87 Supra Preservation/Modernization Build (Lots of pics!!!)

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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Madison, AL
Hey everyone,

I think I had a build thread I made here years ago, but I've decided to make a new one. This isn't going to be a build thread like most of the other's here with high HP goals etc. This thread will mostly be me posting pictures of the car, and little mods I do to it as I go.

This thread will be for my 1987 N/A Sport Package Amethyst Metallic Supra. I've also got a 2001 4x4 4Runner that may make a guest appearance in here every now and then.

Here's the Supra to get you attention haha.


Here's the 4Runner.


Here's a little background info on the car. This was my first car, and I never plan to get rid of it. My dad and I spent months looking for cars online for me before I turned 16. We had seen this Supra posted for sale at the same dealership for months, with a very high price tag. They lowered the price a little we noticed one day while browsing cars.com, but it was still out of our price range. We made a call to the dealership and they seemed very eager to get the car off of their lot and out of their hair. (Probably much more interested in seeing how many Camry's they could turn over rather than a 23 year old Supra they had on the lot. They came down on the price considerably, and we agreed to take the car assuming everything checked out and the car was as promised.

Well we got there to look at the car that evening, it was a 2 hour drive to this Toyota dealership, and we were somewhat disappointed. There was some paint damage on the driver's headlight cover from where we can only assume the dealership tried to jump the battery backwards because it was quit cold that day and the car had a brand new battery. They had also said on the phone that they had proof that the timing belt had been changed in the car, which they did not...
We didn't buy the car then and I left fairly disappointed. Then about a week later the owner of the dealership called back and said he had been out of town due to a death in the family and that they really wanted the car gone basically. They came down on the price to what we felt was reasonable so we drove back up to Nashville to buy the car. I was ecstatic!

I am the second owner of my Supra. The original owner had the car for 23 years and put only 70k miles on it. She averaged about 3k miles a year... The full story on the original owner goes like this. The original owner was an elderly lady whose husband was a part owner in the local Toyota dealership. He bought her the car, and it was safe to assume they had money, seeing as how these cars were not cheap when new in the 80's and I found a country club pencil in the car while ripping it apart to change something haha.

Her husband had passed away a few years before I became the owner and she lost interest in the car, so she traded it in to help fund a new Camry or something boring for her daughter. I have a copy of the original title from before it had to be turned over so it could be titled in my name, and you can see that it lists the mileage as 10k, so this supports the idea that her husband was a part owner in the dealership and she drove the car as a dealer car for awhile.
Well, that's enough of that. As of now these are all the major maintenance things/mods I have done to the Supra.

Drivetrain Maintenance:
Replaced clutch master/slave cylinder and clutch
Replace power steering high pressure and return line
Add power steering filter and switch to synthetic
Replace brake master cylinder
Replace valve cover gaskets/ distributor gasket/ spark plug valley gasket
Replace fuel pump (Denso), fuel filter, and FPU VSV
Install Fumoto drain valve
Replace Muffler and resonator (MagnaFlow and FlowMaster HushPower II respectivley)

Suspension:
Replace tires (Goodyear Eagle GT, 225/50/16)
Poly sway bar bushings/steering rack bushings

Interior:
Replace hood/hatch lift struts
KevinM 6.5" Pods w/ JBL Speakers, Blaupunkt speakers in back
Kenwood DDX371BT head unit
Tinted all windows 32%, windshield 50%
Replaced inner mirror caps
Redline Leather Goods shift, ebrake, and center console cover
TRD shift knob (genuine)
BMW cupholders in console (e36 maybe?)
Fading footwell lighting on each side

Body/Exterior:
Replace hatch bump stops
Replace taillight gaskets
Paint wiper arms (all three) and windshield cowl
Euro turn signals/ bubble makers
HID projector headlight retrofit


The Supra currently has 91k miles on it and I've started driving the 4Runner more. It helps me keep the Supra out of unfair weather conditions and also keeps the miles down on it. I've put over 9k on the 4Runner in the last 6 months...

So here are some of the pictures the dealer had posted online when the car was for sale. This was the first time I remember seeing a MK3 Supra, and this was the first time I saw what would become my car.

















Here's some pictures over the years of the car.








(She sleeps in the garage now)







(all the snow pics were just a few weeks after I got the car)
















Here's some pictures of my projector retrofit.









Footwell lighting

Tinted Windshield

Another of the windshield

Painted wiper arms and cowl


Vinyl wrapped corner trim pieces




Euro corners

Kenwood Headunit

Engine Shot


Magnaflow Exhaust
Here's some interior shots.








The following picture's are the most recent pictures I have on my photobucket of the Supra. I don't believe I've changed anything since I've taken these pics. They are from early this spring I believe.







Right now the car runs very well. The only issues with it are it needs valve stem seals, a timing belt sometime (preventative), and it has a heat soak issue that I can't seem to figure out.

I'm not sure if the valve stem seals are something I could/ would be able to take on myself, and if I end up paying a shop to do it I may pay them to do the timing belt etc. at the same time since half the work is already done to do the valve stem seals.

The heat soak issue is strange... Basically when the car has been driven somewhere and is fully warmed up it runs fine, but when I come back to start the car and it has sat for 20 minutes or so it won't want to hold an idle until I give it some throttle and then it will idle after a few seconds. I've replaced the fuel pump and FPU VSV hoping they would solve this, but they did not. Now it's down to a leaking FP regulator or leaking injectors. I haven't looked any further into those two possibilities.

My future plans for the car are undetermined. I plan to keep it mostly stock and just do small modifications here and there, and basically continue to keep up with the excellent condition of the car and update it with modern features etc like I have done some already.

I would like to replace the suspension at some point, but I'm not sure which route I want to go. I have contemplated Bilesteins, and lowering the car a very small amount with them, or the Illumina II's(if they ever come back) and possibly 89+ springs because all lowering springs I've seen lower the car too much for me. I may put aftermarket sway bars on it as well to make it handle a little better.

I have contemplated replacing the sawblades with a more modern looking wheel like TT wheels, 5 spoke MK3 wheels, Acura TL wheels, or possibly aftermarket wheels maybe. Whenever it comes time to change the brakes I will most likely just replace the OEM brakes with upgraded pads and rotors to maximize their ability.

The front and back bumpers are also slightly faded, so I would like to get them repainted at some point along with the headlight cover that has the slight paint damage to it. It really isn't that bad. You probably can't see it in any of these pictures.

Sometime I also need to do the foglight rewire because they don't function quit correctly with the projectors. I may put yellow bulbs/capsules in them at the same time. I may also upgrade to the 89+ taillights sometime, and am possibly looking at putting some sort of a spoiler on the car. Whether it be on the hatch, or one of the KevinM visors.

Sorry for the super long post. I'm sure there's stuff I forgot that I will add later. Congratulations if you read through all of it! If not I hope you at least enjoyed the pictures. You basically learned what the last 4 years of my Supra ownership has been like. Feel free to post any comments or questions you may have. I am also open to suggestions if you've got any.

Thanks for taking the time to read through here!
 

Rollus

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Jun 2, 2011
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She's sooo mint.

Congratulations, I would be jealous if it were a turbo.
For your heat soak problem (yes I read through all of it), I have no idea other than what you already.
 

Silver MK3

New Member
Jan 24, 2011
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Rollus;2030516 said:
She's sooo mint.

Congratulations, I would be jealous if it were a turbo.
For your heat soak problem (yes I read through all of it), I have no idea other than what you already.

Thanks for reading the whole thing! Sometime's I wish it was a Turbo, but I'm happy with it either way. I probably won't ever turbo this car, I'll just leave it stock, but one day I'll own a turbo MK3. Yeah the heat soak thing isn't that bad, mostly a nuisance and can be kinda embarrassing. I thought for sure replacing the fuel pump would solve it because I figured it was the check valve in it not holding pressure, but it didn't. That was pretty disappointing so I just kinda gave up on it for a while. Once it warms up again I'll probably start looking into it more as this isn't too much of an issue in the winter.

dmp316;2030519 said:
love your mint supra. Please take care of her

Thanks! I definitely do take care of her. Everyone probably thinks I'm crazy, in fact I'm sure they do. If she gets rained on she gets washed the next day, I always park as far away from people in the most remote area of the parking lot whenever possible, and I'm always aware of what I'm parking under. The other day I went to park and saw that they were pressure washing the parking lot next to the one I was parked in so I went and moved the Supra. I'm a little anal with how I treat the car haha.
 

AbsoluteSpeed

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Aug 8, 2007
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Edmonton AB
She is a beauty and I like the fact that you are keeping the car mostly original, with a few tasteful upgrades. It reminds me of my car.

You are defiantly on the right track with the hot start issue. I would send your injectors in for cleaning and testing next.
I need to replace the FPU VSV as I'm having the same issue.
 
Wow brother, that thing is spotless! Looking great, I love the documentation with the photos of when you bought it. Never once have I seen a burgundy interior in such nice shape.

My 87 4Runner has a similar starting issue to that which you are experiencing, although it is due to the fact that the factory coolant temp sensor was moved to after the thermostat. I needed the original spot for a water temp gauge. Perhaps your ECU is getting improper temperature readings? Just a thought.

Can you give me some info on those projector H6054s? My Supra could definitely use and upgrade. Most of those I see look way too bugeyed, but those don't have that "out of place" look. Your car looks very factory with them.

Beautiful car, really, the clean MKIII supra owner is a rare breed, far too many examples where people turn them into rice rockets.
 

Atlas

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Aug 22, 2012
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Clovis CA
Your Supra looks like it jumped right out of an 80's brochure! I really like reading restoration and preservation build threads like these over high HP builds, good work!
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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Madison, AL
AbsoluteSpeed;2030538 said:
She is a beauty and I like the fact that you are keeping the car mostly original, with a few tasteful upgrades. It reminds me of my car.

You are defiantly on the right track with the hot start issue. I would send your injectors in for cleaning and testing next.
I need to replace the FPU VSV as I'm having the same issue.

Thanks, that first sentence is exactly my plan for the car. Mostly original with a few tasteful upgrades.
Yeah I need to look into the hot start issue with the injectors and fuel pressure regulator. That's about all that is left that I haven't tested/replaced.

TurboTruck;2030553 said:
Wow brother, that thing is spotless! Looking great, I love the documentation with the photos of when you bought it. Never once have I seen a burgundy interior in such nice shape.

My 87 4Runner has a similar starting issue to that which you are experiencing, although it is due to the fact that the factory coolant temp sensor was moved to after the thermostat. I needed the original spot for a water temp gauge. Perhaps your ECU is getting improper temperature readings? Just a thought.

Can you give me some info on those projector H6054s? My Supra could definitely use and upgrade. Most of those I see look way too bugeyed, but those don't have that "out of place" look. Your car looks very factory with them.

Beautiful car, really, the clean MKIII supra owner is a rare breed, far too many examples where people turn them into rice rockets.

Thanks! I actually printed out the original sales ad before I drove up there to buy the car. I like documentation, even though I never plan to let the car leave my possession. I had a member here make me an original window sticker as well that I need to post up, I just need to figure out how to convert it from a pdf to a jpeg. In addition to that stuff I've also got an extensive collection of original MK3 Supra advertisements and reviews from back when the car was new. Those are really cool to read through.

Everyone hates on the burgundy interior until they see one that has been kept up with and is in good shape. I love the color.

Before I started replacing the parts like the pump and VSV I went through and tested almost ever sensor in the car that could have even been possibly related. It is still possible though, and it wouldn't hurt to test the easy reasonable ones again since its probably been 3 years or so since I started testing them. I've been tracking down this problem for quite a while now haha.

Yeah, here's the full thread on the projectors I put in the car. I like the way they look mostly stock as well. I would also look into TrucLite LED headlights as well. They're almost as good as the projectors, but they don't look quit as factory because they're mostly black and have a bar running through the middle. If you've got any questions on the set up feel free to PM me or just post it up here, either way.
http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?187113-Some-Questions-on-Doing-HIDs-the-Right-Way

It is a very rare breed to have a clean MK3. Most are either dumps, or far too "fast and furious" for my style.

Atlas;2030569 said:
Your Supra looks like it jumped right out of an 80's brochure! I really like reading restoration and preservation build threads like these over high HP builds, good work!

Thanks! I really like the way some of those pictures came out. My favorite ones were taken with a Samsung camera that I no longer have because it broke, and with my Galaxy S4. I replaced the Samsung camera with a Cannon, but it just doesn't seem to take as good of pictures. I might get a better one here sometime. I like threads like this too, they're more fun to read through and look at versus the ones with only pictures of the insides of an engine haha.

Actually I believe I promised you some sound clips of my car with the new exhaust back when I PM'd you in the spring about your exhaust. I'll have to look through my phone and see if I have any that came out decent. I really like the way the car sounds, the only issue is it has a slight drone at like 2500 rpm. It's not that bad and I have certainly gotten more used to it though.
 
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suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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Very Nice. I'm also a bigger fan of restoration builds than high power builds. If you can do both, great, but I'd prefer to see a car get lovingly built/upgraded over a generic "POWA!" build.

What projector did you use? Total cost? Worth it? I drive the Supra rarely at night anymore, but the lighting is definitely something I want to tackle at some point.

**Edit, nevermind the projector part. Since my page refreshed for my reply I see you've answered that in the other thread. I remember seeing that actually.
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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suprahero;2030596 said:
Beautiful car!!!!!!!!

Roll Tide!!!!

Thanks!! I'm not a Bama fan, but not an Auburn fan either... I'm probably the only one in the state that'll say that.

suprarx7nut;2030600 said:
Very Nice. I'm also a bigger fan of restoration builds than high power builds. If you can do both, great, but I'd prefer to see a car get lovingly built/upgraded over a generic "POWA!" build.

What projector did you use? Total cost? Worth it? I drive the Supra rarely at night anymore, but the lighting is definitely something I want to tackle at some point.

**Edit, nevermind the projector part. Since my page refreshed for my reply I see you've answered that in the other thread. I remember seeing that actually.

Thanks! I'm glad everyone likes these sort of threads. It's good to know I'm not the only one. I definitely lovingly take car of this car. I would say the projectors were worth it. I don't drive the Supra as much at night any more either, but that's just due to me not driving it as much as I used to when it was my only car. It was a fun project and I learned a lot doing it. People are always amazed when I turn on the lights at a car show and they see the HID flicker and warm up on an old Supra with pop up headlights... It has spoiled me now though, now I can't drive anything else at night without thinking "Wow, these lights suck, this thing could use some projectors".
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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Well I didn't have any decent videos of the exhaust on my phone, so I went out and took a couple last night. They aren't the best, but they'll have to do for now.

The first on is from idle to about 6k rpm in first through third from inside the car. (You'll have to click on them to play them.)



The second one is sitting in the car with the door open revving.



The last one I placed the phone right behind the exit of the muffler on the ground and revved to about 6k again, and then to like 3.5k the second time. At the beginning of the video you can hear it at idle too.



It's not loud at all at idle, sounds basically stock. When revving it has a little more sound than stock, but not a whole lot, which is exactly what I wanted. It's a FlowMaster Hushpower II #12412400 as a resonator, Magnaflow single in/dual out #12251, and the tips are Magnaflow #35131. Everything is 2.25". I think it came out pretty good, especially considering I pieced everything together based off of hours of reading and watching videos of Supras and other cars with the same mufflers.

The guy who welded everything together wasn't too thrilled when I brought him a box of parts, but when I came to pick it up he said I did a great job selecting everything and it all fit in perfectly. I guess he has had issues with people just bringing him stuff assuming it will fit on their cars... It sounds so much better than the 27 year old rusting stuff that was in there. I was amazed it wasn't loud before with all the holes that were rusted through the top of the mufflers. I took the OEM parts home with me and it was like carrying two maracas they were so full of rust haha.
 

Old Radar

Member
Oct 20, 2014
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San Antonio
Nice thread Silver! Looks like we have a couple more things in common beyond sawblades and the desire to keep our Supras mostly stock. First, I was a Supra & 4Runner owner for many years, also. About four years ago, my '93 4Runner had a catastrophic radiator failure in rush hour traffic and the engine seized in the 45 seconds it took me to get to the side of the road. That's when the Supra went back to being my daily driver.

Secondly, I also have that weird heat sink problem. Just like yours, mine starts fine cold, but when I run it down the highway in these hellish Texas summers and then have to make a short stop at Home Depot, I know I'm going to have trouble when I try to start the car in 15-20 minutes. Mine starts but immediately sputters and dies. I have to flutter the throttle to try to keep it alive. If I can will it to move about 10 feet, keeping it alive with the flutter technique, it magically recovers and drives normally. It is embarrassing trying to milk it those 10 feet, though. I've had my very reputable garage look into it every summer with no solution. I even talked to some old-head mechanics at the Toyota dealership that used to work on Supras--the few possibilities they offered had already been tried by my garage with no luck.

I have a cold-weather issue, too. When it gets down to freezing, and the car has not run in several hours, as soon as I start it, the RPMs race up to redline. Sometimes they come back down immediately and sometimes I cut the ignition so the damn thing doesn't blow up! I know it gets down to freezing in Alabama on occasion--have you ever had this problem?
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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Old Radar;2031612 said:
Nice thread Silver! Looks like we have a couple more things in common beyond sawblades and the desire to keep our Supras mostly stock. First, I was a Supra & 4Runner owner for many years, also. About four years ago, my '93 4Runner had a catastrophic radiator failure in rush hour traffic and the engine seized in the 45 seconds it took me to get to the side of the road. That's when the Supra went back to being my daily driver.

Secondly, I also have that weird heat sink problem. Just like yours, mine starts fine cold, but when I run it down the highway in these hellish Texas summers and then have to make a short stop at Home Depot, I know I'm going to have trouble when I try to start the car in 15-20 minutes. Mine starts but immediately sputters and dies. I have to flutter the throttle to try to keep it alive. If I can will it to move about 10 feet, keeping it alive with the flutter technique, it magically recovers and drives normally. It is embarrassing trying to milk it those 10 feet, though. I've had my very reputable garage look into it every summer with no solution. I even talked to some old-head mechanics at the Toyota dealership that used to work on Supras--the few possibilities they offered had already been tried by my garage with no luck.

I have a cold-weather issue, too. When it gets down to freezing, and the car has not run in several hours, as soon as I start it, the RPMs race up to redline. Sometimes they come back down immediately and sometimes I cut the ignition so the damn thing doesn't blow up! I know it gets down to freezing in Alabama on occasion--have you ever had this problem?

Thanks! Sorry to hear that about the 4Runner, that's a shame. How many miles were on it? For the most part 4Runners are just about bullet proof. Mine's got 160k and I wouldn't hesitate to drive it across the country in a moments notice.

I think the heat soak issue is either the injectors ever so slightly leaking, or the fuel pressure regulator isn't holding pressure when the car is shut off. That's about all that's left in the system that I haven't replaced or tested. It sounds like we have the exact same issue though.

You're right, it does get down to freezing here in Alabama on occasion, hopefully not as much this winter as it did last winter. It was brutal down here. Everyone acted like the world was gonna end or something when a little snow fell... Anyway, no I've never had that issue with the Supra. That's definitely a strange issue. Maybe try searching around the forum a little to see if anyone has ever had that issue, and if not then try posting a thread here, I'm sure someone here would be able to at least point you in the right direction. I'd hate for your motor to get hurt because of that issue.
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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Turbo-@;2031648 said:
I literally went 6 to midnight looking at the interior pics of ur car!!!!

Haha, Thanks! I love the interior in the car including the color. Everyone bashes the burgundy, but if it's been taken care of it's a beautiful color and I think it goes well with the silver. Everyone is always impressed with how clean the outside of the car is, and then I open the door and it blows them away. It's in nearly perfect condition, especially for a soon to be 28 year old car.
 

bnt12671

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Aug 6, 2014
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H-Town
That's a really nice ride man. Beautiful, im having the same exact heatsoak problem I just let it cool down though. And for the retrofit whatd you do if you don't mind me asking?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Silver MK3

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Jan 24, 2011
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bnt12671;2034223 said:
That's a really nice ride man. Beautiful, im having the same exact heatsoak problem I just let it cool down though. And for the retrofit whatd you do if you don't mind me asking?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks! Yeah the heatsoak issue isn't too big of an issue, more of annoyance and slightly embarrassing. Maybe once it warms up and I start driving the Supra a little more I'll look into it again and finally find the problem. As for the retrofit here is the thread I made documenting my build on the headlights. If you have any other questions feel free to ask them.

http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?187113-Some-Questions-on-Doing-HIDs-the-Right-Way

DeSloth;2034239 said:
I really like your car :)

Great to see such a well looked after vehicle in good hands

Thanks! She is definitely in good hands. Even since I got this car 4 years ago it seems like the number of MK3's on the road has drastically dropped. That's just all the more reason for me to keep this one in as good of shape as I possibly can.
 

DeSloth

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Jun 24, 2007
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Just realised that I had previously saved pictures of your interior as a reference for my build. They came up in a google image search :)

Do you mind me asking your interior trim code? Interested if it's Lx32 or Lx33

p2034286_1.jpg


Also are they Redline Leather Goods handbrake boot and gaiter? Can see what you mean about the quality and colour match. The colour matches perfectly, but they look like a better leather than the Toyota items.