10 reason MK3 Supras are garbage

[Turbo Habanero]

Well said Grim i like that.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Well said.

I'm not sure which group I'm in. Certainly I spent a long time in (mostly) the very first group. I bought an NA MA70 in 1996 with low mileage. Put basic maintenance into it, and drove it for a very long time and a LOT of miles without much except basic maintenance. Certainly long enough to be convinced that the 7M isn't inherently weak.

I also learned a lot in that time about building and maintaining a much higher performance 7M.

A few years back, I put a little of that knowledge into practice, and restored a BHGed 7M to my engine bay. I'll admit that I took my chances with the bottom end, and a few years later, I'm paying for that.

So, new motor time, and again, I'm going 7M. Since I had to buy the motor, probably, it would be little different if I were to have gone JZ, though I don't know anywhere that I could buy the JZ for what I paid for the 7M. Still, it could possibly have needed less in the way of parts, so it's even possible that I could have ended up with the same cost.

I have nothing against the JZ platform, first or second generation, and a well done swap into an A7 chassis always gets my respect. It's been done enough times now that there's a well documented method to it.

Am I confident in my ability to build a performance 7M with reliability? Not entirely, but there's only one way to ultimately find out. Should this engine fail, my next step will probably be an entirely different car, Probably MA70, possibly a JZA80, but also possibly not a Supra at all. (That would be weird, though, I've been a Supra owner for a very long time.) Maybe I'd just go with a RHD JZA70. I could deal with that, too.

 

[ATL88Supra]

7m's are easy to build correctly!

 

[505turboman]

[/QUOTE

Ahhhhh this guy LMFAO!!!!!,

Grimm jack, dude you're on fire with that statement! I'm on my second 7m same mk3 though

 

[Jayhall]

I am very happy with motor choice, and I hope you are very happy with yours. That is for everbody posting in this thread

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

7m's are easy to build correctly!

Good. Then I have a fighting shot at it.

 

[GrimJack]

Good. Then I have a fighting shot at it.

Actually, I agree with him. As long as you are OCD about the assembly, it should be fine. Check your clearances, use assembly lube, keep everything clean, use the correct torque settings, and most importantly, walk away if you start to get frustrated...

The 7M was the first engine I rebuilt, outside of lawn mowers or chainsaws, and it's still running flawlessly.

 

[te72]

IMO, there are basically four categories of Mk3 owners - and only two of them are common.

The *most* common are the folks that buy a Supra and keep it stock. They'll run into the occasional problem, but it's rarely going to be serious. If something as major as a BHG or rod knock rears it's ugly head, they'll scrap the car. These folks may be the most common in the real world, but they are not as common online.

The second group is in it for the low entry cost. They'll pick up a Supra (often one from the first group), rarely check for neglected maintenance, put on some power mods, push up the boost, break stuff, fix it poorly, break it again - or other parts, and complain bitterly about how weak the Mk3 Supra is by comparison to... well, anything else. This is the group that is responsible for the reputation of the 7M. It's also the vast majority of the online community.

Some of that second group will continue with the car, and end up with something built right. They separate into two distinct groups at this point.

The first group of survivors are the 7M diehards. They take what they have learned breaking an engine - or two, or six, and apply it to building a high power, high reliability, 7M. They are extremely touchy about the reputation built for their engine by the guys in the second group. They have usually sunk a lot of time, energy, and money into their car. They will rarely face a problem that cannot be dealt with, and tend to think most 7M owners are doing it wrong.

The second group of survivors are the JZ swappers. They have various reasons for dumping the 7M platform. They also have also put a lot of time, energy, and money into their car, and as such, will rarely face a problem that cannot be dealt with. They tend to be touchy about how much money it really cost them to swap engines - getting a straight answer about this is near impossible. They tend to think the JZ platform is superior, which is no surprise, as they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of swapping if there was no advantage to be found.

The bottom line is that both groups of survivors will have nice, reliable cars, that rarely have issues, and both will wholeheartedly debate their choice of power plant, using their vehicle as evidence in the debate. And despite what they say, the reason they have nice, reliable cars has nothing to do with the power plant, and everything to do with the fact that they are survivors, who have learned how to build, drive, and enjoy a Supra.

Dave, I say we start locking 7m vs JZ threads and making this the last word in all of them. Could not have said that better.

 

[GrimJack]

Dave, I say we start locking 7m vs JZ threads and making this the last word in all of them. Could not have said that better.

It helps a lot that I have both a 7M and a 2J car sitting in my driveway. They are BOTH damn reliable.

 

[Another MkIII]

Actually, I agree with him. As long as you are OCD about the assembly, it should be fine. Check your clearances, use assembly lube, keep everything clean, use the correct torque settings, and most importantly, walk away if you start to get frustrated...

The 7M was the first engine I rebuilt, outside of lawn mowers or chainsaws, and it's still running flawlessly.

A lot of this can be applied to relationships. :biglaugh:
-AM3

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Actually that last point hits pretty close to home.

I have a huge list of things that were going really well until I started to get frustrated, and then did something that I shouldn't have. A friend of mine has made it his personal mission when he's helping me to stand in front of me and tell me to put down whatever project and wait for another day.

OCD about assembly, check.

Check tolerances... Well, I still don't like plastigauge, but that's all part of the above, really.

Use assembly lube, check. (I used to use 30weight oil as assembly lube back in the day, but will be sure to get something better.)

Keep things clean, check. I'm working in a pretty bad environment, so I'm actually kind of worried about this, but I'll use lots of shop towels.

Correct torque, check. Bought a brand new torque wrench just for this project.

This will be the first engine that I've built in a very long time. I've done a couple of old V8s back in the day, but when I think about it, most of the tricky clearances stuff around the bearings was someone else's lead, with me basically following.

 

[te72]

A lot of this can be applied to relationships. :biglaugh:
-AM3

Hey, don't forget torque settings now... ever twist a nipple too hard? Yeah... :rofl: