mhooper2

This is the truth. It seems like it would be cheaper to convert, but it isnt. The small parts new from Toyota cost a pretty penny and they add up fast. New nuts and bolts, PS reservoir, wear items, tune up items, oil pans, intercooler, fabrication, lead time, etc. Adds up very quickly. There are a few rare occasions that it is worthwile: 1. You have done extensive body and paint work to the NA you currently own. 2. You have mint interior and all the internals inside the car are exactly like you want them. (all plastic pieces etc are in mint condition) 3. You can do all the work yourself and dont mind the car being down for a long time while you bargain hunt. If you ever plan on going APU by a car that is already done. It might seem like a hefty price tag until you do it yourself =)

Things still to do: 1. Finish paint and body. 2. Finish breaking in the motor/ 3. Re-assemble the interior 4. install the HKS oil cooler 5. Tune for race gas, E85, 93 octane 6. Heat treat everything. 7. replace every piece of plastic throughout. 8. Install custom stereo 9. Tint the lights 10. Re-intall HID kit 11. Spec out custom Wheels 12. Finish prepping carbon fiber targa top 13. Make and install full carbon fiber diffuser All original plans were tossed out. Changed out all the motor internals to the best of the best. Carillo, JE, Ferrera Etc Full race exhaust manifold with a custom Inline 6 intake manifold. Triple Ball bearing 74MM turbo Went form AEM to Motec Changed out rear end to a 6 Speed from an Auto with TRD LSD TH400 w/ Griner reverse valve body. Etc. Any specific questions feel free to ask! We hope you enjoy our mild build =)

Getting there: Its alive!

Oh and did make some progress on the car:

Fine I will give a little sneak peek... Changed my mind on the EMS going with this:

Got my baby strapped into the back seat:

Some Tint:

26 HOURS + of cleaning oh 4th of July was soo much fun../sigh Its cleaner than in the pics since after I took them I shop vacced and scrubbed it down. Clean work area is a must.

So we started today with this... And we ended up with this... Next on this list is a quick tint job.

Almost done taking shit apart.

Little more.

Only had a few minutes but had a little progress: Another 45 minutes forth of work or so: Not to much got done:

A little progress made =)

Work area looks incomplete: Ok not much to report besides saying fuck that to jacks and jack stands.

..

A few parts lying around to use =)

Here are a few of the items to still put in.... I started a little bit on the dash. I dont know if it is going to require the whole dashboard to come out we will see.

They beat down the targe holders... Here is after a TON of cleaning still not close to being finished. Not really to much to update been flooding down here in Florida. So I went and started taking a few things off. I also noticed the bumper only had 1 screw holding it on the driver side.....

This is my personal car build up. Myself and some friends including Mike along with Inline 6 Performance (Mike Nunezz). I purchased the car as a NA auto as I hadnt decided what exactly I wanted to do with it. It has extreme sentimental value to me so instead of leaving it mediocre was decided to do a build up on her. It has been pretty well documented. I let a shop do the original TT swap as at the time I didnt have the free time to do it. What a mistake. In any event here is the time line. in 2005-2006 after the TT swap was done: Some of the things to show how neglected this car was and progress of work: Before:

The oil cooler as a large union bolt that goes through it to hold it to the block.

Lance alignments are the best. Nothing beats a hand alignment. The small knock is it when turning? Possibly could be due to the LSD.

Im going to =) thanks for the response!

How does one become a forum sponsor?

Is there a place to do a buildup thread? Or do you have to pay to be a member first?