New here..need suggestion for which motor to replace my 87' with a blown 7mgte

[suprarick]

Hello,

I'm looking to get my car running as soon as possible. The goal is to have either a 1jzgte or a 2jzge. If you were in my position and just needed to have a running car with one of these motors, which would you do if you were on a college budget?

My choices:

1) Pull a 2jzge from a junk yard and put a r154 up to it. $$ ??
2) Buy a 1jzgte with an r154 $2200

I'm assuming pulling a 2jzge would be the cheaper option?

Thanks!
Rick

 

[mkiii222]

College budget you want something reliable with readily available parts. I'd opt for the 2JZGE and leave it NA while you're in school. Still enough power to be fun and plenty reliable.

Essentially you'll need: JZ to R154 bell housing, engine mounts (or 89+ front subframe), and wiring/ECU. This isn't a complete list but a general idea.

 

[suprarick]

Cool. Thanks for your opinion. Do you think I can find a 2jzge for cheaper than a 1jz? I asked a certain vendor and the 1jz he wants 1700 without the r154.

 

[IJ.]

College budget you want something reliable with readily available parts. I'd opt for the 2JZGE and leave it NA while you're in school. Still enough power to be fun and plenty reliable.

Essentially you'll need: JZ to R154 bell housing, engine mounts (or 89+ front subframe), and wiring/ECU. This isn't a complete list but a general idea.

This or leave the Supra till school is finished and you can afford it, these cars are a money pit second to none.

 

[suprarick]

^^^ Oh I know they are money pits but thats not my plan until I finish college. I can't pass up this deal, I'm getting the car for such a great price I can literally turn it around and flip it if I really want. I plan to just get it running and that's all.

Do you think I should go for the 2jzGE? Or this 1jz? Not sure which option would be cheaper to pick up...both have equally the same potential as far as horsepower with a single turbo setup down the line.

 

[IJ.]

2J would be my choice by far, as 222 said leave it GE for now so it's reliable and you can enjoy and DD it, done right you can run it on the 7M electronics for now saving time/effort/expense.

The 2J has far more potential down the track when it's time to add a Turbo, the extra 500cc isn't to be dismissed lightly in a fat Mk3

 

[suprarick]

Thank you. Do yall know how much I can get a 2jzGE? Should I get one from someone on the board or do yall think I can get a good deal on one at a junkyard? Hmm. Thanks a ton for the responses so far.

 

[IJ.]

Sorry can't answer that one being on the other side of the planet to you

2J GE's should be plentiful/affordable though.

 

[te72]

I wouldn't be surprised if you could find a 2j GE for around $1000, they were put in a metric shit ton of Lexus' in the 90's and into the 2000's. Like all others have pointed out, probably best to leave it NA for the time being. I really never got bit by the horsepower bug when I had my NA. The 1j I have now however... always feels slow.

Whatever you choose to do though, I'd suggest you replace seals at a minimum, just to be smart. Given the price of gas and the 'college' budget, I'd almost say to flip the car and put the money toward something like a Miata. Girly looking, sure, but they're a blast to drive, economical, reliable, and cheap. All good things on a college budget.

 

[Another MkIII]

I bought and and built my 87 in college. It ended up sitting for 3 years because college budget.
-AM3

 

[radiod]

Like everyone else is saying, these cars are a money pit. They have a tendancy to be very fickle if things aren't taken care of properly and to do everything properly takes a good chunk of change. How much would you anticipate spending on the swap and have for all the small things that go wrong over a year of running?

 

[te72]

Allow me to expand on the Miata thing. In 10 months of owning them (two different cars), I had to replace a transmission due to a fluke. I stuck the shifter between 4th and 5th, and it stayed in 5th, despite trying to use a cheater pipe on the shifter, it wouldn't budge. Should have replaced the cat and/or o2 sensor. That's all I honestly needed to do with them. Oh, and I put new tires on the one car. Frankly, I probably spend more in an average month on the Supra, than I did in nearly a year of owning the Miatas.

 

[Grandavi]

The whole problem with this guesstimate is that we dont know your mechanical skills, storage access (for work and to keep the car) and what the body and everything else is like on the car.
A Supra MK3 is a bumper to bumper car (being 20+ years old now). If your going to love it and build it, eventually your going to want to look at it that way (is what kills me financially).

Very hard for me to put in 2 cents without seeing the shell first. The drivetrain is a given because you say the 7M is dead. You can get it on the road cheaply, but not necessarily reliably and it will take some skill and time. Make sure you do all the planning before you spend anything, because sometimes you walk in (like I did with my car) with certain expectations, then after you start... you learn.. and your path changes. So many good people here and so many excellent walk-thru/writeups.

Research it >>> Plan it >>> put forth your proposal. Let those who know judge and advise. Thats what everyone is here for.. to help you enjoy the world that is Supra. : )

Just.. dont spend money until you are sure of your direction.

 

[te72]

Research it >>> Plan it >>> put forth your proposal. Let those who know judge and advise. Thats what everyone is here for.. to help you enjoy the world that is Supra. : )

Just.. dont spend money until you are sure of your direction.

Good advice here. Without a plan in mind with any car that has "project" potential, you're pissing into the wind. Don't piss into the wind.

 

[suprarick]

Great advice.

Thanks again everyone for the advice. To answer some of the questions,

My budget for the build is about $5,000 for the motor, the tranny, and the accessories. I have a garage to keep it and I'm not on a typical college budget as I work part time as well. My mechanical skills are novice, but that's the whole point of me doing this..to learn and go at it slowly; I have no time restraint on the build. This is my passion and I want to learn everything there is to learn about cars. I picked up a 87 for a steal deal. Everything is said to be working fine except that the motor has a blown head gasket. I'm currently talking to some people in Texas regarding finding a 2jzGE and a r154 transmission. I understand cars can be headaches and money pits, but this is already understood. This is simply my weekend car!

I've decided to go with the 2jzGE as I can find the motor relatively cheaply and readily compared to a 1jzGTE (less torque and lower displacement) or a 2jzGTE. The plan is to just get it running NA and drive it around for half a year to make sure the motor is in good working order. The plan from there-on is to have a fun street car with a 67mm and a standalone (the NA-T completion will occur later perhaps even when I'm done with college as I graduate next year).

Patrick

 

[Grandavi]

Wondering why you wouldn't stay 7M... depending on how bad the headgasket is.. it may be a lot cheaper. You should pull the head before you buying a 2j.. just to see what the condition of the engine is. If your not beating the hell out of a 7M.. and the manifolds/head/etc.. isn't cracked, warped or broke, you may be able to get it roadworthy fairly quick. When you read about bad head gaskets.. its usually from someone overboosting an old engine, not maintaining the engine properly or a really bad tune. A well cared for 7M can put up with just as much as a 2j.. and you wont have to deal with all the wiring/trans/etc.. etc..
Love my 7M.. only reason I would swap it is if it cratered. Only issue I have had with this motor is the valve seals leaking. The engine survived a helluvalot of things for 180,000 km (almost 120,000 miles) without any headgasket/engine issues. It was bagged hard and what killed it was a turbo seal blowing and the lack of an "idiot" light to warn the driver that the oil pressure gauge was reading 0... lol. (a good 5200.00 lesson)

Just a thought.. the 7M has a bad rap but its a good powerhouse "depending". totally happy with mine.

 

[destrux]

$1700 for a 1JZGTE with no trans is too much. $1300 shipped or less is about right.

Anyway, I'd go with the 2JZ-GE if you have the skill to do a turbo conversion like that. If not the 1JZ is a nice easy swap. If you take care of all needed maintenance before you put it in you won't need to touch it for 60,000 miles.

 

[ttsupra2503]

I would opt for a 1uz-fe from a lexus. Depending on the transmission you could get a really nice driver with lots of potential for very very little money.

 

[te72]

$1700 for a 1JZGTE with no trans is too much. $1300 shipped or less is about right.

Anyway, I'd go with the 2JZ-GE if you have the skill to do a turbo conversion like that. If not the 1JZ is a nice easy swap. If you take care of all needed maintenance before you put it in you won't need to touch it for 60,000 miles.

Good advice here, especially on the maintenance bit. I don't think you mentioned, does the car have a transmission, or no? If you already have a transmission, good. For what it's worth, 3 (nearly 4 now) years ago, I bought my 1j. Was originally going to go with a VVTI 2jz-gte, but I found a nice 1j with an R154, so I jumped on that. Always good to have spare transmissions around. Picked up my setup for $17xx, was $2222 shipped to my door.

I would opt for a 1uz-fe from a lexus. Depending on the transmission you could get a really nice driver with lots of potential for very very little money.

Also another good option, but the transmission is the thing. Swapping to a manual is where the money is in this swap from what I see. Good motors though, nice and smooth, sound good, last a long time, early ones like boost (standalone and some fabrication skill is useful here), and on top of it all, they're both lighter and shorter than the I6 options, so there's a handling benefit too.


Patrick, from the sounds of it, you have another, reliable car to get you to work and school? If so, I feel good giving the go-ahead, even with the college budget. If you're another one of these kids that buys (or thinks of buying) these cars without something else that's reliable, I can tell you that it doesn't often end well.

 

[SupraPieces]

I am about to pull my 7MGE out and swap in a 1UZ V8... motors are about 350-450... mounts are 200... w58 trans adapter is 750... thats in your car and running for around 1500 with fittings