Willtotheumm's 7M engine rebuild

[willtotheumm]

Hey guys...i'm posting this thread to sorta keep you all updated as to what is going on with my 7mgte and what i'm having done to it. So far I have a nice little shopping list of items to get...

Upper and Lower radiator hoses - $27 + tax
Thermostat - $12 + tax
Timing Belt - $17 + tax
AE Clevite Rod Bearings - $42 + tax
HKS 1.2 MM Headgasket - $100 + tax
Full Gasket Set - $312 + tax

...more to come.


I have the heads in my garage, and finally got a key made for my Supra. This weekend I will hopefully have it here to my house and I will start ripping out the rest of the engine. It may be about a week until I could then have it taken down to a local machine shop to have it honed, dipped, and beadblasted. Once I get it back, it's gonna be painted a nice low-gloss black. Then comes assembly.

Can I get some suggestions as to whatelse I will probably end up needing? Anyone else have experience rebuilding their 7mgte from the ground up? Any help or suggestions would be extremely appreciated

[vsixcamry]

me and you both brutha..

[Jeeves]

ARP Studs, Toyota (or similiar) FIPG (Fill In Place Gasket), Brake Parts Cleaner, Lots of green coolant, Mobil 1 10W40... hmm...

[slacker]

heres my build ..

http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t149947.html

[willtotheumm]

I read and looked through it just before I posted this actually. I really enjoyed it .


Well I have the ARP catalog on order right now and I have been pricing products. Now just to get the Supra to my house.

oh right! THATS TOMORROW!!! She's finally coming home (and i'm gonna have plenty of pictures for it). I'll finally get to see under the hood, clean out the interior (as well as put what isnt together, back together again), hose her down...and get ready to rip the block out muhaha

I am gonna paint the block low gloss black, once it's back from the machine shop. With my next paycheck i'm going to get what parts I can afford (and put some towards the machine shop).

This thread may start off slow, but once I get parts rollin' in and I really start ripping my Supra a new one, this thread could get interesting

[jon_570]

i am really interested to see how it turns out because if i get this one car for sale around me a 1988 supra with a 7mge, i will be doing what you did. rebuilding cleaning and machining and im really anticipating some pics

[willtotheumm]

i cant wait either...

I'm ordering the harness for my turbo timer (since it'll be easy to install right now), and the ARP head studs.

Now I have a question...what is the difference between head studs and head bolts? ARP has product listings for both and I wasnt sure what I should get...or if I need both?

I have pictures on my other computer, but i'll load a few more right now...

[willtotheumm]

[willtotheumm]

alright....I just hit a fork in the road. Do I want to rebuild the 7M? or for the same price get a 1JZ-GTE....

what are the benefits of having it? I mean, I would really like to get it (and the price is right...plus I could have it in a few weeks )... but would it be a difficult swap? I found one w/ the harness and ecu for a grand. I guess the 6-speed tranny isnt all that important...esp. with the R154 being sucka better tranny...

opinions?

[bgrieger]

Upsides to the 7M - you get a rebuilt engine capable of getting another 15 years if it's done right. The 1J is a used engine, and you roll the dice when you go that route. You have a wealth of parts new from your dealer. 1J parts, while more common than in the past, are still harder to get. You can simply plug the built 7M in and run, the 1j requires custom engine mounts/subframe for you, plus you need to modify the harness to work with your car (LHD vs RHD...the 1j harness is too short.

For the same money, the 7M is the easier, and safer route. The 1J requires more than the price you see to complete. Most guys that have done it kick themselves if they have less than a front cut to take all the pieces from.

[willtotheumm]

so the 1jz wasnt an option here in the states? I thought it was... if it were just plug and play that'd be cool...but (especially if it isnt smog legal here in Cali) and requires custom mounts... then.... yeah I guess i'll stick with the 7M LOL

[Jeeves]

1JZ was never an option in the US, parts are MUCH harder to come by. It was available overseas as the jza70 supra. You're probably thinking about the 2JZ, which was the Mk4 Supra.

[willtotheumm]

ah...i'll save that for a future project lol

[willtotheumm]

Alrighty...finally an update. My dad is almost done hogging our garage with his Explorer project. Once it's moved out of the garage then my Supra is going in

I have the ARP studs on order and they should be here anyday. Got them off ebay, new in sealed box, for 109 after shipping. Beats the 150something from ARP. I also found out a guy that a bunch of my friends hang out with own a junkyard in a nearby community just north of here. He said there is an 89 Supra turbo. When I go to tear part of it apart (to see how mine is put together haha) and get some stuff I need, i'll take pictures and if anyone needs a part off of it, lemme know.

Found out i'm gonna need new tires. I could have driven these a little more, but they went from sitting in a cold garage to sitting in the sun in my driveway which is causing a lot of cracks. No biggie. Time for me to finally upgrade to some good tread. I'm thinking Falken tires. I want something with very good performance, but nothing too soft that i'll need new ones a few months down the road.

I'll post pics here real soon

[willtotheumm]

alrighty...well last night when I got home I set up my dad's big ol' halogen lights and took the hood off my Supra. It was somewhere around 38-40 degrees and I was outside not even noticing lol.

I removed the oil line for the turbo and then took off the plastic shroud off the radiator. Loosened the brackets and then yanked out the radiator. I then labeled the last few things that was connected to the block and removed those. Took off the starter and some sort of cooling lines that run on both sides of the block.

My ARP headstuds should be here today. My dad's goal is to have our Explorer out of the garage today or tomorrow and then my Supra *finally* gets to go in. I should then have the block out in a few hours (I need to find a way to get to the few bolts on the bellhousing that are almost impossible to get to).

I didnt take any pictures because, well, its nothing major.