I've passed this car for years driving to and from my grand parents, and about a month ago I decided to stop by and ask about it. The guy told me it was his sons car and gave me his number to inquire about, and just to my luck he was actually 2 minutes away from being at his parents house. He showed me around it and I was actually surprised, for I did not expect it to be what it was and what it had.

It is a 93 N/A (originally) so it has the updated rear sub-frame and struts. Also, He had swapped in a 91 turbo engine, LSD turbo trans, and the remainder of the rear turbo clip. It has real Auto-meter Cobalt gauges and either a TRD LSD or another, It also has a very grippy stage two 6-puck ACT clutch that feels awesome. The reason for sitting, he had gone to college right after the swap was done and had no time to drive. So I offered him a price and he accepted. Started right up with a battery charge and fuel additive, and I even drove it home. This thing ran smoother after 4 years of sitting than my truck does.

Day it came home:




It still had the original floor mats and original very rare T-Top bags and Toyota service manuals. And after a nice clean, here is the aftermath. Pretty impressed but it will need body work and respray in the future.


Needs a sub-frame nut welded in plus since it came off from the tack weld, and I want to change all fluids and do a timing belt/ water pump. If anyone has recommendations for the sub-frame bolt let me know. Plan to drive it often and mod subtly along the way. Already have a polished stock hot-pipe with a Greddy Type-S BOV flange ready for it in the future, I will decide what else as time goes.

 

Have always loved these cars

 

I love those in black with the roof scoop and regamasters!

 

Love these cars, but at the same time it's a sad reminder of how far Toyota has fallen when it comes to making cool cars :/

 

It is sad and I feel if they try to revamp some of these hero cars it might just be an utter failure. I just bought practically all maintenance items (K&N air filter, bosch fuel and oil filter, Denso platinum plugs, wires, dizzy cap and rotor) for around 60 bucks shipped new. I love the cheapness of quality parts for these. I'm so glad Toyota was smart enough to use almost the same engines in every car back then.

 

The neighbor has a nice one and I've always liked these cars quite a bit. Good luck with the project, man. It looks pretty good in the picture as it sits.

For the subframe nut, the stock part was actually a captive nut that was tack welded in?

 

Thanks Yard. Yes I didn't believe it until I actually looked it up. That would explain why its a common problem. Its in a tough spot and I'm pretty sure the sub-frame is actually a structural piece on these cars so I would need a good job done to it. I need to research it more first.

 

From what you said, it sounds like it is completely gone, not still there but stripped out, right?

 

Well I actually managed to find a picture of what is wrong with mine. The nut came loose from the sub-frame, The bolt is fine:

 

Oh, that fucking blows. The right fabricator could probably fix it. I'm an idiot so I'd be more likely to drop the whole fucking subframe, piece a replacement rear end together, and reinstall it. Use the opportunity to get tubular arms or powdercoat everything or something.