im tinking of buying one

anyone ever owned one any pitfall i should look for im aware of the headgasket problem

if it helps it the 1990 with the 7m-gte engine

Had one for a little while, rust is another big pitfall on them

Had 7 of them not a good as a zed weak water pumps hg blows on cylinder 6 often, most are full of rust now, I wouldn't bother mate, pm me if you want any more info mate happy to gie you my number and talk more

 

Craig

I had 2 before my first zx.....

 

.....and at that time rust wasn't such a problem; apart from the small side skirt area on the lower front wings behind the wheel/in front of the doors. Water would get under the skirt, corrode the metal and force the skirt away from the wing.

 

You already know about the HG issue - basically the head bolts were never torqued dowm properly from the factory. And even when Toyota replaced the HG, they would still only tighten the head bolts to factory settings - so it would fail again. Soon!!

 

Oh and the rocker cover gaskets would leak, forming a pond of oil in the spark-plug recesses between the cam shaft banks. Leather interiors were of poor quality and generally looked rough after a few thousand miles too.....

 

Apart from that they were good in their day but way past their best now. Unless you can find a good, cared for club members' car - I'd still buy a good one myself as I did enjoy ownng mine. Although the 300zx completely outclassed it in every way; so much so that Toyota went back to the drawing board for 2 years to re-design the Mk4 Supra as they realized the Z32 was so good....

 

Richard:biggrin:

Very cool cars IMO, retro looks now and pop up head lights as well, what more could a guy want...:biggrin:

 

Last weekend we took the head off and changed the cam belt on my mates one, easiest engine ever to work on! Massive engine bay with a straight 6. The head gasket issue is easily sorted with ARP bolts and a better head gasket then you can turn the boost up.

 

The issue Richard said about the rocker covers leaking we had as well, it was literally over an inch deep in oil in the plug wells. My mate said that can be sorted by using some RTV on both sides of the rocker gasket and a little on the threads of the bolts that hold a cover over the spark plugs. Only reason his leaked was he didn't have any RTV and had to get the engine running for a drift meet

 

As Richard said, owners club members car is the way to go. I looked around before getting mine and they were a bunch of dogs

yeah, I've had 2 of them (an NA and a turbo), loved them both but what a pile of junk!!!! the 7M was designed by school kids... lol...

lots of rust in nasty places.

if it's just for a project and you don't mind spending loads of money go for it!!!

however, easy to work on.... I'd go for the 1JZ engine (but rare already in the car), you can get real power out of it or do a 2JZ conversion.

 

i was a member on he4re for years.... (also the US and Oz sits).

 

http://www.mkiiisupra.net

I remember you on there mate I was on as supra89

Ah, right.... we have at least one other member (Silverline) on here as well, jumped ship... lol...

 

i still pop on there every now and then.. still see a lot of the old crowd on there... also still got a few bits that I keep trying to get rid of..

Haha same, I've still got a couple of sets up big end shells somewhere lol

cheers guys

the one im looking at has two rust bubles on the rear arches maybe the size of a 50p..also the head gasket issue was sorted on it re torqued to i think 75ft-lb which is not the same as the service manual settings..

im gonna think hard about it..just im getting really sick of the zed just now cant get it started and cant get anyone to come look at it..really getting me down and tarnishing what i though was an amazing car

Mate if your getting sick of the zed the mk3 will be worse, once the arches start to go good luck.

yeah, agreed, the outer arch rust is an indication of much worse on the inner arch.... make sure you stick a screwdriver up there to test or get the interior panels out and look to see if its gone though....

 

once the rot gets in there its a major job...

 

my genuine advise would be to get the Zed to Jeff (on the back of a truck or whatever) and spend the money on it.... don't waste any more money on a potentially bigger problem.

 

My personal opinion is that the Zed is better than the Mk3 in every way!!! I'd never go back!!

yeah, agreed, the outer arch rust is an indication of much worse on the inner arch.... make sure you stick a screwdriver up there to test or get the interior panels out and look to see if its gone though....

 

once the rot gets in there its a major job...

 

my genuine advise would be to get the Zed to Jeff (on the back of a truck or whatever) and spend the money on it.... don't waste any more money on a potentially bigger problem.

 

My personal opinion is that the Zed is better than the Mk3 in every way!!! I'd never go back!!

 

+1

yeah, agreed, the outer arch rust is an indication of much worse on the inner arch.... make sure you stick a screwdriver up there to test or get the interior panels out and look to see if its gone though....

 

once the rot gets in there its a major job...

 

my genuine advise would be to get the Zed to Jeff (on the back of a truck or whatever) and spend the money on it.... don't waste any more money on a potentially bigger problem.

 

My personal opinion is that the Zed is better than the Mk3 in every way!!! I'd never go back!!

 

Oh yes - for sure matey!!

 

But here's a nice looking Mk3 for sale......

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201229479064677/sort/default/usedcars/model/supra/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1501/postcode/hp198hl/page/1/quicksearch/true?logcode=p

 

Richard:biggrin:

I had a turbo auto, paid £500 for it at blackbushe auctions, it was the car that got me into jap motors.... :thumbup1:

We had ours for 16 years. nothing ever ever went wrong with it and the engine was sooo smooth i have never heard another car run so sweet.

 

It had around 250k on the clock. it had zero rust anywhere and the time we had it all we had to change was clutch/exhaust/cambelt/ brakes and tyres and that was about it.oh and shocks :)

Oh yes - for sure matey!!

 

But here's a nice looking Mk3 for sale......

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201229479064677/sort/default/usedcars/model/supra/make/toyota/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/1501/postcode/hp198hl/page/1/quicksearch/true?logcode=p

 

Richard:biggrin:

 

That is a nice one mate :thumbup1:. The Mk3 is the only supra I would have.

That is a nice one mate :thumbup1:. The Mk3 is the only supra I would have.

 

I agree mate!! I loved my second Mk3 Soop - it was a J-spec GT special edition 3.0 turbo with the targa roof and digital dash; In black it looked just like KITT....... When I came to replace it, I naturally looked at the Mk4 (which, whilst a good car, is fugly); and the Porsche 928 s4 (which was also dead good - in fact I could not find much wrong with that at all). And then I tried a 300zx......

 

....the rest is history!!

 

Richard:biggrin:

cheers guys

the one im looking at has two rust bubles on the rear arches maybe the size of a 50p..also the head gasket issue was sorted on it re torqued to i think 75ft-lb which is not the same as the service manual settings..

im gonna think hard about it..just im getting really sick of the zed just now cant get it started and cant get anyone to come look at it..really getting me down and tarnishing what i though was an amazing car

 

mate, if you really want one go for it....

 

but... just as you don't seem to be getting put off by the bad reports also don't be too sure of the good reports as specific examples mean stuff all....

go an join the supra forum and check out their section on buying one and also the issues they tend to get.

if you a re really luck you might get a gem..... BUT there is a much greater change you'll get a lemon that needs lots of work.. (that is why people sell them).

 

I sold mine when I got my 300... and that was after owning an NA as well as the turbo... both had BHG (yeah strange for an NA) and riddled with rust...

 

look out for rust around the tailgate rubber... the MK3 is notorious for leaking water in the boot.