rider

You are probably the only one around here with a Supra they bought from new. £30k was a chunk of cash back in 1995, almost £60k in todays money.

The final progress entry - because its finished. I'm grinning ear to ear typing that. What a relief. Its been a bit of a haul. For anyone thinking is it a worthwhile thing to do, I'd say a rust bust is always worthwhile doing on an old car. As for the frame and arms, checking over mine when it was off sure the frame was rusty but it'd be good for another 30 years and the ball joints on the arms after 110k miles were in remarkably good, stiff, shape. The differential rear mount bushes were the only thing that looked like they could probably benefit from a change as they had gone rather spongy which could lead down the line to transmission hop; something not unheard of on Supras. As for rust there sure were surprises there. The worst rust by far was hidden a long way under the factory protective coating which had failed in parts. Some as far as 3 inches in from the paint/coating boundary. You'd never know unless you aggressively went looking for it. I'd recommend anyone who doesn't have any signs of coating lift tackle it now and put a rubberised coating between the arch and the coating. I used ABRO spray, Its a USA product and people on US renovation sites rave about it. There were bad water traps I wasn't expecting, the rubber air vent ducting behind the vents traps a serious amount of water behind it that just site there and it will rust. Also the cabin air vent by the tank filler has a terrible foam gasket, or at least mine did, that just soaks up water and it just sits there, promoting rust. These were the main areas of rust which in the wheel wells I needed to get patch welding on the areas of corrosion that had sat previously unseen under the hard factory protective coating. The floor above the sub frame had started to rust, nothing major but full on surface rusting that was on the verge of heading somewhere more established. A rust priority for everyone needs to be to protect the wheel well inner and outer panels as they are not any longer available from Toyota. The frame and above frame areas could well have seen out another few years before requiring attention. Sourcing parts has been an expensive and a chore of a task as different suppliers say they can no longer source certain parts, though interestingly the parts others couldn't source TCB managed to get for me. TCB aren't miracle workers though but they came through on all but one of the missing parts I needed for this project. I did have to buy a second hand sway bar for the same price that new ones used to cost but to be fair, it was almost like new condition. I did have to recycle some parts that are just not available anymore such as the frame front mount bracket and ABS lead top control arm brackets (that probably came originally as part of the sensor kit). Products I used were sand grinding discs, sanding discs, POR 15 paint and chemicals, Simonize spray matt, tough and gloss black paints, Aquasteel, Dinitrol 3125 and Hydrochloric acid. Loved the POR paint as a little goes a very long way but being so thin does mean it runs easily. The POR metal prep chemical didn't seem to do much but to be fair it does state that its best applied in temperatures exceeding 20C which it didn't get near to in October and November. Aquasteel is an old favourite of mine in rust treatment ahead of painting. The hydrochloric acid bath was used to clean up some small parts of their surface rust before prep and paint. The Dinitrol was sprayed on the top of the frame bushes where steel protruded, any inaccessible bolts and brackets and also the floor area above the frame as it provided a touch dry wax film protective coating. The Dinitrol was also sprayed in the water trap areas indentified earlier. if I'm asked was it worthwhile then overall it needed doing. You aren't going to be able to buy the suspension parts forever and already some were not easily tracked down. So, renewing the arms and bushes with OE is probably not going to be even an option quite soon. My car does under 1k miles a year so I'm expecting my new arms will still be like new arms in 10, 15 probably even 20 years time. There were things that would need taking care of sometime soon anyway, the wheel bearings were original and ready for a change; one was corroded and starting to rumble. Rust never stops once it's there so the sooner its tackled the less painful its likely to be. My car has been on UK roads since 1998, I think another 5 years unattended would have then required major, rather than minor, restorative work on the wheel housing areas. I took the car to the garage this afternoon to fill the tank with fuel, ran like a dream. Even treated it to a hand wash at a drive through to get 5 weeks of dust off it and the non-English gent taking the money there said it was the best car he had seen all day. I'm surprised how quiet the HKS Racing exhaust is compared to the MIJ one I discarded. I was expecting loud but not a bit of it. Just the alignment to get set on Tuesday by a mobile outfit. I set the arms to the same cam setting as on the old frame and it seems from the run out everything is good so I'm not expecting any major adjustments will be needed. In terms of how hard a job it is, I have to go from my own cosseted location of indoors with access to a full rise ramp and a professional mechanic assistant. I'd say anyone can do it with patience and attention to detail. There are parts where you need a second pair of hand but for the most part, it was me grinding, treating, painting, then coating. The end, thankfully. Time involved so far on this project: Me 80 hours Mechanic mate 16 hours Welder 10 hours (including travel time) Total approx. 105 man hours Costs to date Bushes, arms, pipes, tank guard, tank straps and fittings Amayama £780 Toyota Oxford £2,880 TCB £450 Other Parts Wheel Bearings £190 Discs £100 Brake pads £120 Handbrake shoes £45 Drop links £60 Sway bar £120 Fuel pump £70 Fuel tank breather pipe (self fabricated) £25 HKS Exhaust £720 Frame (second hand) £600 Frame prep £220 Materials Paints £140 Chemicals £65 Sanding discs £15 Exhaust putty, gaskets and hangers £30 Outside labour Welder £200 Mechanic support (FOC) Wheel alignment £44 Total spend so far £6,870 Pictures before and after.

Timing was a bit off, we spent 6 hours at it today. Frame mounted, tank and guard fitted. Final pieces of trim refitted plus for the first time in 10 year, there is a rear heat shield. All the interior sorted with ABS leads and fuel tank pipes/pump lead refitted. Finishing up tomorrow with the pads and exhaust. Almost there. [ATTACH=CONFIG]223769[/ATTACH The end is clearly in sight. Time for a beer.

I met a really interesting car buff this year who owns a lot of very nice cars, makes my meagre collection look like the super mini set compared to his exotica. No better, best, worst there though - he loved my little MGB. One car he owns is a car I drool over and hope, maybe, one day will own. Its a Mk1 e-type roadster. I said show me, probably drooling as I said that, but unfortunately he couldn't. Its off for refurbishment and has been for over a year. He drives 350 miles once a month to go visit it to see the progress. The guy is spending close to £100k on the refurb which apparently will leave the car looking like it just fell off the production line. Doesn't make any financial sense today but I know exactly where he is coming from. A problem for me is if Supras ever become a £100k car that will be me sending it off for a year and spending £70k to get it back to factory fresh. Why, I couldn't really pin it down, it'd be more why not and I expect those who have modified their Supra probably have a similar outlook just with a different result? With all this money he is spending on the e-type he isn't putting some towards dropping the latest Jaguar 4.2 supercharged engine with stage III mods into the e-type and I'm pretty sure I know why not. If he did though, that wouldn't make him a better or worse person. If he was thinking about it, I certainly wouldn't feel I was being negative by saying "are you 100% sure that's a good idea?". That's never a bad thing, even if its as a devils advocate which was not my input; rather than just getting the yeh mate that's great. Fully considering the pros and cons always makes for a better choice. For the record, my car which seems to interest others more than it does me on occasions is most definitely not the best and is unlikely to ever be the best. I'm also sure its not the worst. That's the nub really, it doesn't matter what other people think its down to what you think unless you happen to be the type that craves peer approval.

I couldn't find any way around it though I tried and researched and tried again. Make sure your server guys get to uninstall MS 365 off any machine not yet affected before they do the update then they wont be affected. On the 16 its probably going to be a recovery to factory fresh or credit card subscription to MS 365 if you want to continue with Outlook as the email client of choice. Alternatively, just go a different email client. The email record is lost unless there is a backup pst file to revert to.

If people get offended then I apologise, my remark was very much a tongue in cheek comment. Having said that people should really wonder why they are so easily affronted. Every word I wrote has a basis in fact. You do lose a NA or a TT every time someone does a single mod because no way is it remotely economical to convert the car back to what it was before, that's a fact. Then you do see a lot of old and sometimes not so old singles being broken because the parts are worth more than the car, that's a fact. I never get why people get upset about facts but you do see it often in all walks of life on every subject matter of life? Stock cars, the blank canvas for singles, were not so long ago under half the price of decent spec conversions. Today there is a slither between them and if you take the price evolution as a trend then stocks will overtake modified singles fairly soon. That's a verifiable trend over several years. If people want to go single then all power to them. It doesn't make economic sense and my own personal preference is if I wanted a 600bhp car then I'd go out and buy a off the shelf 600bhp car. OK you lose out on the creativity side of things, the man and machine in perfect harmony because you got to decide the spec and maybe even put it together yourself. I've got creative with some of my cars doing dashboard veneers and such and it does undoubtedly create an emotional attachment. Some people though seem to have the idea big HP Supras are superior to stock HP Supras. Its a really old car, I personally imagine superior is current production technology. which is a valid opinion borne out of facts, trends and data. The OP wonders about going single, wondering about why bother doing that to a Supra should be forefront in anyone's thinking. 10 years ago when you could buy these cars for under £5k as a throw away ageing relic why not throw a few £ at it and stick on a big turbo and lots of people did, I admit, even considered it myself as maybe something to do before the car died. I'm glad I didn't and I don't regard people who did wrong, deficient or stupid in any way for doing it. Its their car to do with as they want and if it brings joy and excitement that's fantastic. Just don't assume its the superior choice because facts don't lie. Its a bad investment for the car and there are better, newer, cars out there. You'll never catch me bad mouthing anyone for their opinion even if its in my opinion a wrong opinion. That's because I'm mature enough to appreciate everyone is entitled to have one. Anyone posing the question to the OP of, are you really 100% sure this is a good idea, is probably imparting the best advice he will receive.

For anyone who threw away their yellow side indicator lenses and now regrets doing that there is a particularly cheap set of lenses come up on eBay.

All done on the frame except for the torque setting on the lock nuts, for which mechanic matey is bringing a suitable torque wrench, so essentially ready to fork lift to the car this Saturday along with fitting the other things returning/replacing namely the fuel tank/guard and exhaust. Expecting it to only take 2 maybe 3 hours. The hydraulic table was an invaluable aid in setting up the arms on the frame. A really useful piece of kit that I've found helpful when working on many of my cars especially when you need to set suspension parts to a specific height and as a tools table at other times. Everyone needs one of these in their lives.

Contact the seller. They may be busy and just need a prod in the right direction to do a presumably PayPal refund. If it drags on, you have the address and name to who you returned. If its a private residence and the recipient is an owner or family member then you hold pretty much all the cards if it goes to a legal claim.

Well for those of us that don't then there is no warranty available on parts supplied via Amayama. Fit that expensive climate control module yourself and it doesn't work, what you going to do? Probably go, oh well cest la vie.

Seems you guys all get your servicing and repair work done at Toyota. That does surprise me.

Every single is one less NA or TT and usually a big breaking list a few years down the line. I love it.

Amayama have a bad habit of cancelling parts that are ordered and paid for so are a hit and miss source for parts, increasingly miss as parts get discontinued. I contacted them about my failed sub frame cam bolt and nut to find out what their warranty position is. Be worried, be very worried. So, if you haven't had the parts fitted by Toyota forget any warranty. Even if you do, try getting a Toyota spanner to write you a statement that they fitted the part, on Toyota premises and on headed paper. Hoops followed by more hoops and the last one is undoubtedly a hoop too far. Then you need to post the part back!

There isn't much to back up I'm using Office Professional 2007 but you are safe under Windows 7. Its all part of their Windows 10 enhancements to get everyone using Edge, Cortana and Office 365. Its probably a deliberate ploy to disable MS Office on CD Software to push more people to their subscription Office 365 online offering.

Not every day is a good Supra day. Been fixing the hubs onto the frame over the last two days and got one side done yesterday with the second set for today. Using a hydraulic platform the arms are raised to ride height before setting the torque onto the frame. I had to remove then reinstall the drive shafts as there was no way I could get my torque set on the upper arm ball joint with the shaft in place, I found there just isn't quite enough room around it with the tools I have available. First side went on fine and today I've got all the ball joints set and torqued on the second hub. Tackling the first frame linkage, a lower arm cam bolt the nut loosened off while I was tightening to the torque setting, a clear sign the threads had stripped inside the nut and it is left stranded spinning on the bolt. Couldn't wind it off even though I forcing a screwdriver behind to apply outward force and used a impact drive. So ended up drilling the nut on opposing flats and splitting it. I wonder if Amayama will reimburse the defective parts, I'll be asking as the cam bolts aren't cheap. I'm going to have to recycle an old bolt and nut for this lower arm. That'll be tomorrow now.

I took. I must admit, a slight degree in satisfaction in recalling an actual incident and the last time I saw an air cooled 911 being driven on the road, well it'd actually just left the road going backward through a fence 15 yards after exiting a roundabout on the Shrewsbury inner ring road. Said that had never happened to me.

No pst backup. Its no great operational loss other than its best to keep 6 years archive on everything including employee and customer communication in case anyone queries anything.

Quite a few of us older ones had MkIII's at one time or another. I had a Met Black manual Turbo that was a lot of fun. Only sold it to get a family car when the kids turned up but quickly gave the wife the family car and got myself the Mkiv I have today. Did a plate run on it not so long ago and there is no record so it probably ended its useful life a while back. Its good to see the MkIII's are becoming more appreciated these days.

I have all my PCs set to do auto updates from Microsoft and fell foul of a 'known' problem with an update incompatibility with Office or office Professional software that predates 2013. The update centres on the Office online 365 and kills all MS Outlook email data including accounts and emails. I lost years of email archive as its not recoverable. You cannot simply uninstall and reinstall the software. The only way to restore Outlook under Office Professional is to reformat the PC to factory fresh and reload all your software from there. There is one way around it for anyone who hasn't had the 'enhanced experience' packages installed and that is to uninstall Microsoft 365 Office from the PC before these 'enhancement' hit your PC. MS is working on a resolution but its too late for me and from comments online, for many others as well. Be warned, it will fuck up your day.

That would make sense seeing there are no part numbers for the bracket support that I could find.

When I worked the stand last year it was the Porshe owners, located close by in the next hall, who were the snooty crowd when they strolled by. I have had loads of Fords and still have one, I've never felt or noticed the conflict with Jap you mention. I think all cars are interesting, apart from BMW's [GRIN][/GRIN].

You must be too young to have ever tried a Ford Cortina MkV. Effortless and precise. But I doubt the gearbox would have withstood 1,000bhp.

Looks like another successful NEC event and a lot goes on behind the scenes with setting up and tearing down. Be good to see a UK car make it next year if there is one and a slot available.

If I was driving around London I'd want an automatic. If I was going on a long journey regularly to the South of Europe I'd want an automatic. When my car comes out to play on the local B roads on a sunny day, as it is essentially restricted to doing these days, I want a manual. Everything has its place.

Seeing you are in Shropshire as well you are more than welcome to come by and look at mine up on the ramp and I'll show you a lot of the right places to look at on a Supra. You'd need to do that within the next 2 days though as I'm hoping to have it all bolted back together and off ramp by Sunday.