1990 Toyota Supra Turbo Buildup - Satans Little Helper...

[Kai]

Well, guess what i recieved in the mail today? Yep - my CT26 Softline kit from Kinugawa Turbo!

Not bad eh? The hoses are surprisingly good quality, they dont feel cheap at all. All the fixings are chunky and well made, the gaskets and crush washers are all Toyota OEM jobbies (came in a Toyota dealership packet )

I'm sorely tempted to go outside today and do it but i just got handed a salami and brie filled omelette by Amy...mmm.....food!

 

[Kai]

I think some of you deserve something of an update! The weather here has been just all kinds of wrong for working outside on cars - from the freezing temperatures, to the rain and the 9 inches of snow...it wasn't happening!

However, i did do SOME fiddling after my last post.

When the softline kit arrived, everything looked fine except that there were two errors i discovered only AFTER i had fitted the adaptor plates to the turbocharger. Turns out i'd been sent the adaptor kit for the Toyota Landcruiser, and NOT the supra, so although the lines were the right length, and fitted the adaptors - the adaptors pointed the WRONG WAY for the oil feed, and the water feed/return. the company i bought them off offered an exchange, but only if i spent £100 on mailing them back to Japan (how do they get it to me for £15, but 'La Poste' wants to charge me nearly 10x that??). So, it was time to get creative with a blowtorch and a vice and adapt the adaptors.

Twisting/bending metal is something that honestly worries me - i've had way too many things just die from fatigue on me, so i'm considering replacing the plates as soon as possible, with something i've designed via CAD. The lines are fine though - so they're staying. I'll likely also switch from a Banjo bolt, for the oil feed, to an M12x1.25 to -4AN stud to eliminate any problems with flow.

There are signs that the weather is getting more clement - being about 10/13*c here at the moment, and even blips of sunshine, but it's still a case of tools being firmly down for the next few weeks, and i need to get my mechanic-fu back before i do anything else!

 

[Kai]

Well, i've been outside today - first time in months that i've done something productive with the damn thing! Thank the weather for getting warmer (10+ degrees outside!), and the dry day

Originally, all i was going to do - was install the alternator, but on finding out that the alternator bracket wasn't installed, i needed to get under the car, and unbolt the aircon compressor (fiddly job) as the lower alternator bracket goes between the compressor bracket, and the block - doh!

20 minutes and it was all done - i'm starting to know these cars far too well

Alternator was bolted up, and moved into a 'belt install position', then i decided for good measure to bolt the throttle cable bracket up, and the main intake pipe, which meant i finally had to bolt down the cam covers (30mm torx bolts with spring washer and flat washer to stop them from vibrating loose, like the stock screws do!). After that - i was going to bolt the coil pack down...unfortunately - some total IDIOT that had been housesitting for me over christmas had thrown it into a bucket in an attempt to be helpful and tidy. What else was in the bucket? Brake fluid....UGH! The first two coils were fine - just grimy, the third was half sunk into the brake fluid, although thankfully not the important end with all the electrical connectors. So i had to spend a good half an hour unbolting the coils from the brake fluid soaked bracket, and cleaning them with a toothbrush and dish soap. Dried them on the radiator for another half an hour with the bracket, and then rebuilt it and stuck it on the cam covers. I was going to install the PCV system but again - said housesitting IDIOT had swept all my parts into a pile with leaves and old parts that have since been replaced, and one of the hard-to-get-hold-of PCV hoses has disappeared. GAH!

As i was ordering a load of small sundry items (turbo oil & water feed gaskets, rad cap etc), i stuck it on the list to get from Toyota. The other issue is, because the PCV steel pipes were stuck in the damp pile of leaves and crap - they've gone all rusty again - so another hour cleaning each one again

Still - all that remains, is to bolt up the turbo oil & water feed, the power steering reservoir, radiator hoses, thermoviscous fan, intercooler pipework and then finally, the dashboard!

Everything else is DONE. I can do the rest in a day - sooooo close i can almost taste it!

Anyway - here's how it looks now

 

[Supracentral]

Looks damned good Kai.

 

[Kai]

Woot! Finally, you got around to viewing the thread

Any problems you can forsee? I've decided to get some spare turbo water & oil feed gaskets just in case the softlines don't work out, although i loathe the idea of removing and reinstalling the turbo for what seems like the 8th time. Going to do some more today - installing the hoses and spark plug leads. Might get around to doing the dashboard - unfortunately, i won't be able to completely finish everything until the stuff from Toyota arrives later in the week, but still - i have hope that things are on their way...

 

[Kai]

More fiddling today - this time - refitting the dashboard! Unfortunately, despite fitting it - i'm going to have to take it back out soon - as there are two bulbs that have gone pop

Still - its not massively important, as I can still see the speedo

I need to spend an hour or so fiddling around with the glove box, get the ECU back in place, bolt the knock sensor ground wire to the chassis somewhere, and put it all back together for the final phase.

The only engine bay thing that's been done today was installing the spark plug leads (a fiddly and annoying job) and the first section of PCV piping was cleaned up with some steel wool, and bolted into position. I'm going to have to remove the turbo...AGAIN - the water lines just won't do, and I might as well go back to the standard oil feed & drain while it's off - its a shame really - they're good quality -4 and -8an lines, just the adapter plates on the turbo are totally crap

It worked with the stock one before, so I guess it's nothing major - just annoying really. Why people sell these line kits without checking if they work for the stated application - I honestly don't know

Until the turbo is done - I cant do the oil cooler line, or the power steering fluid reservoir - and that also means I can't put the belts on, or the fan - so annoying! >_<

Still, I have high hopes that it'll be starting before the end of march

 

[eraezer]

So you wouldnt recommend that softline kit for the ct26 turbo?

 

[Kai]

No, the lines themselves are fine, but the adaptor plates aren't designed for the supra at all, but would fit an mr2 or landcruiser. I've been working on something in solidworks, but I think the only place for the oil drain/feed is ARZ Performance or driftmotion - either way, expensive, and there's no water line option

 

[eraezer]

Is this the same adapter that you bought? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Turbo-Water-L...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1e58b5866e
What was wrong with the adapter?

 

[Kai]

Yep - that exact same one. The water feed - well when you bolt it on, both lines point INTO the cylinder head at a 45 degree angle - so you can't fit the lines unless you heat up and bend the 'stalks' with the -AN connectors on. With the Oil Feed/Drain - the drain is fine - although you have to bolt up the line BEFORE you install the plate, but the feed side of it faces INTO the compressor housing, and fouls it. It's not designed for the CT26 mounted on the 7M - it's designed more for the CT26 setup on a 3S-GTE in an MR2 or a 1HD-FTE in a Landcruiser. The only 'ok' parts are the oil drain adapter plate for the block, and the lines themselves. The rest just doesn't work. Just oes to show, cheaping out on something only causes hassle & annoyance!

At the moment i'm going back to the stock line setup i think, don't want to risk my Stage 1 TT Hybrid on wonky plates :/

 

[Kai]

So, i've been waiting since February for parts...then of course the Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami happened, leading to difficulty in obtaining parts. Well, 3 months later and whaddaya know? I got a call from Toyota, telling me my parts were ready. So yesterday, i went down there, and picked up a very, very small bag of stuff, and was actually SHOCKED by the price of it all... came to &#8364;92.18!! That's £80.74 or $132.14, in case you were wondering. So, i must have got some big, expensive, rare parts, right? Nope!

The only thing not pictured, are 4 spring clips, two stubby PCV hoses, and the Radiator Cap.

Bill breaks down like this:

Turbo Oil Drain to Block Gasket &#8364;3.90
Turbo Oil Drain & Feed Gasket &#8364;3.58
Turbo Water Feed & Return Gasket &#8364;7.16
Water Bypass Hose &#8364;17.75
Lexus LS400 Oil Filter &#8364;16.80
Oil Drain Plug Gasket &#8364;2.20
Radiator Cap &#8364;26.89
4 x Spring Clips &#8364;5.16
2 x PCV hoses &#8364;8.74

You don't get much for your money these days!

Still, with all this lot, i should be able to crack on with the final bits of work, and plumb everything back in, ready to start!

 

[LilMissMkIII]

:wavey:

 

[Enraged]

why didnt you just buy a radiator cap from a parts store? test it in hot water to make sure it opens at the right temp, and your good to go.

 

[IJ.]

why didnt you just buy a radiator cap from a parts store? test it in hot water to make sure it opens at the right temp, and your good to go.

WTF?

Radiator caps open with pressure NOT temp... :nono:

 

[Enraged]

whoops, thinking thermostat for some reason. still, why pay so much? curious if the toyota ones are much higher quality than a good parts store brand?

 

[Supracentral]

good parts store brand?

That's an oxymoron - almost all parts store brand thermostats are cheap crap with horrible quality control. Next time you buy one, put it in a pot of hot water with a thermometer and see when it opens and closes, you may be very surprised by what you see.

 

[Enraged]

I've done that, haven't had any issues yet. Maybe I've had good luck.

 

[RazoE]

LS400 filters fit our cars? Never knew that..

 

[3p141592654]

The toyota cap looks nice, comes with a yellow label! :icon_bigg

 

[SupraClaou]

I agree with you! Best looking cap ever... along with the Blitz cap xaxa!