Cam's Supra Build

Love your build dude, my first post on the forum in fact (new to the supra from skylines) can i ask what paint you used on your dash panel? Mines a bright colour and not to my taste.

Cheers and good luck with the rest of the build .

Thanks very much mate, and welcome to the forum! I think i used matt black plastic bumper paint over automotive primer, you can pick them up in Halfords. The worst part is removing the original finish to get a smooth prepped surface!

Received a couple of nice pictures of the block after a nice fresh coat of paint, it looks really well.

I am going to head down tomorrow to polish the brightwork. The cam covers, plenum, boost pipes etc are looking tatty after sitting so long, and i will take the oppurtunity to polish the turbo heat shield etc while there is easy access.

I had to order a a replacement valve collett that had went missing so i called my local Toyota to see how long the lead time would be, pleasantly surprised it was there the next morning! Also picked up a new cover for the stock airbox as mine had a broken clip, at £16+vat i thought it was spot on!

I am hoping by end of play tomorrow to have the ARP head studs installed and the new head gasket fitted to mate the block and head back up.

I am heading to florida at the weekend for a couple of weeks for the Daytona 500 (I love NASCAR lol) so hopefully when i get back the car should be about finished

Made some good progress yesterday. As I mentioned in my previous post i went down to clean and polish the engine pipework, which i did initially but ended up helping Scott with my engine instead as I love to be involved in the build!

First of all i thought I had better inspect the state of the down pipe as if it was anything like the midpipe that was on the car when i bought it (1st page of this thread) it would need to be replaced. Right enough my suspicion was confirmed, the same horrific workmanship...jeez! I have messaged Tim (TB Developments) for one of his as a replacement. The old one has already been launched in the skip.

So on to starting to build up the block First of all the new oil pump was installed, along with front and rear crank seals

Next was installing the upper and lower sump pans, as well as the various O-rings and gaskets (oil drain flange etc.). I printed out the workshop manual and put it in a folder a while ago which is handy for quick reference for torque settings etc.

Now with the bottom side buttoned up it was time to flip it over and get the ARP head studs in and the new head gasket on.

Then it was time to fit the head back on i had to call it a day there as I never realised I was an hour late for picking the mrs up from work...oops haha!

Double post

Some great work going on there bud, hope Gem forgave you

Got an update today on progress with the engine. HKS camshafts and cam gears installed as well as Gates racing kevlar timing belt. New water pump and tensioner as well.

My single turbo kit I sold is still at Scott's as he will be installing it for the new owner. Before fitting my hybrids back on he did a sneaky mock up on my engine! I am gutted as it looks amazing! Hopefully should have it fired up in a week or so though, exciting!

She’s looking stunning, can’t beat HKS verniers with gates racing belt

My new TB Developments 1st de-cat arrived while I was away. I have to thank Tim for the great quality as always! I am happy to have the flexi piece in there as well, take some of the stresses out the sytem.

Some good progress has been made over the past couple of weeks. The cold side of the engine is mostly back together with all new seals and gaskets, as well as the new Spec stage 3+ clutch installed.

Most of the front end is now back together as well, with new timing covers and crank pulley. I am really glad to get the orange painted ones off! I will need to pick up a new auxilliary belt tensioner as the bearing is on it's way out on the current one.

We have a slight hold up because the two turbo to manifold ring gaskets are not included in the gasket kit, and i don't want to risk the old ones leaking and having to pull the turbos again. Toyota only have one in stock and have a mid March ETA for another one so I will try source them on Monday. Once we have them then the engine will be ready to button up and go back in!

The turbo pipework was getting some surface rust so i brought it home to clean and polish. I will replace the rubber joiners as well I think.

This week i finished up overhauling the turbo pipework. First up was sourcing a new pair of turbo to manifold gaskets. Toyota only had one in their stock and a mid march eta to get another! Luckily Whifbitz had plenty in stock and were delivered a couple days later, thanks Paul! I am a bit annoyed at how Toyota are pricing our parts now, £54 for a couple of 2" metal rings is steep!

The rubber link pieces on the turbo pipework looked ok externally, but i thought i would take them off just to check as there was some cracks visible on the ends. I was pretty shocked at when i looked inside, both pieces were completely collapsed! I replaced them with silicone joiners and new clamps as well as the rubber joiner on the boost pipe.

Once the pipework was dismantled i noticed there was a fair bit of oil, so a thorough clean was required. I also dismantled the reed valve to clean (which was quite dirty) and checked the operation of the (bypass?) butterfly valve.

I gave the vsv bracket and throttle cable bracket a freshen up with some matt black as they were looking a bit tatty. Also carefully cleaned all the dirt and grime from the vsvs. I tried my best to polish the pipes back up, but years of neglect left some pitting that couldn't be completely removed at home. I did sand them back with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit before polishing though, they are much better than before.

The vsv that sits on top of the pipe has been linked out with short vac hose, does any of you Supra gurus know the reason for this? I am guessing its to do with raising the boost limit? I don't mind as the car performs well, just for my curiousity!

Scott was meant to be running the new fuel lines and mounting the new intercooler this week but with Cumbria being hit hard by the beast from the east he has been flat out doing recovery work and i haven't been able to get down. Anyway, not the most exciting update this time, but the good news is that with the hot side ready to go back on, the engine should be back in the car next week!

if your iacv vsv is linked like that you must be running in ttc, meaning your turbos both come online together at around 4k. if you re plum in as stock they will run in sequential again. If you have no intention of going back to sequential I would leave the unused vsv packed in a box in the garage and dont re-fit, gives a cleaner look and will prevent them from getting heated up and going brittle if they are not being used.

Some great work going on there bud, hope Gem forgave you

Haha yeah eventually mate!

She’s looking stunning, can’t beat HKS verniers with gates racing belt

Thanks mate, yeah they do look good!

if your iacv vsv is linked like that you must be running in ttc, meaning your turbos both come online together at around 4k. if you re plum in as stock they will run in sequential again. If you have no intention of going back to sequential I would leave the unused vsv packed in a box in the garage and dont re-fit, gives a cleaner look and will prevent them from getting heated up and going brittle if they are not being used.

Thanks for the info mate, i think i will do that. I don't think i will bother messing with the setup just now as I like the way the car drives:)

Turbos are back on:d

This week the plan was to get the turbo side of the engine buttoned up. I had to order more gaskets for the intake side of the turbos from Whifbitz, I wish i knew about the turbo gasket kit as it would have saved a lot of messing around. Also changed the bearing in the serpentine belt tensioner, it was on it's last legs.

Then it was on to the fun part of putting all the pipework back on. It's starting to look like my engine again! There are a few hoses i will change as they are old. I forgot to take the back turbo intake pipe home to polish so it will stay dull for now haha.

Engine is going back in on Monday!

My car is in Japanese Performance Magazine this month! Cheers to Westy for the heads up as I would be none the wiser!

Today was spent preparing the car for putting the engine back in place. As my car was na the loom ran over the driver's side wing, which was directly in the way of my catch tank. So the first job was to move the loom inside the wing like on a tt, I may have underestimated how much work was involved slightly!

After removing the arch liners we unplugged the loom from the driver's footwell, then removed the wipers and scuttle panel to get the wiper motor wiring. Eventually the front bumper and driver's headlight were off as well for access. Once the bonnet release cable was disconnected the loom was then run back under the wing. We hit a snag in the fact the wiring for the brake fluid level sensor and the wiper motor were now too short and had to be extended! It was a time consuming job but worth it. I had wanted to tidy up the wiring in the engine bay as it was ugly with old brittle insulation tape wrapped round everything. Scott had ordered nice black braided sheathing to do the loom on his drift car but it is being used on the Supra instead! Please excuse how dirty my car is, it has been sitting for a while now so there is a fair amount of dust and dirt on it.

After the loom had been tucked

Extended wiper motor wiring

Tidied up with new sheathing

Sorted

Brake fluid level sensor and wiper motor reconnected

Also did the cable to the alternator

When the scuttle panel was off it revealed a rust patch where water had been sitting, not good. It couldn't be left as we all know it will only get worse so it was sanded back and etch primer applied. I forgot to get a picture before it was sanded back, luckily caught it before any damage was done.

Whilst the front bumper was off i fitted the new intercooler. It's a 4" 3 row SRD boy so had the same size piping as the old one which was handy. It's a good bit bigger as well so pretty much overkill, but Lee says on the website it's good for bpu up to single so that's good enough for me. It has a beefier tab welded on as the old one had sheered. I took my time to make sure it was mounted straight and level as the old sat a bit squint!

I decided that the front bumper can't go on with it's current paint condition. It is peeling in the valance and has spiderweb cracks from grounding so it is being collected tomorrow or going off to be resprayed. I am not sure whether to get the lip done or not, as it is flexible I am worried the paint would just crack if it caught on anything. I am going to get the car resprayed when i can save enough money, the paint lets it down i feel.

Last but not least i replaced/fitted a bunch of hoses on the engine, which i also forgot to take pictures of! I did however remember to get one of Hodge's -6an fuel feed hose. Tomorrow Scott is attaching the loom to the engine and tidying it up, and hopefully dropping it back in.

Good progress mate and exciting that the engine is going back in

Good progress mate and exciting that the engine is going back in

Yes mate, not too long now hopefully! Once the engine is in and plumbed then it's just the new fuel lines to run:)

Coming along well mate, nice one

Back where she belongs:)

Yayyy looking good mate

Excellent build thread mate! I saw those status seats in a subaru quite a while back and was itching to know what they were. Look really good, was thinking of getting some myself, although the fettling with the seat height and the fading on the suede has put me off slightly, I need to learn how to weld! I reckon ill invest in the red ones if i go for them. Did you contact them about fading at all?

You may as well have just forged the bottom end! Was only another step or 2 away from getting it fully built! You've got the rest of the supporting mods which is the most important thing anyway. Youve got some good info in here as well, helps that the car was NA to begin with (Im now NA-T and have a nice list of modification thanks to you )

One thing i could not agree with you more on, is that fecking competition stage 4 clutch!!! what an absolute nightmare, im stuck with it atm but i seriously cannot wait to put something else in. Let us know how the spec clutch compares. The judder, the bite, the stiffness and how hard it can be, the jerkiness...i dont know how someone could like a clutch like that?! Only thing its good for is helping people with skinny legs

Coming along well mate, nice one

Cheers buddy

Yayyy looking good mate

Yeah now is the good part where we get to put all the fancy dress up parts back on!

Excellent build thread mate! I saw those status seats in a subaru quite a while back and was itching to know what they were. Look really good, was thinking of getting some myself, although the fettling with the seat height and the fading on the suede has put me off slightly, I need to learn how to weld! I reckon ill invest in the red ones if i go for them. Did you contact them about fading at all?

 

You may as well have just forged the bottom end! Was only another step or 2 away from getting it fully built! You've got the rest of the supporting mods which is the most important thing anyway. Youve got some good info in here as well, helps that the car was NA to begin with (Im now NA-T and have a nice list of modification thanks to you )

 

One thing i could not agree with you more on, is that fecking competition stage 4 clutch!!! what an absolute nightmare, im stuck with it atm but i seriously cannot wait to put something else in. Let us know how the spec clutch compares. The judder, the bite, the stiffness and how hard it can be, the jerkiness...i dont know how someone could like a clutch like that?! Only thing its good for is helping people with skinny legs

Thanks very much mate. The thread is just for me really but if it helps other people out then that's awesome.

Yeah the seats are going to need retrimmed tbh. I got in touch with the company i bought them off, sent them before and after pictures and the response was "you shouldn't have left your car in direct sunlight". Total joke!

The seats themselves are really comfy though, and look great. I think with bride rails they would go in perfect without any messing. They do them in leather but you are looking at mega money for those.

It all just came down to money with the engine build, I did as much as i could afford. Like you say the supporting mods are in place for down the road and the engine will be healthy and fresh.

My mechanic think the spec 3+ will be bitey, as it's a full face semi metallic, i have my fingers and toes crossed it is good to use, cannot be worse than the cc stage4! Surely? Haha. I will let you know how it goes. There is a 500 mile run in period apparently.

Some good updates today and some not so much. The good news is that the ancilliaries are pretty much all on and buttoned up. Still a few things to tidy up and get how i want, mostly with the routing of hoses. The loom has been tidied up around the timing covers and looks much better.

After removing the plastic covers to remove the old fuel lines and run the new ones, the brake lines were found to be in shocking condition! So they will have to be replaced, not sure whether it will be with braided lines or fabricated hard lines yet.

The paint job on the front bumper is a little more involved than first thought as well. I had hoped to get it back today but the old paint was covered in micro blisters so has had to be sanded right back which obviously is taking more time. Hopefully be done beginning of next week.

So on the to do list for the beginning of next week is:

Fix leak in PAS line (just replace rubber hose i think)

Fix leak on AC line union

Finish installing fuel lines

Replace brake lines

Fill with fluids

Re-fit front bumper

Replace intake pipe from airbox (found a crack on the back side)

Straighten the sills

Free off seized coilover and set the ride height

I think we should be ready to fire the engine on Monday or Tuesday:)

Great work, engine bay looks great, real busy. The dreaded brake and fuel lines, everyone should check these, just as well you've seen them now before getting back up and running.

Today it was back to working on the car after nothing much happening for the past week. I picked up new fasteners for the front bumper as well as the seal along the top from Toyota, as well as the protectors that sit under the spoiler legs as I think i will put the stock spoiler back on for a while. Also new fasteners for the arch liners off ebay.

I went a run up to Glasgow to get a few bits off my friend Michael as he sold his Supra. New intake, airbox bracket and used but good intake pipe to replace my cracked one. I am fitting T bolt clamps on it as the stock double wire clamps look terrible and rust like hell! Also got a set of Heckler LED facelift indicators.

My front bumper is back from the paint shop, but i am leaving it wrapped up until it's ready to fit. The lip has been painted body colour apparently so looking forward to seeing it!

The bonnet is back on the car now, so we took it outside to run the loom back through the bulkhead.

I spent the day prettying up the engine bay, giving it a good wipe down and re-routing hoses, as well as fitting the new intake plastics. I also had an idea to put the hks logo on the flat bit of the upper timing cover, i found some genuine metallic decals online and it worked out awesome, i love it haha. I feel the amount of hks parts on my car it warrants a decal. The engine bay is really taking shape now.

Tomorrow the fuel lines should be run to hopefully start the car:)