$100 82 L type gets 7mgte swap, paint, P type conversion, suspension, ect ect

[mk2 supra]

Well, I am finally posting up a build thread for my car. It started as a $100 car that drove home (barely) with a dented up oil pan, which broke the oil pump pick up, which flattened a cam. It was real real rough, especially the left side the whole quarter was sideswiped and to be honest I wanted an mk3 and my dad surprised me and came home with this instead but it was love at first drive. Believe it or not, this is the GOOD SIDE

So my 5m experience went- complete rebuild top to bottom including turning the crank, and getting the oil pump pickup welded back up, but failing to address getting the rods resized (I was 19, need I say more?) spun a rod bearing after 400 miles. Rebuilt it again, this time port and polished head and all the bolt ons one could do and running high 15s in the 1/4.
After the 3rd rebuild with a better porting job and full EGR block off, it still didnt at all do it for me...

So I decided to bag the 5m thing and go a different path. The forced induction path :naughty: I sold my 2 5MGEs I had and an 83 parts car

and bought an 88 7MGTE. It came with a spun rod bearing (bad) but came with ARP head studs, 680 injectors, and I was able to get all the extras from the 88 like the oil cooler, intercooler, ect.

So what is in store and my goals are- a budget rustoleum paint job adding wheel flares, A newer 84-86 style front end, rebuilding the 7M for 300 whp. Battery relocation, and all new suspension with coilovers and celica steering arms. I will be doing all the work myself as I usually do and not paying anyone to do it for me (with the help of my dad when he can) and I want my car to do everything well. I want it to able to Drift in the local competitions and beat up on the 240 SXs, put sticky tires on for the Drags and hoping for at least low 13s, and of course cruise the street and be dependable. With the weight reduction I had done before It weighed in at 2950 with me in it and a half tank when it was a 5M, so I am hoping to still stay at the 3000 lb mark.
I plan on running the W58 and the stock turbo at first but in the future am planning on R154 swap after engine upgrades justify.

I scrubbed the engine bay and removed 255k of grime, simple green FTW

After paint

Then the hood, I cut the underside ribbing out, not much weight but I am trying to get all that I can out

Shaved the washer wipers

After

How it looks with the P-type fenders on. So much better!

I had a spare 4.10 open diff so I decided to weld it up solid and run it until I rebuild my 3.70 LSD

I have been working on the replacement door for the drivers side, I took the crash beams out of both doors as well, its good for about 40 lbs and since I have plans for a roll bar in the future anyways then they wont be necessary, first you need to drill the spot welds out that are holding them in
Better get out your impact chisel for this one....

Then you need to make two cuts for the beam to fit and slide out

You need to cut the beam to make it managable and move inside the door to slide out

Another plus to this is I can pull this dent without a uni spotter once its out

Well I got some paint down this weekend

Well other than the bumpers and the remaining flares that I need, the car is all painted.

I started on the 7m reassembly finally... cut the oil pump pickup and re welded it

Next step is the crank block and head going to the machine shop...

 

[mk2 supra]

So with the huge help from my dad I was able to get a short block together last night. The pistons showed evidence of scraping on the skirts from lack of oil (before I owned it) So it was decided to get new pistons. Found some real good lookin standard bore ebays from NPR for around $100 with rings.

I even had the kiddo there for support thought about gettin a sitter but hes not even bad while we work =)

So the head studs are in

So everything clearanced out well though, and once my oil pan comes in from another member I will slap that on along with the head. I welded on the stock one to put the return bung in, but getting your welds air tight will prove to be a bitch. I wouldnt say Im a really bad welder... but putting them to the test and having to grind them down after they leak in one place or another thats hard to get to has got me taking the easy route.
I got an 88 cressy oil pan with a return bung, It needed a bit of love... but after an hour between the hot tank, rolock wheel, and ball peen hammer it turned out okay. I hot tanked and painted some parts. Got the oil pump all sorted out, I found a tiny air leak on the weld for the pickup, grinded and rewelded it, bent and drilled the support to work with one of the bolts on the pump, packed it with trans assembly lube (didnt have vaseline) and installed.

Then I painted the block and oil pan, installed the rear main

I got the head back from the machine shop after a full valve job, upgraded to an HKS 1.2mm headgasket, got the head back on and torqued again, now I am on the daunting task of adjusting valve lash (yay!)
While I was waiting for the machine work I tackled some bodywork

I painted all the plastic parts - bumper, mirrors, headlight bezels, and put them all on. Its coming together and looking more and more like a complete car =)
Got some goodies

Got a package from raptor racing of poly steering rack bushings, the S3 short shifter, and a fuel pump. It was supposed to be an external one, so its going back, but still looks cool!
Also got my newer style front bumper from greyhound today, the newer style is a lot better. More lip at the bottom, and different cut outs on the lower part. Thanks mkii maniac!!
Got all the valves shimmed to specs, cams are in

Got a minty dash

Blocked off the EGR with a bolt, drilled and cotter pinned it, and used this super strong epoxy for extra assurance. They use this stuff underwater to fix holes in ships, and they even use it to repair cylinder heads. Yeah bolt isnt goin anywhere!

Put on the timing belt and timed the engine, cut myself too

More bodywork... more waiting on parts...

Got some parts! More on the way.... CPS sensor

Got the front bumper on

Still waiting on the other side marker, crank scraper, O2 housing, interior parts.... it is definitely coming along though. What do ya guys think, should I have left the normal part of the bumper black? I can always redo it if it doesnt look right but I wanted to try painting all of it

 

[mk2 supra]

got a crank scraper

I was a little worried about all the trimming involved with this, but it wasnt bad at all. Little bending, marking, grinding, done
Ditched the stock O2 housing as soon as possible

The engine and car will be reunited soon!
Well, took about a month off from the Supra project so I could do a bunch of work on the Camaro and do the classic car cruise, which was awesome by the way =)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anwApK8Xw2s
But I am back on track with the Supra build and ready to go full steam! I had it towed to my dads shop

Got my injectors back after a full service

It feels good having this car out of the shelter at the parents house that it drove in about 2 years ago. (yes 2 freakin years) Its coming together and I'm happy!!
here she sits

Flywheel resurfaced, New clutch, pilot, and pull out bearings all on

Engine is set in after all the last minute touches and steering rack bushings

Notice the ugly looped heater hoses... I might clean them up later but I just wanted this thing in. Oh and now that the trans is secure I got to put the S3 short shifter on and pretend drive and shift thru gears! The throw on it is pure bliss. Huge difference and although its disgusting that I got a short shifter for my eclipse off ebay for $30, and this one close to $300, its every bit worth it

 

[pagii]

wow very nice build good luck !!

 

[mk3_7m]

This is pretty well done for a ma61. You don't see these around alot these days. Good luck with the build.

 

[gsxr141]

nice.

 

[speedy]

i like it alot.... keep it up..

 

[ForcedTorque]

I love the MKII! Nice job keeping this one alive

 

[mk2 supra]

Thanks for the good words guys... I know I just posted everything up now but this has been ongoing for exactly 2 years now. Thats the last time I drove it and I said "Im tired of this 5m crap"... Its comin together real quick now that the engines in though

 

[mk2 supra]

New windshield in

Been doing wiring

Intercooler piping

Cold Air, Hard turbo inlet pipe, ect

Update.... UPS and DOWNS.... that is the motto of tonight... I have been stuck and frustrated with wiring so I said, "oh how bout Ill put some oil in this thing... well not even half a quart in, and I see drip drip drip.... I was so mad I just left.... I didnt wanna effing know... well here it is

If you use a 12mm head bolt here this is what happens. but the up is I got the wally 255 hooked up

I havent done a relay and 10ga wiring yet... I just wanna get this thing running first... Not to mention this engine will drive right thru my clutch before any power is made anyways
and of course I had my lil man helping me

Fabbed the 3 inch exhaust all the way to where the muffler will be, with exhaust cut out!

and after a few odds and ends, this is where Im at now... The engines back together, wired up, turns over but no spark, been troubleshooting it forever!! When it runs youll be the first to know lol

 

[supraguy@aol]

Very nice.
Cant wait for the first start video.

 

[Tanya]

Just a heads up but there's some OEM style carbon fiber hoods being made that will be for sale soon on celicasupra.com. I think it'd end up weighing around 15lbs or so. Something about cutting the ribs out bothers me greatly, and the doors too, but if you're getting roll cage later then the door isn't an issue, but you certainly don;t want your floppy noodle of a hood flying up and hitting your brand new windshield.

 

[mk2 supra]

Just a heads up but there's some OEM style carbon fiber hoods being made that will be for sale soon on celicasupra.com. I think it'd end up weighing around 15lbs or so. Something about cutting the ribs out bothers me greatly, and the doors too, but if you're getting roll cage later then the door isn't an issue, but you certainly don;t want your floppy noodle of a hood flying up and hitting your brand new windshield.

I actually left the outside framing on the hood still there, its not HORRIBLE... but we'll have to see.

UPDATE
after OVER A MONTH of troubleshooting and getting rid of gremlin after gremlin, (why is it not more public that the black wire at the fuel pump is POSITIVE? lol) SHE RUNS! HASNT RAN IN OVER THREE YEARS, AND SHE SOUNDS GREEEEAT, EVERYTHING SEEMS TO WORK NICE, Tach works with the adapter, oil pressure light/charge light go off, oil pressure looks great at 50 psi cold idle, no leaks, Im ecstatic. Hoping to take her for a spin tomorrow if Im lucky

 

[Mikael_7m]

Well done man. Awesome build!

 

[supraguy@aol]

Big congrats dude.

 

[mk2 supra]

My car next to a running 7m for reference

This is the muffler Im doin... hard to see but its 3" in, dual 2.5 out. figured a dual chrome tip might look really stock and sleeper, and after hearing how quiet an open 3" 7m is I know this will be nice and mellow... until I flip the switch for my dump of course lol

dude I am hooked again... I was on this till 10pm last nite, got home to post, while I slept I DREAMT ABOUT DRIVING IT, and on my way back to try and get it road test ready. and now that the horrible troubleshooting is out of the way Ill feel a lot more productive and less wanting to blast myself in the head lol. Just for reference my no spark issue was due to my CPS sitting with the cap off on a friends car, got some surface rust. So cleaned it all up again, and regapped it. Then I had no fuel...so my dad was pressurizing the tank to give the gravity feed some "help"... the pump would slow down with air...hmm lol yeah it was wired backwards, turned it on and fuel sprays EVERYWHERE...filter bolt wasnt seated right. THEN she fired up and I ACTUALLY CALL THAT A GOOD NIGHT!

 

[mk2 supra]

exhaust is done for now. Super mellow and tame, and looks real sleeper.

 

[nrdriver]

nice build. where in oregon are you? i live in salem

 

[mk2 supra]

nice build. where in oregon are you? i live in salem

Thanks. Im Medford area. But once i get this thing road worthy hoping to do all the pac NW meets i can

 

[mk2 supra]

Been spending every weekend all weekend on this thing. Flushed and bled brakes (thanks dad!)
wired up temp gauge, speedo, added the wiring for a check engine light, pulled codes, it had a 31, I think its cause the intake temp sensor isnt hooked up (will prbly start a thread on it) One of the knock sensor wires was pulled out, fixed that, and THEN it did a code 51. Did the throttle bracket to have a working gas pedal (yay!!) my dsm bov is plumbed for recirc. I was able to take it around in the parking lot today...thoughts-
1. previous owner drove this with NO shift bushings for WAY too long, and now 1st gear pops out if you dont hold it in. (GAY)
2. my struts are still ridiculously shot
3. my clutch feels WAY too light... I shouldve had my flywheel step cut, may still do that if I have the trans out and dont wanna R154 yet. Its rated at 275 ft lbs ie not enough
4. My car purrs like a kitty and youd never guess the punch it'll pack!