(MKIII) Beginner, Pulling 7MGE Engine - Help Request Thread!

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
Cool. Do you know how much clearance I'll need in front of the car for a cherrypicker hoist? Can I remove the engine with a sideways rotation of the crane?
 

pogoism9

1UZ for me!
May 18, 2007
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Well if you are tight on space you may be able to go 3-4 feet back to clear the car then roll the car back out of the way. I wouldn't recommend sideways rotation unless you have several people that will stabilize the lift

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Having a levelling bar on the chain helps a ton!

Also, make sure you grab toyota redline MT fluid for your trans (w58?).

All the plugs for the harness are available through Dr. Tweak now I believe. There are things you can do to improve the harness, although I'm not good so will keep quiet on that area... Just make sure you do a Very close inspection onthe 25+ year old harness for cracks and burns.

Dr. Tweak has the full harness but it's about 1200.00.

Almost as much as the car most times... Lol.

Stock intercoolers are plentiful as well (I have one in my garage... I think most of us do actually).

Just a suggestion... Your at the perfect stage for doing the car right. However... Right takes good skill or a bit of $$.
If your going metal head gasket on the 7mgte (recommend this) make sure it's all prepped properly so you don't have to do this again. Also, most of us shim the oil pump with a 5mm spacer (no higher than 5) just to assist with flow.

So, I'm curious... What plans do you have for the at long term. Any planning done at this stage will save you a lot later.
 

mnmlst

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Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
Thank you for the reply Grandavi :)
Before I even got my license, I knew I wanted an 80s supra. I was blessed to find this one for 1700.
My long term plans are seasonal driving, very light recreational summer driving.
I am not going to tune for horsepower specifically, I am mostly interested in Looks + Stability.
Once I get it running I will work on replacing old trims and rims and basically it will be my money dump for a while.
I'm not very knowledgable in my options, however. I'm mostly self driven lacking guidance. It's great to have other supra lovers in one community I can talk to!!

I bought the turbo engine because it was a great deal and I love a challenge and the idea of my supra being a little faster was enticing.
I don't want to destroy my w58 though so I will try to maintain this car for years. I hope the 7mgte will last.

Once I get my 7mgte home.. How should I prep the parts? Load them in a pickup truck and take them to a shop?
The seller said he already has it prepped for a MHG but we'll see when it arrives I guess. Should be a week or so. >.<
 

mnmlst

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Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
pogoism9;2010567 said:
Well if you are tight on space you may be able to go 3-4 feet back to clear the car then roll the car back out of the way. I wouldn't recommend sideways rotation unless you have several people that will stabilize the lift

Yes good call that should be no problem
 

pogoism9

1UZ for me!
May 18, 2007
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mnmlst;2010577 said:
Thank you for the reply Grandavi :)
Before I even got my license, I knew I wanted an 80s supra. I was blessed to find this one for 1700.
My long term plans are seasonal driving, very light recreational summer driving.
I am not going to tune for horsepower specifically, I am mostly interested in Looks + Stability.
Once I get it running I will work on replacing old trims and rims and basically it will be my money dump for a while.
I'm not very knowledgable in my options, however. I'm mostly self driven lacking guidance. It's great to have other supra lovers in one community I can talk to!!

I bought the turbo engine because it was a great deal and I love a challenge and the idea of my supra being a little faster was enticing.
I don't want to destroy my w58 though so I will try to maintain this car for years. I hope the 7mgte will last.

Once I get my 7mgte home.. How should I prep the parts? Load them in a pickup truck and take them to a shop?
The seller said he already has it prepped for a MHG but we'll see when it arrives I guess. Should be a week or so. >.<

I can tell you this. Back in 98 I bought an 89 Turbo. It was bone stock and it was one hell of a fun car to drive. If you aren't planning on going the major horsepower route, you can just grab a Fel-Pro head gasket and clamp it down using ARP head bolts, or studs of you want to go that route. I prefer studs, but the bolts will suffice. Make sure you torque them down to 72-75 lb-ft (or whatever it is that ARP recommends).

230hp and 246 lb-ft torque is more than enough to have a good time with. You can do some minor upgrades and get a really nice return for (relatively) little dollars by adding a K&N cone filter, a LIPP turbo elbow, and a 3 inch turbo back exhaust. After those upgrades, you will probably be approaching the useable limits of the W58, so make sure you aren't shifting like a jackass and you should be ok. The W58 is a smoother shifting unit but the R154 can typically take more power (once again, you can't shift like a jackass).
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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www.supramania.com
mnmlst;2010577 said:
I don't want to destroy my w58 though so I will try to maintain this car for years. I hope the 7mgte will last.

Once I get my 7mgte home.. How should I prep the parts? Load them in a pickup truck and take them to a shop?
The seller said he already has it prepped for a MHG but we'll see when it arrives I guess. Should be a week or so. >.<

I've been running a w58 on a 7MGTE for years now with ~11 psi on a CT-26. I think as long as you don't abuse it the W58 will last a long time even on a BPU 7MGTE.

For prep work, load it up and find a good machinist familiar with performance engines and not just a common engine re-builder. Prepping for a MHG on an inline 6 is not exactly the same as rebuilding a Camry 4 cyl so not all shops will be a good choice. Find a well known shop that does a good amount of performance work and let them help you out.

FWIW, I'm a fan of the OEM head gasket with ARP studs. Since I have the W58, I've built my car around that limitation. My clutch is just enough to hold ~350 whp and not much more. My turbo is just big enough to support that same power goal, my head gasket is OEM because I think it'll be fine for that level(so far ~4 years and ~25k miles have proved me right), same with exhaust... etc. Choosing either your budget or your power level first is important before planning individual parts. If you set your budget, that will dictate the power level and vice versa.

If you want to learn about turbocharging in general, I would very strongly recommend this book. It will help you understand a lot of concepts more thoroughly than if you just read forums (even good ones like SM). A lot of that book applies very specifically to the 7MGTE and will be very helpful as you plan any future mods.
http://www.bellengineering.net/product_info.php?cPath=9&products_id=17
 

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
You guys are the f****** bomb !
So helpful. I'm not nearly finished yet, I'll be at 100 posts before I get this sucker running I'm sure ^^

HarnessECU_resized.jpg
Now, this is what the guy has for sale. Is this all I need for wiring for GTE swap in my NA supra? or is this only half the harness.
The guy says it "only connects ecu to engine"... that's all I need though right?
He doesnt have the HAC sensor either unfortunately
 

pogoism9

1UZ for me!
May 18, 2007
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I could be mistaken, but that looks like an auto harness. You can still use it if it is, just have to do some minor rewiring for the clutch switch etc.
 

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
He says its manual, and he's got the ECU to go with it.
Beauty, I'll probably go pick that up then!
Thats gonna save me so much time, I was prepared to make one from scratch lol

Should I attach all the wire connections to the engine before I drop it in?
And to build the 7MGTE, I'd probably need some specific assembly lubes and the belts would be hard hey?
Should I pay a mechanic to build the engine for me? Is there mechanics that will come to my garage?
 

pogoism9

1UZ for me!
May 18, 2007
367
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fredericksburg, va
As far as the harness installation, wire it up before you put the motor in the car. Now putting the engine together, if you aren't confident in your abilities, best take it to a shop. If you feel like you can follow directions and have the tools necessary, you can find everything you need to know here

http://www.cygnusx1.net/Supra/Library/TSRM/MK3/default.aspx

This is for a 90, but the engine building section is going to be the same for building the motor.
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
1. Your harness will be your first mission. Make sure it's right... If not, you will plagued by a whole flock of wtf's.

2. Go metal headgasket. As stated previously, the block and head have to be prepped properly. The block should have a .5 an smoothness (that number may be wrong... Going by sloppy memory) and use ARP head studs done exactly as they instruct.
A metal head gasket is your insurance that the motor will hold (as long as done properly). Once done you have no more worries... (Hopefully your new block doesn't have excessive pitting which occurs when exhaust gases meet up with coolant and form a corrosive element to the block)

3. The one "must have upgrade" for a 7mgte is a 3" turbo back exhaust upgrade. It allows the engine to breathe and wakes up the dragon within.

4. The W58 and the NA differential you have will give you very quick take off and acceleration but not as much top end (which you don't really need). It's more than capable if holding your goal providing its not been terribly abused already.

5. Use toyota red (or similar) coolant. People bitch because it's a tad more costly, but the 7m loves it.

6. Try to make sure you use Toyota redline mt fluid in the trans... Again.. It enjoys that lube.

7. You can expect to have to helicoils the exhaust studs. Driftmotion sells a kit. It's almost an "always" problem, but once helicoiled, your golden...

8. Make sure your EGR is good, replace the gasket if your keeping it. It's unmonitored and a huge bitch to do later on..

9. There is a 90 deg hose that is on the passenger side rear of the engine. Put a new one on. It's a problem area later and easy to do with the motor out.

10. Maintain it properly. The key to happiness when your done.

11. While the engine is out, check your steering rack bushings. This is an excellent time to fix them if they are worn.

12. Check your rear tail light seals... And your spare tire wheel area in the hatch. Water comes in through the seals when they dry up and crack. Cheap and easy to replace. Rust on this age of car is your enemy.

13. Look closely at your hatch seal... Same reason as above.

14. Ask questions intelligently and you have a lot of friends here... Lol

Your car has a very tall potential but the higher you go the more it takes to get there. Being happy with 250'ish at the wheels is very easy and the car can take that for a very long time. It's a big comfy cruiser and if you give it the proper loving, you'll remain in our club as one of the very few people on the planet with the privilege to own the beast.

Looking forward to following your progress!
 

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
The TSRM is extremely useful for individual components, but I can't fathom using it to put the engine together step by step
Am I missing an assembly chapter or should I just familiarize myself with every page of that manual? :)

Have you guys built a 7M engine on your own before?
 

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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edmonton AB
Sweet, 1000-1250lb engine stand is all good? I was looking at a couple today, IDK what's the dang difference between them all, but I'm assuming they all serve the same purpose of holding+flipping the block

It's good to hear some people are running the same basic machine I plan to build, 7MGTE + W58

And thanks for the link I'll go through these pages and see if it answers some of my questions tonight :)

Before doing ANYTHING, I'm going to drain the motor oil and transmission fluid.
Can I get away with leaving the gas tank semi-filled?

Saturday night supra hype :D
 

mnmlst

New Member
Apr 22, 2014
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0
edmonton AB
Solid.
All those little hoses and stuff connecting to the intake/exhaust/everyotherdamnthing on my 7MGE..
Should I be thinking about reusing them? Do these hoses last a lifetime or is there someplace I can easily buy some new ones?
 
Last edited:

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Only reuse hoses that aren't hardened and are in an easy spot to replace.

And for an engine stand try to get one with a wide stance instead of the one with the T (small bar with 2 wheels). The engine can flip in you with its long weight with those stands. They can be used though... Just make sure your careful not to tip it.