7MGTE headgasket blew...what should i do next?

[i hate my honda]

hey guys, this is a tough decision for me at the moment, but my headgasket recently blew out of surprise right in my driveway it sucks monkey balls and i'm stuck deciding if i should fix the headgasket and build the motor or just swap it out...if i do swap it i'm aiming at a 2jzge-t based on my budget because i don't have the money to do a 2jzgte swap like a real man would...i just need a few expert advice to put me on the right track thanks ...i'm not in a rush because my car isn't going anywhere for a year

shoot other ideas my way i'm open to suggestions

 

[peste noire]

well i was in the same position.

heres the upsides of sticking with the 7m
-cheaper to fix
-running sooner( most likely)


downsides
-still a 7m
- have to be wearing about,rod knock,bhg and such

and a 2j,well upside

-you have a 2j!
-your be running a more reliable angine( so people say)

and downside
-more money
- more time consumming
- more time to be down and sucks if its your daily.

thats some lines to go along with id say.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Personally, I don't think that 7M is a "downside"

Fixing the 7M isn't hard, and if it hasn't been run for a long time with a leaking head gasket, the risk of rod knock is fairly low. The 7M is a good motor. The question becomes what kind of fix do you want to do?

Just replacing the head gasket isn't hard to do, and if you torque it down properly, it can be good and solid at stock or BPU performance levels. Add in ARP hardware and it can take a fair amount of power on a stock head gasket.

A complete tear-down/rebuild is more work, but then you can have a lot of power when it's all finished, and know what's what in your motor. Use a stock HG, or a metal one with ARP hardware, and you're good for whatever you end up wanting to do. IMO, anything under 500WHP, and you'll get there cheaper and easier with the 7M than swapping out.

To ME:

There's little or no downside to repairing the 7M, except that you do have to do it properly, or else you're headed for a downward spiral, and there's a lot of upsides. It's less expensive to keep and maintain, and it keeps as much or more resale value, if you worry about that kind of thing.

To go 1JZ, you end up with an engine that was never sold in North America. This can be a problem if you need parts, since you can't get them at the dealership. Less of a problem if you do all your own maintenance, but if you take it to a shop, you'll have to tell the story. Every time. You'll have to double-check what the shop did all the time, too. You'll never find parts for it at a wrecker, and you'll NEVER get the money back out of it. I've never seen a 1JZ (Or a 2JZ for that matter) raise the sale price of a Mk3 anything near what it costs to swap.

To go 2JZ, at least the way is well paved, and you can get parts, but it's still an expensive motor. Personally, I would only go this route myself if I were planning on going for very big power, or wanted to go for cool factor.

I could see myself going to any of these paths for different reasons. Similarly, I could go 1UZ, or even for a domestic V8 in varying circumstances, though at present, I'm sticking with the 7M-GTE myself. I also like the fact that if I don't WANT to fix something, I can just drop it off at the local Toyota specialist and say "Fix it."

 

[radiod]

I'm with Dan. If you take the time to fix the 7M properly then it really shouldn't give you problems down the road. Now fixing it properly if you've got lots of coolant mixing with the oil would include refreshing the bottom end. Ask yourself what your goals are for the car. If you're not looking for much more than a spirited road car, then the 7M is by far the cheapest and easiest option. If you want a car that pushes harder, research the upgrade paths of each engine. The 7M will still likely be the cheapest option, and again, it will be reliable if you do things properly. The 7M starts to bite back when you don't repair/build/maintain it properly. You treat it right though and it will return the favor.

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

As a rule, if you can't afford to maintain the 7M properly, then you can't afford a proper swap.

Another engine might put up with more abuse, but it'll still break if you don't take care of it.

 

[Turbo Habanero]

You can do what this Man did when he blew a headgasket.......Too Soon?

by the way this video is not for the faint of heart


NSFW

[video=youtube;y6yazUi4OX4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6yazUi4OX4[/video]

 

[IJ.]

Get a HeadStart and get Admin to change your username to "I Hate My Supra"

 

[Another MkIII]

well i was in the same position.

heres the upsides of sticking with the 7m
-cheaper to fix
-running sooner( most likely)


downsides
-still a 7m
- have to be wearing about,rod knock,bhg and such

and a 2j,well upside

-you have a 2j!
-your be running a more reliable angine( so people say)

and downside
-more money
- more time consumming
- more time to be down and sucks if its your daily.

thats some lines to go along with id say.

This will decimate all if you put 10, maybe 15k in it, overnight parts from japan if we have to.
BTW, your fanboyism is showing...

OP: It really depends on your power goals, budget, and overall plans, but the 7M can be a very solid motor and make great power, but you have to be willing to do things right and not cut corners. Just ask a lot of questions and research everything, and above all, HAVE PATIENCE! I can't stress that enough.
-AM3

 

[i hate my honda]

Well all these are great opinions I have the money to swap whatever motor I feel to into the car but however I'm saving up for a house atm also I was going to rebuild my 7m based on budget wise until today when one of the guys at work who has a fully built 7m he dumped approx 8grand into the motor his 7m died sat night and now he feels all his money went to waste, I did a little research and I might just do a 2jzgte a very clean swap and be happy with it...do u guys think I should go ahead with it or just stick with the 7m?

 

[i hate my honda]

Also let's not focus on budget right now let's focus on something longterm that will give less of a problem and frustration done right

 

[Canuckrz]

What happened to your buddys 7m, how exactly did he dump 8k into the motor? And how is it a total loss? I gotta stand by the statement 99 times out of 100 the problem with the 7m is the owner.

 

[Smashey]

what he ^^ said. im doing my 7m and its time to put her heart back in and im at about 5 grand without upgraded rods and no head porting i could imagine 8g goinging into a 7m pretty easily with all the more expensive pieces

 

[i hate my honda]

Okay let me try and keep it short I work at Mercedes so half of the work he did to the motor himself at our shop and half he had a shop do, the internals of the motor is all performance he dynoed 505 I believe I know a few upgrades and he doesn't believe in second hand parts his motor has been the way it is for about 2 years maybe and he never tought it would go because it was always maintained the motor is bored out metal headgasket and he had the motor head shaved down to match the gasket groves of the metal redid the compete oil pan setup new oil pump shimmer the oil pump new oil feed bend with a bigger opening for a better feed Uhm...550 cc injectors electronic fans with a temp remote for self timed cooling upgraded radiator a lot of parts but he was shocked his motor blew he's one or those true 7m guys lol but hey nothing lasts forever but since sat the car been sitting at our job I haven't gotten a chance to check it out to see exactly what's wrong or ask him in detail as yet but all he told me is that his motor is done he can't save it and he might do a jz swap

 

[ttsupra2503]

I would say that your buddy leaned out the motor by over boosting without proper controls. From what your telling us that is the only way I could see something wrecking the motor to the point of wanting to swap it out. The 7mgte is a GREAT motor and if you want to do a basic rebuild until you decide what to do you can do that. You can make 500 hp easy with this motor and make it a daily driver.

 

[driver005s]

Okay let me try and keep it short I work at Mercedes so half of the work he did to the motor himself at our shop and half he had a shop do, the internals of the motor is all performance he dynoed 505 I believe I know a few upgrades and he doesn't believe in second hand parts his motor has been the way it is for about 2 years maybe and he never tought it would go because it was always maintained the motor is bored out metal headgasket and he had the motor head shaved down to match the gasket groves of the metal redid the compete oil pan setup new oil pump shimmer the oil pump new oil feed bend with a bigger opening for a better feed Uhm...550 cc injectors electronic fans with a temp remote for self timed cooling upgraded radiator a lot of parts but he was shocked his motor blew he's one or those true 7m guys lol but hey nothing lasts forever but since sat the car been sitting at our job I haven't gotten a chance to check it out to see exactly what's wrong or ask him in detail as yet but all he told me is that his motor is done he can't save it and he might do a jz swap

All that beating that your buddy did to the motor Friday night is what lead to it blowing.
Anyway if you do a 2jzgte it will cost you around 3-4k
A 1j will be 2-3k
Doing the 2jz you will be more happen rather than fixing the 7m.

 

[Turbo Habanero]

All that beating that your buddy did to the motor Friday night is what lead to it blowing.
Anyway if you do a 2jzgte it will cost you around 3-4k
A 1j will be 2-3k
Doing the 2jz you will be more happen rather than fixing the 7m.

I wish my 1j swap cost 2-3k..... I payed more then triple that so far

 

[radiod]

All that beating that your buddy did to the motor Friday night is what lead to it blowing.
Anyway if you do a 2jzgte it will cost you around 3-4k
A 1j will be 2-3k
Doing the 2jz you will be more happen rather than fixing the 7m.

You're nuts. No way you can do a proper swap for that much. You MIGHT be able to get a proper working engine delivered for that price, but as with buying most used engines.....you'll likely want to rebuild if you are wanting a solid and reliable platform.

 

[i hate my honda]

Friday night was nothing he built that motor to take abuse and it was only boosting 15 pounds on a ct26 57 trim he never got to put in his bad boy turbo but what everyone is saying about the 7m is right it is a great motor I love it and hate to part with it but it seems to have too much downfalls and to put the amount of money into it to get it up to standards I might as well do a swap because these parts cost money and everything will add up quickly same as a swap no?

 

[Another MkIII]

All that beating that your buddy did to the motor Friday night is what lead to it blowing.
Anyway if you do a 2jzgte it will cost you around 3-4k
A 1j will be 2-3k
Doing the 2jz you will be more happen rather than fixing the 7m.

No. Just no. Maybe you can get the motor for that cost. That doesn't include, rebuild, gaskets, misc. repairs, harness, labor, tools, or anything else you will need.
-AM3

 

[Dan_Gyoba]

Friday night was nothing he built that motor to take abuse and it was only boosting 15 pounds on a ct26 57 trim he never got to put in his bad boy turbo but what everyone is saying about the 7m is right it is a great motor I love it and hate to part with it but it seems to have too much downfalls and to put the amount of money into it to get it up to standards I might as well do a swap because these parts cost money and everything will add up quickly same as a swap no?

No.

I've spent about the amount of money that I'd have spent to get the 2JZ-GTE engine on the 7M I'm putting together. That would have left me with zero budget for rebuilding the 2JZ, which I'd want to do before I'd want to crank up the power, even to the levels that I want from my 7M, so much of the money spent on my 7M would have needed to be spent on the 2JZ as well.

I've got a complete new gasket set. I've got a metal head gasket, ARP head studs, and new or better fasteners for everything else that matters. I've had the block and head hot-tanked and magnafluxed. Head milled, block decked, cylinders bored .020 over, forged pistons, shot-peened rods, crank polished (Actually, 2 cranks polished) and balanced, valve job done. All new gaskets. I've also bought a bunch of goodies. Oil filter relocation, and oil cooler. Just bought a wideband and datalogging solution, too. All that is for the money that it would have cost me to have the 2JZ sitting there untouched.

Stuff that I don't have to buy: I don't have to change the sump on the 2JZ and oil pickup. I don't need to buy a bellhousing and flywheel to mate it to my R154. I don't have to get the wiring harness (Which is a good chunk of change!) done to make the 2JZ fit to the A7 chassis, or buy a stand-alone system.

Stuff that I've already bought that I don't need to change: My Spearco replica IC and hardpipes. The Lexus AFM and 550cc injectors. The Aeromotive AFPR kit and assorted plumbing. The Turbonetics 60-1 turbocharger, the RT downpipe for it as well.

When it's all said and done, I'll probably be about $4500 into it, and I'll have a 7M that's ready for about anything, with all of the extra stuff to make sure that I don't do anything terrible to it.

Or... I could buy a 2JZ-GTE engine with turbos and ECU (About $2200 with wiring harness and ECU) Another $300 or so for a 1JZ-GTE flywheel, $150 for motor mount brackets (Same price for pre and post '89 crossmembers) another $350 for a bellhousing, at least another $150 to re-do the intercooler piping (assuming that I keep with the same intercooler I've already got, though I'd want to change that, too.) $60 for a tach adapter, $170 for a downpipe, $1300 for a wiring harness... So I'm at $4680, and I haven't even cracked the valve cover on the 2JZ. It still has the factory Japanese turbos on it, and 440cc injectors. It's been sitting in a container for who knows how long, and was in an unknown maintenance state before that. Even if that 2JZ is perfect, I'm still ready to make more power from the 7M.

A 1JZ swap would be easier, and cheaper, assuming that you don't have to buy some of those parts that you'd need for the 2JZ. The wiring harness needs to be extended for the LHD chassis, and you'll need to work something out for the throttle cable, too. Still, it's going to cost you a lot more than just fixing the 7M.

Still, in the end, it's your money. A 2JZ in an A70 is a very cool car. I might consider it for THAT purpose, but I'd never consider a JZ swap as a way to save money over rebuilding a 7M.