rider

TT Auto listing on eBay. Cool. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/toyota-supra-twin-turbo-/122313187185?hash=item1c7a6f1f71:g:SqcAAOSw44BYfESe

I see trouble ahead. Isn't that how the song goes? People are climbing all over sales threads these days. and the frenzy for decent parts is only going to get a lot worse. It could get nasty.

Glad its sorted. Bet you swore once or twice!

If you are still struggling with this there is a very non technical way to know when your number 1 is at TDC. That is to take the spark plug out and have someone rotate the engine with a socket on the crank and position a finger over the hole you can feel suction or pressure as the piston falls or rises in the cylinder. On its up stroke you can gently place a long screwdriver in the hole and rest it gently on top of the piston. As the crank turns slowly on the ratchet the piston will rise and so will the screwdriver shaft. You'll know when this reaches its maximum lift you are at or very close to TDC. At this point you can offer up the distributor with the rotor facing when the number one cylinder lead on the distributor cap would sit were it in place. There is a link that takes you through spark plug access here http://mkiv.com/techarticles/spark_plugs/na/index.html Its fun really, give it a try but do note the words gently. The last thing you'd want to do is go jabbing screwdrivers into your cylinders or piston crowns. I personally have only used this technique when there were no timing marks visible preferring a pencil with an end rubber to a screwdriver. But I wouldn't recommend that to someone who isn't confident as a broken pencil in the cylinders may be a way to introduce lubricating carbon but its not ideal.

The only lesson from this is you should do some research before posting items for sale. We see it all the time with people not bothering with that and there has even been postings for bits that wont fit jspec or uk spec cars that I've picked up on. A gentleman's word should be the bond though, so when a commitment to pay is made then that should seal the deal done unless the parts turns out to be a crock of crap or the buyer doesn't pay in an agreed time. Other than that, maybe the forum could open up an auctions section for those who don't have a clue what things are worth, where they can list their parts. The sales section is going to get even more like a feeding frenzy as time goes by with Toyota discontinued parts availability drying up in the supply chain so we can probably expect a lot more unruly overbidding to occur. Instead of unwritten rules maybe they need updating with some written ones. I've seen the other side of the sales where I've been first in then a mate comes along and gets first dibs. So the OP isn't the only one to ever go back on a deal but I'm not about to bitch and whine over it. In an ideal World agreements and commitment to pay should do it and in almost all cases does. I think the car dismantlers do us all a great service and the ones I bought off have been 100% genuine. As I'm confident the OP will manage to be from here on in.

There doesn't look much give in those. For anyone potentially looking to stock some spare rubber OE ones there were lots of places out of stock on these and the other diff bushes are completely out of stock with all the sources I contacted (though there are some listed on ebay.com) with no schedule to make any more. So grab them while you can or it'll be poly or solid as the only options.

I always figured wrap was only a good idea on commercial vehicles and company cars that see a high mileage that after a few years abuse can then be removed to reveal a near new paint finish ready for the vehicles second owner. I struggle with seeing the point of wrapping a low mileage older car over doing a re-spray. Your car doesn't look like it needs a re-spray so why bother unless there is a need for a paint perfect 24 year old car, I don't get that bit either. As you are selling it and the paint is essentially fine I wouldn't bother doing anything to it, the only thing I was pointing out is anyone considering buying the car (or indeed any Auto Air painted car) needs to be aware its not a colour you can touch up. Custom pain is what it says on the tin, the paint colour is built not applied.

I checked with the custom paint suppliers, Auto Air, and the Nightmare blue with purple fleck on your car looks fantastic especially when first applied but it is a blend decided upon at the time of spraying so with this combination of pearlescent blue base and metallic flake (unless you know the original formula and number of coats on the translucent layer) it is impossible to touch up. So if replacing something as visibly large as a bumper you'd need to contemplate a complete car re-spray or to be happy with mismatched or contrast paint. That's part of the joy of having a metallic hot rod kind of custom paint finish. There are a good many build and experience threads on this car from the former forum owner Golfpro. He had the car for a good many years and anyone who owns a car for as long as he did and spent as much money on it as he did must have cherished it. I'd argue though that the custom paint may not have been one of the better spending choices.

Another simple thing to check and that is that the rotor goes around with the engine turning over. Its a different setup on the Supra with a worm gear but I had that happen when I changed my MGB distributor and the flange hadn't fully engaged. No damage can result from this but I then needed to make sure the timing marks were lined up before the distributor was again dropped in to ensure it would fire at the correct time (rotor position to number 1 cylinder) and then finally timing checked when running with a strobe.

Did you remember to replace the rotor? Plugged in the electrics? Checked for a spark? Certain its lined up properly, checked the rotor is on cylinder 1 at TDC? Ignition problems can be really easy to sort or a real pain, hope yours is the easy kind?

Probably not something most people are likely to have sitting around. Have you considered approaching one of the many 3D printer services companies around? Should be easy to knock one up if you can measure the dimensions. They can even put a relief into the print if its not a completely smooth blank you are after. Or put text on it - like 'this is a blank'. No idea what it'd cost but I'm sure someone on the forum could knock up a 3D STL file or one of the printing companies would do that. You could get spares made and then sell the surplus. That's how a parts industry builds up around a car and the Supra is for sure going to need people to go out and get parts copied and manufactured as OE supply availability dies out.

Where did you get that original air box from? They are a prized asset these days as too many were simply thrown away and Toyota don't sell them anymore. I had a broken clip on my air box lid and thankfully that was still an available item from Toyota so get your order in quick on that as I expect they aren't making them any more so when stocks are gone, they are gone. I've been looking into availability of bushes from Toyota and there are several no longer in stock. Same issues pending on suspension parts and with ABS sensors there are only supplies of one of the four still around. Pretty soon we will all be living off recycled Supra and Soarer parts.

I'm bringing over 5 service kits - condensers, receiver driers and top up oil for the Denso compressor from the USA. Wont be here till some time in March though as they are coming as part of a consolidated sea container shipment that isn't scheduled yet. I wont know what the final cost is till they have cleared customs and been forwarded to me but I'm going to guess the kit cost will be around £300 that if I was selling onto non members would be minimum £350. If anyone is interested in one of the kits PM me and I'll keep you posted on timings and costs as that information evolves.

It is, as I bought it 18 years ago apart from white side repeaters. I've got a large shelf of parts sitting in the garage from the car that the first UK owner passed on so it'd be no major task to return it to a matching numbers stock Supra (including with its Japanese limited band radio) were anyone wishing to do so. I don't feel the need to do that myself but someone may do, in the future and having the parts to hand will make a big difference there. I've even been buying other parts, like Toyota wheels last year. Not to be fitted but they can accompany the car wherever it goes. It gives any future owner every available option to take the car wherever they wish to take it as is every owners prerogative.

I have had my car a long time and when they were pretty much throw away cheap 8 to 10 years ago I thought long about updating it with £10k of mods that would have included visual and engine changes, to make it more current. I went as far as getting outline quotes. With the benefit of hindsight, I'm relieved I didn't do the mods as I'd now be facing having to spend another £10k to get my old spool in a thousand years turbo and wrong profile cams and old brakes replaced with something a bit more current. That's one massive benefit in the cost of ownership of a stock car, there isn't any requirement to try and keep it current and the car is always there to provide someone, one day, with their own blank canvas to work and weave their own personal style of magic. Ensuring those that remain stock will indeed become fewer and farther between.

Stock Supras are just a blank canvas to many and when you could buy a TT6 for £5k at the back end of the last decade why wouldn't you want to throw a big turbo at it and some big plastic, and a great many did. Things have moved on since then and with the cars now fetching strong money its likely to make people think longer before modifying them to any great extent than they would have done in the past with a cheap Supra. I think there will be a resurgence in stock because as you say stock is very rare and rare usually translates to more desirable. Simple comments like, wow and air box show how few are undeveloped and enhanced upon by their owners. We could even see in the future some of the older modified cars running dated specs being reverted back to stock rather than broken and scrapped. There are quite a few of us around who prefer the stock look. Love your car sir, clearly a very prized asset. Are you looking to sell at any point?

I have a used and a new example surplus to requirements available: New, sealed. £110 + postage (cost dependent on level of insurance cover protection required by buyer) SOLD [ATTACH=CONFIG]216485[/ATTACH][ATTACH=CONFIG]216486[/ATTACH] Used, £20 including postage SOLD [ATTACH=CONFIG]216487[/ATTACH]

I contacted the US breaker and asked to confirm the spec and part number and said they were off a jspec which is why they are so cheap as they need to go for export. Possibly jspecs are already making their way into the USA ahead of the 25 year ruling to be stripped for parts?

I used these guys and they are still going almost a decade later so must be doing something right as they do stainless exhausts which don't need changing very often. So you'd have to assume they get a fair amount of repeat business. http://www.mijexhaust.com/?gclid=CLG2sMWJu9ECFYpsGwod5PkGXw

From what I was told when I got a bespoke exhaust then number of baffles and packing material largely affect the noise level and then the size of the 'trumpet' at the end affects the tone with the larger the end pipe the deeper the tone. I'd expect the noise level to be defined by the volume of exhaust gasses flowing through the exhaust rather than how quickly the engine rpm and with it gas volume rises.

Why not find yourself a local exhaust fabricator? I went to one in Birmingham about 10 years ago now and all they ask when you turn up (booked in) is what do you want? Anything from F1 screamer to silent and everything in between. I asked for throaty and rumble over roar and rasp and I got a lot of throaty and rumble. The kind people say they can hear coming up the lanes from a mile away in a nice way. Very inexpensive too relative to a HKS or Blitz option which allowed me plenty of savings to head of with my good lady for a nice lunch while it was fabricated and fitted.

You may want to check if your insurer is OK with it first.

If you want a relatively quick and you'd hope relatively painless entry to ownership particularly of a TT then the favoured dealers would be the best option which means placing a 15 mile exclusion zone around High Wycombe. Which with Supra price inflation being what it is may actually be a cheaper option to finding one yourself in many months time.