On the Fence: What's my project worth?

[SevenMKIII]

I have come to realize that if this doesn't run soon I will be left with no choice: probably taking a huge loss on my project. I just cannot ever find time to work on it and make any more progress. So tell me what you think I could get out of this, whether it be not running or if I do get it running just not tuned yet.

Here is my photobucket, the first 2 pages are just parts for sale. Page 3 is where some pics of the build up start. http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h193/silentsprintero/

1987 Supra turbo
78k original miles (on body)
5 speed
Brown/tan
Sunroof
3rd owner? (I was told this, I'll check out the VIN later to confirm)

Now the modifications, I have put well over $6,000 (NOT including the price of the car, just parts alone, no labor besides $250 machine work) into this car since January of '07 (when I joined SM). I just keep replacing parts...I did have this running before, but the CPS took a turn for the worse and so did (I think) the stock fuel pump. New CPS is in with new shielded wire ran through new plugs from the CPS to the field harness. Walbro 255 will be put in this weekend. And here is what is done to the car:

JDM 7MGTE
New water pump
New piston rings hand filed to spec
New oil pump
ACL Duraglide main/rod bearings & thrust washer
Engine gasket kit
HKS Bead 1.2mm MHG
ARP head studs
HKS Sport upgrade turbo
Cooleeze Megamouth 3” dp
HKS VPC
HKS GCC
HKS EVC II
Denso 550cc injectors
Battery
14” and 12” fans
Machine work:
Head sonic cleaned, new valve seals, milled Block decked and honed
Marlin Crawler shifter seat and bushing
Sparco shift knob
Kenwood double din CD
Russel’s stainless brake lines
Eibach lowering springs
24x12x3” intercooler
2.5” hardpipes, couplers, reducers, elbows
Driftmotion.com “Freddy” BOV
Driftmotion.com “Freddy” BOV mounting pipe
Walbro 255lph fuel pump
Duane’s old upper IC pipe (stainless) & HKS SSQV (extra)
12x10x1” oil cooler
eBay catch can
Prosport gauges:
Boost
Oil pressure (P/H/W)
Water temp
EGT
Autometer UEGO wideband 02 sensor
Universal gauge cups (5 stands each)
1/8NPT-1/8BSP adapter (oil pressure sender)
NGK spark plug wires
NGK copper spark plugs
Timing belt kit
Gates accy. belts
Alternator (almost new)
10ft. stainless 3” piping
eBay 3” inlet 4” outlet muffler
3” turbo intake pipe and filter
Silicone vacuum hose kit

GOOD:
It did run, and probably with not too much more work at all will be running very strong.
Some rare parts, how many HKS sport turbos ("bolt on") are there floating around these days?
IMHO pretty low miles for a 20 year old car (average of 3,900 per year!)
Pre-89 desimates all :naughty:

BAD:
Could use paint on the front and rear bumpers, just fading a bit.
Rock chip in windshield started a crack
Small bubble of rust on drivers front fender
At the moment not running

If I could get somewhere around what I paid, that would be great. I would hate to let it go for $3,500, literally burning $3,500-$4,000 or throwing that out the window and wasting all my time this past year. Trust me, if I could take a week or so off of work and school I would have this running like a champ. I quad-checked everything I was doing during the build, checked ALL clearances multiple times with plasti and a micrometer. Cleaned every part before putting it back on the motor. Spent a lot of time painting pieces to look nice :sarcasm: And overall I would really hate to see this go, but it has taken a huge toll on me, my girlfriend, and family (not to mention bank account :cry: ) So entertain me guys, I'm being open minded.

 

[Enraged]

all depends on your area. around here, a decent modded supra can go for $5-12k, depending on year, condition, etc.

 

[Poodles]

don't sell it... just put it ont eh back burner as you won't get what you've paid into it...

if it's not your primary transportation, let it sit until you have the time to work on it...

 

[thedave925]

Wait till it runs

 

[johnathan1]

don't sell it... just put it ont eh back burner as you won't get what you've paid into it...

if it's not your primary transportation, let it sit until you have the time to work on it...

That's all you can do...would be very foolish to sell it now, before you even get it running.

BTW, is that on OEM head gasket you have for sale, or is it metal?

 

[Poodles]

I spend the money on my car to ENJOY driving it, not to sell it later

it's a horrible finacial investment, but it's a good personal enjoyment investment to me...

 

[Jaguar_5]

I spend the money on my car to ENJOY driving it, not to sell it later

it's a horrible finacial investment, but it's a good personal enjoyment investment to me...

Exactly!!

I say you should DEFINITELY get it running. Even if you do sell it, it will be much easier to sell for closer to what you'd like to get out of it, alternatively you'll remember why you did all this work and enjoy driving it too much to sell, that's what I would do

 

[suprabad]

I spend the money on my car to ENJOY driving it, not to sell it later

it's a horrible finacial investment, but it's a good personal enjoyment investment to me...

Well said.

It might be a horrible financial investment (as compared to gold or blue chip stocks etc), but I look at as a personal investment in my happiness.

I can't drive a Camry (due respect, it's a good car) and feel good going down the road.

 

[SevenMKIII]

I fully understand what you guys are saying. But if it doesn't run after the fuel pump and ECU I won't know what else to do? I've replaced so many parts with known working parts, checked everything per tsrm, and still with no luck. I never planned on it taking this long, or anywhere near this. It should have been done months ago, and it will be my only transportation. My girlfriend has been driving me around basically all year and it's making me feel really bad about not having a running car.

johnathan: It's a stock one from an eBay engine gasket kit

 

[Poodles]

get a cheap beater if you can afford it and get the supra running...

it's probably something stupid...

 

[zm_br]

i'd say to not sell it. you've put a lot of time and money into it to just not have it finished.
i debated selling my supra when i picked up my scion. i needed a more reliable car to drive daily, and knew that i wouldn't have the time or money until a few more years. i'm glad i still have the supra and can't wait for it to be done. granted, you don't have an additional car to drive, though.

if you need an extra set of hands to help out, let me know. i'm just across the river from you.

 

[Jayhall]

dont sell it, be patient with it. If it gets to be overwhelming, go buy a beater car and drive that for a few months, beat the hell out of it and make it a POS. No better motivation than wanting to get out of a crappy car and into a kick ass one

 

[2543arvin]

I believe every supra owner starts to question themselves as you are when their car is down like this, I know I did. Right now, my car is down due to my seized turbo, and I know it will be worth my patience once its back on the road again.
Hell, my car goes down about every 2 weeks it seems, because something stock has needed to be upgraded and all my friends give me shit about my "broken" car, but once I get it going again and take them for a ride somewhere, they shut the hell up about it.:biglaugh:

 

[SevenMKIII]

I need reliability right now haha. I'm in my senior year, after this I'll need money for college, so if things break on this later I'll be in the same position. Nine months is a long time to be forced to look at your car and wish you could drive it but you can't actually drive it. I haven't ever actually ridden in a Supra, I wanted something 180* from what I was used to before (modded Z28). If I had the money to go buy a $500-$1,000 beater (reinstate insurance, title, registration...) I would but every check goes to car payment, phone, and whatever the "part of the week" is that "may or may not" fix my car...

My girlfriend actually got me to buy a classifieds paper thing yesterday...Passats aren't looking too shabby :biglaugh: **reliability Chris speaking here**

 

[KeithH]

A non-running car is a non-running car. No amount of go-fast goodies will raise the value - short of including a solid gold bar in the passenger seat.

You'd be better off parting it out or finishing the project - either way you have work ahead of you.

A car is only worth what someone PAID for it - NOT what someone will pay.

 

[staticpat]

all depends on your area. around here, a decent modded supra can go for $5-12k, depending on year, condition, etc.

Really ... I never got that memo. Guess I need to up my asking price :<.

I'm glad our cars value is going up but asking people to take out loans to buy these cars seems odd to me. I guess it fits in with the prices of the mr2s, mkivs, fd rx-7s and other overpriced 15 yr old cars.

I guess its a positive thing, just seems odd.

 

[Grimsta]

Oh your downtime has been nothing. I procrastinated 2 years after my original 7M blew. I had the used engine but was tired of workin on cars all day, i didnt want to come home and do it some more. Finally my desire to drive overrode my tiredness and i got it done. Now every so often something goes wrong, a blown EFI fuse, bad AFM, destroyed turbo and everytime it happens i want to get rid of the car and get a Nissan(cuz thats where my heart is) but i've come to terms and finally realized i wouldn't get near what i've put into the car so basically i'm stuck with it, and i've accepted that, lol. Now it just sits at home until there's a track event. I prep it, race/drift it, then make some other adjustments if need be and wait for the next event

 

[SevenMKIII]

Oh your downtime has been nothing. I procrastinated 2 years after my original 7M blew. I had the used engine but was tired of workin on cars all day, i didnt want to come home and do it some more. Finally my desire to drive overrode my tiredness and i got it done. Now every so often something goes wrong, a blown EFI fuse, bad AFM, destroyed turbo and everytime it happens i want to get rid of the car and get a Nissan(cuz thats where my heart is) but i've come to terms and finally realized i wouldn't get near what i've put into the car so basically i'm stuck with it, and i've accepted that, lol. Now it just sits at home until there's a track event. I prep it, race/drift it, then make some other adjustments if need be and wait for the next event

But all that time you had another car, no?

Say someone wants to trade their '87 with a 2JZGE/R154 swap straight up:sarcasm: ...It's tempting me like crazy :aigo:

 

[Jayhall]

Really ... I never got that memo. Guess I need to up my asking price :<.

I'm glad our cars value is going up but asking people to take out loans to buy these cars seems odd to me. I guess it fits in with the prices of the mr2s, mkivs, fd rx-7s and other overpriced 15 yr old cars.

I guess its a positive thing, just seems odd.

To be honast, around here the only MkIII ive seen sell for over 10k is a freshly imported JZA70

 

[2543arvin]

^^^I wouldnt trade for that, but thats my opinion.....