to swap or not to swap

i have an 88 n/a supra 5 speed. the head gasket is bad, the main bearings are shot and it needs a new alternator. i want a turbo so i have already decided not to rebuild the stock motor. now my question is is it worth the time and money to swap in a 7m-gte or should i just look for a mk3 turbo? i have a kid that wants to give me 500 for it now cuz he wants to make it a project car. should i give up on it and let him have it and find another one?

also my goal is to have a mk3 running mid 12s. im fairly new to the supra world so i dont know that much about the different motors. so how hard is that to achieve with the 7m-gte? is it possible or should i look into the 1jz? from what ive read 1jz is much harder to swap in.

sorry for all the questions but any help would be appreciated.

The 1jz is really not that bad, it was the stock motor that was in the MKIII in Japan that we did not get. It was a larger motor that was already turbocharged. I would look into it in more depth with people who have experience swapping it over and see what all you have to do. It might be worth it to you for what you want to do. Good luck with it though. Ask any more questions you might have.

thanks. ill do that. what kind of hp would i have to make to run mid 12s? how hard would it be with the 7m-gte? ive read that there is a lot more aftermarket support for it compared to the 1jz since we didnt get it here.

Here is the fast and simple version of the answer.

Cheap and easy=7M swap

Cheap and hard=1JZ swap

The swaps are only cheap if you do your own work. If you pay a shop to do the swap it is no longer so cheap.

A bit more expensive and really easy= sell your junk and buy a turbo model that is in good shape

How much HP is needed for 12s? Hard to say. How much drag experience do you have? I recommend working your way down to a target time. Start stock and learn to control the car. Then up the power a bit with a waste gate controller. Get used to the increased power. Then maybe upgrade the turbo. Slowly up the power. By this stage you will be ready to build the motor. Again, start conservative on the boost and work your way up until you reach the 12s. Nobody starts out from scratch and tries to jump right into a fast car. If you do, you end up in the wall, or worse in the next lane. Also, being fast isn't all about HP. It is how well you can put it to the ground, and control your car. If you are sleeping at the tree, roasting your tires off the line, or missing shifts, then you will never hit your target.

Can a 7M get a Supra going that fast? Yes, but it is not cheap. Will a 1JZ or 2JZ do it? Yes, but it won't be any cheaper.

The big question you need to face up to is just how much money do you have? It costs money to go fast. Unless you have about $8000-$10000 so to plunk down for parts then don't start this project. You need to do more than just build a motor. You are going to need a beefed up trans, clutch, a scatter shield, at the very least an after market LSD that can handle the power, if not a beefed up R&P. You will have to rework the rear suspension to handle the power and get new rims and tires to go with. The biggest mistake you can make is to throw a bunch of money at the motor and neglect the other parts of the car. All you will end up doing is burning rubber and breaking parts.

thanks tcmaboy..that does help..i was starting to lean toward buying a turbo in better shape because while i have a pretty decent understanding of how to work on cars i do not have the time, tools, or experience to pull off a swap myself. plus my n/a car is a little beat all around, interior and exterior.

as for the launching, i believe that im pretty good at it. well maybe not good but good enough that ill be able to use most of the cars potential. ive raced my srt4 quite few times and i have, imo, fairly good clutch and throttle control. fwd with any kind of hp is a little tough to get off the line.

and for the last part, i know an engine with too much power for the rest of the cars setup is just as bad as an engine with too little power. and while i dont intend on dropping that much money into the car all at once, i wouldnt be against investing that much into a project car.

thanks alot for the help.

o and one more question, what kind of quarter mile times does a stock mk3 turbo run?

I can't say. I have an NA that I pulled out of the junk yard. The motor lasted about 2 weeks before it let go. Now I have a 1JZ with electrical gremlins. Its got a miss fire from hell and won't idle out. One of these days I'll get around to finding the bad sensor and replacing it. My truck has been getting all the love this year.

My advice to you is to just get a mkiii turbo in good shape. I am going through the swap right now and I can tell you sourcing everything for good prices is a chore. The 1JZ is very popular but you will not pass some visual inspections with that motor in your car. With the support that the 7M has you should just go that route or if you are tossing money in, you minds well swap in the 2JZ. Lastly, know that whatever motor you get, you will have to toss some money at because anyone you find will have some age to it. If you can get someone's turbo for a nice price with the headgasket done and you can reap all their hardwork because it definitely is with these 15+ year old cars.