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JDM 5 speed NA rescue thread


el_bandido
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Greetings friends,

 

I've been lurking here for a long time (years) absorbing as much information as possible. I finally took the plunge and picked up an import non-vvti w58 manual this week. It's black and a pretty ratty example of a Supra. I did however get it for a stupidly cheap price and it comes with some nice extras, such as UK big brakes, limited slip diff, Bilstein dampers and TTE Borbet staggered wheels.

 

I intend to use this thread as a journal of its journey from rat to show standard car. A friend began the restoration on this car about a year ago, which started with the removal of an LPG kit. His circumstances have now changed and I've taken custody of my own slice of Japanese car heritage.

 

Stupidly, in my excitement I forgot to take any photos... so the only one I've got is from last year when I took my friend to pick it up from Birmingham:

 

supra.jpg

 

I'll get more next time I'm working on the car, it's currently sat on said friend's driveway as I work away during the week.

 

My background in cars has been with Lexus models, but like a lot of other people who saw the original F&F as a young teenager, I've always wanted a Supra. I started with what ended up being a heavily modified IS200, then an IS300 and now an IS250. I've learned a lot going between the 200 and 300, chief of which was the importance of weight and balance in a car. The difference in handling between an IS200 and IS300 was night and day (with the 300 being considerably worse on the same coilovers and roll bars as the 200 was).

 

The immediate plan for the car is to sort out bodywork and interior starting with a respray, which I'm hoping will reveal any further issues. Once I'm happy that the car is okay to start modifying, the general focus will be reducing weight as much as possible for a fast road car. I do intend to eventually have a go at Bignum's Nurburgring lap time, but that will be in a few years...

 

Rough sketch of first stage plans in no particular order:

 

  • 3uz-fe and A761e swap.
  • Body panel weight reduction (lexan rear window etc.)
  • Light 18" wheels - I'm yet to decide which to go for but I have 3 options in mind
  • Meister R GT-1 coilovers and whiteline anti-roll bars
  • interior weight loss, removal of rear seats
  • other odds and sods on the shopping list include Ridox front/skirts, centre exit titanium exhaust, replace dash cluster for screen and so on

 

Gearing wise I intend to use the A761e auto from a late spec GS/LS/SC430, then couple this with the ~4.0 rear diff and some 285/35/18 rear tyres. The thought of using the SC300 4.27 rear end appeals to me with this gearbox, but I've got no idea what's involved or if I can even use that ring and pinion set in a small case Supra diff. The eventual plan is to have this all running on a Syvecs with a paddle shift steering wheel, however I'd like it all to be running on standard Lexus wiring just to get the car moving to begin with. I've amassed quite a big folder full of wiring diagrams etc over the years, so I intend to do this myself with the help of a Lexus mechanic.

 

I appreciate that swapping to the 3UZ is considered sacrilege by some MKIV purists, but it will save weight and move the centre of mass back into the car, plus I much prefer the sound of a v8 and it is a much more modern engine. If I can get close to a BPU level of power with the 3uz (eventually with Syvecs installed) then I will be content. I don't think this is unrealistic either. I'm sure I will eat these words in the distant future, but I don't have a desire for ridiculous horsepower at this point. While I'm used to RWD, I've never stepped much past the 200 horsepower mark and don't intend to destroy the car by putting it well beyond my driving abilities.

 

Styling wise, I'm intending to go Ridox front, skirts and I'm undecided on the rear. Would quite like a diffuser but I'd like it to look fairly OEM. The car definitely needs a respray, but I intend to keep it 202 black.

 

I have plenty of slightly less orthodox ideas, but those will come out of the woodwork along the way.

 

If anyone has any history on this car, I'd appreciate it. It has had some welding done since we collected it last year and a fair amount of other bits to get it mechanically sound. It's had a rough life by the look of it, but I've only got to know it recently. I'm not in a hurry to finish the car, I'm well aware that spending money and doing things properly is a worthwhile investment with cars, so I look forward to sharing this journey with the rest of you over the next few years.

 

 

Cheers.

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Thanks for the welcome. I'll get some photos of the current state ASAP, which should give you guys an idea of what I'm working with :D

 

If any of you other UZ swap folks want to chime in with any tips or problems you had along the way, that would be great. I have a small concern that the a761e might not fit in the transmission tunnel. I expect the main issues to be getting the wiring right and sorting out a prop; I'm not sure if I can use some combo of two piece props, but as far as I can work out the flange/fitting on the back of the a761e is unique to that gearbox. The wiring is something I intend to get working while still in the donor car (i.e - just the engine and gearbox running on 12v) before it's removed, so at the very least it can move under its own steam just with a battery when it's in the Supra. I'm still on the hunt for a suitable donor car at the moment. I'm hoping doing things this way will allow a fairly fast test fit and swap, as well as give me time to get an SC400 sump machined to fit the 3uz so I can do everything in one go. I'm intending to get a pair of 4-2-1 manifolds made in Inconel once the engine is fitted to the car, so fitment of any standard manifolds isn't really a concern.

 

I'd planned to keep the OBD2 port from the donor car and use it with a Bluetooth dongle to run a dash on a tablet; is that realistic or not? I'd presume the indicators, fuel level warning and handbrake light can still function without the supra ecu, but this is a bit of a black spot in my knowledge.

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  • 1 month later...

IMG_20160709_131426.jpg

 

Took a trip to SRD today to talk about swapping the engine. Big thanks to Lee for taking the time to go through the particulars and give me some advice on the way forward.

 

Step 1 is tracking down a donor car to get a skim to use on the syvecs, so watch this space.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Right, as I've now put some money down, this has officially become an SRD project. For those of you who were interested in seeing the results of a 3uz with 6 speed auto on paddles; watch this space. I doubt it will get interesting until late 2017, but it's now in the first stages of development.

 

I'll be fitting my carbon rear hatch some time soon and having a crack at cleaning up the car, it's getting a road trip down to Dorchester next weekend so I'll update with pictures fairly soon. Annoyingly, I'm still waiting on Meister-R to get the GT1 coilovers back in stock, but these will also be going on as soon as I can get my hands on them.

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Apologies for imgur links, but I can't for the life of me upload pictures from my phone to this forum; to give you an idea of the state of the interior:

 

image

image

image

image

image

 

 

I've ordered some satin black wrap and I'll hopefully have time to sand back the interior trim and wrap it this weekend, as well as sort out a stereo.

 

 

Edit: I'll fix the images when I can get on to a computer (or an admin can sort it for me if it's that much of a problem)

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It's paint over paint, the black coat is peeling off. Should be easy to fix I reckon. I'll put the results up when I've had a crack at wrapping it.

 

Managed to get hold of an audison bit one super cheap as well, so I will have some nice options for tuning the cabin audio.

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Just take your time basically mate.

 

I found the gear surround, ashtray lid, main centre console ok.

 

The bits that I struggled with were the top cowl, speedo surround and ignition panel.

 

I couldn't get it anywhere near right on the top cowl and on the speedo surround and ignition panel I couldn't get it pressed into the recesses enough.

 

I think I ended up rushing it a bit to be honest. Get plenty of heat on it (but not so much that it burns through) and remember to post heat it afterwards.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Work pretty much derailed all of my plans to work on the car until this weekend, however I have made some significant progress stripping down the interior and fixing the leaky exhaust section; yesterday was a good day:

 

SUP1.jpg

sup2.jpg

sup3.jpg

sup4.jpg

sup5.jpg

sup6.jpg

 

 

Didn't manage to fit the speakers as intended, as the wiring behind the dash and door cards was significantly worse than anticipated. I have however removed a lot of the crap that was there. I did manage to track down the screws for the door handle inserts and refit them, which was nice. I've also started sanding down the dash panels for wrapping (which I hope to finish on Sunday).

 

We did manage to solve a lot of the wiring issues behind the dash cluster, so now I've been able to check whether I have any stored engine codes. The ABS light goes off as intended and the oil level warning light works too. I'll double check this next time the cluster comes off and re-solder the joints on the board (didn't have a soldering iron with me at the time).

 

Did discover that the AC trips as soon as the clutch engages, but it's also out of gas. The problem is on the high pressure side I suspect, as it holds pressure on the low pressure side until the AC compressor kicks in (and immediately trips). I reckon this will be an expensive fix, so I'll leave it for now as the windows still roll down.

 

Also discovered the slave cylinder for the gearbox is leaking slightly, but I have a spare one in the car and it's probably time for new fluid.

 

Overall, a very productive weekend. The Meister-R GT1 suspension has been ordered, along with a pair of recaro seats and a 4.27 ratio 1.5 way cusco diff (which will be perfect when the 6 speed auto goes in). I'm hoping by the end of October, the car will resemble a nice place to be. There is still significant work to do before it's ready for the engine swap, which will include A LOT of bodywork, but I'm happy with the progress that's been made so far.

Edited by el_bandido (see edit history)
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Some more tidying this weekend:

 

Sanded down the original gear surround panel:

IMG-20160904-WA0012_1.jpg

 

Then wrapped it:

IMG-20160904-WA0041_1.jpg

IMG-20160904-WA0047_1.jpg

 

 

And the recaro seats are now in:

IMG-20160904-WA0032_1.jpg

 

I've started sanding down the main dash panel with the heater controls etc. and anticipate finishing it next weekend. Once the speakers are in, the inside will be quite a nice place.

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Yeah, I think I've solved it though so I'm going to attempt to wrap it again when I get time. It will do for now. I also need to do a better job of smoothing the plastic around the ring surrounding the gaiter, as it's not completely smooth. I'm fairly content considering it was a first attempt.

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Has anyone tried re-chroming the rings in the headlights before? I've just ordered some mirror chrome wrap from amazon and was going to refurb my currently ruined headlights.

 

Also - is there any issue with sanding off the lines on the plastic of the pre-facelift headlights? I'm at the point where I have a crack at it or put them in the bin to be honest.

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