Depressing rant

[doom26464]

just though I would let off some steam but anyways been trying to sell the supra for about 3 weeks and still no luck get a few calls but no one comes to look at it. I have dropped the price quite a few times too and over 5,000 dollars has been invested in the car. Its an n/a so mabye thats why no one wants to buy it but as soon as I can sell it I can begin my quest for a turbo supra (perferably a taraga top). I just been comsumed by this dream of owing a turbo supra w/ a taraga top I even quit my job to get a job with 4x the amount of hours and pay so I can make money to fund this crazy dream.
just my n.a is the only thing holding me back I guess no one wants a supra anymore this days or it could be becuases I live in crappy saskatchewan. Mabye im just a nut but I must spend hours apon hours just browsing the supra forums and watching supra videos over and over again. I feel like I have to buy a turbo no matter what and my knowledge of the supra has expanded alot and I continue to fill my head with more and more.
Being only 18 and almost on my 3rd car. I hope to have a turbo before summer so I can enjoy it for the summer but with my luck i doubt that and alos 2 weeks ago some girl hit my car and now im waiting for SGI to get me a new paint job but its taking forever and thats reallying fucking up my chances to sell it.

I think god doesn't want me to have a turbo supra :wtc:

 

[americanjebus]

dude its rare to see one at all much less buy one. hang in there, be patient, you'll get one if you realy want it , its just like everything else. its just takes time.

 

[IJ.]

If your NA is clean and straight NA/T it!

You're finding out an NA on the market is pretty well worthless as everyone wants a GTE, at least with the NA you know it's never had enough power to hurt the subframes/mounts and so on! (less chance that a boy racer has owned it and flogged it to death)

 

[Blue87T(Dan)]

Do the swap like IJ said especially if your getting new paint.

 

[doom26464]

the body and interior on it are like showroom condtion but i don't have the extra cash to na turbo it plus i have no mechnical knowledge.

 

[IJ.]

I don't quite understand then, Do you think you'll get enough for the NA to buy a GTE and fix any issues it's bound to have?

 

[MisterTurbineTwister]

Don't get down on yourself man! You'll get your dream car soon enough. I worked for minimum wage for my first car for 3 years and it payed off. I'm now the happy owner of a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T and NOBODY who doubted my ability to save and dicipline ever sets foot near it and they HATE it!

I hate to say it, but my '88 Supra looks just like yours, but it's a targa/ Turbo car and to be honest, The hard top is a better candidate for a faster car than a targa, not to mention that MOST turbo cars were targa cars from the get go. It was only special order to see a turbo hard top in '88.

I paid $800 for my car and had to do a LOT of work to it. To be honest, you WON'T find a turbo 5 speed car for $5000 that doesn't need mechanical work, let alone body or paint work. The Targa top adds about 4-500 pounds as well and it makes the chassis a little more unstable.

You are closer to the car that you want than you realize! You are actually in a better position than most for a high performance turbo car.

Don't put a turbo on your short block because your compression ratio won't call for it.

Go get a low milage pull out and send the engine to the machinist to have the engine setup with a metal head gasket and leave the rest of it alone. Get an '88 Turbo computer and dash ( I can get you both for about $240) and a turbo 5 speed wiring harness.

Get a builder R154 5 speed (not the same as the N/A 5 speed) and throw a new clutch in it and mount it to the new engine for the swap.

If you want to go all out with your supra, you're going to need some mechanical experience, just to keep up on it if you plan on modifying it. If you plan on doing anything but stock boost, you need to send your turbo engine to the machinist for resurfacing the head and block for the metal head gasket to hold up against anything higher than 8-10psi... So pulling the engine is essential. You might as well start with your car, because you can still drive it and build an engine and transmission.

Having the interior as nice as you say it is and a new paint job brings the value of the car up about $2000. It makes more sense to keep your car as a starting platform for a kick ass turbo car than to abandon what you have for a car that has a (most likely neglected) turbo that STILL needs to come out with the engine for any modifying.

If all you lack is mechanical knowledge and that's all that is keeping you from having your car turbocharged, buy tools ( you'll need them to do simple tune ups on a turbo car anyway) and start research or get yourself financial aid from the state to go to a mechanics school to learn faster.

There are a lot more solutions (that are better) to fix your problem. Just grab a factory shop manual and get a subscription to a good magazine and do research. You'll need it once you get a turbo car no matter if you sell this car to buy another GTE or do a GTE swap in this car, so start somewhere.

The only other way around doing your own work is paying a mechanic to do everything. Unless you are a rap star, in the NBA or NFL or on TV, you shouldn't own a fast toy car for a hobby without basic tools and mechanical knowledge that it takes to keep up on it or it will cost you a fortune and you could make mistakes or ignore simple symptoms that could be devastating to your engine or turbo.

Mechanical knowledge doesn't come quickly, but it is the best thing you can do as an owner of a high performance car. Especially a turbocharged car.

 

[drunk_medic]

"Get" some mechanical experience, man. Get in there, get your hands dirty and learn. Once you start, it's tough to stop.
As for having a hardtop, I was thinking of going this route; lighter, more rigid, less leaks. I considered doing the 2JZ swap into a hardtop, swapping my interior over to it, then using my current targa, stripped out, for a "lightweight" convertible/roadster conversion.

 

[CPT Furious]

When I first got my Supra, my mechanical knowledge was limited to how to change the oil. You don't just "get" mechanical experience, you learn along the way. I'd say go with the NA-T conversion since so many guys here have experience with it and could help you with questions AND you'll learn a ton about the car at the same time. Plus you'd be starting with a pretty clean car. However, go with what you feel comfortable with, but don't sell yourself short. You have the ability to do it, you just need to believe you can do it...

Hey Drunk...looking at my post, it might look like I was disagreeing with you, but I think we're saying the same thing!

 

[drunk_medic]

I was the same - learned along the way. My first mod was installing a HKS EVC IV and a HKS Turbo TimerV Type 1.
I took a wrong turn and smacked my rear rim, taking out all of the suspension on the rear passenger side - that was a lesson in driving, knowing your limits, and how to replace some parts.
Replaced the starter, learned to bleed the clutch.
Replaced brake calipers, learned how to replace them, brake pads, bleed brakes..

Simple stuff. You learn as you go, and build up to more difficult tasks as you go. If you are a man who prefers to change his oil own, you have the capacity to learn and do your own work. After I had Toyota replace my clutch with a TRD unit because the stock one went, and the bill came, I said "I HAVE to learn to do this on my own!" LoL

 

[doom26464]

hmm I have learned a bit of mechanical knowledge as I have gone along but i rather just start with a turbo for several reason
1.the turbo already there
2.I perferably want a targa top(I know the disadvantages and advantages of hardtop vrs targa so don't bitch to me about it)
3. I like all the option the turbo came with as well spoiler,TEMS, headlight washer and the nice turbo badge

 

[doom26464]

Don't get down on yourself man! You'll get your dream car soon enough. I worked for minimum wage for my first car for 3 years and it payed off. I'm now the happy owner of a 1968 Dodge Charger R/T and NOBODY who doubted my ability to save and dicipline ever sets foot near it and they HATE it!

I hate to say it, but my '88 Supra looks just like yours, but it's a targa/ Turbo car and to be honest, The hard top is a better candidate for a faster car than a targa, not to mention that MOST turbo cars were targa cars from the get go. It was only special order to see a turbo hard top in '88.

I paid $800 for my car and had to do a LOT of work to it. To be honest, you WON'T find a turbo 5 speed car for $5000 that doesn't need mechanical work, let alone body or paint work. The Targa top adds about 4-500 pounds as well and it makes the chassis a little more unstable.

You are closer to the car that you want than you realize! You are actually in a better position than most for a high performance turbo car.

Don't put a turbo on your short block because your compression ratio won't call for it.

Go get a low milage pull out and send the engine to the machinist to have the engine setup with a metal head gasket and leave the rest of it alone. Get an '88 Turbo computer and dash ( I can get you both for about $240) and a turbo 5 speed wiring harness.

Get a builder R154 5 speed (not the same as the N/A 5 speed) and throw a new clutch in it and mount it to the new engine for the swap.

If you want to go all out with your supra, you're going to need some mechanical experience, just to keep up on it if you plan on modifying it. If you plan on doing anything but stock boost, you need to send your turbo engine to the machinist for resurfacing the head and block for the metal head gasket to hold up against anything higher than 8-10psi... So pulling the engine is essential. You might as well start with your car, because you can still drive it and build an engine and transmission.

Having the interior as nice as you say it is and a new paint job brings the value of the car up about $2000. It makes more sense to keep your car as a starting platform for a kick ass turbo car than to abandon what you have for a car that has a (most likely neglected) turbo that STILL needs to come out with the engine for any modifying.

If all you lack is mechanical knowledge and that's all that is keeping you from having your car turbocharged, buy tools ( you'll need them to do simple tune ups on a turbo car anyway) and start research or get yourself financial aid from the state to go to a mechanics school to learn faster.

There are a lot more solutions (that are better) to fix your problem. Just grab a factory shop manual and get a subscription to a good magazine and do research. You'll need it once you get a turbo car no matter if you sell this car to buy another GTE or do a GTE swap in this car, so start somewhere.

The only other way around doing your own work is paying a mechanic to do everything. Unless you are a rap star, in the NBA or NFL or on TV, you shouldn't own a fast toy car for a hobby without basic tools and mechanical knowledge that it takes to keep up on it or it will cost you a fortune and you could make mistakes or ignore simple symptoms that could be devastating to your engine or turbo.

Mechanical knowledge doesn't come quickly, but it is the best thing you can do as an owner of a high performance car. Especially a turbocharged car.

i never give up on my dream hell i worked a year and half just so that my first car wouldn't be a shitty four door thats when i bought my probe GT then after that i decide to move on to bigger things the supra and now im after my ultimate goal a turbo taraga supra.

 

[Blue87T(Dan)]

the body and interior on it are like showroom condtion but i don't have the extra cash to na turbo it plus i have no mechnical knowledge.

I don't quite understand then, Do you think you'll get enough for the NA to buy a GTE and fix any issues it's bound to have?

Your not making tons of sense here. You have a mint interior and exterior but I assuming its a hardtop so thats why you want to move to get a targa.

Do you want a ragged out turbo targa that you will have to put thosands into just to get back to where you are now.

I completely understand the desire for a turbo and also a targa. If I had to pick one or the other, I would take the turbo first though I as well would like a targa.

As IJ said, once you sell yours and buy a turbo you will have one of two things happen.

The turbo/targa will be in much worse condition than the sweet N/A for about the same price or you will pay thousands more for the turbo that is in comparable conditon to your N/A.

Turbos go for more than N/A cars in the Supra world, sorry but that is a fact.

Bottom line is its going to cost 2-4K anyway if you want a sweet turbo.

Might as well use your existing "showroom conditon" chasis and spend the money on it

Not punishing you, just my .02 psi.

Best of luck with whatever you do.

Dan

By the way, there is nothing wrong with paying someone to do the work for you. You could have a shop swap in the engine/turbo/harness and do all the other changes yourself.

Check Dr. Jonez' page on what the swap entails.

 

[doom26464]

Your not making tons of sense here. You have a mint interior and exterior but I assuming its a hardtop so thats why you want to move to get a targa.

Do you want a ragged out turbo targa that you will have to put thosands into just to get back to where you are now.

I completely understand the desire for a turbo and also a targa. If I had to pick one or the other, I would take the turbo first though I as well would like a targa.

As IJ said, once you sell yours and buy a turbo you will have one of two things happen.

The turbo/targa will be in much worse condition than the sweet N/A for about the same price or you will pay thousands more for the turbo that is in comparable conditon to your N/A.

Turbos go for more than N/A cars in the Supra world, sorry but that is a fact.

Bottom line is its going to cost 2-4K anyway if you want a sweet turbo.

Might as well use your existing "showroom conditon" chasis and spend the money on it

Not punishing you, just my .02 psi.

Best of luck with whatever you do.

Dan

By the way, there is nothing wrong with paying someone to do the work for you. You could have a shop swap in the engine/turbo/harness and do all the other changes yourself.

Check Dr. Jonez' page on what the swap entails.

Im willing to spend a bit of cash to fix one up if I have to as well and also like I said I want the things a turbo has and a targa top. I only have one thing as long as the body doesn't have rust then im good. I can fix alot of things but body work I cannot do and engine stuff im limtied to but anything eles on the interior I can fix.
I just rather buy a turbo and start from there then wasting money on my n/a I don't want to bother to swap all that stuff in.

 

[Blue87T(Dan)]

Ok

Best of luck in your quest. If I was anywhere near you, I would toss you a few grand and grab the "showroom conditon" N/A.

Not sure how you got 5G's into it, but unless it is truly exceptional, I would not expect much more than 2K out of it.

Hope I'm wrong and you get much more.

What are you asking for it by the way.

Please specify US$ or CN$.

 

[doom26464]

canadian

and thnx for all the support guys I never give up on this dream, just appericate the fact that most of u have turbo supra and your very luck, thnx for everything :bigthumb:

 

[SupraMario]

yea do a NA-T, thats what im going to do sence mine is almost ment condition.

 

[MisterTurbineTwister]

Well, once you get a turbo car, targa or not, you will want more boost from it than a factory car can dish out.

The factory cars are advertised and rated at 6.8 PSI (on a 5 speed turbo car) and 5.5 PSI on a turbo automatic.

The problem you will be facing is this:

A factory boost can be manipulated on a stock, non-metal head gasket safely up to about 8-9 PSI. And I wouldn't dare do that on a car that has it's original head gasket still in place, torqued to factory specs at 52 foot lbs.

If you want any more PSI (10 and up) safely and you WILL have to go with a metal head gasket and a good set of head bolts or studs. There is no way around it.

The problem that a metal head gasket poses is that you have to machine the mating surfaces of the head and block specificly to accept and correctly seat a metal head gasket. This MUST be done on ANY 7M motor. Even the ones that came with a turbo from the factory, because they ALL used a non-metal head gasket.

Machining the head doesn't require that you remove the engine, but machining the engine block side does reqire removing it and disassembling the engine down to the block for the machine work.

In short: 10+ PSI safely means that you HAVE to pull the engine for machine work to accept a metal head gasket to withstand PSI levels higher than 8.5-9.0 PSI.

If you want a turbo car that has anything near 300HP or more and plan on running 10 or more PSI boost, you have to build the engine for it, including the metal head gasket.

With this in mind, just know that you won't be saving yourself ANY engine work by starting with a turbo car. The only advantages to owning a turbo car to start with is that you don't have to swap the wiring harness and computer, but that's not hard to do as long as you have the $75-150 for the harness and $80-160 for the turbo computer.

I do restorations for a living and I can tell you right now that the most expensive part about fixing up a car is body work and painting. If you have that taken care of, you are already ahead of the game.

If you are going to get a turbo car and plan on having a shop do the metal head gasket and modifications to it, you might as well have them put the engine back into your GOOD N/A car, unless you HAVE to have a targa.

Experience pays for itself ten fold. Having the knowledge in your hobby of choice is essential. Like said, mechanical experience doesn't come quickly, but you have to start somewhere man, and if you call some body shops about the average cost of a complete paint job, not even considering ANY body work, you'll be glad that you stuck with your good body to start with.

You can always learn with a builder engine AND you won't put your car out of comission when you are working on your turbo engine and learning along the way. It would be a great place to learn and by the time you finish it, you would know EVERYTHING about your car, which is a great feeling and will make you more aware of your car when you drive it.

Just think about all that for a few days and ask the body shop that you sent your car to to have it painted how much it would cost on a car that needed a complete paint job. Look into the costs of buying a "decent" turbo car for the money you can optomisticly get out of your car and call some engine wholsalers for prices on a 7MGTE and harness, call some machine shops and check out some websites for mod parts like the head gasket, etc. before making the ultimate decision.

Trust me about the body work and the engine, I do paint jobs and build hot rods for a living.

Let us know what you decide to do!

 

[MisterTurbineTwister]

By the way, if you want TEMS on your car, I have seen complete sets (strut tower units, wiring harness, comtroller and computer go for a little under $150 on ebay constantly. TEMS is an easy upgrade and is as simple as replacing struts and adding the plug in ECU and plugging into the Turbo ECU.

 

[doom26464]

supra Is sold already as of this coming up monday its gone.