Project: Aka Gosai

Hi folks, I thought it was about time I started a proper project thread.

I've had the supra coming up 11 months now, and have made many small parts, and made a big effort to bring her right up to what I would call a good standard. When I bought her, she was looking a little tired, so i've given her some loving

First things first, the project name. I've had lots of ideas floating around in my head, but have settled on "Aka Gosai" which translates from Japanese to " Red Second Wife" !

I bought her at the beginning of July in 2013, and travelled all the way from Essex to Manchester to pick her up. I was a little apprehensive driving home, as I didn't know the car, so had to have faith. Coming from a 9 year background with an mr2 turbo, it was somewhat different piloting this old girl !

She was virtually bone stock, bar a second decat, crappy induction kit, and a mines ecu (which I didn't know about at the time - bonus !)

This was on the journey home, sitting next to my friends mr2 at the services

The previous owner had wrapped the bonnet in some awful carbon wrap, not to my liking at all. I later found out that this was to hide lacquer peel - I suspected this was the case anyway. When I got it home, I fitted the wolfrace shark alloys that i'd previously had on my mr2, as the stock tyres were pretty low

The dash trims were looking a bit rubbish - some of the original rubbery finish had started to wear, so I wrapped them in carbon vinyl as a test

It looked rubbish imo, too fake and not the subtle 'upmarket' look I was trying to acheive. So I ripped it back off, and sprayed the trims for a 'piano black' effect

I wanted somewhere to put a couple of gauges, namely oil temp and boost, as I planned to fit a boost controller. I couldn't find anything I liked on the market, so I made a pod to replace the heater vent on the passenger side.

I was due to move house at this point, so had to stop playing for a few weeks - much to my dismay ! This was around the end of August.........

Once settled in the new house, the project continued, and it was time to start sorting the cosmetics out. The ride height was dropped via tein superstreet coilovers, a fmic added, lower lip, facelift headlights, and bomex skirts. I had to repaint the bonnet, and at the same time did the bumper, lip and skirts in the garage

Next up was the wheels. I loved the style of mine, but after seeing the exact same wheels come up for sale on here - through Andre, in satin black, I thought they might look pretty good with the red paintwork. So they turned up, and I chucked them on - much better !

The rear needed to look a bit heavier, the stock bumper just wasn't doing it for me. So a trial rear was ordered, that got painted in the garage, and fitted.

On to the audio.....

I'd already fitted my bluetooth pioneer head unit, so upgraded the old factory speakers with vibe units front and rear, and made a fibreglass sub box for the boot. The amp is hidden under the boot carpet

So I started turning my attention to the engine bay. The crappy induction kit that was on it was past its best. I made a fibreglass enclosure to house the new filter, to keep unwanted heat away from the intake, and also to fill the void. With the fmic pipework, I didn't want to chop it, so came up with this

The air comes in through the front, from behind the o/s headlight.

I'd previously removed the turbo pipes, and painted them silver, with some red silicone hosing. It looked crap, and with the winter looming, I felt it was time for a bay overhaul and service items replaced

The strip down began !

I sanded and polished all the turbo pipework, and inlet manifold. That's a job I never want to do again ! Painted the bay in satin black, made some fibreglass covers for the abs pump and brake master cylinder, replaced all the vacuum hoses with black silicone, and added some carbon accents with vinyl wrap.

I made a fibreglass fan shroud, so I could delete the viscous fan

And replaced the cam belt, idler pulley, crank pulley, water pump - with coolant drain and flush, cam cover gaskets, serpentine belt, plugs, coil pack clips, heater matrix to head hose, top rad hose, and a new rad.

I wanted to add a couple of extra gauges - namely wideband, and oil temp. So I made a new pod to hold 4, and removed the earlier vent pod. This pod fits to the side of the dash, and is trimmed in black leatherette to match the dash as closely as possible. The wife thought it was hilarious with me sitting at the sewing machine ! Numerous attempts later, this happened

I found a beige uk spec interior for sale, and thought it would go well with the red bodywork. The black was nice, but a bit too dull for me.

I also fell out of love with the piano black dash, so took it all back out, and re painted it with black plastidip - I have to say that this stuff is brilliant ! Also fitted a manual gear surround, and converted the auto lever to resemble a manual - purely because it looks so much better. I've also fitted a momo steering wheel with snap off boss, and replaced the passenger airbag with an upper glove box

The cream carpet was only fitted today, so i'm now satisfied that the interior is done, and this is how it's staying !

I've also fitted a tein front strut brace, and picked out the plug cover in a similar colour - hulk candy green

And here's how she sits today, after a full detail, clay bar, 3 stage wax, and fitted the new rear lights with amber delete. Also replaced the bomex skirts with oem ones

I keep toying with the idea of going small single, but that's for another time

Looks great mate!! Well done!! Dash looks amazing, did u do the pastidip yourself? How hard is it?

Thanks buddy

Yes, I did it in the garage at home - everything on the car has been done in my spare time at home. Much to the wifes dismay !!!!

It's really easy to use. 3-4 light coats, and it just evens itself out, so easy. I cleaned all the parts with rubbing alcohol first, and scuffed them up with scotch brite, to remove any surface imperfections. It's come out better than I expected

amazing work Gaz, love all the DIY custom stuff.

Great work love engine.

Great transformation bud, respect for doing it all yourself too Gaz lots of cool wee custom bits

Thanks for the kind words chaps

Interior looks really good mate. I like

Look much much better now Gaz ! Engine bay looks class

excellent work man,think i must invest in some pastidip for my own dash as that looks a really good finish!

I have seen this car in the flesh and can confirm Gaz is a very talented man! Car is stunning, both inside out. The engine bay is up there with the best of them! You could eat your dinner off it!

Thanks fellas, appreciate the good feedback :o

I have to say abz, when you came over, yours sounded epic. It's a lovely looking example too

Mmmmmmm I am a sucker for a red looks great mate

Looking awesome mate, you are very talented

Beautiful car! Seen it at Bluewater a few times and its so clean.

Thanks again gents

Over the last couple of evenings, I've been playing with a cup holder idea. It's almost finished, and should work quite well. I'm not totally convinced I love it yet, but will see how it looks when it's fitted in the car.

I took a mould of the centre arm rest cubby lid, and made a fibreglass copy. The damn thing stuck in the mould, but the mould survived and the part was being trimmed anyway.

Left is the original, right is the copy if it's not obvious!

This evening I've made the holder, and mounted it. Trimmed the part in leather, and made a cover cap that pops out when the holder is needed. It needs a bit of final finishing, and might grow on me once fitted!

Is there anything you can't recreate in fibreglass!!!!

Nice work

You are really talented. That is a brilliant idea!

I'm loving all the work you have done mate. Wish I could do stuff like this.

Keep it up!

Didn't realise it had been over 3 years since i'd updated this thread!

Things have changed quite a lot, so here's a bit about what i've been up to

I removed the oem skirts, and opted for a set of blitz ones, as they suit my taste better. I also swapped out the wheels for set of 19" axis milano, and ditched the tein coilovers for stock shocks, and sard springs. I've also fitted a set of glass headlights, that are going to be 'facelifted' soon

I've also done a single turbo conversion, and made some bespoke carbon items to tidy up the engine bay, namely a redesign on the bay covers, velocity stack (for show times), a carbon fan shroud, and i've carbon skinned the oil filler cap. I'm happy with the overall look now, although there's a few bits i'd like to tidy up at some stage

You will also notice i've now gone manual, sporting an r154 5 speed, along with a spec 3+ clutch. The setup works really well, and the clutch is superb, compared to the act 6 puck I had at first.

The interior has had a major overhaul. I've fitted a set of cream leatherette sports seats, and tried my hand at hydrodipping the dash panels. Many people will gawp at them, but I can't help but love it

I've also just completed a newer version of my arm rest cup holder. This is miles better than the last one, and simply drops into position, without any complicated hinge mechanism.

I've recently made a carbon blade for my TRD rear spoiler, and also fitted led rear lights

Unfortunately photobucket has stopped working, so i've had to use google photos. However, I don't know how to load the actual images, instead of links.

If anyone knows a better way, i'd appreciate it

Tapatalk is good. Easy to use/upload

Tapatalk is good. Easy to use/upload

Yeah I use Tapatalk daily bud, but you can't upload images the way I've laid them out above.

just upload them to the forum as attachments!

Won't let me bud, keeps failing