What a find. I just picked up a 1989 turbo supra targa top mint with only 36,000 miles original owner. No issues and the head gasket was tested and it passed 100%. The frequent head gasket failures do concern me. Should I re-torque the factory head bolts and gasket to 72lbs or take it to a shop and replace the head gasket? Thank you
Re-torque? HG Yes or No ? 89 Supra turbo 36,000 miles
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it all depends on what you want to do how much you want to spend
if you are short on cash i would get a stock HG to replace it With ARP hardware
all the info is on the site
Welcome to Supramania!
if you are short on cash i would get a stock HG to replace it With ARP hardware
all the info is on the site
Welcome to Supramania!
whowouldfigga;931985 said:
don't listen to all the doom and gloom of the internet. retq to 70ish ft lbs and enjoy life. the #1 killer of HGs is poor maintenance and excessive boost. use your head and you'll be fine.
well i would just like to say welcome ...where are ya in the southeast? congtats on the find i think you will enjoy your new supra...and with 36,000 miles i would just retourqe stock bolts to 72ft lbs dont take the head off yet and i always say dont fix it unless its broke..you should find this forum to be lots of help..it has been to me! and if your a new supra owner here is the link to the toyota supra repair manual , it will help alot too. www.cygnusx1.net
gtsfirefighter
SM Expert on White trash
Go make a thread in the Introductions section and post lot's a pictures. Sounds like a great find. Take care of it.
Replacing the headgasket is not on the preventive maintance schedule. Flush out the cooling system & change the oil (synthetic is better) regularly. Worry about the headgasket after you've done some real mods to the engine.
Wow! Thanks for the replies. I must say this is the most active supra forum I have come across yet. Many thanks to the Admin, Moderators and Members. Just to give give you a little history my previous project card was a Ford Must. 5.0 notchback with over 200k miles. This would be my first import. I hope she treats me well. No disrespect intended. Pics and details will be posted shortly.
My first project will be changing the oil and checking the cooling system thoroughly. My reading tells me that the cooling system is critical on the supras. I plan on checking the fan shroud and under body cover, cleaning the outside of the radiator, flushing the coolant, changing the thermo to a 180 degree (Hot as Heck on FL), and replacing the rad cap.
As far as the re-torque I get mixed messages and opinions. Some say do it and some say don't. The do not crowd seems to follow the premise that a re-torque on previously torqued bolts is very inaccurate as far as the ft/lbs applied or read on the torque wrench. Along with that reason they state that a stock head gasket has seated itself and a re-torque could damage it causing a BHG. I am on the fence on the re-torque right now. Anybody know a good tarot card reader?
My first project will be changing the oil and checking the cooling system thoroughly. My reading tells me that the cooling system is critical on the supras. I plan on checking the fan shroud and under body cover, cleaning the outside of the radiator, flushing the coolant, changing the thermo to a 180 degree (Hot as Heck on FL), and replacing the rad cap.
As far as the re-torque I get mixed messages and opinions. Some say do it and some say don't. The do not crowd seems to follow the premise that a re-torque on previously torqued bolts is very inaccurate as far as the ft/lbs applied or read on the torque wrench. Along with that reason they state that a stock head gasket has seated itself and a re-torque could damage it causing a BHG. I am on the fence on the re-torque right now. Anybody know a good tarot card reader?
I'm late to this party but fwiw that's about the mileage (just after the warranty expired iirc) I re-torqued mine after buying the car new. HG was still good at the rebuild (110K miles). Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't though. Could have gone either way. Does that help? 
20 years of oil, water, heat cycles, etc.. Original headgaskets & bolts don't look to pretty when they come out. Why mess with them? If the car was really taken care of but it wasn't so old, then I'd say go for it.
I had ARP bolts and an oem headgasket that I retorqued. When I was supposed to.
I had ARP bolts and an oem headgasket that I retorqued. When I was supposed to.
Welcome! I would say retorque it. I did this to my JDM motor when i put it in..but still got a bhg 4k miles later. But i think it was mostly due to being over stock boost and being a little happy with the gas pedal. It wont hurt to do it though. You'll have less of a chance of blowing the HG with the retorque than you would not doing it. If it does blow, just replace with stock gasket and ARP studs torqued to 80.
Another thing you might want to look into is redoing the stock oil system to a full flow system http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62838
and ALWAYS run a qt. over factory to help keep from getting rodknock.
OH yea.. PICS!!!
Another thing you might want to look into is redoing the stock oil system to a full flow system http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62838
and ALWAYS run a qt. over factory to help keep from getting rodknock.
OH yea.. PICS!!!
suprarcr89
The Juggernaut has my old
Kai;932335 said:
+1 hes had a 500rwhp 7m for a few years now.. stock bottom end at that...
There are others on here also that will steer you in the right direction .. just research as much as possible and keep the maintenance up on it...
welcome to sm...