What little things did you to do make your car feel new again?

Emeraldage

New Member
Oct 13, 2011
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Ohio
I'm wondering what kinds of things you guys have done to make your car feel nice new whatever again? I have just done things such as better sound insulation, floor matts, deep scrubs and clean ups. Next I'm looking to remove that annoying mirror wind noise and somehow make my door shutting sound nice again, everything rattles and makes noise inside of the door. My brother's new veloster sounds so nice to shut the door lol. Just these little things.
 

757_supra

Ich bin das boost!
Mar 3, 2012
47
0
0
US
I'm thinking new stock suspension bushings and door seals, along with new tires as soon as possible. I've always wondered about the noisy door mechanism....
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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Arizona
www.supramania.com
I could have written the second half of your post op. I'm in the same boat with my 335k mile chassis.

I fixed the mirror wind noise about 60% by pinching the vertical slot the window rests in. I can post a quick diy if you (or others) would like.

Door rattles for me are a few things:
-Mirror mounting to small triangle in door
-window guide pieces out of alignment or shrunk felt pads
-window regulators worn
-mirror reflector loose in its mounting within the mirror housing

Maybe more, but I know those are contributing factors for me.

My refresh plans include:
-recovering seats(or new seats), door panels, basically the entire interior, steering wheel, etc
-Fresh non-track suspension(I say non track because a hard suspension won't help feel new as much as a well damped street oriented suspension)
-hatch seals, bump stops
-new mirrors
-all new exterior window trim
-new trans mount
-new paint job

My biggest refresh bang for buck was new shift and ebrake boots from empera on here. I'd recommend those along with the console cover if yours is worn.

Sent from my Moto X.
 

Rafagazos

New Member
Mar 9, 2011
18
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Virginia
Paint job made such a difference for me going from pearl white to super white is a move i don't regret. Brand new tires with alignment made the car feel so much smoother.

Passenger door rattle and the annoying window noise on highway are on my list too.
 

Silver MK3

New Member
Jan 24, 2011
1,517
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Madison, AL
Some small things I've done:

Factory Replacement:
Hood/hatch struts
Hatch bump stops
Steering knuckle stops (got rid of the annoying creaking noise when turning at full lock)
New wiper blades
New inner mirror triangle cap things

Aftermarket Stuff:
Redline Leather shift boot, e-brake boot, and center console cover (amazing quality, real leather, and they have a color that perfectly matches the Burgundy interior)
TRD shift knob
Bluetooth touchscreen stereo and 6.5" speaker pods from KevinM
Projector headlights
Custom exhaust (so nice not to have a rattly rusting stock exhaust anymore)
Poly sway bar bushings
BMW cupholders retrofitted in center console (I use this literally every time I am in my car, even if I don't have a drink with me I always put my phone in one of them)
Window tint (I can't stand untinted cars, I feel like I'm in a fish bowl)
Mat-Loc floor mat clips (keeps the mat from bunching up under the pedals, since our cars don't have clips like new cars)

I want to get a set of OEM appearing floor mats here sometime soon and get my bumpers resprayed as they are a little faded. The rest of the car still has original paint in pretty good condition.
 

Atlas

You call this a sandwich?
Aug 22, 2012
102
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Clovis CA
Interior touches definitely make the car feel newer. My favorite addition is the Karo-esque floor mats. My car never came with floor mats, these tie the interior together nicely.

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suprajztwenty

Member
Nov 5, 2009
369
0
16
corinth tx
led gauge/climate control was a nice distraction from my cracked up dash cover.

suprarx7nut, please post mirror wind noise fix. driving me crazy since day 1.

silver mk3 got all my other ideas i think
 

7Matt-GE

Member
Nov 18, 2009
407
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Becker, Minnesota
i added a new shift knob, and in the next two weeks she's getting tie-rods!! Also, hooked up the boost gauge and organized my wire mess in my engine bay.
 

Doat

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
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36
Houston, TX
I want to do the same I hear the wind noise from the driver side mirror and it annoys me please post the DIY to fix that, I replaced my hatch bump stops and weather stripping yet it still squeaks, the passenger window rattles when it's at a certain height both windows rattle actually at certain heights, my steering column rattles because I broke the plastic threads for the screws looking for a good replacement, and I would like to get new floor mats but hard to find some that look OEM.
 
Oct 11, 2005
3,816
16
38
Thousand Oaks, CA
I found my loose mirror was actually broken internally at the mount. If someone bangs into your mirror walking by your car in a parking lot, it will very likely break since there is no spring loaded breakaway in them.
 

Silver MK3

New Member
Jan 24, 2011
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Madison, AL
3p141592654;2006853 said:
I found my loose mirror was actually broken internally at the mount. If someone bangs into your mirror walking by your car in a parking lot, it will very likely break since there is no spring loaded breakaway in them.

Is this mount attached to the body colored part of the mirror or is it possible to replace it without replacing the body of the mirror? My drivers side mirror shakes a little at higher speeds and does sometimes too if I have the radio turned up. I know I have a hairline crack in the mirror where someone bumped into it before most likely so this mount may be my problem as well.
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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Arizona
www.supramania.com
OP: Another big thing I did was replace the shift knob with the TRD one. I'd highly recommend that. $50-75 well spent.

Steering stop caps are also a great replacement if yours are broken (many mk3's are). When I bought them a few years back they were maybe $10 for both from the dealer and install is tool-less - it doesn't even require a jack.

3p141592654;2006853 said:
I found my loose mirror was actually broken internally at the mount. If someone bangs into your mirror walking by your car in a parking lot, it will very likely break since there is no spring loaded breakaway in them.

I haven't taken mine off, but this is my guess for both my mirrors. :( I did check the mounting screws from the interior side and they were plenty tight, but the whole mirror still wobbles.
 
Oct 11, 2005
3,816
16
38
Thousand Oaks, CA
Silver MK3;2006894 said:
Is this mount attached to the body colored part of the mirror or is it possible to replace it without replacing the body of the mirror? My drivers side mirror shakes a little at higher speeds and does sometimes too if I have the radio turned up. I know I have a hairline crack in the mirror where someone bumped into it before most likely so this mount may be my problem as well.

For mine I repaired it with epoxy, but I hit it again some time after the repair walking by the car and now it is loose again. :-(
 

Emeraldage

New Member
Oct 13, 2011
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Ohio
About that mirror fix I"m not sure if I fixed it or not, I can't really hear it over my car or radio unless it's windy, but I haven't heard it yet since I just took a heat gun to that triangle piece that holds the window and squeezing it with pliers yet. I still need to figure out where I should go with my supra. After doing the engine swap so far everything is pretty good, yesterday broke an oil like from the filter to cooler though, glad it was that and not the mount under the turbo. My paint is really bad, my door panel is ripped and both shifter and ebrake boots are shot. My a/c doesn't work (0 Pressure). I have exhaust drone, was working on a branch resonator but it wouldn't fit under the supra since it needs to be 2.9 feet. Recently I just replaced all of the clutch hyrdolic system and the clutch is like too easy to use now lol! I also am hitting fuel cut when I get a boost spike at like 3300rpm or so but then it'll keep pulling full throttle (I think the wastegate is old and kind of sticking closed so I hit a bit of s pike before it opens up and I'm at like 8-11psi.. I have a cheap gauge so I don't know).

I don't have any money to do anything big on my car currently until my dad sells a saturn I invested in him in. Which will get me at least 500$. Before hand we thought about using the profits to get my car a paint job. But I also kind of want to go the route of 550s/lex and a neo. Maybe a maftpro if I'm crazy, I can do wiring but I figured a neo would be a good start to learning tuning. Plans are to see what I can push out of a 57 trim ct26. Still on a w58 trans anyway.

Does a new shifter bushing really help that much? When I put new redline mt90 in I didn't change it. I was thinking about a TRD shift knob too, I want a ball grip like the TRD.
 

Doat

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
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Houston, TX
I have the TRD shift knob and love it and yes get a shifter bushing and socket from Marlin Crawler you will love it.
 

suprarx7nut

YotaMD.com author
Nov 10, 2006
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Arizona
www.supramania.com
My shifter was AWFUL before the new bushings. It just depends how yours are now. If you have any noticeable slop it will completely go away with the mc bushings. Good stuff.

Sent from my Moto X.
 

Doat

Active Member
Feb 6, 2012
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Houston, TX
My shifter used to be so sloppy it would pleasure any woman if they sat on it after the new shifter it would pleasure just most girls lol. Not a good analogy but either way just get the new MC socket and bushing lol.
 

Emeraldage

New Member
Oct 13, 2011
322
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Ohio
Talking about this bushing correct? http://www.driftmotion.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=DM343&CartID=2. Assuming the shifters are the same between r154 and w58 right? Cheapest shipping DM offers me is 8$ for the socket sleeve and the bushing lol. Know the part number for the MC bushing? Can't find it on their site.

Did some looking up the shifter sockets are the same but the bushings are different. The part for the w58 is MC-10076 which I cannot find anywhere. Guess I'll have to give MC a call.
 
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