What maintenance would you do immediately after purchase, no matter what?

[planemos]

Get a full energy suspension bushing kit and new alignment bolts. Doing that whole job is big (removing the original bushings is hard +do an alignment). Then check the timing. Get a timing light or borrow one. And if you can make aluminum subframe bushings easy then I would do that. I would start from the ground up basically. Afterwards, with the new shocks, car would feel tight. I would probably cut the springs too because I like lowered. Then I would run synthetic oil in the motor, where soon after I would discover many random leaks, and proceed to fix the leaks lol. Driving the car and getting to know it will give you the best idea of what you want to upgrade. Oh and online TSRM will tell you how to fix stuff and diagnose, read codes, everything.

 

[IndigoMKII]

Okay - what are you looking for? I'm trying to sort out what the common faults are, what are the critical areas that I should focus on, and how to diagnose if a problem exists.

I can read the TSRM, but that's a huge breadth of information. I want to focus on the important stuff first. So far most of what I've heard coincides with my thoughts - fluids, rubber parts and wear parts. I work in the marine and rail window manufacture industry I'm very aware of the time it takes neoprene rubber to get stiff, shrink and crack.

Want to know common places to check for heavy rust? Rear fender wells if the plastic is still on and remove the spare tire and tap on it pretty heavily with your hand, leaking hatches cause rust to form there easily.

 

[te72]

Well, if you want to get down to the real dirty part of the job, the TSRM outlines the entire chassis measurements, and shows you where to measure from, point to point. If anything is off by more than an acceptable (if there is such a thing, these were very well built cars) amount, then your car may have been in an accident at some point. I didn't find out until I finally got some brackets for the targa, and realized that they wouldn't line up right. The bracket on the right side was scratching the roof, because the car had been hit hard enough to tweak the chassis.

At this point I ran a carfax (autocheck is a good one as well), and found out that the car had been in a pretty serious accident about 8 years before I bought it. :nono:

Up to you, but given that I've had a really nice Supra (my old 88) and the current 89 Supra, I can say that I would rather have kept my 88. Funny how much a decent accident ruins a car... My 88 was by far the nicest car I've ever been in, the 89 by comparison? My old Celica was a nicer car, as far as how well it had held up. My point should be somewhat clear here...

 

[80083r]

Here in the great white north you are not allowed to transfer ownership until you buy a "used car package" that includes all ownership xfers previous, with mileage, and any accident reports. any accident where the damage is more that $500 must be reported by law.

yes - we're over-governed and live in a nanny state.

so, I can be fairly assured that my car has not been in an accident, but your point is well taken.

 

[te72]

Better to be sure than assume though, right?

If you don't want to go the whole distance with checking the thing out, at least check for funny bends or cracks in the door openings/sills, under the bumpers (just look under the car, should look straight for the most part), check for overspray, etc...

 

[destrux]

I didn't see it in the first few posts, but if you haven't... check the suspension joints very well. Especially the front lower ball joints and the rear lower/outer spherical joints (look like bushings, but aren't bushings).

Other than that, look over the whole car really good. My car only had 90,000 miles on it when I got it and it needed a lot of stuff in the suspension and brake system.

I'd also replace all the rubber brake hoses, they're very inexpensive, and the originals are a quarter century old.

 

[Nick M]

Okay - what are you looking for?

Things that are worn and out of specs for nomral operation.

I'm trying to sort out what the common faults are,

That doesn't exist as you think. Common failure are parts that wear out sooner than others. For example, brake pads. They create a clamping force through friction, converting the forward kinetic energy into heat energy. That is the cause of brake fade. You still have clamping force, but no more heat can be transfered. And pads wear thinner with usage.

what are the critical areas that I should focus on, and how to diagnose if a problem exists.

I don't know that you need to focus on any area. In about an hour, a pretty good inspection can be had. That is what front end shops do when you buy tires. They inspect the suspension for wear and tear. You probably here them say things about a left outer tie rod end has play in it. Or something similar. Or the wheel bearings.

Open the radiator cap and look inside. Is it rusty on the inside of the radiator? Then it doens't transfer heat to atmospher as well as it needs to. That is an example.