Hopefully buying a 1988 Supra today.


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I almost want to sell this car now. I'm at the point where I need a garage to do things and the 1 or 2 hours I can work on the car after work isn't cutting it.

What do you need a garage to do? I sympathize with you; I have a car that I'm attempting to use as a daily driver and occasional track car. Having to keep it on the road constantly really limits what you can do to it.

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Well second gear is cooked. I replaced one spark plug wire and I can boost up to 4 psi atleast.

Well there are a few transmissions on E-bay. How about the junkyards in your area? It would be rough, but you could probably change out the entire tranny in a weekend if you source an inexpensive one. You mentioned the throwout bearing earlier, did you fix that yet? What exactly is cooked with second gear? The gear itself or the synchros? I wish I could help more. Only you know how much more you want to put into this. Are you at your 5k-6k budget yet? If you sell it at this point I'm afraid that you might have to eat a loss on your project. However a working Supra of your year has some value regardless of body appearance. I recommend that you at least get it running right before attempting to sell.

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Now where did I put that salt? Ohh it's over there by that wound.

This is a project car with the stated budget of 5-6k. If he comes in under his original budget then so far it is a success. The engine and turbo alone was posted as being worth 5,500. I don't know if that is true or not, but if it is he is doing pretty well. With restoring or even just tinkering with cars a lot of the time it is about the journey more than the destination. If this is how he chooses to spend his money and free time, it is probably more productive than hookers and crack and he can even post pictures of it in this forum.

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What a waste of money.
And it's not even nice on the eyes... Will be hard to sell...

You guys have no idea on how car restoration works... that thing will be a gem one day if done right...

People have taken rust buckets worse than this and turn them into great cars.

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Glad to hear it. How is the transmission doing? If I could make a suggestion, put the black molding on the places it is missing. I think it would make worlds of difference in the exterior appearance at least till you have a chance to go over it properly. Any interior pics?

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Glad to hear it. How is the transmission doing? If I could make a suggestion, put the black molding on the places it is missing. I think it would make worlds of difference in the exterior appearance at least till you have a chance to go over it properly. Any interior pics?

I need to call the Toyota dealership so I can order the second gear and syncro. To put the black trim back on, I would have to pull the interior of the doors apart and it doesnt bother me that much. I'll get some interior picutres up sometime.

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Glad to hear it. How is the transmission doing? If I could make a suggestion, put the black molding on the places it is missing. I think it would make worlds of difference in the exterior appearance at least till you have a chance to go over it properly. Any interior pics?

That would be one of the last things to do on a restoration car. Get the drivetrain/suspension/exhaust going first, then worry about cosmetic crap later.

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That would be one of the last things to do on a restoration car. Get the drivetrain/suspension/exhaust going first, then worry about cosmetic crap later.

You are probably right, but this car is going to be in progress for a while longer yet. I just think that those pieces would help clean up the lines of the car greatly. That is the first thing I notice when looking at pictures of the car, way before I see any faded paint or dents or other defects. Humor me and just tape some black tape up there and take a few steps back and take a look at it. It does seem like it would take a bit of work to do though. Maybe consider doing it when you find yourself waiting for parts sometime. Anyway just food for thought and of course the mechanics are most important. Good luck with the transmission.

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With more mechnical work to go on the car, it's silly to redo the interior/exterior of the car. It'd be like having a fresh coat of paint on it before you pull/rebuild/reinstall the motor. If anything just sand and primer it untill the time comes to put the "lipstick and mascara" on it. :p

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With more mechnical work to go on the car, it's silly to redo the interior/exterior of the car. It'd be like having a fresh coat of paint on it before you pull/rebuild/reinstall the motor.

No, now that would be silly. What it'd be like, in fact what it is exactly, is attaching what appears to be 4 pieces of molding. Bio posted that it would be difficult to remove the door panels in the Supra. I don't know I have never removed the door panels on a Toyota of that vintage. It would be a fairly trivial matter in say a Mazda or Ford of similar vintage. Those I have done restores on. Bio is free to accept or reject any advice given, and it appears he has rejected mine. My suggestion based on having done restores on a RX-7 and a Mustang of similar year was to consider installing molding to clean up the lines not to spend large amounts of money or time with appearance items; no more no less.

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  • 3 weeks later...
I'm pretty much at a stand still with it right now, I kinda want to sell it because I found something else fun.

Consider the price you paid for it in the beginning, and the money you've put into it so far. In the end it's your choice. :)

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Might make fun of me for this, but I found a 2000 Ford Crown Victoria P71, aka Police Interceptor. I was actually looking for one of these before I bought the Supra. Has the big push bar on front. If I would have found this one before, I would have bought it and with what I've put in the Supra, I would have pretty much done what I want to do to one.

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