Steve's mildly out-of-control build

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Aleo24

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Aug 15, 2011
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emiliorescigno;1998207 said:
Stock Shifter > * imho.

And if anyone is genuinely concerned about having the best shifter feel...an R154 is not the transmission to have. :)

Ive got a shifter from TRS in newzealand, best thing i ever did. Short throw but great feel, especially after i rebuild the box and smoothed out the edges on shift rods, alot smoother now.
 

toyotanos

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And out of nowhere, a wild Steve appears!

First and foremost, we had a baby! Evelyn is healthy and 4 months old now, and has pretty much taken over both of our lives. Ill get other stuff done periodically, but only a fraction of what I did beforehand. While it might be hard right now, I'm really looking forward to having a conversation with her!

Supra stuff:

Over the winter one of my fuel pumps died so I had to replace that, as well as replacing my fuel filters (not quite in yet) Got it to the dyno and the engine power has changed. Up 50hp on wastegate, down 80hp at high boost. Going to have to figure that out, as well as the turbo seals are starting to vomit oil into the intercooler piping. Guess it'll be time for an upgrade!

Also ran the car at the strip a few weekends ago and did OK, 11.2 was my best and 135 was the top speed I hit, although not on the same run. I had more trouble launching well, the best 60' I hit was a low 1.7, which wasn't helping my morale. Transmission did pretty good, although 2nd and 3rd gear still hve trouble engaging at high RPM, which is why I couldn't break into the 10's. Oh, and I blew the hotside IC pipe off at 100mph and promptly ran over it, ending my racing x.x Having a new one made next week, just in time for Power Cruise #5!

Seems like my rear suspension is also finally showing its age, as the car is pulling left much more than last year (you can see the pull in the drag video in post #869- this year it was worse- I'm thinking either rear cradle mounts or traction arms, although there's only a slight bent in the PS arm. Going to see if a set of Supra Sport arms will fit with my rear rims.

The adapter plate is on hold for now, but at the same time I'm contemplating an auto swap to hit a 9 for once, but I like manuals- oh choices, choices!

No pictures atm, but I'll get some up soon.
 

leecheater

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Mar 27, 2006
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Steve,
Glad to hear father hood is agreeing with you. Take it from me, she will grow fast.

If you decide to go auto, I want first dibs on your upgraded tranny if it goes up for sale, as my Supra is due to have the tranny upgrade in near future. I also thought about an automatic but I like the manual too much (at least for now).
 

toyotanos

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Hey, I'm still alive!

Little bit of an update in the cars status- broke another R154! (sigh) Drag racing and I managed to tear 3/6 lower shifter housing bushings, broke the MC lower ball seat on the shifter itself, and managed to make 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gear hate life in the process. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to run a 10, only managed a 11.2. The 3.73 rear gears helped in the launch, but the more aggressive gearing of the 3.91 made it accelerate much better, pending I had traction to launch with.

The V160 plan is still my goal, but I might have to give that up in lieu of drag racing being what this car does best at the moment. That said, a TH400 or 4L80e might not be so bad, as long as I can get it strong enough and dialed in right. Running a 9 sounds really nice, when I don't think about the massive work it would be to fit.

All aside, I'll leave you with a couple pictures of the work currently being done to the car- replacing a very blown gasket, and fabricating the shortest exhaust possible (raincap not pictured, but it will be on there, heh)



 

frontierguy25

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Mar 26, 2007
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How are you launching your car? With the AEM you have anti lag that can help you out. What do you have for drag wheels and tires? I'm sorry I haven't looked over your entire thread because it is so long. But I've skimmed through. I've run 11.35@ 128 with 550 rwhp. I had weld pro stars with MT radials 275/50/15. With 1.5-1.65 60' times all with a r154 and 373 gears. I'm going to do another build and have the r154 and get more power and run mid 10's. I would love to do a V160 but they cost a lot and you need a custom rear or a mk4 with lots of mods.

Get that thing rebuilt with the MC parts and the drift motion parts and a good clutch and you'll be fine. I ran a south bend clutch it was an 8 puck and I loved it! Or go the Th400 if you're only going to drag. I Want a fun car so I'm sticking with the R154 and build it.

Great build so far car looks good!
 

toyotanos

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Ha ha, ya reading through it all would have answered most of your questions.

The car is being launched at 5000rpm on the 2-step. Car runs only 2-step launch control, no anti-lag. Anti-lag (retard rev setting) makes the EGT's soar well above safe levels for the turbo, and you'll damage the turbo exhaust wheel doing it. I know because the first 2 years I raced it I was using anti-lag, so the turbo exhaust wheel was a bit melty last time it was apart. 2-step is safer for the setup, and I'd like more reliability out of the car than absolute performance.

The R154 trans was fully built with OEM bearings/blocker rings, MC/DM billet parts, all behind a Spec Super twin clutch. The synchros just can't keep up with the 7700rpm shifts I want to do and die pretty quickly. I tore a MC shifter socket bushing apart, and ripped most of the shifter support bushings out. Fun for street driving, but not so good for racing.

The car did better MPH with the 3.91 rear end, but the LSD in it was shot and it would just spin on the high boost setting. The 3.73 settled the rear end down, but then it wasn't doing as well accelerating (besides the trans woes). I had run a 4.30 a couple years back, but with that diff, boost = wheelspin no matter what.

Tires are 26x11.5x15 Hoosier Quick Time Pro Bias ply tires. Plenty of tire, as long as the diff can put it to both tires.

A V160 can be run on the 3.73 rear gears, but it limits your absolute top speed, and makes 1st gear kinda useless (maybe great for traffic crawls?) I'd be ok with it, since I'd be building the diff for racing duty.

The guy who is doing the adapter plate has been having health issues so its looking less and less likely that the V160 is going to happen.



The car has been a lot of fun, but the power level that I'm at, I'm just not able to do the things I want with the current setup. Time to choose a path and get serious if I decide to. Otherwise I can just throw another $150 or blocker rings at it and hope for the best again. Whoo!
 

toyotanos

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Slight direction change- I found and purchased a 1991 Hardtop shell!

I don't have any space to work on it atm, but as soon as I finish the current WRX side job we're going to start some serious teardown and inspection!

Only picture atm:
 

toyotanos

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At the moment it's a chassis swap. The new Maroon one is an NA, non-abs, Hardtop that'll be pretty stripped out and caged. Not sure how heavy the 4L80E will be, but I think it'll be below 3300 with me in it.
 

atmperformance

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they're hard to find now. I got my first mk3 for $750 after finding it collecting dust behind an industrial building, it was a 90 hard top white package N/A auto with unfaded blue interior. guy selling it thought it had a BHG, turned out to be a leaking heater hose. one of the best cars i've ever owned. i think it was under 100k miles too, passed cali smog even.
 

toyotanos

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Hey I haven't updates this for another while. Time to drop a bomb!

The 7M is sold.

I will never be using an R154 again

I am going to stick with a manual transmission.

The Gray body is being stripped and parted in favor of the new Maroon Shell.

It seems my Supra life is being turned upside down!



As cliche' as it sounds, it's JZ time. Although, it's not exactly the generic swap. It's going to be a VVTI, V160, 500whp max build with strong emphasis on response, handling, and streetability. Should be fun. I'll start a new build thread pretty soon.
 
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