Rob W's Supra - Project Thread * Pic Heavy *

[Rob W]

19 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

Nicely done Rob.  Looking really good

Thanks mate, slowly getting there.

Ordered the OS Giken diff from RHD Japan a couple of weeks ago so waiting on that to be delivered then can get it back on the car. 

Currently debating which ARBs to go for Whifbitz or Whiteline, unsure on the quality of the Whiteline stuff.

[Rob W]

OS Giken diff and oil arrived from RHD Japan, saved around £230 from Japan than sourcing it in the UK so worked out well. 

As Black Friday came around I decided on the ARB’s and went with the Whifbitz own, got to strip the powdercoat off of them to get them sprayed in 2k with the calipers.

Also got a smaller tool cabinet from SGS and some other airline bits at a decent price.

After struggling to find a decent paint stripper, my brother told me about Starchem Synstryp which worked a treat on the calipers. Want to go over the fronts again as still some small bits to remove then can get onto having them sprayed and rebuilding them.

[mwilkinson]

Some nice parts there Rob.

Who are you going to get to rebuild your diff?

[Rob W]

18 hours ago, mwilkinson said:

Some nice parts there Rob.

Who are you going to get to rebuild your diff?

I was going to rebuild it myself, got some engineers blue to check the mating faces and have the assembly guide for checklist.

Or I take it to SRD to rebuild for peace of mind as such.

[mwilkinson]

I was originally going to do my own and then I bottled it and got Paul Cheshire to do it instead. 

I'm sure it's achievable as a home project, but ensuring you have the right shims and setting up the backlash correctly put me off.

If you do it yourself you should document it.

[Rob W]

Yea that’s the only thing what’s putting doubt in my mind is if it needs shimming. 

I might drop Lee a message and see if they have time to get it assembled, 4 hour round trip but may be worth it in the end.

[Rob W]

2 coats of Synstryp and 3 hours later, all ARB bits are stripped ready for re-spraying.

[mwilkinson]

Interesting that the sway bar kit comes with spacers under the brackets.

I've got the Titan kit front and rear and Dan - previous owner - added similar brackets for the rear of the car.  I did ask him why, but he couldn't remeber the exact reason but said it wouldn't have been for no reason.  They're not standard on the Titan kit.

[Rob W]

I’m unsure myself, I haven’t compared them to the bottom of the Subframe mounting brackets to see if they are wider to account for the slightly larger ARB bush.

I thought they come with the grease nipples and gloss red as per photos but the design has obviously been revised.

[mwilkinson]

Do the bushes themselves have any holes in for the grease pathway? If they did you could always drill and tap some holes and install grease nipples?

[Rob W]

On 12/10/2023 at 6:29 PM, mwilkinson said:

Do the bushes themselves have any holes in for the grease pathway? If they did you could always drill and tap some holes and install grease nipples?

I’ll have a look on the weekend mate, that’s not a bad idea

Hopefully have these sprayed by next weekend for working on it over the Xmas Break.

[Rob W]

Delivery from Yam6 arrived quickly, new rear Crash Bar and Petrol Tank cover.

Extremely well packed, no dents which was nice to see.

Unfortunately will require to be re-sprayed but I assume these are delivered to them like this from Toyota Japan so can’t really complain.

[mwilkinson]

Mine wasn't as bad as that, but it has marks, just the poor quality of the paint finish.  Definitely worth some additional layers of paint.  I'll be doing the same to mine, and the rear crash bar.

[Rob W]

Got the bits back from being sprayed, really happy with the colour and matches the KW springs as what I was looking for, my brother spent even more time on them getting the caliper finish as flat as possible.

Had some time yesturday starting on putting the calipers back together, still waiting on 2no. Stainless Steel Front pistons that I needed to replace from Chris Wilson but all built up barring that. 

The decals are slightly larger than what I used before but still look ok, just waiting on the new bolts so I can get them onto the hubs.

Also gave the rear end a fresh coat of 199 & clear whilst I had the gun out doing the rear crash bar.

 

The diff bolts have arrived which I forgot to order with the rest of the bits so looking to get this build in the next few weeks so I can get that back in…if all goes well me putting it back together!

[mwilkinson]

Those calipers are really going to stand out.  Nice choice.

Continue to love your attention to detail on your projects Rob. 

[Rob W]

Thanks Matt, yes I’m hoping they should contrast well against the grey colour of my GTC’s.

Ordered a set of yellow coated S/S Goodridge brake lines also to tie it in underneath, my original braided lines are clear with orange ends and started to look abit tired so thought that was a good enough excuse to replace!

 

[Rob W]

Rear calipers on as the bolts arrived today, also got the rear ARB’s fitted.

When using the OEM bolts with Whifbitz ARB’s to me they are slightly too small for a solid fixing with the holes in the ARB’s Brackets and spacers so I added a stainless Steel washer for piece of mind.

Chucked one of the wheels on to see how they look behind, pretty happy with how they look against the grey

[Tyson]

Looking good, something oddly satisfying looking at all clean parts.

[Wishieftrottle]

What is this?

 

[Rob W]

1 hour ago, Tyson said:

Looking good, something oddly satisfying looking at all clean parts.

Thanks mate, yes indeed! 

1 hour ago, Wishieftrottle said:

What is this?

 

That’s a shadow from the light, normally you wouldn’t see this step in the arch as it’s heavily coated in the yellow underseal from factory.

Photo as below which highlights what I am describing.

 

[Rob W]

Petrol Tank prepped and re-sprayed which lead me onto being able to put the rear bumper back on.

4no. Fixings each side for the rear bumper, easily to forget the top fixing if missing from previous removal, I have never noticed it prior.

The 9no. new OEM clips across the top used has made the bumpers a nice tight fitting. 

 

Rubbed down the exhaust/decats and gave them a coat of Hydrate 80 and a few coats of VHT black. 

Another delivery of parts that I missed, main item I missed the larger Diff Pinion bearing which had delayed me getting the diff back together.

[Rob W]

Onto the reassembly of the diff, the was a time consuming job to do especially when I’ve never done it before so was being cautious on every step.

The previous bearing races pressed out with shims, getting the main bearing off the pinion was a task on its own.

First thought was to use the press with making slots on the outside to press off but that didn’t work, second option which was far the easiest was using the puller tool I bought just incase was the one!

Reassembly parts, all new OEM for the rebuild. I did print off the Diff reassembly TSM also so we had something to refer to.

New bearings pressed on to the Diff, then crown wheel swapped over. These bolts require to be torqued then another 90 degree IIRC.

I didn’t take any photos of pressing the new bearings in etc as we was in it and was trying to get it completed after doing a service on my Cupra. Didn’t manage to get it all complete, so my brother kept it and installed the pinion using the air gun for the main pinion nut to take the slack up.

You need to be careful not to go mad with the air gun as the crush washer is a one trick pony, he used the gun till the vertical slack was gone.

Diff dropped back to mine, I could continue with setting the preload and checking the gear mesh pattern. I adapted my front crank pulley locking tool I made for the Fluidampr, this will hold the flange in place whilst tightening up the main pinion nut.

I had to put this on the floor, with the ratchet in both trolley jack handles to get this to tighten going little bit at a time then checking the preload using my inch pound torque bar.

 

Preload finally set to the upper limit of 16 in-lb (with new bearings) incase this figure does change slightly when been run. First preload figure is without anything attached.

Then it’s time to put the diff in with the side axles carriers but without the seals just to check the gear meshing. Just put 2no. Bolts in the carriers to hold them in place.

I spent a lot of time checking the pattern, looking a different information and I think the mesh pattern is suitable.

Next was to clean up and check the back lash, I had around 0.15mm at 3 points so all within the maximum of 0.5mm.

Then it was time to fully assemble taking back out the side carriers to install the new rubber gaskets with some red rubber grease, axle studs with new snap rings and the diff cover with locate RTV sealant.

The below shows the axle stubs knocked in but not fully, you need to turn the housing on its side to give them a good lump that get them into final position.

All assembled and preload checked again and at the top limit of total preload which IIRC it can be up to a maximum of 6in-lb on top of your first preload measurement.

[mwilkinson]

Amazing work Rob.  Very impressive.

[SupraAyf]

That's more like a work of art, Rob; truly fantastic.

It's a real credit to you mate.

Good luck and keep up the great work,

Andrew

[HarleyFDMD]

Very impressive work!