My lucky find: 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo

[seken-cole]

So I found this 89 supra on craigslist, The ad only said 1989 Toyota Supra, blown head gasket, best offer. Or something along those lines.
So I send him an email asking if it's a manual (obviously thinking for a swap for my wagon) what kind of shape it was in etc etc and that if it was a 5 speed I would give him $500 for the car. He replies a little later and says sorry it's an auto, but its got a new rad, new tires, and a folder full of reciepts from the guy that owned it before and that he would take $500 for it. So first i'm bummed, aww no manual... but it is a well documented car i guess... i wonder if theres anything else good about it... maybe i'll still pick it up and fix it and flip it...or part it out. So i start asking a few more questions. 210k on the body. 90k on the tranny. targa top. My interest is a little more piqued, so i ask if i can come see it. He says its at the toyota dealership, so i stop by on a pizza delivery and take a quick peek (like literally 30seconds) looked pretty good. dirty, but not bad. So it's decided, i'll buy it and either fix it or part it. it's in good enough shape from a quick look that i'll at least make my money back and then some. So today I tell him I'm coming to pick it up and i have transfer papers and the $500. So he says, "ok sweet, do you want to stop by my house? I have a handful of stuff for the supra you can have if you want?" uhhh ok? sure? haha this just keeps getting better! So he gives me another set of supra rims in white, two with tires, the stock stereo and a haynes manual for the car (score!) So as we're driving to toyota he tells me a little about the car, only two owners before him, a lady and then the guy who kept all the reciepts (score again!) and a few other things where i was like "is this real? am i dreaming? $500?" So we get there, we pull his deck out, fair enough, he signs the papers, i give him the cash, and i wait for a tow truck. So i start snooping around the car getting a closer look at everything. Absolutely NO RUST. (SCORE!) Paint is great other than a bit of chipping/fade on the front bumper. (score!) Interior is in decent shape for 20 year old leather or fake leather or whatever. But the rear seats are BRAND SPANKIN NEW wtf? SCORE!!! Then the kicker.... I pop the hood. This whole time I thought the car was an n/a... the kid never once mentioned turbo... but sure enough.... 7m-g.....wait....what?... TE?...


















cressida, meet supra... now to try and make em both fit in there


Better pictures will come later...

My plan is to fix it and sell it, but its so clean... and every minute i sit in it it feels more like home! It's going to be a tough battle to let it go over the cressida wagon i think...

[87mk111]

Nice find!! I like the cressy too.

[seken-cole]

Started tearing her down tonight. Huge props to Chris Seddon for helping me out and props to Steve for risking dirtying his good pants to help out too haha.


Safety first at the Lawson Alleyway Chop Shop:


Obviously need fuel:

Almost there, finish off the teardown tomorrow, goodnight supra!

[87mk111]

Nice work so far.

[supraflymkiii]

Nice find, keep the Supra. And don't tell me you're using those rims as jackstands on the radiator core support.

[seken-cole]

lol no, the wood floor in that garage made for a sketchy jack stand set up, those were just there for "safety" in case it fell off when we were under haha. I'm not keeping it though. I'm using it to fund my cressida drift project once its fixed and sellable lol.

Bad news though, the cams in that head were severely warped so i'm looking for a new head/motor at the moment.

[supraflymkiii]

how do you know the cams are warped?

[TehEl1te]

That is so awesome! only $500!?