So who all has built their own motor?

[Turbo Targa]

I am new to the forums but I am definitly learning to love my new Supra.

I bought 3 of them for about 1150. Two of them motorless, and one running with a BHG. The one I plan on keeping is a 87 Targa Turbo 5 speed that is in need of love, and I intend to keep it.

Right now its sole purpose is going to be for daily driving while I repair my 2001 Mustang GT that has a rough rod knock. I love my Mustang and I wanted the Supra as a cheap daily driver but now it seems that it would be hard to part with. When my Mustang gets back on the road I would like to invest in the Supra as a performance car, but it doesn't seem so easy to find a reputable builder to build the motor for me.

I am going to buy for a forged shortblock for my Mustang since they are common, and I dont want to mess with building it myself and getting it wrong. But I figure I could use this 7mgte as a learning experience if I take my time with it.

How many of you have done it before and just how much experience did you have before you tried it? It seems like there is a good wealth of knowledge on here so I am sure it can be done.

Thanks!
Alex

 

[kwnate]

Supra is not a good "cheap" daily driver, in my experience. Im going to build a 7m next year, cant be that hard right!!?

 

[Chad]

Get the head gasket right and retouqe the whole head or ur gonna be fucked again. And you'll probly end up fallinf in love with the supra and you'll probly get rid of the mustang lol. But the supra will run good if you take care of it and baby it the occasional kill to a honda is allways healthy for it though.

 

[Turbo Targa]

Supra is not a good "cheap" daily driver, in my experience. Im going to build a 7m next year, cant be that hard right!!?

I agree in many ways, it was a very fast decision to buy it. I am just now learning the many aspects of the car. But after I put some money into the tires, the head gasket, maybe a few other things I hope to have a decent car to make the 4 mile drive everyday.

Worse comes to worse I could sell this car and make some dollars off it, but if I could avoid it I would.

 

[Reign_Maker]

Alex, welcome, first of all...

Second, congrats on the find... 3 Supras for 1150, score! There is so much to learn about these cars, and forced induction in general is a big field of learning... Ive been boosting for about a year now, ad Im still learning... And Im SO much in love with this car, its nuts! Im on my third Supra now, and it's built, REALLY built... I can beat the shit out of this car all day, and she just takes it and comes back for more... IF you do it right, IF you take your time, IF you learn and follow the examples of those who have made the mistakes and teach: then this car can be one of the best experiences you can ever have owning a car... You just have to realize that these ARE older cars, and most, unfortunately, have been mistreated...

Good luck with your project...

Jake

 

[GrimJack]

I'm building my engine now.

There is a fantastic thread by Adjuster in the FAQ section on how to build a 7M.

 

[Bigdough666]

I've built several motors, and the 7M was by FAR the hardest. Its not much different from any other engine in terms of what it takes to actually put it together, BUT the 7M is has very tight specs. Everything must be done to EXACT specs or it will not turn out the way you want it. Make sure you know what you are doin when you decide to tackle the 7M, its not as forgiving (or cheap to build) as other engines.

BTW - where are you located?

 

[tubbie]

You guys are sounding like a bunch of monks teaching a young padowan......lol

 

[SupraMario]

HahaH, srry i had to laugh at the fact that you assumed sence its a toyota its going to get good gas mileage. not at you, its just funny cause a lot of people tell me the same thing. "O, nice car, you must get at least 30MPG on that thing...."
and yes once the supra is up to par, ur going to toss the rustang.
and WELCOME TO SM. Let the 7m begin to kick your ass into the back of the seat.

 

[gixxer750]

I built my own, and its handled its abuse quite well for 12500 miles into the rebuilt....

 

[Turbo Targa]

Had you ever built a motor before that? How much were looking at in buying new tools? I have a good set of tools but none as far as motor specific tools.

 

[Turbo Targa]

I've built several motors, and the 7M was by FAR the hardest. Its not much different from any other engine in terms of what it takes to actually put it together, BUT the 7M is has very tight specs. Everything must be done to EXACT specs or it will not turn out the way you want it. Make sure you know what you are doin when you decide to tackle the 7M, its not as forgiving (or cheap to build) as other engines.

BTW - where are you located?

Forgot to answer that! I am located near Savanah, GA.

 

[Adjuster]

There are quite a few good write up's on how to build a nice 7M engine.

I learned alot from reading Will Neally's write up on 7MPower.com.
Searching this site and reading IJ's and Group A's build up's (And others like Figgie's oil ideas.)

I also tried to write down a few things I found out the hard way on the 3 motors I've built in the past two years for my own car. (I've done various amounts of the work on all three, but the first and the last were pretty much assembled by me completely, and the middle one was about 50% my work.)
Obviously I did not do the machine work, but found out the hard way to check, recheck and make sure it's to the tolerences you are paying for. (and should be getting.)

Tolerences that are totally fine on a typical racing small block V8 will make for a sour running 7MGTE. (Yes, it will run, but it's going to be dang noisy, and yes it will make power, but for how long?)

The clearances called for by ROSS and others seems to be safe for them, and noisy for you. (They show about 6k if you read the instructions for our bore size, and running boost, but your pistons will slap like crazy if you go that much. Especially if the pistons are coated to control heat and friction. I believe it keeps the piston from expanding as much, so they are louder still.) The down side of going with two narrow of a gap is the possibility that when your boosting, or shooting a large shot of N20, and really heat up the piston, it could stick in the bore, or gall the skirts. I think if they are slapping when cold, and get quiet when fully warmed up, your in no danger of ever sticking a piston the 7MGTE. (Again, mine are at 4k, and I'd go with 3.5k if I ever do it again just to make them quieter sooner.)

Also might go with a Weisco piston v/s the ROSS just to get a longer skirt design. (As it is, the skirts stick out the bottem of the bores with the stroker, it's just a case where you don't want the skirts to hit the crank counterweights, but a trimed deep skirt design would/should be fine.)

The upside of the ROSS pistons are the thick skirts, thick amounts of material around the pin bores, and pretty much bullet proof design of the piston. (Same goes for Pauter rods, they are tougher than the crank.) Due to a careless shop mechanic with a lead foot, my third motor actually twisted a crank from detonation, yet did not cause failure of the pistons or rods. (It did however, elongate the SBC rod bushings we used to fix the Flatlander screw up, and it pounded the crosshatch pattern out of the pin bores on the ROSS pistons on the side facing the crown, but did not cause the pin bore to register elongated with the measurement equipment we had. I ended up coating the bores with molydisulfied, and then re-honed them true again just to make sure the tolerances were as good as I could get them. (Using the same pistons again, also coated again on the skirts to remedy a bur that was cutting them at the bottem of the stroke. (Read the right up, there is a easy way to make sure you engine does not eat your piston skirts after being machined.)

Read everyone's threads about re-builds, and then have fun building your own. I hope you avoid the mistakes I've made, and listed, and the mistakes others have made and pointed out as well.

Good luck.