1990 Tagra Turbo Auto Restoration - From Stock to Uniquely Wild
Another Attention Deprived Build Thread - Lots of New Guy Questions
-- Note, super long opening post ahead. I got a bit wordy. Updates will be of normal size and content, I promise. --
Another Attention Deprived Build Thread - Lots of New Guy Questions
-- Note, super long opening post ahead. I got a bit wordy. Updates will be of normal size and content, I promise. --
The Story So Far
I'll just start from the beginning and hope this doesn't turn into a too long, didn't read section.
I got my license when I was 16, driving a '05 Civic, was told I would have to wait until 17 to buy a car. I wanted a RX7 FC3S, like my Dad's then recently sold one and focused on those, but I loved late 80s early 90s Japanese sports cars. Especially turbo ones, it had be look sporty and have a turbo. Started looking at cars when I turned 17 (May '09), found nothing but junk. Time went by, beaters and scrap were passed up and come April this year, I had finally saved enough money and found a decent car. It was a stormy Saturday when I went to look at a 1990 Toyota Supra. The guy advertised it had a automatic transmission, a running turbocharged engine, good condition blue interior, great condition blue exterior and all the bells and whistles. Its tags were just slightly expired, and he didn't want to smog or keep it. He was asking $2200.
We went to look at the car, both my parents and I, and it was alright. Body was flawless, minus some oxidation on the roof. The interior was pretty good. It needed to be cleaned, driver's door panel needed to be replaced, dome lights worked only if jiggled. I loved the targa top, that was the coolest thing ever to me and totally beat out my buddies' MR2's t-tops. The engine looked spotless, the oil and coolant looked clean, there was no smoke, and the thing started up brilliantly. Took it for a test drive around a few blocks, and the car ran fine. It felt sluggish and slow, but overtime the turbo came on, it was fun. Still slow. And it didn't boost above 4 psi. But I decided to go home, do a little more research and come back. In my excitement, I looked up normal issues and went back and checked everything over. It all checked out, minus the heater not working and a slight gurgle. We overlooked that though, figuring the heater needed some work.
I got into talks with the guy, and bought the car for $1500. I was happy with the price, and he surprisingly was happy to see the car go. I considered it an early 18th birthday present to myself. I drove it home, and held back on letting my friends know. I went to the DMV the next day, paid some back fees and registration and title transfer and such, and cleaned out the interior, washed the car, and detailed the engine; finally driving over to insurance to get a temporary card for it. I loved just looking at it, and drove it very little those first two days. Third day, I drove it to school and showed it off to all my buddies. I had a small crowd around my car that day at the parking lot, everyone was impressed by the car, and surprised I didn't have a RX-7. I felt like I was on top of the world.
Come the next weekend, a rock bounced up and destroyed the fan shroud on the car while I was running some errands. Luckily, the only thing damaged was the fan shroud. And the gurgling got worse. I knew I needed to fix that heater, and soon. Went to start it up the next few days, and it always took a bit longer. It felt slower and slower and always more sluggish. Something didn't feel right. I replaced all the hoses the weekend of my birthday, and checked all the piping for vacuum leaks. Things ran better until the car started to shudder and die. Changed the plugs, still did it. Changed the plug wires. That seemed to fix it.
Car ran fine for another week, and then it died again. White smoke on start-up, gurgling like crazy on some points of the idle, and a spastic idle. I refused to admit I had been conned into buying a car with a blown headgasket, and sought out different sources of the problem. Ended up re-timing the car with my Uncle's help, changed out the fluids, and started it up. Back to normal. Yay.
(Video of Said Idle / Timing Issues)
Come the beginning of July, only three blocks from home, the bird cage came on. As soon as that came on, my eyes went straight to the temperature gauge. Normal. Blink. Full on overheating. I freaked. And then I heard a hiss. Rolled the car down the hill, up the street, and into the driveway and shut it off. Less than twenty seconds time, it felt like. Popped the hood and jumped back, as the top of my radiator blew out and sent boiling hot coolant everywhere. There was no denying this. Blown headgasket had reared its ugly head after hiding the entire time I had owned the car. Checked the oil. Worse than a milk shake. I was shocked, and felt hurt. My car had died.
At least it was summer in a week. I graduated, enjoyed time with my friends, and rolled around in the Civic. I let the car sit for three weeks while I figured what to do. It was time to rebuild the engine. I pooled together what little money I had, along with graduation gifts and income from odd here and there summer jobs. I started pulling it apart, following an on-line photo guide I had found. Everything was sorted into containers, bolts were organized into baggies, and things were going well. Pulled everything off the top, leaving only the manifolds, turbo and head to be pulled off. Took a week break to go to Malibu with friends, and came back. My friend was supposed to help me pull the head off my car, but we ended up fixing his MR2's supercharger instead. And then a week worth of rain came. And then procrastinating. And then more. August hit, and it hit fast. I started school in three weeks. I needed my car to run.
So I pulled the head, the manifolds and that stubborn ass turbo all in a day. Drove it down to a machine shop my Grandpa recommended. Guy needed business he said, and was trustworthy and did good work. I took it down. I told him I needed it surfaced well enough for a metal headgasket, I needed to know how much came off. The head needed to be cleaned, the cams checked and a valve job done. He agreed, welcoming the business. I was quoted $250. Seemed cheap to me. He said a week.
A week came and passed. Tried calling his shop. Number was disconnected. Drove down there (45 minute drive), he was there working. Said he had forgot to pay the phone bill for the shop, and gave me his cell number. Said the water jackets needed work, it'd be an extra two days. I was fine with this, as he said it wouldn't cost any extra. Two days came and passed. No word. Called his cell phone. Disconnected. Drove down to his shop. It was boarded up, and was under police investigation. The guy was in massive debt, and had up and fled to Mexico. With my parts.
Overly upset, I set about debating whether or not to keep the car, whether to find a new head, or to swap over to a JZ series engine. My Grandpa chimed in, saying he remembered where the guys vacation house was. We drove down to Mexico and found him. Better than police work, huh? He said the parts were fine, that they were in the back of his buddies Bronco at a shop down the street. He was scared shitless we'd found him too. Drove back up to San Diego, found the Bronco where he said it would be, and found my parts in the back. My Grandpa left an anonymous tip as to were to find the guy.
Owner of the shop the Bronco was at offered to do the work as well, since nothing had been done to the head at all. He quoted me $75 for surfacing, $45 for re-welding and re-doing the water jackets, and $210 for the valve job. Said it was the cheapest he could do, and wouldn't normally do it except in this circumstance because of what happened. I said fine, and agreed to it. I just wanted it done. The extra $80 wasn't a concern to me.
Head was finished end of November, I was away at school. Car had sat since it died, taken care of by me until August when I left it behind for college. My Dad picked up the head for me. I got to see the car for a few minutes over Thanksgiving Break. I had left it in my brother's charge, hoping he would prove himself and take care of it. He didn't. Which means he doesn't get a car for his 16th birthday, too bad for him. He'll have to wait. But I hate what he did. I guess he wanted the space in the garage that I had my sorted parts in, so he dumped everything into boxes and threw it in the back of the car. Even unsorted my bolts for me. Lovely. >>
Current Goals
The current goal is to rebuild the engine in the car so that it can be a somewhat reliable daily drive. Right now the car suffers from a blown headgasket. I have had the machine work done, and am getting the parts together to rebuild the engine and put it all back together. Hopefully the car will be running and on the roads by mid January.
From there I need to get it back to an operating title from its current non-op, and get the car to pass smog. Hopefully I won't run into any issues or surprises with smog.
After that, the goal is to keep the car running and use it as a daily driver. Begin working on my plan and hopefully get the car finished sometime soon.
Oh, and fix that damn annoying rear hatch leak. I can't figure out where its coming from, its like the water just appears there.
Long-term Plan
My long-term goal for this car is in the next five years to completely (for lack of a better term) overhaul the car. I want to build a reliable, decent powered, well handling, nice looking aero-bodied Supra. I'm not looking to impress anyone, I'm not looking to follow the odd trends or play with ricer styles. I have a set image of where I want my car to be for me to enjoy it, have fun with it, and have it be uniquely different from the rest of the MK3s floating around in Southern California.
Engine wise, I'm looking for some get-up-and-go from the car. Right now, it feels slow and sluggish from a start, being moderately more fun from rolls. I know that the Supra isn't the best car to use from a dig, being better to race from a roll, but I'm not necessarily looking for immediate power. Just something faster off the line then the average Prius that can smoke this car from a stop light would be nice. Power comes at a cost though, and I want to keep the car reliable and usable as a daily driver, so I'm not looking for anything crazy. More torque and hook would be great, horsepower is just a number for throwing around in conversation.
My idea is to stick with the 7M-GTE, and build it up properly and correctly. I'm thinking of buying a second engine and building that up on the side, so I can keep the car running while working on the engine. I'm thinking a complete re-build would be best to go with, top-to-bottom, with forged pistons, complete machining, all new parts and the works done. Replace all seals, gaskets, plugs and work out any issues in this second engine. From there, I'd go with fuel upgrades to support a 60 trim CT26 Turbocharger upgrade. Get it all tuned and running right. Rebuild the currently fired wiring harness, go with a piggyback tuning system, and upgrade all the other stock components with new OEM parts or more efficient aftermarket parts (such as hard piping and a larger intercooler for the air cleaning system). I've followed a bunch of other build-ups using the 60 trim, read a ton of threads in the 7MGTE Discussion forum, and think I have a general idea of where I want to go and need to do there. Maybe if CXRacing fixes their T61 turbo by the time I get to this stage, I'll go that route; otherwise the 60 trim fits my goals just fine.
Transmission wise, I'm fine with the stock automatic transmission I have. It runs well, it doesn't slip, gear changes are very seamless. I like it, I don't need a manual (as much fun as that would be), the automatic works well enough for me. I have a commute involving 30 minutes of stop and go traffic over an interchange every morning and afternoon on the way to and from school, a manual isn't so appealing when considering that. If the time comes were the transmission dies, I'll weigh the odds then and decide whether to rebuild the A340 or swap over to a different transmission (manual or auto will be decided then). Drivetrain wise, I'll keep it all stock for now. If things break, I'll upgrade it then.
Suspension wise I need to do a lot of research into, as I've kind of ignored this for the current moment, my focus on learning more about this car, how to build it correctly, and just getting it running. Better handling is what I'm looking for, as I suspect my car will turn into a weekend warrior, commuting to school / work during the week and hitting up the AutoX's and drift events on the weekend. Really though, I want to be able to take the car out for a cruise and have it attack the twisties with some more ease and better control than I currently have, closer to a MR2 AW11 style of handling. Like I said, I'll need to do a lot more research once I get closer to this, and talk to some experts before deciding on a course of action here.
I can say I want to upgrade the rims to a larger size wheel (18's look good and aren't obnoxiously large), and go lower about an inch to a inch and a half. I'm not looking to be slammed or "hella flush" or anything (not that I don't like those), as that's not the style I'm looking for, I just want to reduce the gap between the top of the tire and the bottom of the fender so the car doesn't look like it is slightly jacked up, or the "4x4" look as I've seen it referred to. I've always been a fan of BBS wheels, and I can picture my car rocking some of their RS-GTs or LMs. Also saw a set of Starion wheels, which I think look great. If I could somehow get a custom set of wheels, 18 inch in size, mimicking that design, I may go that route. As for right now though, sawblades are looking fine.
I'm also looking into upgrading the brakes, as I remember that being a concern of mine when I was driving the car. The stock ones feel very inadequate, even with new pads and fine looking rotors. I'd love to go with the Arizona Performance 13" Wilwood kit, but that is by far way out of budget. It'd either have to be push back to a later time, or I can find a replacement. I'm thinking about buying Powerslot front and rear rotors, and upgrading to Axxis brake pads. I've read good things about both, from both Supra and other car forums. I'd love to hear more about those and my decision to go with them though.
Interior wise, I just want to update it and make it feel more modern. Fix and replace all the broken bits, clean up the upholstery and have some it it redone. Bucket seats up front would be nice, but aren't absolutely necessary as the stock seats are comfortably enough. I plan on redoing the gauge cluster, getting some new gauges put in, upgrading the head unit and speakers (previous owner blew out half of them, sounds pretty shitty at the moment). I plan on stocking up on some LEDs and replacing all the dying lights in the interior, I feel that may help it look new. Get new seals on the targa top, hatch and tail lights.
Finally, I have my goals set for what I plan on doing with the exterior. I love this car and the way it looks, so for now it is fine. I do plan on, for lack of a better term, overhauling the exterior though. I love well done aero-bodied and widebody cars, so long as the whole car is done (exterior, interior, engine, etc.). I dislike cars that are all show and no go, so the exterior will be one of the last things I do on the car. That said, I will be go for the widebody aero drift style kitted out car look. Here's what I plan on getting:
Abflug Style Front Lip, Bomex Style Rear Add-ons, Bomex Style Side Skirts, Euro Style Clear Indicators, Extreme Dimension's GT Concept Vented Hood, Ganador Aero Side Mirrors, Hiro Style Rear Tail Light Covers, Kaminari 3 Piece Spoiler Wing, Kaze Style Widebody Rear Quarters, New Type Toyota Emblem, Re-Amemiya Style FC3S Rear Diffuser, Regulus Style Front Nose, Retro-spec Style Vented Headlight Covers, S2 Style Front Grille Replacement, S2 Style Side Skirt "Straker", S2 Style Widebody Front Fenders, Silverline Racing Style Side Window Louvers, Tekdeus' Low-Profile Headlight Mod, Toyota Style Rear Hatch Visor, Turbo A Style Front Bumper Insert
Once I have all those ready to go, its time to attack the body. Everything will be sanded done, installed, prepped, and sent off to a good paint shop. I'm not sure what one yet, but I refuse to cheap out on the paint or body work. I'll make sure everything is straight, perfect, and clean. I will not be molding these together, except for moulding the bumper add-ons into the bumper, as I find that ridiculous looking. Will probably change out all the exterior seals and trim at the same time. Engine will be pulled, and the bay will be cleaned and paint as well. My plan is to go with a Lexus Ultrasonic Mica Blue color, like seen on the new IS-F's and LFA. I'm almost 100% certain it will be that color or a darker blue just like it. The homo blue has to go. Trim will probably be painted Millennium Jade (Nissan Skyline GTR color), as to match the stock Blue body + Grey-ish trim pattern. All parts will be painted minus the hatch visor (will be left stock translucent black), the headlight vents (rest of the headlight piece will be painted) and the CF vents on the hood (rest of the hood will be painted).
In combination with my planned exterior, some nice rims, a good suspension set-up, decent looking interior and a powerful engine, I think the car will be a head-turner and something I can be proud of and call unique to me.
How the Car sits at the Moment
Well, if you read the beginning part (and you may not have, I get that I got wordy with this opening post), the car has been sitting since June. I hadn't touched it all the way from August to this last week, when I came home from college. I left it in the care of my brother. And care for it, he did not. The car is in pieces engine wise and interior wise. The exterior has been washed very little and could use some TLC. The tires are starting to look bad, they need to get moving again. I haven't even tried taking off the hood, I'm afraid of what I'll find underneath (hopefully it all looks the same). Here's some cell-phone pictures I snapped real quickly to show the starting point of what I have to deal with and put back together:
My wonderful brother decided he wanted the space I had in the garage. So he throw all my organized parts into boxes, poured out all the bolts and stuff, and dumped them in the back of my car. Awesome, huh? Oh, and when did my rear lock assembly go missing?
Here's a closer look. At least he left the fuel rail bolts and injectors in their bag. Some how they ended up with my intake stuff. And so did some of my new parts. O2 sensor says hi to the sunlight.
Loose parts thrown about, bolts wandering around all over the place and old boxes full of parts collapsing - definitely the handiwork of my brother.
Just when you thought all the parts were in the back, you find out they litter the front as well. Oh, and some how all the interior screws and stuff I had organized lost their baggies as well. Screws on the floor, going to be fun to put back together.
More parts, looks like some of the bigger and heavier stuff. Hello turbo! Oh, and the rear carpet just been kinda shoved forward and crushed. Rear platform's kinda scratching up the interior panels and floating around back there.
Until I wash the car later, I'm afraid to show the condition of the exterior. Thick layer of dirt, leaves rotting on it, and all kinds of glitter dust from the Christmas decorations. Yikes.
I regret neglecting her and leaving her behind. I really should have finished this car sooner, over the summer when I had time. It pains me to see it this way. I will get her running though, I refuse to let this car rot away. Hopefully this all doesn't sound like dreaming and more like a plan, because I hope to make this a reality.
Will have my first project update tomorrow, after I tackle some stuff, get some work done, take some pictures and come back to you guys with twenty hundred questions because I'm lost and helpless.
... anyways seems you just hit a bit of foul luck, but I'm sure you'll enjoy your restoration like I am mine. with bhg... seems you have an excuse to upgrade sooner than later... I got lucky and have managed to avoid bhg... but I'm also running a jdm engine that was rebuilt... so only preventative upgrading for me. I'll be keeping an eye here since I am also going through complete resto and upgrade, good luck with everything!!
