New motor...?

[ilovemytoyota]

Hello!
This is my first post here, but I intend to become a regular visitor to this forum. This site was recommended to me by a really nice guy that pulled off the interstate to offer me some help after I had thrown a connecting rod. He said his tag was supraman87 or something similar (I know he had owned an '87 MKIII) and he is from Colorado, if by any chance any of you know who I'm talking about please let me know so I can thank him again personally.

Although that really belonged in the introduction section, I have a legitimate question about the 7M turbo and thus I'm posting this here. Like I said, I have a broken connecting rod and I've opted to swap the motor. I'd like to go 1J, but I think it's better to just replace my 7M-GTE since the car is primarily a daily driver and I don't have the technical know-how or the patience to justify running a motor that was only sold in Japan. SO my question is this: Where can I find a good, reliable 7M turbo with low miles that wont be shipped to me with say...standing water in the cylinders or missing/broken components like some of the JDM horror stories I've heard?
Any help on where to purchase a reliable new motor would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for all of the off-topic banter in my post in advance! I look forward to being a member of your community.

-edit-
I've been looking at this particular motor on JDM Engine Depot http://www.jdmenginedepot.com/jdm_engine_details/72/Toyota_Supra/Cressida_7MGTE
There isn't much information there, but is jdmenginedepot.com a reputable vendor?
Is there a better website?
Also I did try to source it locally with no luck, just in case any of you were going to suggest that.

 

[bioskyline]

welcome to the fourms

i personally dont like buying a motor i cant hear run, unless im after a core for rebuild. im sure theres a 7m somewhere near you, even if its another block and do a re-build? then you know its good.

casue for the price id be skeptical. it looks clean, but a pressure washer and degreaser can make even a junk motor look good....

 

[ilovemytoyota]

Is $1100 really a cheap price for a 7M turbo? How much should I expect to pay for a decent reliable motor?
Thanks again!

 

[xzeror]

its basically a junk yard engine sitting for who knows how long. Prob can pick one up locally for cheaper, and with that extra money use for headgasket job.

 

[bioskyline]

i paid 500 canadian for my 7mgte and the local scrap yard, and i heard it run before i bought it, as the car was rear ended. 170,000 kms on it (just over 100,000 miles)
and as xzeror says you have no idea how long its been sitting, if it wasnt fogged before shipping it could very easy arrive seized.

 

[shipkiller]

Jdm "suprise" engine are a pain in the arse.

sure you can find the perfect gem: working in perfect condition, strong, freshly rebuilt, darn cheap.
but most of the time they have been sitting for "god knows" how long, something has gone bad or will etc... and you find yourself putting hundreds of hours working on it just to get it working right because you have no history of the engine whatsoever

 

[ilovemytoyota]

Do you think it would be smarter to just rebuild my existing motor then? The car only has 75K miles on it and it's the original motor, but I've been told that due to the nature of a connecting rod breaking there may have been damage done to the crankshaft or the block. My local machine shop quoted me $100 to pull apart the motor and diagnose it, then they said anywhere from $1000-2000 for labor plus the cost of parts.
Thanks again for all of your advice everyone.

 

[carter]

If you wanna find a cheap 7m or rebuild 7m, I'd look at the for sale section. If this guy wouldn't be trading me an SC, I would sell you my 7m. As for a 1jz. Look in the forsale section or if you want, I could give you a number to call for a 1jz and there prices are reasonable I think.

 

[SupraMedical68]

If you wanna find a cheap 7m or rebuild 7m, I'd look at the for sale section. If this guy wouldn't be trading me an SC, I would sell you my 7m. As for a 1jz. Look in the forsale section or if you want, I could give you a number to call for a 1jz and there prices are reasonable I think.

+1 Most of those JDM 7Ms will be in horrible shape. The pricing isn't all that great either IMHO.

I'd either find a short block that's in halfway decent shape that you can rebuild, or go with a already built motor in the for sale section.

I recently opted to rebuild my motor and it's probably more jacked up than yours due to the abuse and neglect of a previous owner. Some of my old parts even look like BBQed paperweights.. lol

 

[carter]

As far as 7m motors go, its just the "hype" that gets alot of people, or use to. If I was you, I'd take the motor out, inspect it and if its in good shape, rebuild. Or have a shop rebuild it for you and you'll spend around the same.

You can rebuild these motors for somewhat cheap if you do an OEM rebuild, which these motors are known to be good for 400hp on stock bottom end. There's been a couple guy around that have made 600rwhp+ on stock bottom end. So the question is what you want with the car and what are your goals.

If you want a 1jz, I could get you a hook up on it, but I'll have to talk with him because I'm gonna need to make a little bit of money out of the deal.