rider

I have searched but can't find this info anywhere. I recently purchased a job lot of throw away stock 16" wheels and note they are mixed 7J and 8J wheels. I have enough 8j's to make a set or could go 2 and 2. Can someone confirm if the original fitment came with staggered wheels, 7J front and 8J rears? It would make sense but don't want to get to the expense of refurbing 2 of each wheel size if that isn't factory correct. As for tyre sizes these would suit 205/50 and 225/45 respectively, similarly were these the original tyre sizes?

I've never seen claims for 700bhp out of a GT28 before. Didn't think it went to that kind of power. Maybe those who know this turbo inside out can confirm if 700bhp is possible. The seller is listed as Irish so you'd be dealing in Euros. I'd stick to someone selling a car off here if you want to go big bhp. At least then there is likely to be a history behind the build and the car and importantly, the seller to.

In case anyone is needing to stock up on the slippy stuff, Opie have a 15% 'EASTER' discount code running till the end of the month.

The switching on and off would reset the traction control so that's all it probably needed.

If your system was stood at 0psi you definitely have a leak somewhere. You can add a dye to the low pressure port inlet and use a uv lamp to see if you can track down the leak. If you are fortunate it'll be from a union that just needs tightening or an new sealing olive fitted. If you are unlucky it'll be the condenser or the evaporator. It's much more likely to be a holed condenser as that is at the front and liable to get road debris thrown at it. You may have a small leak or you could have a big leak. I had a BMW that I could top up twice a year and maintain a leaky system. My Supra with a holed condenser would only run on charge for a few days so ended up costing almost £1,000 to get a garage replaced condenser supplied and fitted. There are also system sealers you can use but I'm no fan of those, figuring they are like the egg white in the radiator or sawdust in the axle kind of short term bodge. PS - Should add for anyone handling refrigerant for the first time it is a refrigerant for a reason. Contact with the liquid form can cause severe chill burns so goggles and gloves are a must.

All oils that carry the same API/SAE OEM specs can be mixed. The only potential issue comes with effects on seals of moving between base oils with diesters tending to swell materials more than mineral oils or PAO based oils. Its highly unlikely you'd ever have a problem but good practice is to top off with the same oil that is in the sump. Easy on a Supra as the engine takes 6 litres so long as you buy 5l at a time there will be 4l available for top up. Though, I've never even topped up my Supra once in 18 years.

Indicator bulbs

You'll probably find that your compressor isn't starting up because the low pressure cut off is activating. First thing you need to check is that you actually have refrigerant in your system. You can buy pressure gauges and snap on valve couplings off eBay for around £50 or get a garage that specialises in a/c work to test if for you. If you have under 15psi the compressor wont start up, the system should be stood at around 50 - 70psi dependent on the ambient temperature. If you find you are out of gas then you need to have a vacuum test to check for leaks. If you are down to around the cut off pressure it may just need a top up. They recon you should think of losing around 10% of the charge a year just through hoses even though they are barrier (plastic lined) hoses. You can buy R134a cylinders online or get a garage to do it all for you. If you are filling refrigerant yourself always fill off the gas rather than liquid valve (if you feed in liquid refrigerant its certainly quicker but you risk a hydraulic lock in the compressor) into the inlet suction side (the service port with the 'L' on the cap - low pressure) . You wont be able to fill up the system until the compressor kicks in as that will effectively suck in refrigerant from the gas cylinder but you will get above the cut off pressure, sufficient to get the compressor up and running. Once you get to 20psi with the compressor running you should see liquid in the sight glass by the radiator. When this runs clear liquid (no bubble stream) you'll be just about right on for the correct charge. You can weigh in the gas but you need vacuum equipment to do that properly to start off from zero. If you have no gas then it is probably a holed condenser that's your problem. Which is a bummer as the front of the car has to come off to get to that so it's not a quick fix. Best hope you are just running below the clutch cut off pressure. PS - Don't force run the compressor without a charge. They have a low pressure cut off for a reason. You don't want to risk sucking in humid air from outside of the system and the refrigerant carries soluble lubricant around the system and to the compressor. a/c systems have a low pressure cut off because without it, you run the risk of pulling a vacuum on the inlet side of the compressor on a low charge system. Regard it as a safety indicator that you need to top off your system rather than something has gone wrong.

I recall my first 6 cylinder car was purchased when I was 19. It was a 3.0S Capri. The quotes you have aren't bad. I'd definitely avoid any black box policies though as they do have instant cancellation clauses which will cramp your freedom on a TT Supra. Admiral were always my go to insurer when I was a youngster.

Engine flush was when I was in the oil formulating business is essentially a mix of white spirit and oil. Its important you don't rev an engine or go for a drive with the flush oil as its really thinned down by the white spirit. A couple of minutes on tick over will grab most of the removable varnish and grime. Its good practice to do an engine oil flush afterwards so your final fill will be undiluted engine oil. From memory, the formulation was 30% white spirit in base oil with some anti wear additive. If I was ever going to do a flush on my own car I'd probably go for 20% spirit to engine oil. It has to be said though, you should never use engine flush unless you have a problem with emulsion, varnish or sludge to get rid of. Flush oil, only if you must and use with extreme care!

I'm usually the first to say the cars are overpriced and this one is, but not by much. You just have to see how few 6 speed Supras are available to know that any seller is going to be looking for top price. Things that I don't like is the cloth seats and tacky body kit so it wouldn't be a car I'd ever consider. I just like boring stock though because it looks good and its where value, as in what its worth, will be maximised going forward. Ad says deposit taken so they must have got somewhere around that price, I'd rec it'll be a £17,500 sale with mats and a polish thrown in.

Esters are pretty much all water clear with some diesters having at most a very light brown tinge. The colour is predominantly from the additive package. The detergents are very dark brown and the overbased additive (carbonates to neutralise by products of combustion) are jet black. These are where the oil colouration comes from and the more additive added to the base oil then the darker the oil will be. Additive packages are supplied by many companies all to meet a specific engine maker or industry specification. So differences are probably arising when an oil company, Fuchs in this instance, switch between approved additive package suppliers.

Not sure I'd want to buy discs, shoes or pads from eBay. too many Chinese parts which may or may not be any good. These are cheap enough! http://www.ebcbrakeshop.co.uk/toyota-supra-30-twin-turbo-import-19932000-ebc-rear--standard-brake-discs-d782_p23563705.htm

There are as many against Waxoyl as there are fans of the stuff. Its rigidity is seen as its Achilles heel as it is prone to cracking and then trapping water under a lifting seal. I now prefer to spray tacky grease inhibitors over Waxoyl.

A lot of Supras will have had sill welding by now and rusty tailgates. Unsurprising when they are close to qualifying as vintage cars.

18 years here, you guys are all newbies. Still got the same body kit, the same paint, the same wheels, the same engine, the same transmission, the same interior. The petrol is fairly new.

Why risk £3k on a short engine for the sake of £200 on a critical part? I'd only ever fit genuine Toyota, you can get knock off balancers from eBay sellers for half the price though if you really want to go cheap and take the risk. Chris's price is good, I bought one in from a Toyota dealer the USA for less but that took over 2 weeks to deliver and I had shitty Parcelforce pratting around import duty payment before they would onward deliver which accounted for half the time to deliver.

Get quotes from Hegerty and Chaucer who are two of the main classics insurers that both have excellent customer service reviews. I have the three cars on a multi car classic policy with Hegerty and the Supra on a separate classic car policy with Chaucer, all on agreed value.

Its a 30 year rule so definitely doesn't apply to Mk4 Supras just yet but its worth noting for anyone thinking of importing an older cars as the lower rate of VAT and Duty can make many £000's difference.

You have got a few things out of order there. All taxes need to be paid before collection from a bonded warehouse. The freight forwarder should have filed the necessary HMRC forms for you. I imported a '65 Ford Mustang last year. http://www.mocgb.net/forums/showthread.php?70186-New-65-Fastback-Just-Imported/page2 If you go onto the Mustang forum the import section has lots of information on the process and how to conduct the V55 UK registration. Just make sure you select the date range on posts to a year to get a large list of posts to read. You do need lots of form filling C384 customs release Historic Vehicle request form (essential for lower VAT and Duty payment on vintage vehicle - soon enough will apply to Supra Mk4's) If the HMRC agree a historic class they will issue a C386 You don't need insurance to pick up the car as you won't be driving it unless on trade plates which carry their own insurance. Insurance is advisory though to cover damage and theft of the vehicle. Some insurers only give you 30 days to insure on the VIN before it has to be UK road registered. That can be a tough time limit since you have to get the car through its MOT then file a V55 with all the required docs and have DVLA issue a registration number. So check with your insurer if there is a VIN time limit. Everything else is covered on the Mustang forum imports section in lots of detail. Its an easy process if you get it right, it can be very expensive if you get it wrong. Getting the HMRC to agree to a historical vehicle tax class on a vintage vehicle (which the Supra Mk4 will soon classify as) is absolutely crucial to the costs.

A year on I'm going to be increasing the agreed value on the insurance from £12k to £16k to take account of the strong rise in prices for TT6's that has continued over the last 12 months. I'll post what the new premium is when I have the insurance arranged. Also of note is that it is uneconomical to add the Supra to a multi car classic policy. So its going to remain on a stand alone 3,000 mile limit policy.

Don't think people tend to have these knocking around. Second hand people are asking £4k for these boxes. New they are around £6k so its getting a tough call which way to go. Probably its best to buy a car as a donor and strip/sell the other parts. As a post script for anyone interested in a new Getrag box the lowest price, excluding freight I've located in under £5k inclusive of VAT. Never used this company but they have been going 3 years and have a growing credit balance and rating so appear to be an OK outfit. Think I'd go for a new option rather than spend £3k+ on a well used example. http://www.importcarparts.co.uk/parts-info.asp?id=10550

The SARD k27 turbo conversion was being talked about around 8 years ago so it's likely to have a few miles behind it which is a positive in many ways as it shows its a good reliable fitment. It wasn't one of the big bhp conversions but it wasn't one of the cheapest bolt ons either. I'm surprised they haven't mentioned what the bhp is. May be 400bhp, maybe 450bhp could be 500bhp? I'd ask for a dyno run anyway just to know all is well and what your are looking at, for insurance purposes if nothing else. If its a genuine car then I'd be happy enough that its a reasonable price as top standard TT6s are now nudging that level and original UK spec cars are at or above that level. If you google the kit then you'll hit some Supra forum links from around that era. if it is the car linked above I do wonder though why anyone would take promo pictures of a black car in the wet. There is nothing like a bit of water to make a black car look its best. ultimately, I believe the most valuable Supras down the road will revert to stock to maximise their value so whatever is on that VIN plate will affect its long term investment potential. If its just to buy and drive then that isn't probably going to be an important consideration.

From the VIN plate http://mkiv.supras.org.nz/specs.htm

You may want to include other key information such as is it an auto or manual. If a manual was it a factory manual or an auto conversion. Is it a TT to single conversion or a n/a to single conversion. All these will impact the value for the vehicle along with normal things like HPI clear.