[DriftMe]

...well... I almost cried when I heard the news.

Excerpt of my discussion with the junkyard:
"What happened, it's blown?" "Well the last owner brought it in and it wouldn't run." "So it doesn't run?" "Nope, the motor is gone." "What shape is the transmission in?" "It's alright." "I'll stop in and see it today." "Yeah, well it doesn't run so let me know what you need when you get here."

So I got to the junkyard, and said hi. Once again, the man I talked to said it doesn't run. So I went out back and took a look at it. The piece of metal right infront of the hood it bent in one place and a little rusty, but not festering with rust. The front spoiler was broken in a few places. The silver paint is in good shape, but everywhere that there are deep scratches dark brown rust can be seen. There is no paint bubbling up yet, so that's a good sign. When I looked in the wheel wells they were still black from road grime and no rust there. Inside, the blue vinyl seats were torn, the carpet was dirty and a little damp. The rear seats had been folded down, so I suspect they were torn as well. Radio was missing, but the climate controls were still there. The gauge cluster was in tact as well, with the speedo rising to 130mph. 197k miles on the tachometer though, ouch, this Supra had been running for a long time. Finally, I stepped back out and shut the door, then I walked around front one more time and looked at the still vibrant badge.

I popped the hood and held it above my head. Miraculous, the motor and everything was still there, the past owner had removed the airbox and a big filter was in its place. The heat shield was gone, so I looked at the headers. The long slender primaries were black and without a spot of rust, they ran down equal length and then joined at the 6:1 collector. I closed the hood and walked around the back. The hatch was gone, and the left taillight was broken on the corner. I'm still unhappy about that, finding a complete hatch and wing will be a bitch. Then I remembered, I forgot to check the tranny. I had never asked what it was, so I went around and got inside again. I pushed some old piece of fabric (from another car) out of the way and looked down at the shifter in my hand. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, R. Manual transmission, yippie! Then I looked up, the sunroof, what condition was it in? Well, I looked up and saw that the sunroof had matching color, grey, headliner covering it. Then I looked above the rear view mirror and saw the electric control for it. Power sunroof too, and when I got out I didn't see any window handles, which means power windows.

I went back inside and talked to the guy again.
"Did you find it?" "Yeah, I found it in the back." "It isn't what you're looking for is it." "Eh, well, I can use it." "It doesn't run." "Well, the transmission needs rebuilt, it has 200,000 miles on it. That's what I needed." "Yeah, the transmission is good. The last owner brought it in for some work because the engine had a miss. He gave up so I got the car." "Well it does have 200,000 miles, I'm suprised it didn't die sooner." "Yeah, it won't run without a misfire now." "I need some parts off of it, and the tranny. I can give you $250 for it." "Two-fifty will do." "I can't get back there with a crane though." "No, we can bring it out here." "I don't need the whole car out here today, I'll come back when it isn't raining." "Yeah, come back next week and we'll bring it out. Do you want the title for it?" "Sure, I'll get the title too." "Are you going to part this out, or use it?" "I can fix it up, it needs some work, but I should get the title if I'm going to fix it." "Alright, come back in a week."

 

[DriftMe]

Allow me to summerize, because apparantly no one likes to read :?

I was told that the car had a blown motor. Went, found a 94+ in good condition with very little, but not festering, rust. Transmission is a 5-speed, P-Type with lots of options, Power windows, door locks, power sunroof. Engine looks to be in great shape. I was told that the motor with 197k miles should run, but that it has developed a misfire. No hatch, left taillight is broken. $250 + title transfer.

 

[4SFED]

Reader's Digest condenced version or even better, when you're writing an epic, the cliff notes will work for me

 

[quick]

So... what's the question?

 

[DriftMe]

No question, I guess I'm just happy and want to share. That and I guess I come up with vague topic titles as well.

 

[4SFED]

Are you asking us if you should buy? I say yea.
I am buying an 84 tomorrow that is a rust-bucket and they want $500 for it. They haven't been able to start it after putting in a new timing belt. I have been waiting for about 6 weeks now to let them figure out that no one wants to buy an old toyota that won't start - but that i will do them a favor. I dont know what it is about timing belts but I have actually acquired a couple cars in the past where that was the only problem and it seems to scare people away. That, and blown head gaskets - my first Supra was cast off because of a BHG.
Anyway, even if you're saving it from a junkyard and it's not all there - go for it because if you stick with this forum you will realise that we have a bunch of dedicated supra fanatics that can help with whatever you need. Be it advice or parts

 

[DriftMe]

Usually timing belts scare people off because some shops aren't aware if a motor is interferance or not. To add to the problem they don't want to struggle with timing belts, especially in FWD vehicles, because it requires a lot of time. In most cases, shops will not change a timing belt unless they can do it quick and know the motor is non-interferance. That way, if they so happen to be off by a few degrees then they won't be liable if the motor is destroyed.

BTW: It must be something with my town, for the price to be so low. I was working today and talked to a guy who said he used to have an 89 Turbo with a targa top and every accessory. He told me he purchased it used from a guy for $6,000 and that included the big stereo system that was in the car at the time and he has since installed a boost controller. It had 27k miles when he bought it, he said he had just traded it in to a dealership for a brand new Mustang GT a month ago. It had 80k miles at the trade in.

 

[4SFED]

What's going? I feel that I know more than joe bagadonuts at the dealer that works on cars now a days but I don't always have the time so I will let him do the oil change but anything like a brake job or anything more difficult I do myself to make sure it's done right.

My yuppie brother in law and his turbo Volvo with earth tone racing stripes is just the opposite - he will sometimes change the oil but insists on a dealer doing anything else.

 

[dogstar]

sounds like a good buy to me, hope you enjoy the old tank

let us know how she runs when you fix whatever little problem it has

 

[moon]

good luck dude......