Ok guys, here’s my 1989 Supra project. I plan to restore this MKIII to NEW condition.
Background about the car:
I was driving around town one day and drove by this very clean supra, which caught my attention immediately. I wasn’t looking for one, as if I needed another one, but I pulled over to check it out anyways. They car looked even cleaner from closer. There were a few scratches and chips on the paint, as well as some dings. The rest of the car was perfect. Interior was MINT condition. Not one imperfection (well, except for the shift knob). Called the number on the FOR SALE sign and left a message. When they called back, we agreed to meet that weekend for a test drive. They car has 74K miles on it and still smells like NEW inside. 5spd, non turbo (which didn’t worry me, I have everything I need if I wanted to make it a stock turbo), TEMS suspension, hardtop (A biggie with me), it had all the goodies. I really liked the car standing still, so the next step was to take it for a spin. The drive was impressive, the rear struts were bad. The tranny shifted like no supra I’ve ever driven before, very smooth. I found myself in love again. I loved the car and although wasn’t looking for one, I decided to convince my wife anyways. That didn’t take long, so I was off to talk to the owner about $$$$$. She (Yes, a lady, which is not that common for supras) was a very nice person. It so happens she is very much into Supras. She had a MKII which was stolen and from what they told me, it was in MINT condition too. Anyways, we negotiated for a day or so. The next day, I cut $1,400 off the bill and the deal was done. Drove the car home, washed it and parked it in my headed garage (Baby has got to sleep warm) and didn’t do anything with it but sit in it for a couple of days. I was trying to vision what I wanted to do with this car. I certainly didn’t need it, and wasn’t sure why I bought it, but I couldn’t let this deal slide.
Changes:
While I was planning on what to do with the car, I decide to do a small project I wanted to do for a while, a Push Start/Stop engine button setup. This setup took me a while to setup, about a week. I wanted to use not just any button, but the Lexus push button. Due to the complexity of the button, I had to take it apart and figure out what each of the 11 pins did and how I can use them. After long hours of work and many wiring diagrams later, the system was complete. It didn’t work exactly the way I wanted it, but it worked none the less. I still have to rework the diagram to make a few changes. At the state the circuit is in, I don’t need any keys. Once I complete the system, it should work as follows: I will have a pager which controls the alarm system. With this pager I can operate the windows, doors, engine, etc. I will not need any keys. Once the system is disarmed, I will be able to use the push button to start/stop the engine. Here are a few pictures.
P.S – Yeah, that’s the original shift knob. It will be replaced eventually, but I will save this one anyways.
Project:
I will not give out the entire project at once, but I will note some details of the overall outcome of the project. The design idea took me months and months of going back and forth on an option and changing them, but now I now exactly what I want for this particular car.
Overall for this car I would like to see done, first, a paint color change. The car is currently midnight blue, but not for too long. I’m having it painted Jet black. The idea is to make this car as luxurious and sporty as possible without crossing each other over the limit. The car will be painted black ALL over (Engine bay, inside the doors, hatch, everything) New coating underbody, bushings, ALL SS bolts, powder coated sub frames and suspension parts color matched, etc. here are a few details:
Exterior:
Jet Black paint w/ matching molding and a chrome edge. Underbody is also getting stripped and coated.
Kinesis, HRE, or Work wheels
Front lip
Engine:
1JZ Custom Twin Turbo (aiming only for about 500hp, but unbelievable response, sort of like this: Click Here)
Custom Intake with ITBs
Customs 321 SS exhaust manifolds
Custom SS or Titanium exhaust. Possibly oval pipes.
Suspension:
HKS Hypermax II
EDIT:
I would really like to keep my TEMS, but haven't seen a kit to be able to lower the car more than just with lowering springs. If anyone knows of a good quality kit to retain the TEMS and have more adjustability, please let me know
Interior:
Custom black interior with suede inserts
Recaro bucket seats
Navigation system
Customized dash cluster using high output LED.
More to come. I will post pics later. Possibly tomorrow.
Background about the car:
I was driving around town one day and drove by this very clean supra, which caught my attention immediately. I wasn’t looking for one, as if I needed another one, but I pulled over to check it out anyways. They car looked even cleaner from closer. There were a few scratches and chips on the paint, as well as some dings. The rest of the car was perfect. Interior was MINT condition. Not one imperfection (well, except for the shift knob). Called the number on the FOR SALE sign and left a message. When they called back, we agreed to meet that weekend for a test drive. They car has 74K miles on it and still smells like NEW inside. 5spd, non turbo (which didn’t worry me, I have everything I need if I wanted to make it a stock turbo), TEMS suspension, hardtop (A biggie with me), it had all the goodies. I really liked the car standing still, so the next step was to take it for a spin. The drive was impressive, the rear struts were bad. The tranny shifted like no supra I’ve ever driven before, very smooth. I found myself in love again. I loved the car and although wasn’t looking for one, I decided to convince my wife anyways. That didn’t take long, so I was off to talk to the owner about $$$$$. She (Yes, a lady, which is not that common for supras) was a very nice person. It so happens she is very much into Supras. She had a MKII which was stolen and from what they told me, it was in MINT condition too. Anyways, we negotiated for a day or so. The next day, I cut $1,400 off the bill and the deal was done. Drove the car home, washed it and parked it in my headed garage (Baby has got to sleep warm) and didn’t do anything with it but sit in it for a couple of days. I was trying to vision what I wanted to do with this car. I certainly didn’t need it, and wasn’t sure why I bought it, but I couldn’t let this deal slide.
Changes:
While I was planning on what to do with the car, I decide to do a small project I wanted to do for a while, a Push Start/Stop engine button setup. This setup took me a while to setup, about a week. I wanted to use not just any button, but the Lexus push button. Due to the complexity of the button, I had to take it apart and figure out what each of the 11 pins did and how I can use them. After long hours of work and many wiring diagrams later, the system was complete. It didn’t work exactly the way I wanted it, but it worked none the less. I still have to rework the diagram to make a few changes. At the state the circuit is in, I don’t need any keys. Once I complete the system, it should work as follows: I will have a pager which controls the alarm system. With this pager I can operate the windows, doors, engine, etc. I will not need any keys. Once the system is disarmed, I will be able to use the push button to start/stop the engine. Here are a few pictures.
P.S – Yeah, that’s the original shift knob. It will be replaced eventually, but I will save this one anyways.
Project:
I will not give out the entire project at once, but I will note some details of the overall outcome of the project. The design idea took me months and months of going back and forth on an option and changing them, but now I now exactly what I want for this particular car.
Overall for this car I would like to see done, first, a paint color change. The car is currently midnight blue, but not for too long. I’m having it painted Jet black. The idea is to make this car as luxurious and sporty as possible without crossing each other over the limit. The car will be painted black ALL over (Engine bay, inside the doors, hatch, everything) New coating underbody, bushings, ALL SS bolts, powder coated sub frames and suspension parts color matched, etc. here are a few details:
Exterior:
Jet Black paint w/ matching molding and a chrome edge. Underbody is also getting stripped and coated.
Kinesis, HRE, or Work wheels
Front lip
Engine:
1JZ Custom Twin Turbo (aiming only for about 500hp, but unbelievable response, sort of like this: Click Here)
Custom Intake with ITBs
Customs 321 SS exhaust manifolds
Custom SS or Titanium exhaust. Possibly oval pipes.
Suspension:
HKS Hypermax II
EDIT:
I would really like to keep my TEMS, but haven't seen a kit to be able to lower the car more than just with lowering springs. If anyone knows of a good quality kit to retain the TEMS and have more adjustability, please let me know
Interior:
Custom black interior with suede inserts
Recaro bucket seats
Navigation system
Customized dash cluster using high output LED.
More to come. I will post pics later. Possibly tomorrow.
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