ebony supra project. lowering it and paint. Lots of pics

[berto22]

How she sits now.. (video)





update 7/17/12: obx headers installed , video uploaded
update 6/27/2012: shine bumper and stout hood
update 5/16/2012: new stainless steel brake lines, new sway bars and adj. end links are in, new koyo rad. pictures are up
update 4/18/2012: got new wheels
update: paint job is complete pics are on page 2

Well hey folks i've been a member of supramania for a while but this is the first time i post of pics of the work i've done on my baby. My dad bought it when i was 16 i think, he gave it to me a couple of years after that. When he bought it it was missing most of the trim pieces .Havent done any work on the engine i have only restored the body and painted it. I just finished lowering it today and am in the process of painting it. Oh one more thing when my dad bought it it had the stock mk3 wheels I couldnt find a picture with those wheels. He later bought the is250 wheels. And then i got lucky with the ADR's


This is how i met her + the is250 wheels

The first thing i remember doing was purchasing a carbon fiber window cowl from ebay. The old one was a rusted out mess..

I got these mirrors from an awesome supramania member...

Bought a set of white 2.5 trim on ebay all the way from japan

It was time to remove the rust. I got a front fender from the junk yard. bondo'd up

Then i painted her black primer only ( looking back at this, i just shake my head)

I got my 18' x 9.5 ADR's with tires for 400$ from a co worker. The busted taillight has been replaced.

ONE WEEK AFTER i finished restoring the body and painting her some asshole hit me while i was parked at my jobs parking lot. They hit my rear driver side fender, you can clearly see it in these pics

So now this is what i have been up to these past couple of weeks....

I fixed the dent. I popped it out as much as i could from the inside and i bondo'd it up then primered it up.

I got tokico blues and D2 lowering springs. I know the D2's aren't used a lot but i dont have a problem trying them out. They lower 2 inches in the front and 1.6 in the back.

I just got done installing them today 7/8. Boy did i sweat a lot..

I almost forgot.. i also got one set of 20mm hubcentric spacers.I got one of them in the front driver side and the other on the back driver side. I wanted to see what the front and back would look like with 20's. I think the front is perfect with 20's and i think i will get a bit bigger for the back maybe 25mm.

They don't even come back up anymore

20mm spacer on 18x 9.5 with a little under 2 inch drop. There still a bit stiff

I can still fit a big can of orange cleaner. i expect it to drop a bit more maybe 2 centimeters.

This is the back with 20mm spacer before drop

This is the rear driver side dropped

The green lantern don't got shit on me and my supra ring!!!

So right now im prepping her for a glossy black paint. i will do one more coat of primer then base then some clears. I will be painting the calipers yellow. Any other suggestions for caliper color?? I will be ordering a set of maybe 25mm spacers. And that is all for now. I will be swapping out the engine and tranny later :naughty:

Right now i am in the process of buying a fuel pressure damper from a forum member. I also need a fan shroud but 100$ seems too much for me and thats all i can find, I also need the black piece that holds closed and opens the gas door. Someone broke mine with a screwdriver when i was in high school. They poured sugar in my tank but that story is for another day. Right now i hold it closed with a magnet :nono:. If anybody has that piece plz help me . Anybody got an extra fan shroud they are willing to sell me?
Well thanks for making it this far. I will be updating the paint job. - Berto

update: 6/27/11 .. i got the damper and the piece for the fuel door from forum members just need the fan shroud now

 

[berto22]

I painted my calipers. I used G2 yellow epoxy paint. It looks amazing.

My cleaned up caliper..

and wala!!!

it looks nice and glossy, feels solid. i am very satisfied. I had plenty of paint left over too. kinda surprised at that. what do u guys think?

 

[SupraDreamPDR]

Nice progress. I like the fact that you are tackling most of the project on with your own two hands. Good luck.

 

[berto22]

thank you sir, it feels good hearing that from a supra owner. There is one small detailing part that i will install last. but that will be a surprise. it has to be custom made, but its expensive so it might not be installed for a while.

 

[berto22]

its so funny that i log into supramania today and i see an ad for R1concepts rotors. I just received mine today in the mail and they sent me the wrong ones. The front ones are correct but they sent me all black rears. Its so fuxing annoying. :: angry ::

something wrong here?

Other than that they are good...

 

[berto22]

boy am i glad nobody called me an idiot yet! i emailed R1 and they told me the black was going to come off after i broke them in. oh god i am retarted

 

[manofanhour]

Dont worry man, the first set of rotors I bought the same thing happened... I was pissed, but as my orig ones were toast had to use them anyway.. the next time I looked at them they looked great.

One of those things that everyone knows, but no one will tell you, or admit that they did it as well. If even only for a minute or two.

 

[JZASeventy]

Nice work, Whats the original offset on your wheels by the way?

 

[Supra NA-T]

looks real good, didn't know that the black on the R1's rubbed off when you break them in. Hmmmm

 

[berto22]

hey not sure but ill take a look when i get my next spacers later this week

---------- Post added at 04:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 PM ----------

here are some pics of the rotors installed

And here is my paint and clear! i went to carquest and they wanted 900$ for everything. yes, 900$ ppg dbc 9700 (black) was 400$ clear was 234$ the reducer and hardener i think were 70 and 130$
But since im really awesome i found it all online i spent 250$ for everyhing :icon_surp

I just gotta find the tech sheets now. so i will be finishing up some body work and hopefully i will get it done this week

 

[limequat]

I don't love the yellow, but it all looks like quality work. Thumbs up for bringing one back

 

[berto22]

ok guys the paint job is DONE!!!!!!! i love it. my bitch is sexy

BAM!

here is the amazing ppg dbc black. when i opened the can it was the blackest thing i have ever seen in my life and that is not an exaggeration.

laid the primer down and wet sanded it

then put on 2 coats of base

then clear

now i ended up having to do this twice! the day i painted there was a NASTY hail storm here in chicago. the power went out in my garage when i was clear coating and i couldnt go outside to turn the breaker switch because i would have gotten knocked out by the baseball size hail. and it was so bad in my garage with the fumes from the paint and clear in the air( yes i had a mask on, not a good one though) i had to stand by the door to get some air. while i was doing this i guess the storm was pushing garbage into my garage. when the storm died i went to the basement swithed the breaker to the garage when i came back to the garage my clear coat was ruined there was leaves and shit all over it . SO.... i had to do it allllllll over again. i sanded the clear coat off put on more coats of base and clear coated again( this time i had a full painting suit and a much better mask) this time it came out perfect.

Now the very last thing is i gotta wet sand the clear coat and polish it. and yes it looks dull on some spots but dont panic forum. it will all be evenly glossy after the sanding and polish.

the second time around i did have clear coat runs on both of my mirrors. thankfully it was only the mirrors that will be an easy retouch up. also i accidentally rubbed up against the driver door while the clear was wet so there is a small build up of clear. but im pretty sure with the wet sand and polishing it will be alright. ill be letting the clear sit in the sun for a couple of days then ill be doing this. thats pretty much it for the paint.

now the new struts and springs i had put in.. the D2 lowering springs and tokico blues..

the springs suck. plain and simple. the ride is very comfortable but its bouncy on bumps. i love the new height but i can definitely live with the the bounciness till the day i install coilovers.

last but not least .. my r1 concepts rotors

these things are awesome. i worked on the car for about two months so its funny but i cant really remember what the old rotors felt like now. but i feel like i have better stopping power. i dont know if thats just me getting hyped up or what. they look great though. they came with instructions on how to properly break them in, i haven't done that yet. it says to go 200 mph and slam on the breaks to a complete stop.

ahh what else ok the ebay hub centric spacers. they are great. no vibration nada. and my wheels are dirty i gotta polish the lips too. so i guess thats it for now. ill be posting pics up after the polish.

---------- Post added at 10:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:11 AM ----------

ahh almost forgot since there is always an asshole that wants to throw in his jabs and uppercuts ill put this one out there... i used a 1.5 hp 3 gallon air compressor. man it hurts just typing that. i tried renting one but i just couldn't find one. had to borrow this one from a friend. but i managed

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 AM ----------

almost forgot again so in this one day that i have had my car out again i stopped at gas stations for various reasons and i kid you not every time suped up civics flocked over to me and pulled up into the pump next to me. just to look. they didnt say anything. they just looked. i think they were intimidated by the combination of my girlfriend and supra, it must have been to much beauty for them. it felt great. man my hard work paid off.

---------- Post added at 10:31 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------

oh and at night when i pulled up to the gas station i was waiting in line to pay and the cashier had to call me to get my attention because i was staring at my car, i was amazed at how it looked under the pump lights and how good it looks lowered

 

[berto22]

i'd like to here any questions/comments

 

[berto22]

man no comments? u guys suck.

 

[Dani87x]

This might be a late reply but DAMN! That Supra looks beautiful. Great job!

 

[berto22]

Thanks really appreciate that!!! now almost a year later i give you these bad boys!!!! just got them yesterday!!!

 

[berto22]

they are 19' staggered. 9x5 back 8x5 front. the tires are stretched

 

[berto22]

Oh and two weeks ago i put in godspeed coilovers. It is an amazing ride now...

just having some fun here

and i replaced the leather on the arm rest cover and brake boot

 

[berto22]

the wheels are rohana RL06. Is anybody interested in my tokico blues and s2 lowering springs. they work fine the springs suck they are bouncy but pop em in and your car is lowered ill let them go on the cheap... so later this week ill be installing goodridge stainless steel brake lines and the ST sway bars with the beech performance end links

 

[mk3_7m]

ahhh beautiful .