My MKIII - My Project - Need a few answers

[Stupra]

Looks good man! It's a really clean car I love the color.

[Grandavi]

Thanks! Now I just gotta get the engine compartment prettied up. Going to be slapping these tires on it:

Goodyear Tires | Eagle | Eagle F1 Asymmetric | Features & Benefits

unless someone recommends a better one. Remember.. I live in an area that has snow in winter from time to time (used to be all winter.. that's changed). I dont intend on driving the car in winter, but you can get surprised out here.

[Stupra]

Those look nice dude. i've been wanting to try a tire like that since my wheels are all cambered in. I guess the weird tread is supposed to increase tire life. i would definitely give them a shot they look great

[Grandavi]

yeah, the wheels have different areas for different reasons. However, saying that, I dont think i would use these for drifting. I dont drift (well.. maybe once or twice a year... lol). These tires outside edge tread actually are slightly higher than the inside edge to give more support during cornering. Maybe they would work better? No idea..

But overall, I like the look, and I've been using Good Year ever since my Uniroyals gave out on a corner in my 80 Celica (doing 80 in a 30 zone, met up with a hairpin curve... the tires didn't even squeak... the car however was a right-off). No seatbelts, just 2 young and foolish guys looking startled as the car went head on for a tree and a rock. Divine intervention wins the day!

[Grandavi]

Okay, for anyone interested (and I would like yays or nays if you have any...), here is my list of what I'm gonna do. Incredible how fast everything adds up $$wise...

Body - Got a body shop that is going to do all my complaints (above the wheel wells, rebuild the inner wheel well driver side, front rust - of which I am going to replace the fender rather than just spot fixing)... just shy of 2000.00. Planning (hoping) to have that happen right before Christmas.

Wheels - replacing with the tires I mentioned 2 or 3 posts ago.. but waiting until next spring (hoping price falls or new design comes out or.. maybe a sale!) Figuring at about 800.00

Interior - got all the parts I need and just doing it as time permits. This part is inexpensive as I have very little to do

Glass - Going to tint all the glass (not the windshield). Doing 1 stage lighter than the darkest possible on the hatch, 2 stages lighter than darkest possible on the back windows, 1 stage darker than the lightest possible on driver and passenger side windows. Anyone ever seen louvres for an 88? No idea if they would look good, just can't recall ever seeing any...

Brakes - Staying stock with these, as I dont see any reason yet to improve them. Just a normal maintenance issue...

Stereo - just upgraded to a JVC AVX11
http://www2.visions.ca/catalogue/cat...&productId=960
can watch movies too! lol...

Engine/Drivetrain

Ahh.. here's where we really get funky... lol.

- New rad! Now.. correct me if I'm wrong, but one of the true causes of BHG is overheating on the rear 2 cylinders... Doing this for that reason and because I find that the car likes running hot (temp gauge is steady, but feels hotter than a normal vehicle ... turbo I would guess)
Koyo Racing Toyota K-Sport Aluminum Radiators

- Exhaust upgrade - I may be listing these weird because I havent exactly figured out what goes where. Hopefully this is all that I need... it gets kind of confusing as I haven't done this "hands-on" yet, just read lots...
- HKS Front pipe to remove front Cat pipe. (to reduce heat under the hood. (have yet to source this so I am not sure exactly how this goes on... just know I want it) I am presently assuming this removed the catalytic converter.. and also assuming that I am wrong. (I think you would have engine computer issues if you pop out the catalytic converter even though I think they are a BAD idea!)
- Cat Back Exhaust system. NOTE: This is very hard to figure out. I have sourced a HKS system out, but haven't found if it is 2.5" or 3". My plan is to go full 3". I am assuming that Cat back means.. from the Catalytic converter to the back of the car... am I right?
- Leaving the Header and muffler upgrades until i figger out everything else.

- Engine Compartment - pretty well every hose (not the small vacuum lines if they look okay) is going to get replaced unless I can tell for sure it is in great condition. At this point, I have to research almost every hose I find (especially any that are attached to the turbo system) and see if I can upgrade/improve them. My engine runs pretty darn good right now, but I am thinking that I have some oil leakage via the hoses and the rest are probably at that point that they may start leaking... am I being paranoid? lol. I dont mind spending the money to do it right.

- Intercooler - Decided no upgrade ... but I am going to replace almost all the rubber hoses with metal and pretty it up a bit.

- Heads (area) - Pulling all the spark plugs and tossing em.. same with the wires. Simply because I have no idea about their history and I want to have control of whatever I can. All getting replaced with Iridium sparkplugs, but not decided yet on what kind of wires. I am also going to just double check the head bolt torque as I have to replace a head cover gasket anyway. At this point, I think I can adjust the valves. I thought they were auto adjusting, but have heard that they do need to be adjusted. Compression test at this time as well so I know where I'm at.

- Already have a K&N Air filter, but the pipes leading to it are going to be upgraded. I believe a HKS SMF Intake Suction Kit would do it.

- Transmission. As soon as I get all the engine done.. Im dropping the tranny and plan to rebuild it. I have rebuilt standard trannies in Celicas myself before, and I am hoping this will be about the same. There is no way I can race the car presently as I cannot shift from first to second quickly without grinding the gear. It takes a bit of force to go from first to second and back, and I have to fish a bit to get into reverse. 3rd, 4th and 5th seem to be relatively smooth. I think previous owner hammerd this tranny in speed shifting... I can live with it as is until everything else is done.

I think that covers it all. The car performs adequately and is a blast to drive, however, it has the 20 year old issues. Like when I run it for about 2 hours and park it (leaving it run for about 2-3 minutes). When I get out.. I can smell burning oil on the engine. Not happy with that, although I dont seem to use oil (maybe a litre every 2 -4 fills).

And regarding the money, I honestly dont plan on driving any other car for the next 10 years... so I dont mind the fact i will never pull what I put in this car out at any point. After all.. I could spend 20 grand on the car and after 10 years the car will be worth as much as the 30k car I could buy today...

Any thoughts or assistance on what parts I may want to consider would be greatly appreciated. I still cannot source anywhere that has new fenders either metal or fibreglass for the mkIII.

[btwilson86]

As for the louvers, I haven't seen any that are for the MKIII Supras. IMO, I think they'd look pretty cool on these cars, which is why at some point I want to make some for mine.

Also, I couldn't tell if you were already changing this, but I noticed you said you have a K&N Filter? I'd say you should replace that for a dry filter... I believe AEM has some good dry filters. I've been told that the oil from the filters can gum up sensors in the intake.

[Grandavi]

Originally Posted by btwilson86

As for the louvers, I haven't seen any that are for the MKIII Supras. IMO, I think they'd look pretty cool on these cars, which is why at some point I want to make some for mine.

Also, I couldn't tell if you were already changing this, but I noticed you said you have a K&N Filter? I'd say you should replace that for a dry filter... I believe AEM has some good dry filters. I've been told that the oil from the filters can gum up sensors in the intake.

Yeah, I looked at the K&N filter because it was on when I bought the car. Not sure if it actually helps as much as some designs I have seen as it is in the stock "air box", but there is one that is supposed to be better and it is dry. I am looking at getting that as I dont like the maintenance on the K&N. You need to use a cleaning solution (which I have) and then oil it, but it says every 50k... Im no expert, but I find that to be a bit extreme. Should be more like look at it every 10k imo.

I had louvres on my 1981 Celica hatchback and they looked great and really helped keep the heat down inside the car, however, they did rattle. I'm trying to visualize it on mine.. lol. If I could find custom louvres, I would probably forgo the tinting. (providing it didnt make the car look silly)

[mrnickleye]

The little black lever on the door post is the seatbelt tensioner. It allows a slightly less tension on the seatbelt when you are wearing it, to allow you to move forward easier (like reaching into the glovebox).

More tension when door is open, to help retract the belt when you take it off. Isn't Toyota thoughtful ?

The should have spent MORE TIME getting the BHG problem solved.

By the way, after owning my supra for 6 years, and moderating this forum for about 3 yrs, I have determined that the headgaskets will go bad (leak again, even just a tiny bit) about every 3 yrs, or 20k miles.

I will do a thread on my findings soon, so look for it, I will sticky it in the general section.

[Grandavi]

Originally Posted by mrnickleye

The little black lever on the door post is the seatbelt tensioner. It allows a slightly less tension on the seatbelt when you are wearing it, to allow you to move forward easier (like reaching into the glovebox).

More tension when door is open, to help retract the belt when you take it off. Isn't Toyota thoughtful ?

The should have spent MORE TIME getting the BHG problem solved.

By the way, after owning my supra for 6 years, and moderating this forum for about 3 yrs, I have determined that the headgaskets will go bad (leak again, even just a tiny bit) about every 3 yrs, or 20k miles.

I will do a thread on my findings soon, so look for it, I will sticky it in the general section.

So, is there any way to tell when the head gasket is leaking "slightly"? The head gasket in my car isnt a Toyota gasket, but it isnt a MHG either. Plus the bolts aren't ARP and I haven't checked yet to see what the torque is on them, but would hope that whoever rebuilt the engine torqued them correctly. I get to see them when I redo the top, but if putting a MHG (or alternative gasket as I dont really plan on putting in oversized injectors or a larger turbo) and ARP headbolts would solve the issue longer, I would go for it. I plan on keeping the car for about 10+ years so I do want to pamper it a bit.

[Grandavi]

Thought I would update this (been a while)

As of last week, I found a guy in Calgary that does rust repairs out of his home (its all he does). He only charges 45.00 per hour flat rate + parts currently which is a super duper deal and he seems to be good. Also, all the work is photographed so I will have a journal of repairs.

ANYONE who is thinking of buying a Supra in Canada, should read this!!

Here's what happened. If you are familiar with this thread, then you may have seen the pictures detailing rust repairs needed on my car. I searched long and hard and NOBODY would touch the car. All they want to do is accident repairs because insurance claims are gravy for them. (weinies!)

Anyway, I found this guy (Rust King is what he calls his company) and I saw pics of rust repair on a Mustang that looked similar to my problems.. here's what I found after he got the car and agreed to do the work...

The rear wheel wells were far worse than what I could see. The rust was actually behind the undercoating so you couldnt even tell there were huge holes in the wheel well on the passenger side. All that is now repaired with metal.. full seam welds too, no tacking and gluing and bondo. Very nice job there. The driver side was just flakes of metal left and those are now replaced with solid metal. The factory primer was good up to the rust areas so he cut back to that area and replace/reshaped them. (still ongoing btw)

There was also a hole from rust behind the rear seat on the passenger side which was quite an odd location for it. That also was replaced with metal and is being sealed. (starting to feel better about the car regardless of the $$ being thrown at it now)

The trim along the bottom of the car is all bolt on (I didn't know that) and is rusting in certain areas, so needs to be replaced (behind the front driver side tire is bubbling). that will have to wait as the single piece is 325.00, so I may just go with a body kit and forget replacing it. The rocker panel under the doors is solid metal, mine is in great shape luckily.

The quarter panels (i have pics earlier on in this thread) were "bubbling" along the top of the wheel wells. Why? Because the previous owner did the rust repair and rivited sheets of metal over top of the rust (didn't clean up the old rust) then put about 2-3 mm's of bondo over the whole thing just gluing the metal to the quarter panel. Now.. this may work okay in Texas.. but in Canada.. it wont work. Thats why my quarters were falling apart. (now it is solid metal again with just a very thin film of bondo for shaping). And to rebuild the quarter it has about a 1/2 inch flat area around the top of the tire which this guy has had to hand shape. I think this will look very sharp when its complete and I get it painted.

The warning? Open up the side panels of the hatch and stick your damn hand inside. Feel around... if you feel dirt.. the wheel wells are likely shot to hell. Press against the top of the wheel well (I did on mine a year after I bought it and my hand went right through!!) Check for flaking or breakage. Most people are aware of the spare tire compartment, but if you live in a wintery (snowy) area, it is very likely your rears are going to be like mine if they were ever done improperly or poorly maintainted. You can use that to lower the purchase price, or just walk away. I had no choice on my car. Do it or watch it fall apart. (I love my Supra.. so no real chioce..)

Total cost (not including a paint job) to repair both quarter panels, both wheel wells, the front edge of both wheel well areas (both rusting out beneath the ground effects flare near the rocker panel), the rust part on the front driver side fender, including him removing my interior and putting it back in.. will be about 2400.00. That may seem like a lot to the person who has not costed this out.. but i figger its about 1/2 what I expected..

the kicker is.. now I have to worry about my doors, because if the body work was this bad on the quarters.. I am guessing my door skins are going to present problems in a few years.