zombie supra or bringing the dead back to life.

[tfhorst]

Hey guys,


I am the new owner of a 1987 supra n/a. All and all it is in good shape. It spent most of it's life in a garage, up intill this summer, and was driven by a cranky old man from the time it was new. But something went wrong and he parked it. It was found last winter and picked up for 300. He passed it on to me for scrap price. (500) here are the stats

New exaust, tires, fuel pump( that is now dead) plugs and wires.
Sat since 2003. Last driven 8 miles at the start of the summer parked again. And that is where I picked it up.

So what would you do to get this poor car that was left to die back into form?

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

Any pics? BTW there are a few "cranky old men " on this forum, I'm one of them show a little respect

 

[tfhorst]

yes sir.....hold up you are older than I am right?

 

[tfhorst]

Mmmm repeats, hadr to edit on a phone

 

[AJ'S 88NA]

Don't think it spent most of it's live in a garage. Any pic of the engine bay? You have a lot of work ahead of you weedhopper. Pretty sure I got you by a few years.

 

[tfhorst]

Here in pittsburgh "most of it's life in a garage" means anything that will drip dry will. The front fenders.....they fill with wet sand and salt. Have a set of fiberglass that came with to take care of most of the rust. The underside is clean for the north east. I will throw up more pics when I wake up and take them....seapage is a word I would use. Don't think this guy did much to keep up his car.....I mean come on he parked it for 9 years when the fuel pump went.

Work doesn't scare me, after all my free time lives up to it's name, and this is a no lose prop for me since I can part and make $. Don't really want to though.

It will run one way or another, even if out of a gas can, by tues.

 

[tfhorst]

so, any ideas? i got the tank being pulled cleaned and a new fuel pump going in. assuming it runs then i am going to do a seafoam cleanse (is that the best thing) of things and see what comes out.
what elese is there to do? flip/flush fluids, belts, plugs/wires and rust...... would you do anything else? are bushings going to stand up to sitting round?

 

[xzeror]

Nice Interior color , looks sorta like mine

 

[aloshan]

1. Strip car
2. Clean.
3. Replace rusty/ broken parts with new.
4. Transplant 7mgte in
5. Convert to r154
6. New paint job (get rid of that two tone IMO and throw some 5 spoke deep dishes on.
7. Run in.
8. Turn up boost.
9. Drive
10. Love life

 

[tfhorst]

aloshan,
if i had the time and money to get into a full strip down/refit i would, this is a sweet little $500 dollar car that i plan on driving for a year or two before i start pulling motors and trannys. i think i will do 2 3 9 and 10.....probably 6 too but i like the two tone brown, it was only made for a year and a half and not to many people wanted a brown sports car, i freaking love it, so low key.

i'm looking more for the basics on this thread, i know of at least 3 others that picked up supra projects that have been rotting away in someone's garage here in the burgh, amazing what you find in garages round here.

i see your running adjustable cams? how do you have yours set?

xzeror,
love your ride, your the only one who voted on my who would buy a brown sports car poll in my introductory thread.

 

[aloshan]

aloshan,
if i had the time and money to get into a full strip down/refit i would, this is a sweet little $500 dollar car that i plan on driving for a year or two before i start pulling motors and trannys. i think i will do 2 3 9 and 10.....probably 6 too but i like the two tone brown, it was only made for a year and a half and not to many people wanted a brown sports car, i freaking love it, so low key.

i'm looking more for the basics on this thread, i know of at least 3 others that picked up supra projects that have been rotting away in someone's garage here in the burgh, amazing what you find in garages round here.

i see your running adjustable cams? how do you have yours set?

xzeror,
love your ride, your the only one who voted on my who would buy a brown sports car poll in my introductory thread.

not adjusted yet , haven't put my standalone in and tuned yet

 

[tfhorst]

i reposted something i saw about what adjusting your cams does on my blog....didn't know what else to do with it because i need to reference it in a few days. it has been kinda a personal thing to me to fit the way i want to drive my car, not sure how you feel about it.
but either way it's one of those more you know things.

 

[Canuckrz]

Take off the rear bumper, and the trim pieces in front of the rear tires then decide how much further you want to take it. Also I would pull at least the rear section of the interior out to look for holes. Also feel inside the rear wheel wells inside the quarter panel holes.

I've taken my car from a far worse place than yours was but if I could go back I would have gotten a rust free shell, for the little extra you will have to pay you will save big time in the long run not having to do all the bodywork and other headaches.

Also I like the two tone brown (not so much the brown interior haha) while its a hard color to pull of, if you can it will look amazing.

 

[tfhorst]

Here is the motor pis aj asked for

 

[te72]

so, any ideas? i got the tank being pulled cleaned and a new fuel pump going in. assuming it runs then i am going to do a seafoam cleanse (is that the best thing) of things and see what comes out.
what elese is there to do? flip/flush fluids, belts, plugs/wires and rust...... would you do anything else? are bushings going to stand up to sitting round?

I would leave the seafoam out of the thought process, and start reading up in the oils/lubricants sub forum (http://www.supramania.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?108-Motor-Oil-Lubricants-amp-Filtration), before randomly pouring "magic" bottles in your motor.

Welcome aboard, you do have some work ahead of you, but I don't believe anything is truly "beyond the grave" for those with enough experience and dedication. Could be a really nice car in a few years, depending on your budget and skill set/patience.

 

[destrux]

If you plan on driving it before you start tearing it down to restore, at least wash and detail it, and pull the trim off to get the dirt out from behind it. The lower side trim comes off pretty easily. The same with the front fender liners, they trap a ton of dirt. Get a power washer and blast around the window moldings and anything that you don't want to remove. There will be a surprising amount of dirt that comes out. If you leave that dirt in there it will make the car rust out very quickly.

 

[tfhorst]

There will be not be a restore for at least a year, I bought this to road trip in. After that I will decide if I want to go through a full tear down and bring her back to glory. Right now it is a rip and roll op. This is my only car right now and I need to get her on the road asap for as little as $ as I can.

I have a detail shop that is going to power wash everything for me, have known those guys a wile so they will do me right.

The front fenders are shot and will be replaced after o put in the new fuel pump this weekend. Then it is a run and fix kind of thing taking on the big as they come. And knocking down the little things inbetween. Intill march where I am putting in a new head gasket. Then I am taking her on a trip to tx to neworleans to sc to to nyc and back to the burgh. Little east coast tour to see friends and family. You might be thinking I am nuts for picking a 24 year old car to di this in....I might be. But the best drive train I ever owned was out of a 87 toyota pick up. Bought it with 80,000 sold it with 27000, would redline it on the freeway for hours, never had to do anything major. If the supra drivetrain is anything like the 22re drivetrain I should be fine. But I degress,

I am suprized at how clean a lot of this car is. I felt along the lip on the wheel wells and there was no dirt buildup.

I used seafoaf on motorcycles before to devarnish them with ok results. I am trying to put off ripping the top half of the motor out and cleaning it intill next spring.
How about the differental? It leaks....seals or new?

 

[te72]

If you're expecting 22R reliability out of 99% of Supras, you're going to end up disappointed most likely. Not saying they don't make good road trip cars (far from it, just gotta be mindful of your speed), but if you don't cross your t's and dot your i's, you may end up stranded.

 

[xzeror]

good luck on trying to make the supra a road trip car lol

 

[Wildfire007]

The 7m, be it ge or gte isn't the most reliable engine in the world unless it is low miles with a properly done headjob on it. Even then some people shim the oil pump to get more flow because of oiling issues. Then again I've known people to replace the hg and torque it properly then have no problem out of it for over a decade. Personally when I get my next Supra(had to trade my first one because of a cross country move and it had a bhg) I am doing a 1jz-gte swap. Those engines are nearly indestructible, with forged internals and a mhg straight from factory.