88 Blue Turbo restoration/upgrade story

Silver MK3

New Member
Jan 24, 2011
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Madison, AL
FullNelson;1831353 said:
How long ago did you order the clips? I was under the impression that the clips were no longer available new from the dealer.

It was probably about a year ago that I ordered the clips. If you call the dealer I'm sure that they would tell you whether or not they are still available.
 

lithium14

Member
Jan 7, 2011
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Austin
k, so today I picked up my torque converter as well as one of my DDPs from Boostlogic. I noticed that the things inside the TC move around a bit... is that normal???

And as for my engine... I'm really starting to get worried, it's been almost half a year and my engine is still in the damn machine shop... ugh.
 

supraguy@aol

Well-Known Member
Dec 30, 2005
4,231
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Atlanta
The only way to get machinists to move along sometimes, is to drive down and visit them.
Just basically say-" Hey man, just stopped by to see the motor, and what you've got done so far."
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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www.supramania.com
supraguy@aol;1834475 said:
The only way to get machinists to move along sometimes, is to drive down and visit them.
Just basically say-" Hey man, just stopped by to see the motor, and what you've got done so far."

Agreed. I hound my machinist when I've got something there. I've never taken a full block in, but I'm amazed how long it takes some of these shops. Anything more than a couple months is, in my eyes, unacceptable.

Good luck!
 

IBoughtASupra

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Mar 10, 2009
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Queens, NY
We should all lobby to get Ian kicked out of Australia and then have him open a machine shop up here in the states. We won't have a problem then.
 

JDMMA70

Active Member
Dec 4, 2006
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Houston
Mine was dropped off March 13th completed April 19th. Andrew call them and ask for a status update I did that every week and a half.
 

SFGGR_Miles

New Member
Jan 26, 2009
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Jacksonville, FL
I've been perusing this thread for the last 2 nights now (I work nights at a hospital) and I have to tell you what a great build this is. Your Supra is lucky to have you as an owner. I'm not surprised how clean your engine bay is though, being a prior green side corpsman, I know how retarded the Marines' definition of "clean" really is. It's all the stuff I'd wished I had done when I had my 7M. All the same, I hope the giant gap between this post and the last only means you've recieved all of your parts and are making great progress in the way of rebuilding your block. Now if only you would swap to manual... Good luck with your build and I look forward to updates in the near future.
 

S.A. supra

New Member
Feb 15, 2009
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Buda, Texas
What have you been doing for the last two months? I read the last five pagesso that I can get caught up on your progress. But you haven't posted in two months.
 

lithium14

Member
Jan 7, 2011
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Austin
nothing to the car. Too busy just trying to survive :(. Also my engine is still in Dallas. Also I just got an eviction notice, so I'm looking for a new place to move in to by Sept 1st. Gonna go check out a place today, hopefully it's good ($400 a month after bills is $275 cheaper a month than here, and it's a bigger house). The guy is also a car enthusiast and has a shop I think. I could try and reason with this landlady, but I've had to deal with her BS for awhile now, and her prices are outrageous. She tried to justify my $200 a month payment for utilities. And then blames me for putting her in the red when I missed said $200 payment by ONE day, because well, Banks aren't open on Sundays, which happened to be the 15th, and it was storming like a mofo that day. I don't know what she needed to pay that put her in the red, but if me paying her on Monday did that, then me paying her on Sunday wouldn't have made a difference at all, if you're late on Monday, then you're already late on Sunday. And when you just bought a $500 vacuum cleaner along with a $5k TV, and myriads of cooking appliances by name brand? That doesn't help her case at all. $675 a month to deal with this BS and their complete lack of regard for my Supra in the garage, I don't even care to live here anymore. Only unfortunate thing is that the new place is up in Pfleugerville, which is pretty far north, and I also have to learn to spell the damn place.
 

lithium14

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Jan 7, 2011
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Austin
SFGGR_Miles;1839577 said:
I've been perusing this thread for the last 2 nights now (I work nights at a hospital) and I have to tell you what a great build this is. Your Supra is lucky to have you as an owner. I'm not surprised how clean your engine bay is though, being a prior green side corpsman, I know how retarded the Marines' definition of "clean" really is. It's all the stuff I'd wished I had done when I had my 7M. All the same, I hope the giant gap between this post and the last only means you've recieved all of your parts and are making great progress in the way of rebuilding your block. Now if only you would swap to manual... Good luck with your build and I look forward to updates in the near future.

Sorry for not seeing this post before. LOL even as a Marine, I was known for being exceptionally clean during field days and weapons maintenance =P Guess that's what happens when I was raised doing all the cleaning in the house since the day I could push a vacuum cleaner. And thank you!! I'm lucky to have my Supra. As for progress, hopefully soon I'll have the engine back and can finally begin to mock things up and make measurements for the final slew of parts. And for manual conversion, I definitely have plans. After reading about how notchy the R154 is, and how UNsporty it is as a transmission, I decided I want to go 6 speed, but then I read V160s just don't work well with MK3 diffs, so therefore, I have decided my manual conversion will be to T56. Hopefully one of the newer gen ones. It might be a domestic trans, but I've only ever heard good things about it. My goal is to able to sustain my Supra at 200+ mph for extended time. It's a lofty goal, but I think it can be done.
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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lithium14;1861469 said:
Sorry for not seeing this post before. LOL even as a Marine, I was known for being exceptionally clean during field days and weapons maintenance =P Guess that's what happens when I was raised doing all the cleaning in the house since the day I could push a vacuum cleaner. And thank you!! I'm lucky to have my Supra. As for progress, hopefully soon I'll have the engine back and can finally begin to mock things up and make measurements for the final slew of parts. And for manual conversion, I definitely have plans. After reading about how notchy the R154 is, and how UNsporty it is as a transmission, I decided I want to go 6 speed, but then I read V160s just don't work well with MK3 diffs, so therefore, I have decided my manual conversion will be to T56. Hopefully one of the newer gen ones. It might be a domestic trans, but I've only ever heard good things about it. My goal is to able to sustain my Supra at 200+ mph for extended time. It's a lofty goal, but I think it can be done.

That's a lofty goal. I doubt you'll ever get there, but it'll be fun to watch you try! Complete guesses here, but I'd think you'd need some aero mods (maybe just a good lowering and an efficient lip?) and ~700-800 bhp? I'd be ecstatic to reach 180mph. One of my ultimate goals is to do some sort of top speed run in the supra once I finish up the chassis stuff (suspension/driveshaft). I think with just mild mods, front diffuser and a little lowering you can hit 170mph. :dunno:
 

Grandavi

Active Member
Sep 25, 2008
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
I was just picturing 200+ mph sustained.. then I pictured what I imagine it would take to get there... then I thought maybe we should be talking about a different car. If you can do it, I think you will become infamous in the Supra community.. but probably too broke to afford internet connections so wont know.. lol.

I dont think my car will ever top 125 mph...
 

lithium14

Member
Jan 7, 2011
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Austin
huh you guys don't really push your Supras huh? I had mine filled to the brim with my possessions and maxed it out at 145 on the interstate during my cross country trip... and 200+ has already been done with a MK3, way back in the early 90s by the Japanese. They used a destroked 7M with the front end taped off with stock suspension. I can't for the life of me find the vid, the quality sucks, but the sound of the 7M screaming past at 200mph is SICK to say the least. There's a guy on SF selling a T56 kit for MK3 that's good for up to 190.
 

Smashey

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Dec 29, 2010
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Grande Prairie
Wow what a read, your bad experiences with this car mimic that of my own, same with the good i guess :). Im thinking you should pm me the materials used and procedures to clean and polish the valve covers and intake pieces. Once done that you should do a tutorial thread on how to clean engine bay pieces and paint them or polish them. Good luck with the engine build too.
 

lithium14

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Jan 7, 2011
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Austin
haha thanks!! really the cleaning and polishing is very straightforward, I don't use any special materials or tools. Just elbow grease. lots of it. Basically for any piece you want polished, first you strip off old paint with a paint stripper, and start sanding. If there is A LOT of texture, like a stock intake manifold, start with 80 grit. Usage of tools would be very helpful. I taped my 80 grit to a small hand sander by black and decker. From there, work your way up from 80 to 120, 220, 420, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, and 3000 grit if you like, spend about an hour or more per grit, then get a good polishing compound and go at it, finish with a sealant and you're good!! Cleaning the engine bay is the same, Simple green, plus a stiff bristle brush for the really caked on grime, maybe engine bay degreaser if you need it, brake cleaner for non painted parts, and lots and lots of elbow grease. The only thing about paint, is that it will never look as good as powdercoating. Even with my perfectly prepped and cured painted pieces, I know the paint will chip around the bolts once I install them, it's unavoidable.

I will be moving during this month, so hopefully once I get settled in and the new place cleaned up, I can start prepping the car to receive it's new engine. My buddy said he has to drill out the headbolt holes in my head because they aren't lining up perfectly with the ARP studs. Anyone else have this issue before?

As for 200+mph:

[video=youtube;iCurpKPx2Ao]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCurpKPx2Ao&feature=player_embedded[/video]

told you it could be done.
 

Smashey

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Dec 29, 2010
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Grande Prairie
Thanks for the little guide i always wondered how got supplies and started my 3000 pipe but couldnt find a sealer for aluminum, is there something specific to be used on aluminum , (or metal in general)? As for drilling out the head cause they dont line up sounds outrageous. If this is is the case though i would suspect the alignment pins from block to head, one or both could be bent or have been misplaced since tear down, they are needed for proper allignment one in front one in the rear.
I just had a second thought as well, if you are using studs and not bolts as said. the studs could be threaded into the block then the head placed on top with four steady hands and slowly brought down to the block surface. i still dont think this should be necessary.
 

starworts

New Member
Dec 8, 2010
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california
hey man i have been checkin up on this thread since day one love it! You give great pics and post really useful info! keep up that fantastic work! and im glad to see your keeping it going
 

Rajunz

Fast Coonass
Apr 5, 2005
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Austin, Texas USA
www.cardomain.com
That doesn't make any sense about the headbolts holes. Are the threads stripped? Whenever rebuilding a block, you need to chase all of the threads to clean them so that you'll get proper torque readings. Are you refering to the holes in the head? If that's not lining up, more than likely your studs are bent, the holes can't move.