Back Again

Hi all

I'm back again after an almost 4 year absence.

Lots happened to keep me away but perhaps the biggest reason for my absence was the theft of my Supra.

February 3 years ago it was stolen from outside my house.

The f*ckers had stolen a skyline from somewhere else and were racing them through city streets without numberplates.

Ass*ole that was driving mine lost the back end on a corner and destroyed the rear passenger side wheel, suspension etc.

They also ripped out all the electronics, radio, evc, rltc and destroyed the dash panels.

Being forever optimistic, I kept the car with the intention of restoring it.

That time has now come and I hope to have it back on the road hopefully sometime early in the new year.

It needs:-

New Wheels and tyres

All suspension components for the rear passenger side, I'm going to change the right hand side as well so they match. (ordered from toyota last friday)

evc boost controler

dash panels

seats reupholstered

head unit amp and speakers

lots of other bits and pieces.

So, I'll be on here from time to time to annoy you lot, and pick your combined brains, as I need a bit of a refresher course in supra mechanicals and electrics :-)

John

Welcome home John that's bad craic, was it in Dublin?

Thanks Jim, Its good to be back :-).

Yes, was stolen in Dublin. Don't know how they bypassed the immobiliser and started it.

No matter.....It will be a nice winter project :-)

Funny when i read this, i was expecting Dublin too,

Welcome, i wana see some before and afters too

Yep, some seriously bad elements around this city.

Will get some pics up from just after the theft, hopefully this afternoon.

And will get some more pics of her current state over the weekend.

glad you kept it and are putting it back on the road good for you i like to hear things like this , this time get your self a good alarm best of luck to you

Hi Mellonman. Yeah I kept it :-). Was tempted to sell what was left for parts, but I remember the effort I put in to saving for it, the search for the right one at the time, and how much I enjoyed driving it. Couldn't let it go :-). When its time for its maiden voyage it will have the best car security system I can find :-), as well as a 9" nail in a block of wood strategically placed under the drivers seat :-), :-).

Some pics as promised.

This is what greeted me when I went to see it in the recovery yard after the police found it.

And a few more

Sorry the photos are a crap but the light levels were very low and I had a rubbish phone at the time.

Heartbreaker! Could've been worse I suppose, 9 times out of 10 when a car's stolen in Belfast it's a burnt out shell that you're left with, and you get the pleasure of watching the car being destroyed on the streets of West Belfast via YouTube a week later. It looks far too nice a car to give up on good luck with the work

B*stards!! Is the damage definately repairable? I'm suprised the insurance company didn't try and write it off.

Best of luck with its rebirth, will be watching with interest.

I would make ye sick lookin at it!

Dirty wee vermin basxxxxx! :@

I hope you get her all fixed up, will b expensive getting all the parts!

Goodluck

Great to hear it's being restored.

You're lucky they didn't nick that steering wheel, they're worth quite a bit and that looks like it's in good condition.

Scumbags, that's a real shame mate. Glad you're going for the re-build though mate. As you say, when you consider all it took to get it in the first place it's not worth letting the scum get the better of you. Good luck with the build. Keep the up-dates going.

Jim, bad enough having it stolen and vandalised but having to watch it burn time after time on youtube.....absolute torture.

Fitz, the damage is indeed repairable and the insurance company did indeed write it off, Class C which is basically the cost of repair is more than the value, but could be repaired and made roadworthy again :-)

Supra.SZ-R, to be honest it just looks worse than it is :-), the mechanical side of things is really the rear passenger suspension components...pricy but not the end of the world. Going to replace the right hand side with new components as well just to keep everything in balance.

j_jza80, I read that somewhere over the last few days that those steering wheels have become valuable. It is in fairly good condition, the lacquer has a few chips in it, a previous owner may have worn rings or something, but I presume it can be re-lacquered.

Hammer, As you say, not going to let the fu*kers get me down. It would be a crime to let a car like this go as parts and scrap, for the want of some TLC :-)

I ordered most of the suspension components from Toyota last Friday, should have them on Saturday.

Upper control arms and all 3 lower arms with new bolts, nuts adjusters etc for both sides

Springs...all four corners....prob not 100% necessary but won't do any harm

Drive shaft for LHS

Knuckle and hub for LHS

All bearings and seals for both sides

Handbrake cables, both sides

Handbrake shoes, both sides

Abs sensor

Full lock set, ignition, doors, boot and glovebox.

Total €3.5K inc vat....... Ouch

And that's only for starters :-)

Still need to get new wheels and tyres. Then that should be most of the mechanical stuff sorted.

Thanks for the encouragement guys :-)

- - - Updated - - -

She got a ruff enough doing, your a brave man to rebuild her

Most would have given up!

Fair play!

I suppose its not so bad when you managed to get it back atall

Normally they're burned!

But it is definitely worth the repair!

Well done!! All the best with the restoration buddy. May I ask where you procured the rest of the parts from?

Apologies guys, completely missed out these last few posts.

Many thanks for the encouragement Supra.SZ-R :-), but it really looks worse than it actually is. Some TLC is al thats required + a few quid :-)

All parts are new OEM from Toyota hamzahkhan, my local main dealer is giving me a 20% discount on everything :-).

Have received all the mechanical parts and some dash parts now, just need to get the hubs pulled apart so I can rescue the dust deflectors and brakeshoe carriers.

Going to get these and a few other bits cleaned up and painted, then they can go on the new hubs.

Struggling with removing the damaged half shaft......subject of a separate post

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?317311-How-do-I-remove-a-broken-half-shaft-from-the-diff

Slow progress but really only taking the first few steps after slowly accumulating the parts.....should move along a bit quicker soon enough....hopefully :-)

Forgot to add.

After four years of laying idle I figured I should try starting it. Not much point going too far if the engine was knackered.

So over the Christmas holidays I decided to try it. Battery was completely dead, as expected, so I hooked it up to the jeep with heavy duty jump leads.

First turn of the key without hesitation :-) and sat there for an hour burbling away :-), like I had only switched it off an hour previous. :-).

The thing wants to live :-)

Great project and enthusiasm, looking forward to seeing it progress

That's terrible what they done mate, I'm glad to see your restoring her hope it all goes well

Glad it's all going ok for you, hopefully shouldn't be long until you can drive it again

Thanks for the encouragement guys, much appreciated.

Wont be anything like some of the fabulous build and rebuild threads on here, but if I can get it rolling again and back on the road first off, other enhancements can follow :-)

This is what €3.5K of supra parts looks like :-)

Getting near the time when they go where they are supposed to.

Still waiting on some bits and pieces