Buying a 1987 Supra Turbo Friday Give me some info.

gaboonviper85

Supramania Contributor
Jan 13, 2008
3,236
0
0
39
Northeast Philly
mrchomponthis;1078906 said:
Sorry for posting on multiple threads I didn't know I would get replies so fast but I did. Thanks to all the supramania dudes i am already getting a ton of info on this car. I will try an get a picture up right now. I honestly have no idea why the head gasket blew, sorry I don't know too much about the car.

I'm gonna school you as to why the gasket blew

And here we go:
The head on your cars is aluminum, the block is cast iron....they both expand under heat but they expand differently then each other!

The linear expansion per unit length per deg fahr of aluminum is .00001234".....cast iron is .00000556"

So what this means is: if you had an aluminum rod 36" long at room temp (75 deg fahr) and heated it to 240 deg fahr (240-75=165) (165 deg fahr increase in temp)....so...36*.00001234*165=.073" longer then at 75deg

Do the math for cast iron and it will be alot different!!!

Now add that it's a soft composite headgasket between these two expanding surfaces and that toyota kinda screwed up by not having enough torque on the head bolts...the gasket was doomed from day 1!!

<edit IJ> Much better Goon! *Golf Clap*
 
Last edited:

figgie

Supramania Contributor
Mar 30, 2005
5,225
16
38
50
Twin Cities, Minnesot-ah
well

500 bux

what else is wrong with the car? The reason I ask is that when people offload a car (supra or not) it is because there are other issues, sometimes BIGGER than a minor BHG.

Electrical all squared away? Usually this is the biggest one why people off load the car. Starts with minor things and just escalates until you have entire system failures (EFI, Body electrical etc). I would check diag codes on that car. Luckily the motor does not have to run to check codes. You might find that it probably has a knock sensor failure along with even a AFM signal failure among other things. ;)

As Adjuster stated, be prepared to sink ALOT of money in getting that motor all squared away. Hose replacements and basic maintanance items will add up quickly.
 

ForcedTorque

Join the 92 Owners Group
Jul 11, 2005
6,099
2
38
58
Satsuma, Alabama, United States
How long has the car been sitting with a BHG? How well do you trust your bearings in a performance motor after sitting that long in water. I say water, because a lot of people keep driving the car with a slight BHG, and adding coolant when it needs it. It will still run strong until the slight gets worse. Coolant soon becomes straight water, because he's adding it so often.

Don't even think about just doing the gasket!
 

pogoism9

1UZ for me!
May 18, 2007
367
0
0
45
fredericksburg, va
How long has the car been sitting with a BHG? How well do you trust your bearings in a performance motor after sitting that long in water. I say water, because a lot of people keep driving the car with a slight BHG, and adding coolant when it needs it. It will still run strong until the slight gets worse. Coolant soon becomes straight water, because he's adding it so often.

The problem really is, if they run it after BHG, antifreeze will eat your bearings and cam saddles up in a heartbeat. Water isnt really going to hurt them, antifreeze will. The bearings are no big deal as long as it doesnt score the crank, but there are no bearings in the cam saddles/caps, so guess what, you could wind up having to locate a good head and matching cam caps.
 

supramang

New Member
Jun 14, 2008
74
0
0
Farmington
figgie;1079080 said:
well

500 bux

what else is wrong with the car? The reason I ask is that when people offload a car (supra or not) it is because there are other issues, sometimes BIGGER than a minor BHG.

Electrical all squared away? Usually this is the biggest one why people off load the car. Starts with minor things and just escalates until you have entire system failures (EFI, Body electrical etc). I would check diag codes on that car. Luckily the motor does not have to run to check codes. You might find that it probably has a knock sensor failure along with even a AFM signal failure among other things. ;)

As Adjuster stated, be prepared to sink ALOT of money in getting that motor all squared away. Hose replacements and basic maintanance items will add up quickly.

LOL NICE!!!!! USE ME AS A PERFECT EXAMPLE!! (this is all fact:)
 

Quin

Trans killer
Dec 5, 2006
1,989
0
36
33
Columbus, IN
Body looks to be very good, even in the motor is junk if the rest of the drivetrain is good and the interior is as nice as the exterior would suggest that's a reasonable price.
 

supramang

New Member
Jun 14, 2008
74
0
0
Farmington
figgie;1080243 said:
well just in what broke, Ryan! ;)

but I have seen it happen with another person that bought a "cheap" supra ;)

LOL i just thought it was funny that you put hose replacements last on your list because its my most recent "issue"
 

mrchomponthis

New Member
Jul 11, 2008
44
0
0
GG
Going to pick up the car tomorrow on a flat bed, pretty excited. I will make a thread on the supra rebuild section, once I get this car cracked apart. Do you guys have any reputable rebuild kits I should look into buying.