MkIII Supra

[JonnyV8]

I'm thinking of buying the above in the next few weeks but before I do just wanted a little advice from those with a bit more knowledge than myself.

Will probably spend £1500ish (is this about right?)
3.0 twin turbo is the one I'll be looking for
Will be looking for standard but may consider light mods like air filter and exhaust.

I know the head gasket is prone to go on these, anyone got any idea of the mileage the HG goes at and how much it costs to fix.
Also rusting on the rear arches seems to be quite common, anything I can do to prevent this if I get one?

what I'd like eventually is it to make it a road going track car so I'll probably add a few mods myself, take out most of the interior and replace with more suitable track gear, add strut braces and lighten it any way I can.

Any other advice would be helpful

thanks fellas

[cptsideways]

Right - They never made a 3.0TT MK3, they did make a 2.5TT with the awesome 1JZ & it is the one to have but its import only. UK Mk3's came with the 3.0T 7M engine otherwise known as the time bomb (head gaskets) UK cars are generally rusty nowadays often very.

If you have £1500 you'll just be able to find a JZA70 2.5TT if you can stritch a bit you will find one.

Alternative is the 2.0TT 1G engined imports, don't buy an auto though they are really slow, manuals are fine & its a good engine generally.

[JonnyV8]

cptsideways said:

They never made a 3.0TT MK3

oops, single it is then!

[Wadeski]

just out of interest, how well do the 2.5TT drive? I've heard they have a better setup than the UK cars, but are they "sporty" or really a bit of a cruiser? I know my question is a bit subjective but I'm interested nonetheless.

If you took it to a track, would it be a bit of a barge or a sorted coupe?

[only1mikey]

Always liked the look of the mk3, think they have great presence. I'd say you might be better off with an s13 200sx if it's track work your after though as there a fair few kilo's lighter... When i was looking at getting a mk3 a year or two ago as a fun car there were plenty about which had just had the head gasket replaced for the price your looking at paying.

[cptsideways]

Wadeski said:

just out of interest, how well do the 2.5TT drive? I've heard they have a better setup than the UK cars, but are they "sporty" or really a bit of a cruiser? I know my question is a bit subjective but I'm interested nonetheless.

If you took it to a track, would it be a bit of a barge or a sorted coupe?

If you get a Spec R which many of the imports will be they are very sorted from the factory indeed. Have a Torsen/ATB diff as standard. About as good a rwd handling as you'll ever get, they are also fast, very fast for a standard car.

[FlatPack]

It's never going to be a light and nimble sportscar, but as CptSideways says (and he should know a lot more than me!) it is well sorted in the handling department. Balance is superb and the 1JZ motor is pretty handy too.

I was in a similar position, always loved the cars but the engines in the UK ones were a let down and a lot of them have gone pretty rusty but now too so I ended up importing an 'R' from Japan (spent ages looking for a manual aerotop, but while it was an available model on the mkiii its rarer than a rare thing!). Had it for just over a year now, it gets used every day and so far touch wood, nothing significant has gone wrong

I'd hope you'd have to pay a bit more than £1500 for an 'R' (but that could just be wishful thinking on my part )

[stedale]

JonnyV8 said:

I'm thinking of buying the above in the next few weeks but before I do just wanted a little advice from those with a bit more knowledge than myself.

Will probably spend £1500ish (is this about right?)
3.0 twin turbo is the one I'll be looking for
Will be looking for standard but may consider light mods like air filter and exhaust.

I know the head gasket is prone to go on these, anyone got any idea of the mileage the HG goes at and how much it costs to fix.
Also rusting on the rear arches seems to be quite common, anything I can do to prevent this if I get one?

what I'd like eventually is it to make it a road going track car so I'll probably add a few mods myself, take out most of the interior and replace with more suitable track gear, add strut braces and lighten it any way I can.

Any other advice would be helpful

thanks fellas

In my experience HGs go at 80 to 100k (the original fitment). After that it's anyones guess. For a really sound repair it's an engine out job where both the block deck and head are lapped to a mirror finish and the engine is fitted with a metal head gasket and uprated head studs. Lots of work and cost even when most is done yourself. However, when done (and with other mods) it's possible to up the boost a little for a reasonable power boost. (think~300bhp maybe more without going the whole hog on the engine rebuild.)

The JZ engined cars are, I think, more robust in the HG department and more powerful stock. But normally 2.5-3k price wise. personally I'd go down this route if I returned to the marque (unmodified, although I am playing around with a lexus V8 transplant idea at the mo).

For a UK car I think its sometimes best to buy a decent example with a BHG for around £300 and do a really good repair on it. for a running car in good condition and MOT etc expect to pay no more than £1100 for the turbo.

got to www.mkiiisupra.net for more info and good advice/buyers guides.

Edited by stedale on Tuesday 4th December 13:54

Edited by stedale on Tuesday 4th December 13:55

[Wadeski]

i would worry about how much a new fancy digital dash costs when that burns out...cant be too many of them in the UK

[FlatPack]

The 80s tastic Digidash was only ever an option on Ltd models I think Not many cars have them...

[JonnyV8]

Wadeski said:

i would worry about how much a new fancy digital dash costs when that burns out...cant be too many of them in the UK

I'm with you on that one, I really like them, I'm a sucker for retro
but I wouldn't like to have to replace one.

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm definately gonna go with the turbo supra, for the sheer love of it more than anything else.
I'll be looking for one that has just had the HG done though.

I've seen one I like here PH

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/288116.htm

What's your opinion on the high mileage with the rebuild at 105k?
It seems to be difficult to find one thats turbo AND manual, so many autos around

Edited by JonnyV8 on Tuesday 4th December 17:25

[stedale]

JonnyV8 said:

Wadeski said:

i would worry about how much a new fancy digital dash costs when that burns out...cant be too many of them in the UK

I'm with you on that one, I really like them, I'm a sucker for retro
but I wouldn't like to have to replace one.

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm definately gonna go with the turbo supra, for the sheer love of it more than anything else.
I'll be looking for one that has just had the HG done though.

I've seen one I like here PH

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/288116.htm

What's your opinion on the high mileage with the rebuild at 105k?
It seems to be difficult to find one thats turbo AND manual, so many autos around

Edited by JonnyV8 on Tuesday 4th December 17:25

Imo thats a car I'd avoid if only because it costs little more to get a minter (but it will cost a lot more to tidy one up). keep an eye on ebay there seem to be plenty that come up there and don't be surprised if it takes a while to find a good one. mileage isn't such an issue just try and get the inside leg on what was actually done during the engine rebuild, although 60k since suggests it was done well as a poor job will only last six months or a year. However, if standard bolts and torque settings were used it might be due to go again soon.

Also red paint's a pita unless you like polishing.

[JonnyV8]

stedale said:

Imo thats a car I'd avoid if only because it costs little more to get a minter (but it will cost a lot more to tidy one up). keep an eye on ebay there seem to be plenty that come up there and don't be surprised if it takes a while to find a good one. mileage isn't such an issue just try and get the inside leg on what was actually done during the engine rebuild, although 60k since suggests it was done well as a poor job will only last six months or a year. However, if standard bolts and torque settings were used it might be due to go again soon.

Also red paint's a pita unless you like polishing.

I do like polishing

Although I think you're right about the unknown quality of the rebuild.

Just as an additional thought, how feasable would it be to buy a good manual, non turbo example and add the turbo on afterwards?

There seems to be a number of nice non turbo examples around,
or am I dreaming again

[Riknos]

RE the fact that there is so many auto's about, its due to the fact Japan is full of congestion, most people using cars like an auto for the stop start, hence the market out there is more auto orientated. However, this was back in the early 90's, since then, their public transport service has increased thousand fold and most commute with that, thus newer jap cars (i.e later mkiv supra's) are more commonly manual. Also, the fact they don't use cars to commute mirrors the fact that there are so many sports cars out there with seriously low mileage.

[stedale]

JonnyV8 said:

Just as an additional thought, how feasable would it be to buy a good manual, non turbo example and add the turbo on afterwards?

There seems to be a number of nice non turbo examples around,
or am I dreaming again

Sadly, nailing a turbo to the side of an N/A is not done since there are significant differences between the engines. So its a case of a complete engine swap, which will cost more than the finished car but you could have some fun upgrading the engine.

Its funny, when I was looking for mine I wanted a manual N/A but wished I'd got an auto (never thought I'd say that) turbo instead!

[JonnyV8]

stedale said:

JonnyV8 said:

Just as an additional thought, how feasable would it be to buy a good manual, non turbo example and add the turbo on afterwards?

There seems to be a number of nice non turbo examples around,
or am I dreaming again

Sadly, nailing a turbo to the side of an N/A is not done since there are significant differences between the engines. So its a case of a complete engine swap, which will cost more than the finished car but you could have some fun upgrading the engine.

Its funny, when I was looking for mine I wanted a manual N/A but wished I'd got an auto (never thought I'd say that) turbo instead!

thanks for that, I'll steer clear of that option!
I'll just have to be patient and wait for the right one to come along