What I know about the car:
-private individual selling it for 5500 euro (negotiable, and that's about $6.6k)
-355k kilometers (220k miles)
-manual 5 speed transmission
-1986 Toyota Supra MK3 ma17, with the 3.0L 7M-GE
-imported into Holland in 1997
-outside and interior look decent, missing radio
-it drives
-Was stationary for 4 years before this current owner bought it and brought it back on the road and passing Dutch APK (like the United Kingdom MOT, yearly legally required checkups)
-recently replaced "brake disks, drums and calipers, as well as brake lines"
-"inner and outer ball joints on the right side replaced"
-I'm translating from Dutch into English so bear with me there
-targa roof
-black paint looks pretty good on the photos
What I know about myself:
- I don't really need a daily driver, all absolute necessities for me are reachable by bike, but I'd have to get rid of my 1996 Fiat Barchetta that runs like a dream to get it.
- I'd like to do work on it and learn more about working on cars. I did a lot of work on the Barchetta and the next thing in line are new coil springs since the ones on there now are rusted. The frame has tactyl on it since last year after a weld job on the frame but it's only a matter of time before it's rotted through again I think.
- I have a place to put my car inside for longer periods and work on it in there.
What I'm asking you:
I don't really know what to make of this combination of milage, price and history. Is it a total no go? Worth a look to see if the frame isn't rotten? If I do take a look at it what should I especially look out for? I could get a report of previous owners and reported damages and such since it was imported into Holland in 1997
I'm falling in love with this car, even though it doesn't have the later models' 2jz engine in there. The contours, pop up headlights and the slightly more horsepower than my Barchetta are pulling me in, as well as trying out a rear wheel drive for the first time
Any input would be much appreciated!
EDIT: I forgot to mention that I drive around 6k km (4k miles) yearly
I had an 83 Supra, and I agree they are fun cars - but, I'd be sure to run a compression check on the engine to know if there's good life left in it. The big question I would have is parts - hop on Google and see if you can find (at reasonable prices, shipped from the EU) things that you might have to replace, like fuel injectors and brake parts and alternators. Check out this site - a forum with lots of info on low-volume Toyota cars. Perhaps you can find other EU Supra owners who can answer the parts questions.
https://www.toyotanation.com/forums/supra-forum.19/
Thanks for your suggestion Glen. I'll be looking into a compression tester, i.e renting or borrowing. Parts seem generally available and affordable, though I haven't found any injectors so far
After more digging I found a bunch of OEM denso injectors on ebay that should fit it for $15 to $25 per injector for a set of 6, seems reasonable as well
Cool to hear that. Parts make all the difference. Note that a lot of the engine and accessory parts are the same in the Cressida of that vintage (though there aren't many of those). Good luck bringing it back, but do check out Totyotanation.com, there are a lot of Supra Mark II and III folks there for advice. Google is your friend when you have a vintage, low production number car.
I contacted the owner and he said there's a suspected head gasket leak. No water in the oil but he does not recommend a test drive just to be sure.
So that means that if the frame is still good (it passed inspections 3 months ago, the same inspections that required my barchetta frame to be welded) then I could attempt a head gasket replacement myself since I do have several weeks and a dry place to work available, and a head gasket kit can be found for $100-$200
But it means I won't be able to test drive it, so I don't think I should pay $6 grand for a car I'd have to bring home on a bed truck.
I'll ask the same on the supraforum and Toyotanation.com like Glen suggested but I expect they'll say to put a 2JZ in hahaha, would be a fun job to try too...