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71 Posts
Hello everyone, I've been readin cs.com and these forums for about a week now and I figured I'd just get all my questions out in the open. For a little background, I just bought an 85 MKII supra about two weeks ago. It has 194k Miles and runs well. The clutch, tires, water pump and rear differential are all very new (10K miles or less on them). Everything about the car is good, the 5 spd feels great, there's absolutely no rust, it was garaged its whole life, the silver paint job is in good condition, the seats are great, little cracks in the dashboard but I'll live. All in all, for $1,000 it's a steal.
- To sum it up, I wanna keep the car a while, but the engine doesn't run all that strong. With 194K miles on the engine, I expected some power loss, but it kinda has a hard time gettin up hills and its top speed seems to be about 80 mph when on flat ground but then it goes much much faster down hills. So this is my first question. I was thinking of rebuilding the engine with new internals and that HKS metal head gasket just in case I wanna turbo it later down the line (basically, do the same engine rebuild that CRF_Rider did on his 5mgte site). Or I was thinking of swapping in a 7mge (non-turbo). I don't really need the turbo and I can't really pay for the extra turbo parts needed. Is it worth it to just get new internals for a 5mge? I'm on a tight budget so I'm not looking for a lightning fast car, just a nicer engine. So I guess my final question is, should I stick with the 5MGE, rebuild it and maybe later add a turbo or should I go with the 7MGE, drop it right in and forget the turbo? I know questions like these have been asked many times before, and I've read all engine swap pages that I can, but they always revolve around the 7mgte. Is the non-turbo 7mge a direct drop in? What parts will I need, for a 7mge conversion?
I have other questions as well, but the above question is the most important one, but I might as well ask the small questions now so here they are:
- Suspension upgrades: I've heard talk of replacing sway bars but I haven't heard anything of the results. How much does it help? I also want to get stiffer springs but I'm not lookin for a totally stiff ride, just lookin for less body roll.
- I have a soft spot for black leather interiors and I would love to find a junkyard with a busted MKII supra that has leather seats in it. Has anyone replaced their clothe seats with leater seats? If so, how much was it? I also really like the driver's seat and would like to replace the passenger's seat with another driver's seat, I'm not sure if this is possible, but I wanna do it.
- I don't have a digital dash but I would like to maybe replace the instrument cluster. I heard someone say something about an IS300 cluster. If that could fit, I would definitely put that in. Does anyone know what clusters have been successfully placed into MKIIs? I know about the AE86 one, any others?
- Another aesthetic thing is the worn shift boot and shift knob. I'm gonna replace them, any economic suggestions or should I just swing by a junkyard and check out what they have? Also, the leather dash, can I get those from junkyards too or are they all cracked?
Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this long post. I know that most of it belongs in the restoration page, but I just put it in the general section because it's a little bit of everything. Don't forget, I just got my MKII supra so these upgrades are plans for the near future. They're very reallistic (I think) but be sure to let me know if any are too outlandish. Also, feel free to tell me what you think I should do. I'm totally open to suggestions.
EDIT: I wanted to say that I saw the leather covers for the MKII but I was wondering, if there is any set date for the availability of those or if they are even gonna get made or pictures of em, any info on the subject would be appreciated.
- To sum it up, I wanna keep the car a while, but the engine doesn't run all that strong. With 194K miles on the engine, I expected some power loss, but it kinda has a hard time gettin up hills and its top speed seems to be about 80 mph when on flat ground but then it goes much much faster down hills. So this is my first question. I was thinking of rebuilding the engine with new internals and that HKS metal head gasket just in case I wanna turbo it later down the line (basically, do the same engine rebuild that CRF_Rider did on his 5mgte site). Or I was thinking of swapping in a 7mge (non-turbo). I don't really need the turbo and I can't really pay for the extra turbo parts needed. Is it worth it to just get new internals for a 5mge? I'm on a tight budget so I'm not looking for a lightning fast car, just a nicer engine. So I guess my final question is, should I stick with the 5MGE, rebuild it and maybe later add a turbo or should I go with the 7MGE, drop it right in and forget the turbo? I know questions like these have been asked many times before, and I've read all engine swap pages that I can, but they always revolve around the 7mgte. Is the non-turbo 7mge a direct drop in? What parts will I need, for a 7mge conversion?
I have other questions as well, but the above question is the most important one, but I might as well ask the small questions now so here they are:
- Suspension upgrades: I've heard talk of replacing sway bars but I haven't heard anything of the results. How much does it help? I also want to get stiffer springs but I'm not lookin for a totally stiff ride, just lookin for less body roll.
- I have a soft spot for black leather interiors and I would love to find a junkyard with a busted MKII supra that has leather seats in it. Has anyone replaced their clothe seats with leater seats? If so, how much was it? I also really like the driver's seat and would like to replace the passenger's seat with another driver's seat, I'm not sure if this is possible, but I wanna do it.
- I don't have a digital dash but I would like to maybe replace the instrument cluster. I heard someone say something about an IS300 cluster. If that could fit, I would definitely put that in. Does anyone know what clusters have been successfully placed into MKIIs? I know about the AE86 one, any others?
- Another aesthetic thing is the worn shift boot and shift knob. I'm gonna replace them, any economic suggestions or should I just swing by a junkyard and check out what they have? Also, the leather dash, can I get those from junkyards too or are they all cracked?
Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this long post. I know that most of it belongs in the restoration page, but I just put it in the general section because it's a little bit of everything. Don't forget, I just got my MKII supra so these upgrades are plans for the near future. They're very reallistic (I think) but be sure to let me know if any are too outlandish. Also, feel free to tell me what you think I should do. I'm totally open to suggestions.
EDIT: I wanted to say that I saw the leather covers for the MKII but I was wondering, if there is any set date for the availability of those or if they are even gonna get made or pictures of em, any info on the subject would be appreciated.