Well, I bought my first car in 2009 I believe, and that car was a 1990 Toyota Supra. 3E5 Super Red, N/A, 5 Speed. However, with 214k on the clock, and all of them driven in Nebraska winters, there was a lot of cancer. After repairing a lot of the rust on the car (minus the rusty rocker panel), I did a GTE swap. A mere two weeks after I finished the swap, I was involved in an accident with a PT Cruiser. I don't have any pictures on hand, but if anyone wants them, I could find them. It ends up with the frame slightly bent, and the infamous no rear bumper (Damn near everyone gave me shit on this!). With the rusty rocker, bent frame, huge dent in the quarter panel, 225k on the clock, bad paint, and an N/A non ABS non targa (I've always wanted to cruise with the roof out..) shell, I decided it would be very wise to move on. I wanted to keep my first car, but it wasn't a wise plan at this point.
After weeks on Craigslist, SM, and even eBay, I found several cars. With half of them falling through, and the other half being nearly as bad as my shell, I found a 1989 Turbo Targa, 3E5 auto shell. Everything was converted to manual, and it only had 105k on the clock. I found it in Colorado, but half of the miles were driven in Arizona, and only 50k miles were put on it over 10 years while it was in Colorado. Theres a very very slight bit of rust in the driver side rear wheel well, but I figured for $500, you couldn't go wrong. Also, the car used to have a 2JZ swap making 400 WHP. I have a dyno chart to prove it! E85 + AEM EMS + 2JZ must = 400 whp
Also, there's a few upgrades done to the suspension on the 89. It has cross drilled and slotted rotors, stainless steel brake lines, what looks like EBC bluestuff brake pads, bilstein shocks, and eibach springs. Easily 500 dollars right there....
With the car home, I noticed that the black paint on the black half was NOT primer, and was actually Plasti-Dip. Peeling this stuff off was so easy and actually kind of fun.
So with the passenger side stripped of all impostering plasti-dip, I decided to attack the driver side. The passenger side paint was PERFECT, but the driver side is not so good. The PO decided to start sanding down the paint for new paint.. Or something.. But irregardless of the reasoning, the driver side rear quarter panel needs paint. No big deal, a couple hundred bucks at a family friends body shop and I should be on my way.
With that done, I decided to tackle pulling the engine out of "Rusty". Within a few days, here's where it's at.
At this time, I decided to see if I could increase my minimal oil pressure of roughly 4 psi. So I put the engine up on jackstands...
And pull the oil pump and lap the mating surfaces between the pump and the cover. The cover was incredibly warped, and the pump was not bad. With clearances in spec, I put the pump back in.
Now we're getting up to date. Just Saturday I dropped the engine into the new car...
Now I remounted my DM new style intercooler
And started hooking up all the accessories. With the harness repaired, I decided to tackle the Alternator wiring.
With that repaired, I was a little tired (It was 1 AM!) so I decided to see what was in the back seat. I folded the passenger seat forward, and found a genuine TRD shift knob on the floor!
I now pulled the driver side fender (The paint didn't match anyhow...) to try to find the boost sensor and cruise control wiring. I fished it out of the fender, hooked up the cruise control actuator, and boost sensor, climbed into the cabin, and turned the key to find a working boost gauge and cruise control that at least stays on (It used to light up the dash light for a second and then turn off).
So, now we're basically up to date. Today I was planning on starting it, but I ran into a little snag. I have everything hooked up, except for the fuel line. My dad removed the fuel line off of the old car, but there was a problem. I don't really know if the line on the 89 is aftermarket or what, but all I know is the fuel feed off of the old car does not fit the 89s fuel rail. So I'm going to take a union that screws onto the line on the 89, and the fuel soft line off the 90 up to Lincoln Clutch and Brake and see if they have an adapter for me. If not, I'll just have them make me a new line that fits the line on the 89.
After weeks on Craigslist, SM, and even eBay, I found several cars. With half of them falling through, and the other half being nearly as bad as my shell, I found a 1989 Turbo Targa, 3E5 auto shell. Everything was converted to manual, and it only had 105k on the clock. I found it in Colorado, but half of the miles were driven in Arizona, and only 50k miles were put on it over 10 years while it was in Colorado. Theres a very very slight bit of rust in the driver side rear wheel well, but I figured for $500, you couldn't go wrong. Also, the car used to have a 2JZ swap making 400 WHP. I have a dyno chart to prove it! E85 + AEM EMS + 2JZ must = 400 whp
Also, there's a few upgrades done to the suspension on the 89. It has cross drilled and slotted rotors, stainless steel brake lines, what looks like EBC bluestuff brake pads, bilstein shocks, and eibach springs. Easily 500 dollars right there....
With the car home, I noticed that the black paint on the black half was NOT primer, and was actually Plasti-Dip. Peeling this stuff off was so easy and actually kind of fun.
So with the passenger side stripped of all impostering plasti-dip, I decided to attack the driver side. The passenger side paint was PERFECT, but the driver side is not so good. The PO decided to start sanding down the paint for new paint.. Or something.. But irregardless of the reasoning, the driver side rear quarter panel needs paint. No big deal, a couple hundred bucks at a family friends body shop and I should be on my way.
With that done, I decided to tackle pulling the engine out of "Rusty". Within a few days, here's where it's at.
At this time, I decided to see if I could increase my minimal oil pressure of roughly 4 psi. So I put the engine up on jackstands...
And pull the oil pump and lap the mating surfaces between the pump and the cover. The cover was incredibly warped, and the pump was not bad. With clearances in spec, I put the pump back in.
Now we're getting up to date. Just Saturday I dropped the engine into the new car...
Now I remounted my DM new style intercooler
And started hooking up all the accessories. With the harness repaired, I decided to tackle the Alternator wiring.
With that repaired, I was a little tired (It was 1 AM!) so I decided to see what was in the back seat. I folded the passenger seat forward, and found a genuine TRD shift knob on the floor!
I now pulled the driver side fender (The paint didn't match anyhow...) to try to find the boost sensor and cruise control wiring. I fished it out of the fender, hooked up the cruise control actuator, and boost sensor, climbed into the cabin, and turned the key to find a working boost gauge and cruise control that at least stays on (It used to light up the dash light for a second and then turn off).
So, now we're basically up to date. Today I was planning on starting it, but I ran into a little snag. I have everything hooked up, except for the fuel line. My dad removed the fuel line off of the old car, but there was a problem. I don't really know if the line on the 89 is aftermarket or what, but all I know is the fuel feed off of the old car does not fit the 89s fuel rail. So I'm going to take a union that screws onto the line on the 89, and the fuel soft line off the 90 up to Lincoln Clutch and Brake and see if they have an adapter for me. If not, I'll just have them make me a new line that fits the line on the 89.
