What to do with my 86.5

[Im Chris Brown]

I just bought the car last thursday, havent even owned it a week and havent driven it more than a block. Im coming here for your guys professional opinion. I've wanted a supra for over a year or 2 now. I Just turned 19. I dont know much about cars but im in a car club...yea, its wierd.

i bought it in san diego for 1,800. it's got 146k miles on it. Its an 86.5 and if what i just learned on these forums is right, all 86.5's were non-turbo'd. Its Manual transmission. The guy bought it at a lein auction and didnt have the title in hand, rather, i have to fill out lein papers to get the title, thats fine.
New altenator, new belts, new clear coat of paint, new(er) wheels and its got a medalion exhaust (no piping) on that sounds pretty nice.

I had a friend drive it the 2 hours home and the battery basically died on us there. the next day i took it to my friends shop and they took a look at it.

The front brakes were at 20% and the rotors were a little jacked so we replaced rotors and brakes.

It was leaking oil, they think one of the bleed off hoses (i guess?) wasn't fully connected and it was just puking oil out. They replaced the valve gasket, spark plugs, spark plug wires, and some other junk that i need the work order for to tell you. The timing belt does need to be replaced as it looks like it never has been.

I spent 1,800 on the car.
i spent 252 on fees @ dmv
6-700 brakes, spark plugs, valve gasket, etc.

by the time i get it registered and smogged i will be at/over $3,000

what im asking you guys and looking for, is what would you guys do? It's the oldest of the oldest mkiii supra's, infact, it was made in april, the 4th month, which isnt even .5 through the year so it was one of the first ones off the block.

im 19 and have another 1.5k till im flat broke. I dont know the status on the head gasket nor do i know how much it would be to replace (could they do it while down there for the timing belt?). The AC doesnt turn on. The seller doesnt know if its a bad fuse or perchance the whole AC is bad.
Would you guys recomend trying to sell it for 3kish, take that money and try and find a 89+ supra? A turbo'd supra? I personally kind of dig the pre-89 tails but im looking for expert opinion. I dont mind bringing back the oldest of the old's, but if its going to be ridicolously expensive for me to do so and a bunch of headaches, i dont want to go that route.

I dont want to be constantly dumping money into it. Suprise suprise, i know. Is it going to be reliable? I unfortuantly only knew i wanted a supra and didnt get on forums (it would have been too depressing) and only get on now that i have one. The interior is a little jacked and i would like to replace it but we'll see.

Sorry if this was terribly conjumbled, my thought pattern when it comes to thread writing is terrible. Let me know if you have any questions. Ohh, and the guys at the shop love the car, haha.

moulding coming apart in areas. cracked drivers door handle

again, the car is not turbo'd, it just came with the badge. I havent had time to wash it or anything yet. guuuh! i get it back tomorrow

 

[Stanzaspeed]

These cars arn't the best to own when you arn't making a lot of cash. They tend to eat a hole in your wallet real soon if you fix things properly.

In cali i don't know if you would have too much luck selling for about 3K for an N/A, especially an older one. On the up side, it looks like a really clean car from your pics, and may be worth holding on to until you make better money so you can really put some love into the car.

if you hang in there and keep with it it could be a very nice car. If not, i my insane roommate may want to talk to you about purchasing the car from you since he is looking for a HT shell with no rust and is willing to ship

either way, best of luck with the car. Oh, you should post more pics too

 

[albo_bizak]

You are going to spend money on that car you like it or not, why because it is a Supra, nless if you just want to keep it bone stock. But i'm suggesting to get a second job just for the car. First thing you need to check is if you have a BHG ( blown head gasket ) cause Supras are well known for that especialy the turbo version but because you have N/A you should be ok for right now, but if it was me i would change it. Make sure there are no oil leaks. I would replace any old rubber hoses. That's about what i can think right now.

 

[Rennat]

pics of the engine bay please.

you have turbo wing... turbo badge, turbo looking exhaust... but you say its n/a?

 

[PROJECT N00b]

in for engine pics.

 

[albo_bizak]

it has an N/A gauge cluster

 

[CyFi6]

Its pretty hard to get back what you put into a car of this age. If you want it to be reliable, i would do all the standard tests such as leakage tests, compression, vacuum etc. to get an idea of the engines overall condition. An engine beat on and not taken care of at 50k miles is gonna be a hell of a lot worse than an engine taken care of at 200k miles. It really just depends on the history. The best thing you can do to save money is learn how to do all the stuff you need to do yourself. It saves an unimaginable amount of money, but even then, parts are expencive. Just remember, if something fails, dont throw parts at it. Make sure youre exactly sure of what it needs. Sometimes you can take things apart and fix/rebuild them internally instead of replacing a whole unit, and over the span of a few things like that you can save yourself a lot of money.

 

[Rennat]

it has an N/A gauge cluster

dont prove shit. i've seen plenty of turbos with volt gauges...

and if your buying a supra for an investment... just walk away now. you will NOT get back what you put in... especially into an n/a.

 

[albo_bizak]

dont prove shit. i've seen plenty of turbos with volt gauges...

Damn man relax was that your hot spot

 

[CyFi6]

lol

 

[Rennat]

relax? i love the internet... everyting gets taken WAY out of context... im just sayin in a general tone of voice. what you said doesnt prove anything.

i have no "hot spots"... lol

 

[ERA]

Can I have your mesh wheels? Lol.

 

[albo_bizak]

everyting gets taken WAY out of context

you are right about that.

 

[Im Chris Brown]

i kind of mentioned the BHG issue in the op. and i just realized what BHG meant today.

i dunno why i didnt get pics of the engine bay. i'll hop up on them tomorrow oh fo sho. I love those mesh wheels.

it defiantly wasnt meant as an investment. perhaps at time of purchase i could have resold it for a $300 profit, but it wouldnt have been worth the hassle. Im just looking at possibly recouping thus far invested money and starting over. im willing to take a hit but hopefully not one thats too much. Im confident i could find some father who's looking for a car for his kid and after seeing all the new things done to the car and condition of the car, would be willing to bargain around 3k.

 

[suprarx7nut]

I'd hold onto it and learn like crazy on these forums.

A good-running N/A for 3 grand isn't that bad a deal, IMO. Out here in CO, I had one hell of a time tracking down anything decent for under 3 grand.

If you just replaced brakes, plug wires, alternator and it has good paint you're off to a good start already. A BHG repair can be done right and cost as little as 250 bucks if you catch the BHG before any bearings take a hit.

All that being said, if you want a cheap car, this isn't it. If you want a Supra, you found a decent starting point.

My N/A has brought me to near flat broke and I'm ok with that.

 

[Im Chris Brown]

i completly understand what im getting into. maybe that "completly" word was a bit egregious, but i've wanted one for 2ish years; i got a rough idea.

Can the BHG issue be checked out as timing belt is being taken care of? they've gotta get in there sometime to do it, is it in the same vicinity?

Currently i just need something consitant and reliable, which im sure is something unheard of to you guys. I can throw small upgrades here and there at it but im not building a track car right away and not right now. The engine seems to be in really good condition, theres not much way for us to tell other than what we find in the engine and what the odometer says (correct?) but because of the condition of the car and the fact that the guy got it from the auction with the: turbo wing, badge, wheels, new altenator and belts, can explain that the guy was taking care of his whip.
sorry for saying whip.

Will i be able to get this NA running right dang skippy for a cool minute while life gets situated? Do you think i would be able to find an 89+ turbo 5speed for 3k, 3.5k in good enough shape for me to warrant the hassle? Again, you guys are pro's, im here to get your look on things.

Im big into paintball (actually will hopefully be working at a paintball company at the end of the month) and during a summer i could tell you the going rate new/used for virtually any part/product/tank/gun because i was on the forums non-stop. I know theres a few guys on here that can give me rough nearly accurate assumptions and thats what im looking for.

really though, looking down the road, i'd like to get it up to ~250 hp (low or what!) and am just curious what it would take for the NA to get there.

thanks guys! washed, engine pics, and a full report of what the shop did tomorrow!

 

[slidebabyslide]

When i had my n/a , Almost every one told me not to spend money on it to make it faster. I did the exhaust and intake. It was good for a while and super reliable. Just save your money and turbo it or sell it. You bumpers look fresh...nice. love the color.

 

[Im Chris Brown]

i was thinking if i could get it reliable for a while i could save the money for a swap. i kind of would rather have an NA car..just because...well, im different, but we'll see how it goes.

i like the positive responses. muy bueno.
=D

 

[MadNad]

What can I say..... I'm still in love with my N/A after 10+ years. In the past 4 months I've seen exactly 2 mkiii's, and one was broken down. This car will give you back what you put into it.

 

[Stanzaspeed]

This car will give you back what you put into it.

so true.

fix it with oem toyota / high quality aftermarket parts and it will treat you good :icon_bigg.