jagman

Radiator is back in , plenty still to do . Looking back …..if anyone thinks a total respray is easy …..think again ,it’s a massive amount of work ! I did mine as I had a small hole on one sill and a tiny amount of bubbling on the roof - both could have been sorted in a couple of days ! But there could have been more ……there wasn’t ! would I do it again ? no , use any and all inspection means ,bore scopes and access all areas - way way easier and cheaper ! Then add corrosion inhibitor . just getting new seals ,clips ,rubbers ,bolts , bungs ,and so on is a nightmare .

I worked in Basel ,for a time and drove my soarer there about 20 times - you need to carry a warning triangle , spare bulb box , dayglo tabard or jacket , on entering the country you need a vignette to use any main roads , around £40 as I remember - they have a lane you pull into as you cross the border to buy one . They also drive with headlights on at all times . The cops there appear to have nothing to do and will pull you over in a heartbeat !!! .most of the shell garages sell 100 octane fuel - bonus . I never had any issues over the 1000s of miles , and the cameras that flashed me in France ,did not result in any tickets !!! you seldom see any old cars there ,except Sundays , everyone seems to have a new car !!! Road surfaces are great compared to U.K. Lots of petrol stations have portable tyre chargers - they recharge on their hooks - you just take it to your car .

Rad ready to fit , and engine bay clean up starts ! It’s going take some time !

More interior going back in , painted some dash panels and plastics - a bit of a process , use a special plastic “etch “ primer then ,primer , then top coat ,then acrylic clearcoat , there are time limits involved between coats . Fitted new flex brake hoses . Removed old rad and checked the coolant . After such a long time the coolant was mint !! Toyota long life really is !!! more wiring to do

Amayama , show the breakdown of the 220 diff with part numbers - not U.K. but the bearings are all under $28 each ,seals also cheap and even retainers and all new bolts are cheap ,even with delivery and duty and a delay for delivery - much cheaper than the US . U.K. bearing prices have rocketed and even then they might be on back order ,multiples of the amayama prices !! - looks like the 220 diff is the US export manual trans diff - for searching purposes on amayama .

https://www.grannasracing.com/products/toyota-oem-220mm-big-6-speed-rear-end-lsd-differential-rebuild-kit?_pos=1&_sid=9fd24ca9d&_ss=r They all look to be toyota parts so maybe via dealer ? Or timken suppliers

Recently popped back in , still have the supra after all these years , and soon to be back on the road . I am now old enough to have owned over 40 Jaguars ,hence the name …and witnessed the total downfall of Jaguar ….the latest “exuberant modernism “ idea of Jaguar has left me bewildered!! The next generation are truly mental and they are in charge now . So one last effort to go loud and fast ,with the supra and then hang up my spanners. Soon we will all be driving milk floats …..

Slowly coming together again , lots of wiring in progress , fitting new head unit , removing the old greddy boost control display , ECU , and race logic RLTC , this leaves holes in the dash , so all getting filled and the dash then painted in body colour . The doors took a bit of time and patience …refitting all the seals and aligning and adjusting glass ,locks etc is quite a task ,getting it all spot on . Some delays waiting on little rubber items and clips and screws - each you have to get the part number and then wait on delivery . The chargecooler needs a radiator fitting and space is so limited up front ..so I’m looking at using underbody fuel coolers about 4 in series each about 18 inches long . They only sit 8 cm from the floor so can be hidden away but still may need a very small rad - testing will tell . This week clearcoat polishing - down to 3000 grit , should come up like a mirror - many hours Labour there !!!! The end is in sight ! I made a thermal blanket for the battery to keep it warm ,basically cut one from another car in half and sewed in together as the battery is half normal size ,it also has a flap over the battery top to prevent shorts - all worked out well as you wouldn’t know the battery is in the back and it sits solid just behind the rear seat

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314772948930?chn=ps&_ul=GB&mkevt=1&mkcid=28&google_free_listing_action=view_item there is a 50amp two pin connector male and female - with soldered pins so no crimp tools needed .

https://www.lasaero.com/products/article/W02H1HRM5

First the cable : use quality cable , I prefer aircraft cable due to the specs - very high temp ratings , very good insulation (good for 600 volts) flexible and impervious to just about any fluid . I will post a link to supplier but around £2-3 a meter . size 20 = 14 amps size 18 =18 amps size 16 = 21 amps ,size 14 = 31 amps and size 12 = 43 amps normal car cable ie Halfords cable is crap , Chinese cheap insulation . the original setup switched voltage 9 to 12 volts on boost . This was so at low power (idle) return to tank fuel was reduced - pressured fuel is heated and it reduced heat in the fuel tank if in traffic . Bear this in mind if using large injectors and high flow pumps . the diagram still works for any relay fitting and retains the shut off with engine not running as crash protection and the delay for a couple of seconds to prime the system for next start after switch off . just use a better connector ,to replace the OEM one (higher rated.)

Fitted the front indicator lights and rear fog/brake /rev light

Battery distribution block fitted to front battery tray

Maybe try one of the small dehumidifiers (1 litre , for a bedroom sized room ) circa £35 and 40 watts - ) running 24 /7 around £1.50 a week - you can check to see how much water is collected daily and when during the day /night to use a timer ? The quantity of water per day will now be visible and any changes to the garage ventilation or silica bags etc show both on the hydrometer and in the water jug

Wind Screens are now in with new seals , most of the underside and arches are all back together and brakes all back in (waiting on new hel hoses ) one piston on each front is sticky so I will have reseal them . Battery is in and wires half in (waiting on terminal crimpers to arrive and a distribution block . Rear seat carpet and boot carpet dyed black (floor carpet next week ) some engine covers and bits removed for colour coding ,rad fan surround to be coded when I replace the rad next week - more trim to fit inside next week and hopefully side windows and doors completed (awaiting some rubbers ) - got some led indicators (73mm) for the front ,different size from stock ,added resistors and waiting on bayonet connectors so they are plug and play to originals and flash properly badges all arrived but have to wait until paint has been machine polished and it’s now hard as nails due to the time gap ! . Painted all the wiper arms and new blades fitted

Battery arrived - got this one as it is very close to the size I need for the boot instal (I have the subwoofer in the rear and it fits width wise and can be laid flat - only 10 cm height ) 1100 amps (5sec) 500 cca amps despite its size still 45 AH . handy having the space upfront for WI tank /pump and power at the rear for charge cooler pump /fuel pumps and tein EDFC - no spare wheel so space in the wheel well . fitting and wiring tomorrow- windscreen and rear screens in today . managed to find a rear arch liner (mission impossible ) fronts are easy to get - fabricating my own LH rear liner

Boot carpet has the matching edging in leather but is the wrong previous colour for my car - so next up is to dye it in black to match my interior ie all cream and black . But I have also found a boot mat to go over the original in cream leatherette . So I will have two boot mats . Rear fog light arrived to go in the trial rear lower , it also has reversing lights ,brake light and indicators that strobe . I got it because it’s well suited to the angle the rear bumper lower drops below the car , and of course you need a fog light for MOT , I don’t like using a stock light as a fog and prefer a separate light

Started on the front today , cleaning and checking - all good , fitted new shock , removed the callipers for overhaul and painting - new arch liners arrived awaiting clipnuts . Closed up the gap on the side skirt lower edge

Side skirts are a weird fit , externally they are fine , but they are lower than the floor pan by about 1 1/2 inches or so and leave a weird gap . They have a rectangular cut out front and rear , for access to the jacking points . Even weirder as no jacks have rectangular pads , and a jack has to clear the skirt lower edge . so I have materials to close the gap and seal it , there is a nice factory straight edge seam weld to follow and then bond in 4 rubber jack pad adaptors permanently to the floor ,hopefully this should stop the knob ends at tyre places who seem to love buckling factory seams by jacking on them !! Pics when done !

Still fitting interior /wiring , moving to the front suspension/brakes ,and engine bay clean up , swapped headlining over (pic show mirror fit ) ,fitted some bonnet dampers and removed the strut . I need to relocate the oil cooler due to new front , fitted the mesh . Awaiting arrival of new arch liners and bits and bobs - new front /rear window seal ordered and window guy lined up to fit and seal windows - maybe Wednesday . So far no defects with the front suspension/steering at all , all bushes arms ,bearings etc good - so shocks and whifbitz ARB to fit on Monday .- zero rust !!!!

Battery relocation : If relocating the battery to the boot area ,you should also extend the sense cable : The alternator uses a sense (S) wire ,this wire comes from the alternator to the bottom of the fuse block and joins where the main alternator output connects . This is about 1 foot from the battery . As the name implies the sense cable “senses” the voltage close to the battery and it is used to control the voltage regulator in the alternator . The heavy duty cable from alternator to fuse block (near battery ) carries all the charge current and any voltage drop on this cable is sensed and the regulator increases the output , ie if the alternator put out 14volts at the alternator and this dropped to 13.9 at the fuse block (battery) the regulator senses this and ups it’s output back to 14 v . If you move the battery to the boot and add 3 meters of heavy duty cable and add any connections (each can drop volts) , the sense cable cannot sense this ….so you should also extend the sense wire with the new heavy duty cable to the rear as close as possible to the battery . Now any extra voltage drop due to the long heavy duty cable is again sensed and compensated for .

Clockspring /spiral cable : there are a few variations across Toyota/Lexus , each having slightly different connectors and wires . They are interchangeable to a point , most of them fit pretty much any steering wheel at the wheel end and relatively easy to fit at the column end . The main differences are the connectors - squib/s for airbag the connector at the wheel end and the outlet column end - this is due to the various steering wheel functions - cruise control are pretty much all 2 wires earth and ccs signal , the audio are either two wire or 3 wire , earth and vol/seek (au1) and mode (au2) , the tel wires are not really needed so spare (maybe used for flappy paddles . Horn is always an earth . The squib connector is usually a 4 pin separate connector PN 90980-121552 yellow colour - I am not using squibs as my wheel has a dummy airbag . But this connector allows 4 available wires . The main connector is usually a 12 way PN 90980-12552 ,some later cars have steering sensor inputs so more wires (not needed on supra ) the supra does not have the column wiring in enough wires - so you can use the 2 squib wires (if no airbag ) and cruise wires /horn with the existing clockspring . Some later cars have nav and rear cameras hence the extra pins in connectors . Connectors are around £2 so you can allocate pins to wires to suit your steering wheel and it’s functions and add cables to the column side to suit - it’s a minefield with so many different factory options and no plug and play option . But it is doable .some supra don’t have cruise but I think the connector is the same but no pins or wires - the later supra has extra for paddles I think - it’s not that hard to reach over and press the radio volume , for sure an easier solution ! But when you have buttons the urge to press them is strong !

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/automotive-connectors/7201036?cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-CSS_UK_EN_ePMax_Prio2-_--_-7201036&matchtype=&&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADkeWNPPaitgloVr40Tn5O_YTRmJD&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwY2f7MLHiQMV2JtQBh2cFTEgEAQYBCABEgL36PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds this is the 12 pin female connector for the column side of the clockspring - some clock springs have 16 pin or 10 pin . So you have to cut off the original and put the pins in here plus the new cables along the column . The other side (steering wheel side ) is the same connector but the orientation sliders are opposite , so cut them off with a blade and add however many wires you need - flappy paddles audio cruise etc - pic is the plug you need for the head unit - cut off the connector and use two of the wires , connect to the two audio wires from steering wheel controls

I have some carbon mirrors to fit and match the rest of the interior ,basically cream leather / carbon . They are no supra specific carbon mirrors so I’m using these , pivot distance the same and very close to OEM shape . Original vs retrim vs carbon . I have to swap the leather on the roof liner as it’s lifted a small amount and the biscuit is a bit floppy - so a swap onto my original grey liner which is mint . If the mirrors don’t fit exactly or there is an issue , I can reshape the liner before recovering . But I think they will be OK as is - I will update later

The stock clockspring is limited , depending on what you want to add or lose . If you can lose the airbag then the 2 wires can be used for audio control - the loom runs down to the console by the hand brake - audio control only needs 2 wires - splice in a 3.5 jack plug and it goes into the head unit . If you want more , flappy paddles etc then you need a later clockspring with 12 pins plus 4 airbag pins - you need to get an out put connector and add wires along the column ( or a column loom from a breaker with a 12 pin connnector . And you need the wheel side connector 12 pin . Supra is a single shot airbag and later Toyotas are a twin shot airbag - you can just use a single shot or fire both