I need advice, motor is knocking

[dave cuttill]

what do i do?

88 white supra turbo targa 5-speed, stock untouched but motor is blown, knocking and smoking, i just got it a couple of months ago planning on restoring, but now that i'm ready and have the money, i'm having a problem getting a replacement engine. also if i can't get a 7mgte engine, what else will bolt in and hook up easily?

thanks
dc

 

[IJ.]

What's your budget and skill level?

 

[dave cuttill]

how much do you think i will need please..i am going to get it running good, paint and enjoy, i paid 800 for the car, i just don't want to get too much into it...

also, i can get the old one out and the new one in, got the tools and access to a hoist and engine stand, 45 yrs old, experienced, but not a mechanic

 

[GrimJack]

Personally, I lean towards rebuilding what I already have... but I've got a lot of experience with these cars, and I live in a very urban area with a lot of excellent machinists available. I don't recognize your location, so I'm not sure what your circumstances are in the same regard.

 

[dave cuttill]

central illinois east of springfield,,,i can check about rebuilding but i heard its cheaper to replace,,,,probably not?

 

[GrimJack]

Replacing is certainly cheaper, the problem is, you're then left with an engine that is still an unknown quality. If you pull out the one you have, put in new pistons, rods, bearings, valves, etc, plus get all the right machine work done and bolt it together with a metal head gasket at the correct torque, you'll have essentially a brand new engine that's good for well in excess of 400 hp at the wheels. Well, if you buy forged pistons, anyway, and why wouldn't you, it's an extra $250 in a total bill of ... damn I'm old, the memory is going. I seem to recall spending ~5k on mine.

 

[whitemike]

Replacing is certainly cheaper, the problem is, you're then left with an engine that is still an unknown quality. If you pull out the one you have, put in new pistons, rods, bearings, valves, etc, plus get all the right machine work done and bolt it together with a metal head gasket at the correct torque, you'll have essentially a brand new engine that's good for well in excess of 400 hp at the wheels. Well, if you buy forged pistons, anyway, and why wouldn't you, it's an extra $250 in a total bill of ... damn I'm old, the memory is going. I seem to recall spending ~5k on mine.

If he just goes with a standard rebuild (aftermarket cast pistons.. NPR?) with ARP's, MHG.. new water pump, oil pump, etc. I think he can get away with less than $3k .. I'm going to ask Brian on the forums here how much he did his for. He did just a stock rebuild with a pretty low budget.

Mike

 

[dave cuttill]

sounds like i need to get a different engine so what do you think about an 1g gte,,,,cheaper for me with less hp but will it bolt right up car is an 88 supra white with targa and 5-speed

 

[GrimJack]

Sorry, I'm not following the logic... among other things, if you're going to move to a different Toyota powerplant, the 1G is the last engine I'd pick. That's the economy engine that was only offered in right hand drive countries - primarily Japan. They didn't export it to North America because they thought - rightly - that there's no way it would sell here.

Furthermore, have you ruled out a rebuild? And if so, why?

 

[honeydew]

I did a search for Supra 7MGTE Illinois and got this. It's in Texas but they will do free shipping.
http://www.ioffer.com/i/toyota-supra-jdm-7m-gte-motor-7mgte-engine-7m-gte-151046133?source=eisi
Throw some different variance of this into google and see what you get.

I personally wouldn't buy an engine unless I could touch it first and check it out. As I live in Toronto I can only give you the run down of places to buy here. About 1000Kms from where you are, I don't have shipping prices off the top of my head. You might get a possible drop-in condition. $700 CAD to walk out with it. Anything else that is going to bolt in is more expensive and much less plentiful. Plus for a car that you paid $800 for and don't want to spend money on, the last thing you want to do is move from the 7M and need to mess with harnesses, fabrication and tuning.

I will agree with everyone else. 1G is a nasty idea for lots of reasons. The 7M rebuilt is super solid (+you know what's in it exactly) and any other 7M you buy to replace your engine should at least be opened up to see if anything needs work. Just dropping in these imported engines have fueled some crazy horror stories. Even if the new engine is perfect, just opening it will need new gaskets.

On rebuilding what you have: What is it smoking? Oil or coolant? The knock is probably a rod bearing. A Blown Head Gasket could definitely cause a bad bearing, so does oil starvation. In either case, the problem is solvable possibly cheaper than replacing.

This is assuming it's a simple head gasket issue on an engine (Block clean and head not warped.) that is suitable for just a HG replacement. Assuming it's only a rod bearing and the rods/pistons are fine. A stock head gasket...what, $100? Rod bearings I think are around $28 each X 6 =$168, ARP Head studs $150 (?), Valve cover gaskets $50 (?) (Actually, just get a complete gasket set, they are cheaper than buying the gaskets individually. Set $150.). Flush/fill coolant and Oil change. Plugs. A few extras as you come across them. Plus your time.

 

[MarkIII4Me]

Dave, it sounds to me like your trying to get away with a new powerplant on the cheap. With this car, that is the wrong way to approach things. Be prepared to dump in thousands of dollars. There's no way around it. Sure, you can have a JDM 7M for around a grand and drop that it. But it'll leak all over the place and get bhg if it doesn't already have one. You'd have to rebuilt the thing or at the very least re-torque the head and replace all seals.

Unless that $800 car of yours is in great cosmetic condition, you'd be better off getting a Supra that runs good for a couple of grand and either sell your current one, or swap over better condition parts like body and interior in the better running one. Now this is coming from someone who got taken on a 90T seven year ago for $3,500. I stopped keeping track of how much I've dumped in after $25,000. In the last seven years I drove the car a total of 1000 miles and it is currently not running. The smartest thing I could have done was what I suggested to you. But I was cheap and stubborn and had to learn things the hard way.

 

[Poodles]

About the only "cheap" powerplants are 2JZ-GE's and 1UZ's and neither is really cheap. The 1G is cheap for a reason, nobody wants them and parts are extremely scarce (who was it that was hunting for a simple cap and rotor and couldn't find one?)

 

[IJ.]

About the only "cheap" powerplants are 2JZ-GE's and 1UZ's and neither is really cheap. The 1G is cheap for a reason, nobody wants them and parts are extremely scarce (who was it that was hunting for a simple cap and rotor and couldn't find one?)

Big Rob

1GTTE is like driving a 7M-GE in good condition

 

[honeydew]

MarkIII4Me, that is a very good point. There is no way around it. It would be like picking up an old 308 ferrari. Ya it's a ferrari for $20,000 but there's no way to maintain the thing without losing copious amounts of money and your mind. The MK3 really is a labour of love.