rider

You can get internal hissing on the evaporator side as the liquid refrigerant vaporises past the expansion valve into the evaporator. That can be an indicator of low refrigerant levels.

It doesn't look like 200 mile tread. I'd eyeball that tread at around 5mm, maybe 6mm. Be useful to do a tread depth to demonstrate the new 7mm. I tend to use Camskill for bare tyres and they are £120 per 91W tyre, cheaper still for the SUV 95W variant. These are the higher load index SUV tyres. Thinking on, the likely reason you paid more than people recon for the tyre is they are Y speed rated which no normal Supra would need; W is just fine.

The thermostat doesn't control the operating temperature, just the temperature at which the thermostat allows water to flow. If you remove a thermostat completely, the engine will just take longer to warm up. If you are questioning the reading then you should look to the sender unit at the base of the radiator or the gauge reading to confirm the current reading is accurate.

If you have a behind the dash hiss then you need to get hold of a 'sniffer' and remove the glove boxes and go sniffing to see if you have a failed union or failed evaporator core. You can change the valve or evaporator in a couple of hours according to some reading on an Aussie Supra forum. You need to remove the charcoal setup engine side to access the firewall evaporator mounting bolts. According to the Aussie blokes replacing things behind the dash is about a 2 hour job so you have a guide to work with on with any quote the a/c shop gives.

It only took me 5 years.

There must be a nice NA or NA aero somewhere that isn't white or black or lexus blue. With the skyward prices on the turbo cars these days the public would probably really appreciate being able to talk to an enthusiastic NA owner on stand.

I haven't had a any emails responded to by TCB since 2020, I have spent a ton of money there. I gave up after three separate email enquiries went ignored. I gave up on Steve Manley after three separate enquiries went ignored, I have spent more than a ton of money there. I'll give up on any supplier after three requests get ignored.

Nice repairs. I've done some fresh plate into my 1965 Mustang which I was quite please how it turned out seeing I'm a NVQ Level 1 welder. The good thing is with metal, as we see in the many restoration programmes on TV, if the VIN plate is intact anything else can be fabricated around it to make it as good or better than when it left the factory.

I found Steve was getting harder to track down around 2018, probably as parts became increasingly discontinued. Lets face it who wants to waste time chasing non existent parts. It's not just Steve, other suppliers I've bought £thousands of parts from in 2016/17 now ignore my email request for pricing and availability. So, I just negotiated a trade discount with my local Toyota dealer and buy my parts through them or from US official Toyota dealers like McGeorge.

Everyone should familiarise themselves with their policy small print. Another common disclaimer is if the car is stolen within 500m of your home then it won't be covered. So if you have a local shop, or pub or friend you happen to stop at within 500m of your home then your car won't be covered.

For ECU upgrades there are a couple of names I hear bandied around; Link and Motec. It'd be useful for those considering an 'upgrade' to have some feedback on these ECU's in a Supra and access to any comparative data/information. If you go to SRD I believe you go Link.

Unfortunately, the ECU that Matt kindly donated shows the same issue as my ECU. So, if anyone has a Jspec TT6 with a functioning trac control who would be willing to lend me their ECU to plug and test in my car that would be phenomenal. It'd let me rule in or out the ECU as the problem. In the meantime, I've just unplugged the ECU to kill the traction control and extinguish the flashing dash trac off light. I replaced the primary TPS with a new one so that has been ruled out.

Its all part of the great reset. You will be no one and no one will know you, but you will of course be happy and receive the occasional trinket on the way oh newbie one.

I did the second coat of lacquer the next day and they have been sitting under towels since awaiting their rubber boots. With me only doing 250 miles a year it's going to take a while to wear down the tyres presently on the car so I'll just go ahead and do it one day when the urge takes me to do it. The grey silver does look very lush and period correct so if you want the original Toyota look at least we now have the paint code available for anyone wishing to do so.

An a/c clutch is triggered by the pressure sensor, in order to prevent the compressor starting up and then pulling a vacuum. You could still have a 25% charge in the system. The best way to get the system purged is to use a recycling machine. As these cost around £3k they aren't in everyone's tool kit. So, if you unscrew the H cap then you can depress the valve to vent any pressure in the system. Be sure to wear decent gloves as escaping refrigerant will have a cooling effect. Once you have vented the system then you can remove the compressor knowing its safe to do so. When you refit the compressor you will need a vac pump with a port coupling to check the system is sealed and get it ready for re-gassing. That is best left to a professional as they will have the equipment, the refrigerant and also be able to fit a new receiver drier for you. There are a/c threads onsite that give the Denso part number from the drier. If you have planned ahead you would have already ordered one from RA when you ordered the gasket set. You do need to change the drier when the system has been opened.

Bigger brakes would only delay the time taken to reach fluid boiling point, maybe to the next set of lights? I think they were a bit stupid to run along at 50mph in an automatic car idling at 2,500rpm with its stuck cable. Actually, a lot stupid.

When I bought my wheels, for £350 I viewed them as an investment. Being a highly visible part of the traditional OE look I was certain they would add comfortably £2k to the car price for anyone seeking that elusive stock look. I have heard of sets recently going for well ahead of £1k and nudging up to £2k. There is a current ad up for a set in need of a bit of TLC for £1,995. The prices have got to the point where it is no longer an investment to buy a set of 17" OEM wheels. They are now a real cost addon. But, for anyone hankering for an OEM set the eBay item number is 334485112784. I haven't added tyres to my set yet as the ones on the car have too much tread left to waste. Maybe next year?

I had a fairly long talk with Chris Wilson over my possible Trac ECU issue as he used to have access to repairs on these things. He said he wasn't aware of any outfit in the UK that can test a Supra ECU. The best they do is change out failed components or ones that are bulging and look set to fail and send it back. They have no bench test capability to simulate sensor readings and ECU responses. He did suggest that I, and presumably others consider going modern ECU's on the core functions which isn't cheap as it entails wiring in, the cost of the ECU's and then setting up; mapping in situ. It would presumably bring some benefit in faster processing times over our 30 year old ECU's. Toyota still have some ECU's available. There are a few potential pitfalls with this option. First up when were these ECU's assembled by Denso, possibly back in 1992? Secondly, they are expensive - very expensive. Chris also mentioned he worked on a Supra with a main ECU problem and the owner bought 4 of eBay before they finally had one that worked. That likely cost a fortune in scrap ECU's. So, it looks like the best option to future proof is to upgrade to modern ECU's. Then it should be good for another 20 - 30 years. That could cost as much as a V160 gearbox though.

Why didn't you ask SRD where they get the boxes from?

If anyone has a fully working one lying around from when they went Racelogic or just binned the trac control let me know. Looking for either loan unit to check out my ECU or to purchase.

Nothing quite like a constant flow of niggles to make you fall out of love with anything, even a Supra. So kudos for sticking with it. Many wouldn't have had your patience.

I had my rear plate stuck on for years and then finally, after about 18 years, decided I should bolt the plate onto the bracket behind. Just measure centre hole on the M6 threads to centre hole and halve it. Halve the width of the number plate and then you have your plumb line to go your half mount width either side. You then just need to measure the centre of the M6 bolt hole to the top cut on the bumper (the plate only overlaps by a few mm so I did that distance down plus 4mm. you then have your hole locations ready to drill. I'm bad a getting more than one hole to line up but my number plate bolted in fine.

You probably should mention if its a earlier green tint or later blue tint glass you are after. A mix and match might look odd.

They should all talk to Hagerty. The only likely issue for many is they don't like mods. Alternative wheels, a non OEM exhaust and the like are OK if named but they aren't into anything major. Advantages are that they will work with you, I had my building where I work on my cars on a ramp, sometimes for weeks at a time, approved as an 'overnight garage'. When I did my underside refurb the Supra sat on the ramp minus its rear sub frame for weeks and would have not been insured without this agreement. They do approve values from a write up and a few pics and they have always gone with my requested agreed value price. And they don't insist on trackers above £50k like many insurance brokers/underwriters do. I've been with Hagerty for years and never an issue, but then I've never had to claim. That after all is when you really find out how good an insurer is.

There was a time, sadly no longer, when I would input every 12 months a little piece on Supra values which hopefully helped some people to set their insurance valuation level especially for those adopting or renewing agreed value policies. There has been a few mention recently that Supra prices seem to have stalled, I'm not convinced that is actually correct with new price records being set regularly at auctions. Supra prices today are led very much by the public auction and trade advertised cars. Private listings vary wildly, probably reflecting a finger in the air approach to pricing or the I've seen others go for that pricing. Today thought, its fairly consistent that you cannot get a good pick of TT 6speed cars for less than £60k. Sure some will pop up in the £50k region but if you want to go to market talking to an importer with a wish list you need more like £65k+ to smack onto a table these days. Consequently, I have raised my Supra agreed value to £65k which in a total loss situation is enough, I believe, to give me a good shot at finding a replacement that I would be happy with. That reflects the market today, in a few months time it may not. Fortunately, the insurance underwriter doesn't have a tracker requirement under £75k. The broker contact I have is Phil Dunne at Hagerty UK. He gets involved in the more exotic stuff and we have had lengthy talks about the crazy Supra World so he is well up to speed on these cars.