Head Gaskit help

[suprakid95]

IÔÇÖm about to buy a 1988 Celica Alltrac that has a fully built motor and all that jazz...now the seller was being pretty stupid n started the car after a few months in very cold weather n drove it hard, only after 2,000 miles after the rebuild. He then parked the car n now IÔÇÖm buying it.

The real question is.... I was wondering if there are any good Japanese motor shops for cheap? He is selling the car as is and I donÔÇÖt have the tools or the space to work on the car.

Any recommendations would be helpful thanks.

[.RJ]

I donÔÇÖt have the tools or the space to work on the car.

If you dont have friends that do have the tools/space/knowledge, it might be best to pass on this - shops can get expensive.

If you are in H'burg, then go have a talk with Neil Maddox, he's in town, go up main street on the north end of town past the napa and look for the shop on the left with the cars piled out front that looks like it could be a junkyard. There's a sign out front that says 'foreign car service'.

[suprakid95]

Well I do work at the Toyota dealership so I guess for small jobs I can take in my own car n work on it but I donÔÇÖt think they will let me leave my car in their garage for a while...and I have some tools but not all the right tools for a head gasket...

[CaptainHenreh]

Are you sure the headgasket is blown? What makes you think so? You'll definitely need to get the SST for the headbolts, but don't get it at toyota, figure out what size you need (the bolts have 12 point heads) and go to NAPA and get it, which is what I had to do with the 1JZ.

But honestly, a broken celica All-trac, while a most cool car, is a bit of a project to bite into if you don't have your own space or tools. Not to discourage you, just a heads-up.

[Dave]

working at a dealership, I would imagine you could convince one of the mechancics to evaluate the car's condition before you buy it. On top of that, I imagine you could convince one of them to do the necessary work for a little extra cash.
Absolutely a cool car, but would be a hell of a project to bite into for a first time.