Long time no update. This Supra is a great car and deserves lots of attention. It's only fair that the other projects that started before it are finished first. The 1989 Supra got all the glory in the last few months, but is now running and driving. The spotlight is shifting towards the MKIV.
OEM hood prop, clip, and grommet installed.
New OEM TT fan shroud. The bolt holes on the Fluidyne radiator don't line up very well for the A/C fan to be mounted properly, so that had to come out. It will go back on at a later date when the A/C is back to operable condition.
Blitz BOV removed and replaced with factory BOV and factory charge pipe. This thing is just too silly and loud for driving on the street. Popo magnet.
Removed the old plugs and installed a new set of NGK Iridium 2667 BKR7EIX. All misfire issues through the power band are gone. Also tightened down the valve covers also since there was some oil seepage. Here are the old plugs... pretty nasty.
Toyotas
Last time getting the headlights polished out, using Meguiar's compound.
There is now Clear-Bra on the headlights to prevent further oxidation. It is holding up very well, no yellowing at all since this was done (going on 6 months)
The stock radio was cool at first, but I've gotten over it aleady. The lack of iPod connectivity is inconvenient. The selection of music on the radio sucks most of the time, and I don't like wearing out the buttons changing presets constantly. Not even considering CD's.
Surprise, an Alpine CDA-9884. This is the same model radio in every vehicle I own. It is a great unit and usually cheap. I happened to get this one for an ultra cheap $30 shipped on eBay. It was $20 for a used iPod nano to store my music.
I got pulled over and received a ticket for no front plate. The car didn't come with one, so there was no option other than ordering new plates. As far as the combination goes, 2JZ TT was available. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that now that it's on the car (it's pretty obvious, I could get a captain obvious plate frame). The black 1960's legacy plate idea is cool, but I'm second guessing if it's a good fit. This car is pretty ugly anyway, the chrome wheels don't help.
New plate bracket, complete with hardware...
Had to remove the whole front bumper to put this on.
While the headlights were off, I used some weatherstrip adhesive on the headlight rubber trim. There's some white overspray on them from previous owner, but that can be cleaned... worst case painted over with black paint. The edges of the rubber trim are not flopping around in the wind or sticking out.
Functionality! My sports car has a TABLE!
The opposite of the first day I owned this car, now it's jump starting the green 99 4Runner. The 99's battery had a cell go bad.
Time for a new windshield. The old one was cracked in a lot of places. The rear view mirror was broken off the windshield badly enough to rip a whole chunk of glass out, with cracks up and down the whole left side.
The dash has been in the sun most of its life, I use a windshield cover every day and I haven't seen anything get worse in the last year I've owned it. It's not all that bad, I could probably color in the foam showing on the edge of the defroster vents.
Rear view mirror mount. It took me a while to chip the old glass and glue off. I never liked mirrors that glued to the windshield...
Window adhesive
Some cowl damage. That needs to come off, along with those wiper arms, for a bath in SEM trim black. Brand new Rain X Latitude wiper blades have been installed front and rear.
When you install windshields for a living!
The mirror has a big scratch across it, which sucks, but I can easily replace it whenever I find another one. Probably gonna get a new one from the dealer, along with the small black trim along the base. One torx screw is all it takes to remove.
One thing that was really annoying was the front end light set up... whoever did this whole light swap thing did a terrible job finding the right sockets to use. The left side front signal was a small socket bulb that fit 194 and 921 bulbs.
921 bulb managed to keep the flasher from blinking fast, but a 194 was too small and would trigger fast blink. The bulb socket did not fit in the housing of the signal at all, unless jammed.
The right side front signal used a proper size socket that actually did fit into the signal housing. That side had a 7440 bulb, much larger than a 194 or 921.
Correct size shown on the left, incorrect shown on the right.
Well, I've got a parts 4Runner sitting around with perfectly good front signal sockets. They happen to use 7440s, just like the Supra. A quick test and they fit great into the Supra housings. They also use a plug on the back of the socket for easy removal. BONUS, since I had no plug at all! So both sides of the Supra now have 4Runner signal sockets/pigtails.
Next, the front markers need sockets. Maybe the 4Runner can donate some sockets there, too.
4Runner style on left, Removed from Supra on right.
A few minutes and a few connectors. The headlights pop out really easy and give you full access to the back of the signal housings. Much easier to crimp wires in that space than squeezing in below the light. The new turn signal wires are just the right length to reach the signal comfortably, not absurdly long like whatever genius wired in the wrong socket.
OEM hood prop, clip, and grommet installed.
New OEM TT fan shroud. The bolt holes on the Fluidyne radiator don't line up very well for the A/C fan to be mounted properly, so that had to come out. It will go back on at a later date when the A/C is back to operable condition.
Blitz BOV removed and replaced with factory BOV and factory charge pipe. This thing is just too silly and loud for driving on the street. Popo magnet.
Removed the old plugs and installed a new set of NGK Iridium 2667 BKR7EIX. All misfire issues through the power band are gone. Also tightened down the valve covers also since there was some oil seepage. Here are the old plugs... pretty nasty.
Toyotas
Last time getting the headlights polished out, using Meguiar's compound.
There is now Clear-Bra on the headlights to prevent further oxidation. It is holding up very well, no yellowing at all since this was done (going on 6 months)
The stock radio was cool at first, but I've gotten over it aleady. The lack of iPod connectivity is inconvenient. The selection of music on the radio sucks most of the time, and I don't like wearing out the buttons changing presets constantly. Not even considering CD's.
Surprise, an Alpine CDA-9884. This is the same model radio in every vehicle I own. It is a great unit and usually cheap. I happened to get this one for an ultra cheap $30 shipped on eBay. It was $20 for a used iPod nano to store my music.
I got pulled over and received a ticket for no front plate. The car didn't come with one, so there was no option other than ordering new plates. As far as the combination goes, 2JZ TT was available. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that now that it's on the car (it's pretty obvious, I could get a captain obvious plate frame). The black 1960's legacy plate idea is cool, but I'm second guessing if it's a good fit. This car is pretty ugly anyway, the chrome wheels don't help.
New plate bracket, complete with hardware...
Had to remove the whole front bumper to put this on.
While the headlights were off, I used some weatherstrip adhesive on the headlight rubber trim. There's some white overspray on them from previous owner, but that can be cleaned... worst case painted over with black paint. The edges of the rubber trim are not flopping around in the wind or sticking out.
Functionality! My sports car has a TABLE!
The opposite of the first day I owned this car, now it's jump starting the green 99 4Runner. The 99's battery had a cell go bad.
Time for a new windshield. The old one was cracked in a lot of places. The rear view mirror was broken off the windshield badly enough to rip a whole chunk of glass out, with cracks up and down the whole left side.
The dash has been in the sun most of its life, I use a windshield cover every day and I haven't seen anything get worse in the last year I've owned it. It's not all that bad, I could probably color in the foam showing on the edge of the defroster vents.
Rear view mirror mount. It took me a while to chip the old glass and glue off. I never liked mirrors that glued to the windshield...
Window adhesive
Some cowl damage. That needs to come off, along with those wiper arms, for a bath in SEM trim black. Brand new Rain X Latitude wiper blades have been installed front and rear.
When you install windshields for a living!
The mirror has a big scratch across it, which sucks, but I can easily replace it whenever I find another one. Probably gonna get a new one from the dealer, along with the small black trim along the base. One torx screw is all it takes to remove.
One thing that was really annoying was the front end light set up... whoever did this whole light swap thing did a terrible job finding the right sockets to use. The left side front signal was a small socket bulb that fit 194 and 921 bulbs.
921 bulb managed to keep the flasher from blinking fast, but a 194 was too small and would trigger fast blink. The bulb socket did not fit in the housing of the signal at all, unless jammed.
The right side front signal used a proper size socket that actually did fit into the signal housing. That side had a 7440 bulb, much larger than a 194 or 921.
Correct size shown on the left, incorrect shown on the right.
Well, I've got a parts 4Runner sitting around with perfectly good front signal sockets. They happen to use 7440s, just like the Supra. A quick test and they fit great into the Supra housings. They also use a plug on the back of the socket for easy removal. BONUS, since I had no plug at all! So both sides of the Supra now have 4Runner signal sockets/pigtails.
Next, the front markers need sockets. Maybe the 4Runner can donate some sockets there, too.
4Runner style on left, Removed from Supra on right.
A few minutes and a few connectors. The headlights pop out really easy and give you full access to the back of the signal housings. Much easier to crimp wires in that space than squeezing in below the light. The new turn signal wires are just the right length to reach the signal comfortably, not absurdly long like whatever genius wired in the wrong socket.