Dont know about the Toyota inline 6 but I 'd love to have a old 260Z simple fast and good lookin.

The head gasket problem is almost a certainty on the 7M-GE 3.0L in the 1986.5-1992 Supra and 1989-1992 Cressida ("There are three certainties in life; death, taxes, and the 7M BHG") :P The gasket problem came from too-low torque specs on the head bolts from the factory (which was about 55lbs), and the 7M-GE/GTE can be returned to a bulletproof state by properly fixing the gasket, and torquing to 70-75lbs.

Thing is, the older, pre-7M inline sixes had much better records when it came to BHG'*, the one in our family went strong for years and years; the 5M-GE doesn't blow nearly as much.

And I'm assuming that this '81 Supra job is a 4M-E (2.6L) if it'* the first-gen or early 5M-GE (2.8L) if it'* the second-gen?

lol, only if you dont know how to torque head bolts




I'd love to have a second-generation Supra.


I'd say that the head gasket problem here is comparable to that of the upper intake problems of the NA 3800'*. Eventually, it'* gonna happen

Can I re- Torque the head as preventative maint.? Or just wait till it blows?

You can retorque it, but from what I've heard, retorquing can actually hasten the gasket'* demise

It'* a gamble, it may do the trick, or it may do nothing, or it may make it blow

Either way, after it'* fixed, you'll have a bulletproof engine (and if it'* the manual tranny, it'll potentially handle 400 rear wheel hp no problem), provided no damage was done when the HG blew. Rod knock is a problem exhibited by these motors due to the fact that:

gasket blows = (coolant + oil) = starved rod bearings = rod knock = if left unfixed, a rod through the block

See, the Cressida/Supra crowd is used to this problem, we've even created special purpose smilies


(that'* a 7M/5M referred to above'* headgasket between the words, lol)

yep i had 2 7M'* and bolth nedded hg'* not to bad of a job actualy went ahead and shaved 20 off the second one and put some arp stuff in it and it is still running today