New Guy

[vanman]

Hey guys, I am new the forum, new to Supras, and new to large cars in general. This is the first car I have owned that weighed over 2800lbs, it is also the first car have owned with more than 4 cylinders

Anyway, I just bought a '87 Turbo targa top with 187,000 miles on it. It has had a few headgaskets (I guess this engine likes to eat them?), new timing belt, clutch, brakes, radiator, battery and a few other things. As far as I know, it only needs a starter to run. The body is straight, although the paint needs to be brought back to life. The interior is in surprisingly good shape, and overall I think it was a good deal and $500...But I havent got it to start yet!

Any tips on replacing the starter? I scoped it out, and it doenst look all that difficult, execpt maybe reaching the top bolt. Anything else I should know?

Anyway, Hello all! Glad to be a supra owner!

 

[driftedmk3]

hello!! welcome! enjoy your stay ;p

 

[ma71supraturbo]

The starter is fairly straight-forward. I generally use a number of extensions with 1 universal (wobbly) joint to get to the top starter bolt (socket-wrench will be just in front of/below the alternator)

 

[Supra Blues]

Welcome...

The started can be a bit of a pain, but definatly doable, and its truley not that bad.

 

[antman]

(socket-wrench will be just in front of/below the alternator)

thats how i did mine, but i also needed a wrench. mine has nuts :boink:

 

[supra90turbo]

when you do your starter... watch that rear knock sensor... the starter may not be too bad, but if you smack the knock sensor with a ratchet and break it... it will make you hate life.

just a little pointer

 

[americanjebus]

welcome to the forums and bet your life that your going to be having more questions like this in the future. this has got to be the best place when it comes to asking questions

 

[aye mate]

Welcome! Seems like you already know a little bit about cars! Thats good to hear and congrats on your first supra! GL with the starter replacment! This board is a wealth of knowledge and insight...as well as a host to some of the foremost inovators for MKIII custom work. Enjoy your stay!

 

[ztosupra]

welcome! glad i don't feel like the new guy anymore :boink:

 

[Anomili]

Hey, welcome to the forum! Always good to know that another supra has found a good home.

 

[Poatree]

welcome!

i had to replace my starter the 2nd day i owned the car in the pitch black

make sure its not just the little brown connector isn't all the way in or something before you pull it all out.

 

[TONY!]

My kind of Supra--TARGA Supra!
I am the biggest fan of those.

I am debating whether I should get my chassis welded or just get another body.
$500 on what you spend sounds like a deal!
I would be all over it even if it had no motor or interior.
Looks like you made out.

Yeah, about the car going through gaskets, keep in mind that your '87 3.0L car put out the same HP as the next year 5.7L IROC Z. Toyota probably put out the highest cylinder pressure car ever of its history, so they did not torque the bolts as hard as they should have.

As it is all over the threads here or in seaches, if you use an OEM gasket with the bolts torqued to 72FT/LBs you should be fine unless you are wanting to exceed 300RWHP. Much more info on that in the previous threads too.

Cool to have you with us.

P.S. I also took my starter out...but that was when I pulled the block out (head was out already) so I can't give you any advice on that unless you are doing it the way I did (with everything out). heh

 

[vanman]

Wow, what a response! Thanks for the warm reception guys! I have been on 3 other forums for different cars I have owned, and that was by far the best recepetion I have ever gottenn! I have been messing with that top bolt on the starter, but I just found my wobble socket, so I will mess with it some more. It needs tires, and maybe struts, but I havent even driven it so I dont know yet! If that is all it needs, I got a serious deal! Thanks again guys.

I do know some about cars, I just havent worked on them all that much!

 

[Loki]

Welcome to the site.

 

[GrimJack]

Glad to have you here. We're a pretty tight knit community, so we definitely try to make everyone feel welcome.

I use the same method for the starter - extensions out the front of the engine and a box end wrench on the back. If it needs replacing, buy one from a 91 or 92, they have threaded holes on the starter, so you don't need the nuts anymore. Way more convenient.

 

[Furball]

Welcome, good to see another Supra owner pop up. Hope you can get the car running soon!

 

[vanman]

It's ALIVE!! I decided to clean all the connections one more time before I went to the trouble of taking the dam starter out, and it turns out they were pretty dirty. Then I beat on the starter (sometimes knocks the magnets loose I heard), and the beast started right up! Well kinda... I am sure the gas is not great in it, and it feels like it is running on 5 cylinders, so I guess my next project is to pull the plugs, see how they look, and (eek) do a compression test. I hate doing those, they are so final! If thats that bad, thats it! Anyway, still needs tires really bad, and I got to get it insured before I try driving the beast around! But hey, I took a risk and bought a hadnt even heard run, jiggled some wires, and boom it runs! I couldnt be more thrilled.

 

[91TURBOSUPRA]

WELCOME!!!! of course do some general work like plugs, wires, oil, check all fluids, check intercooler pipes ect................goodluck!

 

[GrimJack]

Even a bad compression result isn't final. For what you bought the car for, you can put in an entirely new engine and still come out ahead.

 

[vanman]

Ok so I took apart all the crap on top of the engine yesterday with the intent of doing a compression test, only to realize that my compression tester sucks, and would not seal. So instead of buying a new one that I was only going to use every 4 years or something, I just bought some spark plugs, put it back together, and "WALAAA" it runs on all six. The front most cylinder's sparkplug was nasty. My theory is the car sat pointing down hill for almost six months, so maybe oil really built up on that one or something. Anyway, I started with $500 car that didn't start, to one that only ran on 5 cylinders, to a car that runs smooth! This car makes me feel like a good mechanic, everytime I touch it, it gets better.

Its still slow though. It feels like it is not getting any actual boost to the cylinders. the boost gauge moves up to about half way, maybe a little more, but the I never really feel it. I feels absolutely painful trying to rev it out in 1st gear, and the turbo whistle sounds funny and really loud. Could I have a boost leak?