Well I figure I am far enough now that I should start a build thread before I start forgetting things(I never made one of my red MKIII and regret it as I have forgotten a lot about the car). I sold my 89 turbo targa about 3 years ago after going to college and realizing that I can't afford to own such a finicky car as a modified mkiii so it was sold. I was only 19 when I built this car and I took it from basically a shell to a running daily driver supra.
Fast forward three years and I am out of college living on my own with a decent job so I decided it was time to fill that open garage space I have. I looked for about a year for a clean, cheapish mkiii project that I could restore and build into one of the cleaner mkiiis around and still be able to daily drive when I wanted. I looked at a handful of different cars including everything from a caged 87 shell that was riddled with aftermarket parts to a running 89 NA that was on its last legs. Finally someone posted on the local supra facebook page with exactly what I was looking for. A clean 1991 Turbo Targa that had all the parts needed but just needed to be put back together.
I immediately messaged the guy and 2 days later drove down the hour and half to look at the car. The car had been sitting in this guys driveway for 3 years after the old engine developed rod knock from being starved of oil. He installed a new engine however never found the time to get everything bolted up and basically just lost interest in the car. Upon arrival there were a few things that caught my eye as far as paint fade and chips that he had not mentioned, but nothing that was too bad and overall the car was very clean(Dirty, but clean)
I talked with the owner and found that there was a huge issue with the paperwork in that he basically had none on the car. I had to wait about 2 weeks before he got it sorted out and I was able to talk him down to $500 for the car(Plus $700 in DMV back fees) but for $1200 I was happy and went down with a truck and trailer and picked her up the next day.
Got home that night and pushed her into the driveway so that I could wash her the next morning knowing once she was in the garage she would be there for at least a few months.
Woke up the next morning like a kid at Christmas and ran out to give her the first wash she had had in a while
As I had hoped the paint was in great condition, it was just dirty and needed a good wash(can't wait to see what it looks like waxed). Later that day I(we) pushed the fat ole girl into the garage and for the first time the daily driver celica had to move its ass over for its new garage mate
A few days later I started digging into the car and figuring out what was what. A LOT needed to be cleaned under the engine bay(I assume he left the hood off for a while) as it had sat under a tree so there was dirty and leaves all over.
I started cleaning the engine bay and disassembling the engine mainly to get everything clean but also to make sure everything was done right(My red car was all botched up which made me a bit gun shy on relying on others).
Old VS New
Popped the valve cover off and was pleasantly surprised to find that the head was spotless and hadn't even seen oil yet. I also found ARP head bolts :icon_bigg
Once I had gotten most everything cleaned I decided on a black and silver color scheme for teh engine bay and went to work with the paint cans. Of course it being a 7m 4/6 exhaust manifold studs pulled out so I had to helicoil all of them
Had a friend come over to work on his MKIV and figured I might as well get some shots of the two generations of blue
By this point(as you can see) I started working on other parts of the car and took the wing and targa off to get painted(Which I still have not done lol). I also started examining around the rest of the car and found a few nice upgrades like kenwood front speakers
Finally got most everything on the engine and that's where things got bad...
First thing that happened was as I was filling the engine with coolant I had a BAD leak coming from the back and it was coming down both sides of the block(wtf?) I of course checked the rear rubber coolant hoses and they were all bone dry.shit. I pulled the manifold off and finally discovered it was coming from the back of the block. Freeze plug. Shit.
At this point I knew I had to pull the engine to replace the rear freeze plug so I was done for the night and went inside in a fit of rage :: angry ::. The next day after work I thought well what the hell, Ill fill it with oil and let it start and run for a minute or 2 and then compression test it to insure the engine is at least strong before I pull it and put it back in. I put oil and start to hear dripping and see my garage floor covering in oil. :icon_evil. I start looking at the obvious suspects like the oil pan, oil drain etc and find nothing. Then I look under the intake and find this
The oil was leaking from between the head and block. SON OF A B!TCH. So for the second night in a row I go inside in a fit of rage :: angry :::: angry ::.
The next day I come back out and find that they did not machine the front timing cover when they did the block, so the head is at an angle and that was the reason for the leak. Or so I thought... A few weeks go by and I slowly start tearing all the freshly painted parts off the engine and I get ready to pull the engine out. About a week about I finally got the engine pulled out and discovered something that gave me a nice chuckle.
In
And out
I knew I kept that 3" straight exhaust off the red car for a reason!
And what do we have here??
There is no way they could have.......... THEY DID:
The genius that assembled the engine put the headgasket on backwards... Which accounts for both my oil and coolant leak... *Sigh*
Well since he couldn't seem to install a headgasket properly I am going through the entire engine double checking all of this work.
And this gets us up to speed to where I am today. Luckily the bottom end was rebuilt by the looks of it however I have not plastigaged everything yet to see if the clearances are in spec:
After some elbow grease the head and block are looking ok and I have sanded down the front timing cover so it is in line with the block(not sure if its a huge deal but I might as well if I am here). I found a bit of discoloration on the #3 rod and cap , but it doesn't looking too bad
That is where the car currently sits and tomorrow I hope to pick up some assembly lube and plastigage and start measuring everything and reassembling. My main goal for this car is to have something that I can daily drive and take on long road trips(SIV,TORC, etc) yet has enough punch to back up the supra name(300-400whp). I should be able to do this with this fresh well taken care of 7m but only time will tell. If not ill throw a 2j in and call it a day lol.
Fast forward three years and I am out of college living on my own with a decent job so I decided it was time to fill that open garage space I have. I looked for about a year for a clean, cheapish mkiii project that I could restore and build into one of the cleaner mkiiis around and still be able to daily drive when I wanted. I looked at a handful of different cars including everything from a caged 87 shell that was riddled with aftermarket parts to a running 89 NA that was on its last legs. Finally someone posted on the local supra facebook page with exactly what I was looking for. A clean 1991 Turbo Targa that had all the parts needed but just needed to be put back together.
I immediately messaged the guy and 2 days later drove down the hour and half to look at the car. The car had been sitting in this guys driveway for 3 years after the old engine developed rod knock from being starved of oil. He installed a new engine however never found the time to get everything bolted up and basically just lost interest in the car. Upon arrival there were a few things that caught my eye as far as paint fade and chips that he had not mentioned, but nothing that was too bad and overall the car was very clean(Dirty, but clean)
I talked with the owner and found that there was a huge issue with the paperwork in that he basically had none on the car. I had to wait about 2 weeks before he got it sorted out and I was able to talk him down to $500 for the car(Plus $700 in DMV back fees) but for $1200 I was happy and went down with a truck and trailer and picked her up the next day.
Got home that night and pushed her into the driveway so that I could wash her the next morning knowing once she was in the garage she would be there for at least a few months.
Woke up the next morning like a kid at Christmas and ran out to give her the first wash she had had in a while
As I had hoped the paint was in great condition, it was just dirty and needed a good wash(can't wait to see what it looks like waxed). Later that day I(we) pushed the fat ole girl into the garage and for the first time the daily driver celica had to move its ass over for its new garage mate
A few days later I started digging into the car and figuring out what was what. A LOT needed to be cleaned under the engine bay(I assume he left the hood off for a while) as it had sat under a tree so there was dirty and leaves all over.
I started cleaning the engine bay and disassembling the engine mainly to get everything clean but also to make sure everything was done right(My red car was all botched up which made me a bit gun shy on relying on others).
Old VS New
Popped the valve cover off and was pleasantly surprised to find that the head was spotless and hadn't even seen oil yet. I also found ARP head bolts :icon_bigg
Once I had gotten most everything cleaned I decided on a black and silver color scheme for teh engine bay and went to work with the paint cans. Of course it being a 7m 4/6 exhaust manifold studs pulled out so I had to helicoil all of them
Had a friend come over to work on his MKIV and figured I might as well get some shots of the two generations of blue
By this point(as you can see) I started working on other parts of the car and took the wing and targa off to get painted(Which I still have not done lol). I also started examining around the rest of the car and found a few nice upgrades like kenwood front speakers
Finally got most everything on the engine and that's where things got bad...
First thing that happened was as I was filling the engine with coolant I had a BAD leak coming from the back and it was coming down both sides of the block(wtf?) I of course checked the rear rubber coolant hoses and they were all bone dry.shit. I pulled the manifold off and finally discovered it was coming from the back of the block. Freeze plug. Shit.
At this point I knew I had to pull the engine to replace the rear freeze plug so I was done for the night and went inside in a fit of rage :: angry ::. The next day after work I thought well what the hell, Ill fill it with oil and let it start and run for a minute or 2 and then compression test it to insure the engine is at least strong before I pull it and put it back in. I put oil and start to hear dripping and see my garage floor covering in oil. :icon_evil. I start looking at the obvious suspects like the oil pan, oil drain etc and find nothing. Then I look under the intake and find this
The oil was leaking from between the head and block. SON OF A B!TCH. So for the second night in a row I go inside in a fit of rage :: angry :::: angry ::.
The next day I come back out and find that they did not machine the front timing cover when they did the block, so the head is at an angle and that was the reason for the leak. Or so I thought... A few weeks go by and I slowly start tearing all the freshly painted parts off the engine and I get ready to pull the engine out. About a week about I finally got the engine pulled out and discovered something that gave me a nice chuckle.
In
And out
I knew I kept that 3" straight exhaust off the red car for a reason!
And what do we have here??
There is no way they could have.......... THEY DID:
The genius that assembled the engine put the headgasket on backwards... Which accounts for both my oil and coolant leak... *Sigh*
Well since he couldn't seem to install a headgasket properly I am going through the entire engine double checking all of this work.
And this gets us up to speed to where I am today. Luckily the bottom end was rebuilt by the looks of it however I have not plastigaged everything yet to see if the clearances are in spec:
After some elbow grease the head and block are looking ok and I have sanded down the front timing cover so it is in line with the block(not sure if its a huge deal but I might as well if I am here). I found a bit of discoloration on the #3 rod and cap , but it doesn't looking too bad
That is where the car currently sits and tomorrow I hope to pick up some assembly lube and plastigage and start measuring everything and reassembling. My main goal for this car is to have something that I can daily drive and take on long road trips(SIV,TORC, etc) yet has enough punch to back up the supra name(300-400whp). I should be able to do this with this fresh well taken care of 7m but only time will tell. If not ill throw a 2j in and call it a day lol.
