Background:
Well, it all started when I was a wee-little ten year old boy. My brother bought me a little remote control race car for my birthday, and I absolutely loved it! Unfortunately, I wasn't really into REAL cars then, and I had no idea what model it was. Around twelve years of age I was going through my old shit and found it, and noticed it said "Supra" where the license plate would be, so I looked it up and that started my addiction with Supra's. By the time I was fifteen going on sixteen, I was looking for a car and remembered the MKIII. So I searched Craigslist for months, bugging the hell out of my parents everytime I came across an affordable MKIII. Finally, in December of '07 my dad bought me a 1987 Toyota Supra Turbo. The downsides: Bad paint, Different Wheels, and of course, a BHG. But for $1000, it had a body as straight as an arrow, a pretty decent interior, and no rod knock. After about a year of being broke and not being able to fix it (I was 16 after all), I finally had the money for a MHG and all the other crap it needed, and I got it running. The only mod was a 3" downpipe I got for $50, and I ran it open cause I had no money for a catback. For about a month I loved that car and felt on top of the world in it. Then, one gloomy night, I was headed home from my cousins when my car failed to rev higher then 2,000 rpm and sounded as if there were rocks in my engine. I knew it was time for change, so I decided to skip any headaches the 7m might give me in the future, and hopped over to a 1j.
So here I stand, 17 years old, in debt $3,000, somehow scraping up a few bucks here and there, and in the middle of a 1j swap.
The Swap Progress:
I bought the engine from Elite Import International. After getting pictures from Nick (a guy who works there) I decided that it looked good, their reputation checked out, and all was in line. I would definitely recommend them to anyone! They even held onto it for me for 2 months, and Nick there is a great guy. So thanks Elite Imports International!!!
---------------------------------
After the engine was finished being paid for, I started ordering some parts for the swap. These included the swap brackets, R154 1j bellhousing, flywheel, 2.5" intercooler piping, a nice intercooler (just a 24x9x3"), and a Y-Pipe/Downpipe. These were ordered through DriftMotion and egay.
---------------------------------
Finally, the engine arrived at the shop. We got it unpacked and on a stand. We moved it inside and started to tear into it, just to check the condition. I definitely wasn't disappointed at what I found. Taking the oil pan off, we found that the bottom end was tight and very clean. Next we opened up the valve covers and found that everything looked great up there too. No scoring on the cams or anything. This motor is really looking up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After putting the 1j back together, we got to pulling the 7m out (yeah, I know I should have done that before the 1j even got here, but oh well). This was made easier since the wiring harness was already sold out of the car a few weeks earlier. Sold the engine for $200 with less than 100 miles on a brand new GReddy 2.0mm MHG and an ARP Head Stud Kit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The wiring harness is being worked on by a buddy of mine, Tyler with Intense Motorsports. I dont dare touch wiring or electrical stuff, as it makes as much sense to me as Egyptian hieroglyphics... He also sold me my boost gauge and HKS SSQV, then welded it to the throttle body. Thanks Tyler.
Pics of that later
---------------------------------
Once she's up and running I'll be getting her dyno'd and down the quarter mile. Not really even sure what to expect, but I'm sure I'll be happy with it. So those stats will be up shortly (hopefully).
That's all for now, and the car sits with the empty bay. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make the trip out to the shop to work on it for the past week and a half due to problems with the POS DD and family problems. First, the DD (a 91 Buick Regal) needed rear brake pads. Turns out the calipers were bad, and it needed new rotors, so it was down for 2 days due to that. As soon as we drive it out of the garage after replacing those, the radiator starts leaking. It's drivable, but not for anything but short rides, and frequent fill ups. We pull out the old radiator, and my step-dad decides to wait 2 days to buy a new one, so theres another 3 days down. Then, a day after that's all taken care of the fuel pump goes out on me on my way back from a party at 6:30 in the morning with all the seats full. Ah, what a nice experience sitting on the side of the freeway, hungover at 7 A.M. with morning rush hour traffic beginning. Hopefully things will straighten out so I can get my Supra on the road ASAP!
