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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

3k Supra as a project?


damadom
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Hi everyone.

 

I'm thinking of getting back into a supra but fancy a project supra.

I've been looking around the classifieds for a good month now and seem to be seeing supra a for no less then 4k what I wants to ask you guys do you think it'll be possible to find a manual NA for 3K or less it doesn't need to be anything fancy just able to be driven I don't mind work at all I haven't changed anything as big as a engine or gearbox but would be willing to give it a go, do you think I'll need to add more to my budget or shall I just keep a look out?

 

Matt

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I doubt it because the gearbox is worth that alone and if one came up for £3k id rip the persons arm off and break it. From experience its more expensive doing it at a project but at least you get the exact car and setup you want.

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Yes, when I was looking someone with a manual NA around that price sent me a message, it looked like it needed a bit more work than I wanted to put into it though. 3k ones come up now and again on the for sale section. You could even buy a cheap auto and do a 5spd conversion which may end up cheaper over all. Summer probably isn't the best time to buy cars for cheap anyway so if you're happy to wait a few months I'm sure something will come up.

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Wouldn't of thought the 5speed box would be worth that much as I thought it was the 6speed that was the more sort after?

 

I don't mind work at all I have a garage that I can put it in a do the work and it wouldn't be my daily driver. I have had a NA manual in the past and I sold that for 2K which I regret massively.

It's something that I'll be working on for a long time as from what I can see they are getting rare these days and looking at all the supra's on here makes me want one even more.

 

Will keep my eye out for one.

 

Matt

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Yeah I'm more then happy to wait for the right one to come along, I've made the mistake of rushing into buying cars before I regret it.

 

How much are the 5speed boxes worth? Didn't really think it would work out cheaper, wouldn't mind the work.

 

Matt

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I think the 5spd boxes seem to go for around 400 on their own but that doesn't take into account whatever other bits you need to swap over. I guess it's the tradeoff between auto and manual prices and what kind of quality of car you can find to do it on to make it worth it. There was a good thread on auto -> manual swap a while ago but I can't find it now, it looked pretty involved though.

 

edit: http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?241803-N-A-auto-to-5-speed-W58 might be useful.

 

Yeah I'm more then happy to wait for the right one to come along, I've made the mistake of rushing into buying cars before I regret it.

 

How much are the 5speed boxes worth? Didn't really think it would work out cheaper, wouldn't mind the work.

 

Matt

Edited by mc92 (see edit history)
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What sort of a project are you planning? Just a clean Supra to drive on weekends? Or a big power base?

 

If you're looking to turbocharge it at all, you would be far better with a 6 speed straight off.

 

I assumed big project hence why I assumed a 6 speed :D

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Na autos go for about 1500 to 2000 from what I've seen I only paid 2000 for mine if you want a project then do a five speed swap on a na auto this way you can be picky and find a nice rust free car. however w58 boxes seem to becoming harder to find and are going for more and more money

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Na autos go for about 1500 to 2000 from what I've seen I only paid 2000 for mine if you want a project then do a five speed swap on a na auto this way you can be picky and find a nice rust free car. however w58 boxes seem to becoming harder to find and are going for more and more money

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To be honest I'm not exactly sure if I would want to make loads of power out of it just yet. I would want to get it looking clean and running great first.

 

I don't plan on doing everything all at once either, in no rush as I really enjoy tinkering with cars and I'd get the same pleasure out of that as I would of driving the finished project.

 

As you have mentioned it would be easier to get a turbo supra and I get where you're coming from but I'd like to get it looking exactly how I wanted before maybe a engine swap.

 

Thanks for all the comments it's really helping me make my mind up.

 

I'll have a look round at what work it takes to fit a manual.

 

Matt

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To be honest I'm not exactly sure if I would want to make loads of power out of it just yet. I would want to get it looking clean and running great first.

 

I don't plan on doing everything all at once either, in no rush as I really enjoy tinkering with cars and I'd get the same pleasure out of that as I would of driving the finished project.

 

As you have mentioned it would be easier to get a turbo supra and I get where you're coming from but I'd like to get it looking exactly how I wanted before maybe a engine swap.

 

Thanks for all the comments it's really helping me make my mind up.

 

I'll have a look round at what work it takes to fit a manual.

 

Matt

 

Good luck to find the right one!

 

If you don't want to have a lot of power, i think w58 and na-t combo could be the most cost effective solution? Still fast car tho :D 2JZ-GTE is a damn expensive motor. W58 is getting more and more expensive too, but tbh every item for Supra is going to cost even more in the future. R154 box is one option also, stronger than w58 but maybe not that nice to use.

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If it has to be manual, then obviously you would be best buying a 6 speed TT to start with. However, if you want a cheaper entry point, then I would say the minimum you want would be a 6 speed NA. Buying a 5 speed NA won't be cost effective in the long run, and quite often people end up selling their 5 speed manual NAs because the transmission is such a limiting factor. Even the NA auto is more tunable than the 5 speed manual without going to huge expense.

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You need something like the circa £2500 single turbo, aftermarket ecu'd TT auto I sold recently with a cracked block. Some labour in rebuilding the engine, which could have been done using a cheap as chips N/A block and you'd have had a very rapid car with all the stuff you'd pay a fortune for already with it.

 

Or the £2999 TT auto with high miles I sold about 2 years ago, that needed a bit of paint to make it really nice. It had zero rust, great service history, an elderly, financially sound owner who had not fiddled with it, and who had paid for proper maintenance. It had no mechanical issues at all.

 

Buy a car that's already had the expensive stuff done to it, even if it needs sorting out. Starting with an N/A auto or 5 speed is crazy.

Edited by Chris Wilson (see edit history)
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What kind of power can the auto box manage? also I presume the auto in the TT is the same in the NA?

 

Matt

 

The autobox in the na and tt are different, not sure what sort of power each can hold

 

IIRC David P said the Hybrid boxes can take 600lb/ft, which is the limit (or just beyond) for a TT autobox with coolers. In comparison, from what I've seen 350-400 lb/ft is the limit for the W58 manual.

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You need something like the circa £2500 single turbo, aftermarket ecu'd TT auto I sold recently with a cracked block. Some labour in rebuilding the engine, which could have been done using a cheap as chips N/A block and you'd have had a very rapid car with all the stuff you'd pay a fortune for already with it.

 

Or the £2999 TT auto with high miles I sold about 2 years ago, that needed a bit of paint to make it really nice. It had zero rust, great service history, an elderly, financially sound owner who had not fiddled with it, and who had paid for proper maintenance. It had no mechanical issues at all.

 

Buy a car that's already had the expensive stuff done to it, even if it needs sorting out. Starting with an N/A auto or 5 speed is crazy.

 

Yeah I've thought about something like that, like you said a little bit of work but I'm ok with that. Will be looking to buy around January time so will keep a eye out for one, from what everyone has said on here I think buying one with the expensive bits on it is the way forward.

 

Thanks for all the help and advise guys.

 

Mat

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Buying one in good condition should be the first priority, being able to get it on a ramp is a must these days as half

your problems are what's underneath, quite a lot are now not that nice due to poor diy maintenance, that goes for club

owned cars as well as ones out the paper.

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