New ride (Japanese luxo-barge content)

My E28 has come off the road for a while, so I can upgrade the suspension, brakes, and attend to some other issues. Here's its temporary replacement - an '85 Toyota Crown Royal Saloon. This one has a 5M-GE (twin-cam) coupled to a 4 speed slushbox, and it's rather like driving a boat coming from the BMW. Distant future plans include: dumping it on some old-school JDM wheels, and eventually swapping in a 7M-GTE + manual. But that's way off.

Have some photos.

Taken shortly after buying it:

In the light of day:

Blue velor abounds inside:

Drinks cooler in the parcel shelf - nifty!

That is RAD. Your plans sound perfect. That thing NEEDS to be dropped on some period wheels.

Very cool ride.

RHD FTMFW!

Car is delicious! Please keep us updated on progress!

I cant be the only one hoping you go all bosozoku on it

jk, thats really cool! Talk about a daily that will get some strange looks from most, but some head nods and smiles from those who matter!

I shouldn't like that. I don't like cushy boatmobiles, I don't like blue interiors, and I don't like velour.

But I do. That thing is awesome, and it oozes presence in a "get out of my way, peasant!" sort of way. Please fill the drink cooler with this and lots of ice.

Are you still in Perth? I guess you don't have to worry about rust much. It's rediculously clean.

That is awesome. I want a Cressida in a bad way. Toyotas look good on BBS rims BTW.

I have a set of never used DP engineering wheels that would look pretty period on that thing. (never even had a tire mounted on them since they were made in 1986...)

Wow. I'm jealous.

I don't think I've ever seen one of those before. It's like a Japanese caddy! I'd have a real strong urge to wear a golf cap, slacks, and white loafers while driving.

That is so cool!

Extremely cool! But don't let Onizuka anywhere near it..

4cylndrfury wrote: I cant be the only one hoping you go all bosozoku on it

I vote for bippu-style. It's a natural fit

Jay wrote: Are you still in Perth? I guess you don't have to worry about rust much. It's rediculously clean.

Still in Perth. It's about as clean as it looks, too. The paint is a bit shabby, and there's a few specs of surface rust, but that's it.

BBS wheels will probably be the go, just cause they seem to be easiest to find in 5-stud form.

Thanks for the comments!

Luke wrote:

Jay wrote: Are you still in Perth? I guess you don't have to worry about rust much. It's rediculously clean.

Still in Perth. It's about as clean as it looks, too. The paint is a bit shabby, and there's a few specs of surface rust, but that's it. BBS wheels will probably be the go, just cause they seem to be easiest to find in 5-stud form. Thanks for the comments!Man, that is SOO cool! Even with blue valour. And absolutely drive the wee out of it when you get wheels on it.

Mikey52_1 wrote:

Luke wrote:

Jay wrote: Are you still in Perth? I guess you don't have to worry about rust much. It's rediculously clean.

Still in Perth. It's about as clean as it looks, too. The paint is a bit shabby, and there's a few specs of surface rust, but that's it. BBS wheels will probably be the go, just cause they seem to be easiest to find in 5-stud form. Thanks for the comments!Man, that is SOO cool! Even with blue valour. And absolutely drive the wee out of it when you get wheels on it.

Okay, so I'm not sure what happened here...

1jz. Much, much better motor and you can get them cheap. The 7m is good, but they blow head gaskets and don't particularly like to rev.

Mikey52_1 wrote: Okay, so I'm not sure what happened here...

Oh, it's easy. One of our buddies in Australia bought a seriously cool car, and so many of us in the US were so jealous that we made jokes instead of telling him anything that could actually help.

MrBenjamonkey wrote: 1jz. Much, much better motor and you can get them cheap. The 7m is good, but they blow head gaskets and don't particularly like to rev.

As I understand it, the head gasket issue was just a result of insufficiently torqued head bolts and low-quality gaskets when the cars were new.

1JZ would be great, but that swap would require more fabrication, (I assume.) I prefer the "bolt in" approach, or as close to that as I can get, anyway .

What say you on the 1G-GTE?

MrBenjamonkey wrote: 1jz. Much, much better motor and you can get them cheap. The 7m is good, but they blow head gaskets and don't particularly like to rev.

There isn't a whole lot better about a 1jz vs. a 7m, if anything. And in this case, the ease of a 7m swap far outweighs what little advantages a 1jz may have.

The headgasket issue is simply because Toyota made a boo-boo and initially released the same head bolt/stud torque values for both the 7mge and the 7mgte. They later released a TSB with the correct values.

Metal gasket and some ARP fasteners and you're good to go.

Very nice! I saw several Toyota Crowns of that vintage when I was in Japan and was impressed. And the newer ones, wow, they're nice!

Luke wrote:

MrBenjamonkey wrote: 1jz. Much, much better motor and you can get them cheap. The 7m is good, but they blow head gaskets and don't particularly like to rev.

As I understand it, the head gasket issue was just a result of insufficiently torqued head bolts and low-quality gaskets when the cars were new. 1JZ would be great, but that swap would require more fabrication, (I assume.) I prefer the "bolt in" approach, or as close to that as I can get, anyway . What say you on the 1G-GTE?

Not sure how much in common your car has with a MK3 Supra, but the 1jz is a super common swap into 7m powered Supras.

The 1jz is a much better engine. It's smoother, the head is better, you're a boost controller away from 400 hp, they'll rev to the moon with minor mods and you can get stupid power out of the stock long block.

That said, it is more difficult to swap than a 7m. You'd probably need a Japanese market mk3 supra front clip to do it.

third gen Cressidas have alot more in common with mk II supras than mk III. That said, a 7M swap is wicked easy, much cheaper than a JZ (like 600-800 dollars cheaper), and with proper head gaskets and some ARP studs, they run like sweet candy forever.

That thing is hideous-but in a good way.

2JZ Swap with a 50 shot a NAS!!!