[Supras] '89NA, finally seems to have kicked the bucket.

[Dan Gyoba]

Well, folks, it seems that 450,300 kms was the magic number.  I haven't done a full checkup, but I 
think that it's time to start engine shopping.

I've been lurking for a long time now, so some of you may not know or remember me, but I think I may 
have the title for "Longest turbo conversion project ever."  Up until now, nothing serious enough 
has happened to my car that my wife would allow me to buy a new engine.  That may have changed as of 
last Friday.

I was on the freeway, traffic congested and backed up.  When the car in front of me moved, I let out 
the clutch and the engine kind of bucked.  Next thing I know there's that smell of coolant in the 
air, the engine is running kind of rough, and my oil pressure is dropping. Well, to any 7M driver 
that I know, BHG has got to be the foremost thing on the mind.  I looked under the hood there, and 
there was coolant everywhere.  There's a possibility that it's "just" the water pump gasket, but 
that doesn't explain everything else.  I suspect that the head gasket is gone and something gave 
way, so all the coolant could blow out of the weakest link.  In any event, I've wanted to swap out 
the engine for a while now, so I'll take this as an excuse, even if it is a simple repair.

So...

The hunt for a 7M-GTE, ECU, AFM/electronics, R154 transmission and driveshaft begins.

My '89 is an early model (Production 10/88) so I think I can install an '88 or early '89 electronics 
set with no problems with the wiring harness.  Early '89 would be MOST preferable, but at this 
point, I'm not too picky.  I plan on doing some reworking with the engine before installing, to make 
sure that the engine will be reliable enough that I can use it as a basis for further upgrades 
without it going bad on me.

Any leads on swap parts appreciated.

Dan Gyoba
'89 NA 450,322 kms, (RIP)
http://www.abstractconsulting.com/~dan