Woohoo, Finally Got Me A Supra!

[Kiff]

Well, I finally realised a teenage dream today by seeing MY 1985 MA61 Celica Supra parked on MY drive. I have always wanted one but they were never in my price range (sorry, bit of a skin flint where cars are concerned, normally only pay up to £500), so when I saw the Supra parked on a drive I made some enquiries and found out that it was for up sale so I went to meet the guy who was selling it.

He told me it had been parked in his garage for 14 years, but he needed the space so it ended up on the drive. I had a look over the car, only 91k on the clock and found only 1 patch of main rust, just behind the drivers side rear wheel arch, minor surface rust elsewhere but that was it, even the sills were solid and original, that is when I started pinching myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming.

There were a few spares in the main passenger compartment and then he showed me the boot, it was stuffed full of more and then when he said "that ain't it!", pinching time again. Turns out he had 2 Supras at one point and had part stripped the other one of quite a few useable spares and boxed it all up. Main things extra are all lighting and a few interior parts, complete wiring harness with ECU, digi dash, all engine ancilliaries but not the block, anyway, the list goes on. Now the part that made me pinch myself the most, all of this for £300, his hand was shaken there and then.

Now I've got it home (by a local garages recovery truck) I've had a chance to have a real good look over it and it will not take a lot to get her through an MOT, main thing that needs doing it the bodywork, got loads of little dents and scratches all over it and the sunroof needs sorting, hence the spare bonnet sat on the roof.

Got a couple of photos from my phone but will add more soon.

Oh, and does anyone know where I can get a pair of 225/60VR14 Avon CR28's????????????

[Leeky]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your MA61. I've had one and they are great cars if cared for properly.

To answer your question about tyres, your better off giving up looking for the Avon's. They havent been made for years and tyres for the stock rims are a huge issue for these cars.

I suggest you go for Cooper Cobra's. Standard MA61 tyres are 205 at the front and 225 at the rear. They do these Coopers in 215 for the front and 235 for the rear. They are perfect as a replacement for the standard tyres, they are a hard compound for they wear well and also they are made primarily for american imports so they have cool white writing on the walls.

You can get them here - > http://www.tyrespec.co.uk/products/?pattern=Cobra%20GT

Sunroofs are actually quite cheap. I bought a brand new one from Toyota and i think it just around £130 including new seals :)

Any more MK2 Supra questions just ask :)

[Steigers]

Seems like a nice example you have found yourself. Hope you enjoy it

[Uncle Bob]

Hello Kiff and welcome to the club, finding tyres for the 2.8 Celica-Supra is a major problem now, tyre size front and rear is 225/60/14 and should be rated to 130mph for insurance purposes, if you are lucky to find any in the UK they will be cooper or BF Goodrich, which will have a speed rating of 96mph.

Two years back i done some extensive searching for tyres for my 2.8 supra and located a set from different tyre dealers in the south of england, they were TOYO 600-F5 but ever these have not been made since 2005.

I'm thinking you may have to go down two routes, second hand ( not recommend ) or a lower speed rating, another option is go for aftermarket alloys, say a set of 16" with 225/50/16 but this will be the wrong side of £800-900 !

If you need any help on all matters 2.8, let me know.....Bob :)

[Uncle Bob]

Just had a look around the Internet to refresh my memory on supra tyres...and its not got any better in the last two years :( , as leeky has suggested Cooper tyres are an option ( if they still have them in stock ) but looking at their listing its going to have to be 215/60/14 or 235/60/14.

On the speedo reading front, with your speedo reading 60mph, a 215 will have a actual true speed of 58.8 mph and a 235 will read 61.2 mph so the 215 is a better choice.

I've found a cheaper option with the correct speed rating on www.mytyres.co.uk its a 215/60/14 Nankang tyres at £45.70.. yes Nankang is at the bottom of the tyre quality listing but a good option to keep you Supra on the road all the same.

Now a very time consuming option is to sit down with the yellow pages and ring all the tyre dealers in your area you may get lucky like me, and find the odd TOYO gather dust at several dealers and build yourself up a set, i've collected 5 tyres for my car so far but still keep an eye out for others.

[Kiff]

Well, thanks for all the info guys, I'm gonna stick with trying to find a pair of Avons, rears on the Supra are brand new. I love the stock wheels and it's the cheaper option at the min. When I can I'm gonna invest in a set of Image Wheels, gonna take some saving up mind lol

UB, thanks for the offer on the advice, I'll certainly contact you if I get stuck.

Progress so far, wing mirrors back on, sunroof back in but only temporary as it's passed its sell by date but it's still watertight with the help of insulation tape. Car's been washed, polished and cleaned out inside and all the windows done, connected a Battery up and the only thing that didn't work was the drivers side rear side light and that was due to no bulb being in there lol

Took the plugs out 1 at a time and poured some duckoil down each cylinder, took the timing cover off, checked the belt was ok (the guy I got it from had just had it changed before he parked it up) and turned her over and everything span as it should and there were no nasty clunks or rattles from the engine. She won't start at the moment cos I haven't put the fuel tank back in yet, want to underseal before I do.

Anyway, a few piccies to show the result of a bit of time & elbow grease.

The only major bit of rust!!!!!!!

[Uncle Bob]

Rust on the inner rear 1/4 sills is common, it can also rust the out sill if left :( , i'll make contact with a friend and see if he has any Avon's .

[Kiff]

Rust on the inner rear 1/4 sills is common, it can also rust the out sill if left :( , i'll make contact with a friend and see if he has any Avon's .

Thanks a lot Bob, that would be great

[Uncle Bob]

Rust on the inner rear 1/4 sills is common, it can also rust the out sill if left :( , i'll make contact with a friend and see if he has any Avon's .

Thanks a lot Bob, that would be great

Trouble is they are very rare to find so he may want to keep them for himself :( if i had the choice i feel new rubber is the way to go, and as you only want a pair you could put 215's on the front.

[Leeky]

There are no issues running H rated 118mph tyres. As long as your insurance company are aware that they are H rated and wider/thinner then they cannot refuse to pay out.

Also all UK facelift cars (cannot be certain whether pre-facelift were the same) came out of the factory with 205's on the front and 225's on the rear as standard. I have lots of factory Brochures that confirm this and also had at one the original bill of sale for my 85 car which specified 2x 205 Avons for the front and 2x 225 Avons on the rear.

Here is a thought though....

The JDM Soarer MK1 (Same Platform as the MK2 Supra) came with 15" versions of the Supra's wheels They are slightly narrower rims but being 15" this should open up a huge choice of tyres for you.

Last time i looked on eBay.co.jp a set went for under £60. Plus shipping to the UK would probably equate to £120.

Also if it helps, Nissan 200SX (S13) wheels fit the MK2 Supra. There are loads and loads of wheels on eBay for next to nothing.