My Car! 1988 Toyota Supra Turbo Targa 5-speed

[.RJ]

ATF in manual transmissions ftw.

check your owners manual/etc... it may work fine, it may not.

[ScottyB]

ATF in manual transmissions ftw.

check your owners manual/etc... it may work fine, it may not.

that's what came in my accord and it was great in the summer....absolutely awful in the winter.

[Dave]

When I find ice building on my windshield, I only do work on my car. lol.

ah that brings me back. why is it that we only work on our cars in winter in the parking lots with snow and ice on them? reminds me of changing my timing belt, er watching RJ change my timing belt, while dave put the T(u)RD sway bars on his mkIV and boobies doing some maintenance to his del sol in the freezing as cold. i think there was a pic of jayray maybe? swapping an exhaust with like 6 inches of snow on the ground. i feel like thats how you pay your dues as a college kid that works on cars.

A day in MM infamy. Made better that a track weekend was a week later, so we had procrastinated to the point that it was a choice between frostbite or giving up on VIR.

IIRC we also got my brakes swapped at the same time that we did the sway bars. I just remember laying under the car with Chris getting pissed off b/c we were shivering too hard to thread the bolts in.

[ViPER1313]

ATF in manual transmissions ftw.

check your owners manual/etc... it may work fine, it may not.

Its what SHOs use - wouldn't recommend it in a trans made for gear oil though. GM Syncromesh might be worth a shot - its pretty thin but still a gear oil (thin enough to make the SHO shift like butter in the summer - too bad it ruined my syncros from winter driving :evil: )

[Goodspeed]

Well, sure enough the old fluid was well past its time to be replaced. To tell you the truth I didn't really know what to look for when it came to the fluid (color and lucidity etc) but after asking around, it became clear that it needed changing. So yesterday I bled the old fluid out and replaced it with some Valvoline SynPower, and its a whole new car to drive. Shifts are much smoother and crisper

[Goodspeed]

Well I thought I'd post up a mid-winter update even though nothing much is new, the car has been soldiering on through the cold and snowy days we've been having. I can't wait for the auto-x season to start up again in March so I can try out the new swaybars.

Next round of mods will be wheels and suspension, after the summer when I have funds. The car really needs it, I think the DD'ing that the car had never previously gone through before quickly took a toll on the stock 20 year old equipment. Last time I went for a cruise (cold road, cold tires) the car broke traction at 50 mph and wheel hopped like mad. Some Tokico's and Eibach or H&R springs are definitely in order.

Also, I'm going to take a different direction with the wheels. I've decided that anything less than 17" is just too small for these cars so I will be going with MKIV TT wheels, chromed or polished:



I can pick up a set that were once chromed, but have since been stripped. I'd like to get them either re-chromed or polished...does anyone know of any shops in the 'burg that can provide this service, and for how much (cost per wheel for chroming or polishing)???

I'm looking forward to when this can become less speculative and more "real", but I have a whole list of planned steps and mods to take from here, just need the funds!

[WRXtranceformed]

I'm not sure what Supra guys use or what their suspension entails, but I know a lot of the Mustang guys upgrade their control arms and traction bars to keep the tires from spinning...you might want to look into that if you haven't already.

I don't know any places in the burg that will chrome, but from when I researched it you can find places that will do it for about 50-75 bucks a wheel. Some places charge a lot more, but look around and you'll find a good price I like that wheel choice, I think a deep dish black with chrome lip (or gold!!!) rear set with matching front set would look really sick too, but I'm partial to black / chrome lip combos.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Focus goodspeed, pay off that speeding ticket first....hehe

[Chris]

When I find ice building on my windshield, I only do work on my car. lol.

ah that brings me back. why is it that we only work on our cars in winter in the parking lots with snow and ice on them? reminds me of changing my timing belt, er watching RJ change my timing belt, while dave put the T(u)RD sway bars on his mkIV and boobies doing some maintenance to his del sol in the freezing as cold. i think there was a pic of jayray maybe? swapping an exhaust with like 6 inches of snow on the ground. i feel like thats how you pay your dues as a college kid that works on cars.

A day in MM infamy. Made better that a track weekend was a week later, so we had procrastinated to the point that it was a choice between frostbite or giving up on VIR.

IIRC we also got my brakes swapped at the same time that we did the sway bars. I just remember laying under the car with Chris getting pissed off b/c we were shivering too hard to thread the bolts in.

oh man that was miserable... and I can't believe a car didn't fall on us. That parking lot had way too much of an incline to have a car jacked up on. I learned a ton though that day and all the other times we had wrench days. I still don't think most of JMU will ever understand why we spend so much time under cars, but who cares!

[l33t Mr2]

hey goodspeed

I don't know about rechroming persay but I know of a powder coating place

Rt 11 Custom Powder Coating
5928 Main St
Mount Jackson, VA 22842

540 477 2425

-matt

[Goodspeed]

Got my ebay intercooler in the mail last week, its 23x11 inches and 3 inch thick core, 2.5" inlet/outlet on the passenger side (much like the stock FMIC configuration but larger). I just need to purchase a good hardpipe kit with silicone couplers now. The stock IC has a pressure drop of 3 psi @ 6.8 lbs of boost (stock), which is pretty terrible so I'd like to allow the car to breathe a little bit more.

Matt, thanks for the powdercoating info, I keep flip-flopping what wheel setup I'd like and after returning from VIR this weekend I'm back to leaning towards the motorsport look, and black-powdercoated wheels are now in my interest, we'll see what I end up blowing my money on

[Goodspeed]

So this thread has drifted to the bottom because things have largely gone unchanged with the car, but I just started making some money and I have a lot of ideas virtually set in stone I thought I'd run by everyone as this car will hopefully be reasonably different by the fall.

I just turned putting 4k miles on the car this past Sunday (the 4th) since buying the car late last August. So far its been impeccable.

The only things I have done are:

- Swaybars. The Suspension Techniques bars transformed the car, made it much flatter and frankly safer to drive. Low cost plus ease of installation made it a hugely rewarding investment.

- Sumitomo HTRZ rear tires. My pass. rear Yoko AVS became mysteriously flat after sitting overnight in my parking lot, with a small cut in the sidewall. These have so far had much better traction, and they were about 70 a piece. The Yokos are sticky but soft and wear fast.

My plans are as follows (with a few Q's):

Maintenance
- Oil change in 371 miles
- Change trans and rear end fluid. Should've done this when I bought the car but the previous owner took great care of the car as a whole so...
- Paint the exhaust with high-temp enamel. The hanger and muffler have definite surface rust that needs to be taken care of.
- 4 wheel alignment
- Remove, sand, and paint some sun-dried/cracked moldings and body pieces
- Source new or recover handbrake boot, shift knob, and center console cover
- Possibly repaint rear bumper cover
- New front lower ball joints
- Valve stem seals...oil consumption and smoke-upon startup is present

Modifications

Suspension
- Tokico Illumina dampers, TEMS-compatible and adjustable
- Eibach springs

Do I need a spring compressor for this job? How dangerous is it when dealing with removing factory springs/installing aftermarket ones?

Wheels and Tires
- Chromed or Polished MKIV TT wheels
- 245F/275R tires...Fuzion? BFG's?

Interior
- Short shifter
- Autometer electric oil pressure gauge
- AEM UEGO Wideband in A-Pillar spot

Exterior
- Silverstar sealed-beams and fogs
- Fog-light rewire: ability to turn them on independently of headlights

Engine Performance and Misc. Items
- Walbro 255lph in-tank fuel pump
- AEM or Aeromotive rising-rate AFPR
- RC 550cc Injectors
- Lexus V8 MAF from SC/GS/LS400
- CX Racing FMIC (already have)
- 2.5" Intercooler piping and couplers
- A'PEXi S-AFC for injector control
- Magnaflow exhaust tips
- Greddy oil-filter adapter, to install new pressure sending unit. Installs between filter and block (much more accessible)

Two questions: When doing the fuel upgrades, is it possible/safe to reuse factory fuel lines? In essence, just replacing the pump, installing FPR and injectors, but leaving the rest intact. From my research on the MK3 I haven't found an account of redoing the entire system for my simple needs, but I know that fuel system kits (such as for the MK4) include up to 20 feet of stainless steel braided lines. New fuel filter: necessary?

Also, the S-AFC is quite possibly un-necessary. The 550cc injectors are 25% larger than the factory 440's; the Lexus V8 MAF body is 25% larger in internal diameter and volume. The two compliment each other perfectly and it is an old, proven fuel mod by a current Toyota engineer by the name of Reg Reimer. It has been proven to push fuel cut past 19psi from the stock 14; my power goal is 300+whp and as close to 400wtq as I can get, if not achieve. An extra 6+ psi from the current 13 would achieve this I feel; the turbo would be out of efficiency certainly before fuel would run out. Is the S-AFC then necessary for any further air/fuel corrections and tuning? I need to find out what duty cycle the 550's are at when they are theoretically near fuel cut with the Lexus MAF, but thoughts welcome

Plus: what is an injector "clip"? A new clip must be soldered/spliced into the factory harness...why? I know virtually nothing about wiring and electronics.

After this is all accomplished, I feel like the car will be largely done. I see no need to further an already pristine example, and the car is still to this day fast enough. I have made it a point to limit my driving so as to be able to enjoy the car as if it was still new to me, and its still a blast to take the targa off and hit the road. The 4th gen still has my heart, however, and that will be dealt with as well as another, older Japanese classic that I always fall for. With the MK3, however, I'm looking forward to another year (almost) and another four thousand miles 8)

[WRXtranceformed]

We did the springs on my buddy's 07 Tahoe without a spring compressor. I just stood on the end of the strut and we put a heavy blanket over it and it popped right into the blanket :lol:

[navin]

Or trash can + air gun method works

[Jeff]

Goodspeed, just come down to the dealership and we will put the suspension on there. We obviously have all the tools needed to do it quickly and safely. You and I could have it done in a day easy.

[.RJ]

How bad are the stem seals leaking? If its just a little smoke on startup I wouldnt bother with pulling the head.

Does Koni make a strut for your car?

[CaptainHenreh]

Or trash can + air gun method works

Jesus christ people, spring compressors are TWENTY DOLLARS.

Or you can RENT THEM.

Anyway, goodspeed, the only time you'll need a compressor is when you swap springs. If you're taking one shock/spring assembly out and replacing it with another one, buy new hats and go ahead and assemble the shock/spring combo out of the car, and then just swap them. You shouldn't need to put the spring compressors on the springs when they're mounted in the car. (does that make sense?)

[WRXtranceformed]

Oh also, to answer your questions about the fuel system... I'm not knowledgeable on Supras but I'd be willing to bet your stock lines are perfectly fine. You usually don't really need to switch to stainless / braided lines until you're running a LOT of fuel pressure and a lot of horsepower. I'd definitely consider some kind of tune if you're swapping injectors / maf sensors... if a 'Yota engineer says it's fine tuneless then I guess it's fine, but I can't imagine a car would run right when it's tuned from teh factory with a certain maf sensor and certain injectors and then you switch both of them out. That's the reason why I had to swap to a standalone for the STI; the car simply wouldn't find idle with the new injectors (among other changes to the engine including the cams).

[.RJ]

Jesus christ people, spring compressors are TWENTY DOLLARS.

I have a set sitting around that I havent used in years... if anyone wants them, they can have them for 1 (one) can of PBR.

[CaptainHenreh]

Does Koni make a strut for your car?

Not that he can use TEMS with.