Toyota Cressida

[MrodDrft]

did i say it bolts straight up with no work at all ?????


N3g

[ma71supraturbo]

I didn't bother to read all the posts -- a lot of flaming and misinformation.

The cressida is a good car, but chances are yours will be automatic. Manual transmissions were available, I recently checked the Toyota Electronic Parts Catalog and noticed that the mk3 na and the Cressida wagon shared the same manual transmission (W58). It only listed the cressida wagon as having a 5spd option.

If I were you I'd get an 88 or newer cressida as they came with the 7m (3.0 4-valve DOHC vs 2.8 2-valve DOHC -- 190-200bhp vs ~140-160bhp). The blocks are for all intents and purposes equal, so a 7m-gte swap shouldn't be any more difficult with one than the other. Getting the gauges to work properly and plumbing the intake/exhaust would be the hardest part. Trying to get a lot of power from either the 5m-ge, or 7m-ge (or the 6m-ge if you get one from japan) is a waste of time and money. Many people set out trying to prove the turbo guys wrong, but I know of no one to date that has broken 300bhp with an NA... At any rate, 200hp is plenty to drift, but more power is always nice to have


As for 5spd conversions -- they really aren't that hard if you know your *Censored**Censored**Censored* from a hole in the wall. You will need to short two wires to make your ECU think the automatic is always in neutral (otherwise your car won't start). You might also need to do some additional rewiring if you cared about having cruise control. The reverse light switch is the only other thing that would need to be rewired -- and its pretty straight forward.

As for transmissions, both the W58 (mk2, mk3 supra NA, and mk4 supra NA transmissions) and R154 (mk3 supra turbo transmission) will bolt right on. The W58 will fit in the transmission tunnel, but I don't know for sure if the r154 will. With either transmission, you'll need the lower transmission brackets, and the lower dust cover. The shifter hole may also need to be enlarged, I'm not sure. If you use the W58, you should be able to get a rear transmission mount from Toyota from a Cressida wagon, otherwise you'd have to fab one up. And you will have to install clutch and brake pedals (along with a clutch master cylinder) from a donor manual car. In most cases the mounting holes should still be on the frame, but I'm not 100% sure. Use a braided stainless steel line to transfer fluid from the clutch master to slave. The last step would be to get a custom driveshaft made (if you don't happen to have a cressida wagon donor car, its not worth ordering a stock 2-peice DS from toyota) -- most drivetrain places can custom make an aluminum one for you for $300-$500 depending on your area (hint: Get a Ford Aerostar driveshaft from your local pick-n-pull and then use your stock DS and the stock DS from the 5spd donor car. Have the shop use the 1-peice aerostar's aluminum section along with your original rear end flange, and the donor car's splined shaft).
Time and money consuming, but definitely not rocket science...

[mranlet]

Originally posted by MrodDrft
did i say it bolts straight up with no work at all ?????

No, you're posts are solid and if you don't know something you say that you don't, which is very admirable - I'm just speaking in general terms...

BTW - Very good info on the 88+

-MR

[VuDuDoc]

ma71supraturbo...very good stuff

Quick opinion.......7mgte and their head gasket......any input on that? Have you seen many go out the way they have been depicted?

[mranlet]

There's an article on one of the Supra pages - supposedly the factory Torque settings on the head bolts were slightly less than what the motor required. Over time things work loose and then the head gasket blows.

I've seen 2 or 3 examples of HG failure on 7M's, but by bumping up the ft/lb's by 2 or 5 or something ought to fix it.

I think the article is on celicasupra.com somewhere...

-MR

[nissanguy_24]

Originally posted by mranlet
There are some people that I do listen to (Chas, J-blood, Ghost of Duluth, DX, etc) because I know that they have real world hands-on experience. It things like when people say "oh, that transmission just slips right on to that motor with no work at all" when they haven't turned a single bolt on the car in question. The problem I have is that so many people just spout off stuff that they've read on other forums and in magazines as being fact and at times entire conversations can be held with nothing but breaths of hot air... I try to contribute way more than I complain though. I've also submitted a long list of changes that I'd like to see for the board in "moderation" and it got a lot of support from other people, but nothing ever happened. I'm glad that Nissanguy has been taking care of business and really participating and I think it's really putting the board in a better direction. I know that the BS is just a part of internet forums, but can't you mods make a BS-o-meter or something?

Well it is apreciated. And as for the BS meter, i like that idea ALOT. unfortionately i am far from a Uber Mechanic capable of calling BS on every situation. I have my area of knowledge. And i have a much bigger area of loose knowledge. things i've heard, read ect.. But we do have alot of intelegent folks on here, i hope that they will correct any misinformation floating around. Its always aprecated. Especialy when done politely.

[mranlet]

You could just have the BS-o-meter go off all the time... ...like a "check engine" light...

I'll take the "politely" as a hint.

-MR

[mranlet]

BTW - Kei Office rear suspension = $2500 !

-MR

[ma71supraturbo]

Originally posted by VuDuDoc
ma71supraturbo...very good stuff

Quick opinion.......7mgte and their head gasket......any input on that? Have you seen many go out the way they have been depicted?

Yup, the head gasket was a big issue with these engines. NA's aren't as prone to BHGs as turbos, but they're still common. Toyota redesigned the headgasket in the late 90's, but never did a recall despite a rather large online petition. I guess they decided a problem affecting only ~150,000 north american models didn't warrant a costly recall (they make more Camry's in 1 YEAR then they did 7m-equiped vehicles from 1986-1992). They DID recall the V6 in the 4runner and pickups due to blown headgaskets, but that engine was in perhaps ten times as many models. It isn't unusual for any mid 80's to mid 90's bi-metal engine (cast iron block, aluminum head) to have headgasket issues as aluminum and cast iron have significantly different thermal expansion rates.

That said, SONiC founder Reg Riemer did some pioneering experiments in the late 90's and discovered the problem could be alleviated by torquing the head down to 72-75ft-lbs vs the stock spec of 56. A number of turbo guys are happily boosting away at 350rwhp on redesigned headgaskets with heads "on tight." If you want more power than that HKS, Greddy, and Titan Motorsports make metal headgaskets in various thicknesses that will stand up to tons of abuse. Unfortunately, metal headgaskets almost always require machining both the head and the block as they do not tolerate surface irregularities like a composite headgasket. Using high-quality ARP bolts or studs is also recomended...


The other "common problem" with the 7m is rod knock. There seems to be no design flaw, only that cars that have had been driven with blown headgaskets end up with contaminated oil (coolant and oil = bad juju) causing premature bearing wear. Additionally turbo cars often burn more oil than their owners expect (especially ones with tired turbochargers), and running low oil will lead to a rod knock in a hurry. For example if I drive like a regular joe, I'll burn 1 qt every 2000-3000 miles. If I drive like myself, I'll go through a qt every 600 miles (my turbocharger is on its last legs). Most owners don't check their oil level every time they fill up on gas, so they'd never notice (oil pressure usually remains constant even with a low oil level).

But, the good news is with a propperly torqued headgasket and clean, full oil these engines really are bulletproof. And the 7m-gte can make a good deal of power for relatively little money (parts might cost more than your typical honda upgrade, but you'll get way more out of it -- example: a full 3-inch exhaust usually adds 50-70hp!)

[mranlet]

and you can get a full front clip for $1500!

-MR

[MrodDrft]

o sorry i thougt u wwerer talkin about me because i was the only one who posted info.

Goodday mate

[mranlet]

*real info

-MR

[monkeymagic]

Thanxs guys anyone know about the info on the weight tho?

[D1misser]

Originally posted by monkeymagic
Thanxs guys anyone know about the info on the weight tho?

LOL chase your trying so hard.

[J-BloodAE86]

Originally posted by mranlet
There are some people that I do listen to (Chas, J-blood, Ghost of Duluth, DX, etc) because I know that they have real world hands-on experience.
-MR

aw shucks, thanks. its true though, unless you know what you are talking about for sure, dont go acting like you know stuff that you dont. and if you think you know but arnt entirely sure, its best to err on the side of saftey, because giving wrong info can be harmful and expensive.