in the South now, I was in PA when I bought it, and it has some persistent rust areas. I have never had the luxury of being able to keep it in a garage. The plastic in the interior is cracking in some places. But worst of all, it is leaking oil, and, I believe, burning oil as well. The gas mileage has dropped dramatically: from 300 miles on a tank for most of its life to just about 200 miles.
A lot of the oil leakage was appearing in the spark plug wells, and I have replaced the cam cover gaskets twice. (I understand this was a common problem with this car.) But now my mechanic tells me that the worst of the leakage is coming from where the drive shaft exits the engine. And I suppose all of the smoke and foul smell indicates that the piston rings are bad.
I also had the transmission rebuilt not too many miles ago, at a cost of $1,600.
I mentioned the rust. I’ve had body guys try to fix up the corrosion spots a couple of times, but it tends to keep coming back. Perhaps the worst and most common rust problem these cars had was the trailing edge of the hatchback. After trying to get this patched a couple times, I bought another whole Supra (1985, see below) and switched that hatchback over to my car. It was a southern car and it didn’t seem to have the rust problem.
Last year my mechanic spent some time with the car, but his final verdict was that I had 3 options:

I could either do a full restoration, including, of course, the engine rebuild, as well as the body, interior, etc. He said he’s seen restorations cost from $16k on up! Not a possibility for me. OR …
Sell it to somebody who wants to restore it. OR …
Just keep driving it as-is until it falls apart.

The Other Car. In 1996, when the rusted out hatchback was getting really bad, I had found a dealer who could get me a new, unpainted hatchback for $625. I would have to pay to have it painted and pay to have my glass taken out and installed in the new one. Then I found and bought an entire 1985 red Supra, P-Model, for $500 and put that hatchback on my car. The 1985 has the same body and same 5M-GE engine as the 1982. The ’85 was evidently hit on the passenger side and has a dented right-front quarter panel. The rest of the body appears to be in fine shape. It is a sun-roof style. At the time I bought it I was told that the engine was shot; threw a rod or something. The interior, including the seats, is trashed for some reason. In addition to the hatchback, I have used one of the fog lights, something from the heater, a power window motor, and the turn signal assembly from the steering wheel column. It has all 4 of the very nice P-Model alloy wheels intact.
So now I have this terrible dilemma of what to do with these 2 once-wonderful pieces of machinery. I wish there was someone in my area who could take both of these cars, rebuild my engine, get what’s good from each, and give me back one good car. (At a price that I could afford.) Otherwise, do you think I should sell the red car to someone who wants to fix it up or use it to fix up their car, and drive my white one ‘til it drops? Should I sell the red one out in parts, the transmission here, the wheels there, etc.? The problem with that is that I can’t vouch for the working condition of any of the major mechanical parts; the transmission, differential, brakes, etc. Or should I finally bite the bullet and sell both of them together to someone who would fix up the ’82? This option might let “my baby” go out with a little more dignity than me just running it into the ground.
Please let me know if you have any helpful suggestions or contacts.
Sincerely,
Craig
P.S. Am I allowed to post this in both the general section and the 1982-1985 section?

Busted Knuckles · 02-06-2009, 01:04 AM

I read the entire post, and have just a few question to clear things up.

You mentioned the oil leak, and a rear main seal is a common leak on a car with this many miles and age. But, how do you arrive at bad piston rings? Do you get a lot of smoke out of the tailpipe? Are the plugs getting oil fouled?

And now, for some advice.

Sorry to hear about the rust. Once it starts, it is hard to stop it from spreading. This will be expensive to arrest it all together. Very labor intensive. If rebuilding the engine is more than your willing to do, drive it until the wheels fall off. You got way more value out of the car than you paid for. It will be very expensive to make this car worth any real value, and you'll never get that money back out of it. Sorry to say, but not all cars can last forever.

Unless you want to spend the money to repair the '85, keep it for parts until your ready to part with the the '82. Engine work alone would cost you $2500 or more if the block is ir-repairable. If you can store it for a while, selling it in parts will get you more than you paid for it. I did this for a month on a parts car I purchased to keep my '88 MK III working. But, I had to get rid of it quickly because of local ordinances. Got rid of it as soon as I got the purchase price out of various parts.

02-05-2009, 04:08 AM	#1
CraiginCentral Stock Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Upstate South Carolina Posts: 2	Can my 1982 Supra be saved? Hello, I am glad to have found this forum of fellow Supra owners. I am hoping to find some advice and suggestions from some of you friendly and knowledgeable enthusiasts. I almost don’t know where to begin. I have a 1982 Toyota Celica Supra, L-Model. (That’s the automatic.) It is white with the black hatchback. I bought it in 1983, almost new, with 8,000 miles on it, and it has been my “baby” ever since. I have always done my best to take care of it. But that has not been easy. The car now has 171,000 miles. While I live in the South now, I was in PA when I bought it, and it has some persistent rust areas. I have never had the luxury of being able to keep it in a garage. The plastic in the interior is cracking in some places. But worst of all, it is leaking oil, and, I believe, burning oil as well. The gas mileage has dropped dramatically: from 300 miles on a tank for most of its life to just about 200 miles. A lot of the oil leakage was appearing in the spark plug wells, and I have replaced the cam cover gaskets twice. (I understand this was a common problem with this car.) But now my mechanic tells me that the worst of the leakage is coming from where the drive shaft exits the engine. And I suppose all of the smoke and foul smell indicates that the piston rings are bad. I also had the transmission rebuilt not too many miles ago, at a cost of $1,600. I mentioned the rust. I’ve had body guys try to fix up the corrosion spots a couple of times, but it tends to keep coming back. Perhaps the worst and most common rust problem these cars had was the trailing edge of the hatchback. After trying to get this patched a couple times, I bought another whole Supra (1985, see below) and switched that hatchback over to my car. It was a southern car and it didn’t seem to have the rust problem. Last year my mechanic spent some time with the car, but his final verdict was that I had 3 options: I could either do a full restoration, including, of course, the engine rebuild, as well as the body, interior, etc. He said he’s seen restorations cost from $16k on up! Not a possibility for me. OR … Sell it to somebody who wants to restore it. OR … Just keep driving it as-is until it falls apart. The Other Car. In 1996, when the rusted out hatchback was getting really bad, I had found a dealer who could get me a new, unpainted hatchback for $625. I would have to pay to have it painted and pay to have my glass taken out and installed in the new one. Then I found and bought an entire 1985 red Supra, P-Model, for $500 and put that hatchback on my car. The 1985 has the same body and same 5M-GE engine as the 1982. The ’85 was evidently hit on the passenger side and has a dented right-front quarter panel. The rest of the body appears to be in fine shape. It is a sun-roof style. At the time I bought it I was told that the engine was shot; threw a rod or something. The interior, including the seats, is trashed for some reason. In addition to the hatchback, I have used one of the fog lights, something from the heater, a power window motor, and the turn signal assembly from the steering wheel column. It has all 4 of the very nice P-Model alloy wheels intact. So now I have this terrible dilemma of what to do with these 2 once-wonderful pieces of machinery. I wish there was someone in my area who could take both of these cars, rebuild my engine, get what’s good from each, and give me back one good car. (At a price that I could afford.) Otherwise, do you think I should sell the red car to someone who wants to fix it up or use it to fix up their car, and drive my white one ‘til it drops? Should I sell the red one out in parts, the transmission here, the wheels there, etc.? The problem with that is that I can’t vouch for the working condition of any of the major mechanical parts; the transmission, differential, brakes, etc. Or should I finally bite the bullet and sell both of them together to someone who would fix up the ’82? This option might let “my baby” go out with a little more dignity than me just running it into the ground. Please let me know if you have any helpful suggestions or contacts. Sincerely, Craig P.S. Am I allowed to post this in both the general section and the 1982-1985 section?

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02-06-2009, 01:04 AM	#2
Busted Knuckles 12psi boost Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Atlanta Posts: 300	I read the entire post, and have just a few question to clear things up. You mentioned the oil leak, and a rear main seal is a common leak on a car with this many miles and age. But, how do you arrive at bad piston rings? Do you get a lot of smoke out of the tailpipe? Are the plugs getting oil fouled? And now, for some advice. Sorry to hear about the rust. Once it starts, it is hard to stop it from spreading. This will be expensive to arrest it all together. Very labor intensive. If rebuilding the engine is more than your willing to do, drive it until the wheels fall off. You got way more value out of the car than you paid for. It will be very expensive to make this car worth any real value, and you'll never get that money back out of it. Sorry to say, but not all cars can last forever. Unless you want to spend the money to repair the '85, keep it for parts until your ready to part with the the '82. Engine work alone would cost you $2500 or more if the block is ir-repairable. If you can store it for a while, selling it in parts will get you more than you paid for it. I did this for a month on a parts car I purchased to keep my '88 MK III working. But, I had to get rid of it quickly because of local ordinances. Got rid of it as soon as I got the purchase price out of various parts.