Digsy

Aren't they horrible, Alex?

I know that the remote sensing type can be very hard to set up because the way that shocks are transmitted to the sensor depends upon the cylinder block structure, so the idea of putting one on "any vacant hole" sounds a bit dubious. A straight display taken off the stock det sensor sounds like the best idea to me.

But won't the O2 sensor spot the change in AFR and adjust the fuelling accordingly, cancelling the "leaning" effect out? Introducing "swirly" air into the plenum wouldn't make much difference IMHO, since there's a load of swirling still to happen as it finds its way into the intake runner, then past the valve head. Injecting it straight into the chamber would make a difference, but thats a bit beyond the scope of a fit it yourself kit!

Whatever the year, its not an MOT requirement, so you can remove any restrictor after the SVA test.

You can get a screw-in cap with a spring loaded nozzle hole which is the right size. You don't remove the cap to fill up, just poke your nozzle through the hole (oo-er). The guys at JIC showed my one when I was there. Try calling them to see where they get them from.

That's the standard "unhelpful" Toyota line, and apart from the word "sometimes" it is BS. Yes, some parts are hard to get hold of but usually that's only because they have to be shipped from Japan and you have to pay extra for shipping, so its a time and money "hard" rather than a tracking the right part down hard. A J-spec Supra is a car like any other, and all you need to find the right part is the VIN details and the parts CDs, which your local Toyota dealer should have anyway. After that the get the part number on the screen just like any other UK car and send off for it. Toyota UK keep a parts store in Belgium (I think) that carries most routine parts for imports these days. Given that, sometimes a prt throws them a curve ball. Like I saidm the NA exhaust is Japan only and (at least when I checked last) not routinely held within European stores. Another BBS member has waited for most of his adult life for some facelift indicator wiring looms to arrive. Another trick that unhelpful Toyota dealers sometimes try is to say that all J-spec parts are non-refundable if they turn out to be wrong. This may or may not be tru of stuff which is shipped on special order from Japan, but if they hold it in stock then to my mind it shouldn't apply. The extra charge per hour is fairly routine, though. A compete rip-off, but routine.

Welcome! SZ owner here. Paul is right - if you are even remotely a speed freak then wait until you can get a TT - they are completely different animals (I can't speak for the SZ-R though). Again, as Paul suggested, once I realised that an SZ was the car for me, I decided to make it a bit more special by getting an Aerotop (targa). It cost me £13000 for a mint 26000mile L plater from JIC, but that was in the good old days before the prices dropped a bit. Servicing: have a look around here using the search function, but to summarise: Intervals are 9000miles or 1 year. Schedule is AABAAB 27000 miles: £240 B 36000 miles: £220 A 45000 miles: £140 A 54000 miles: £370 B 63000 miles: £140 A 72000 miles: £220 A Prices are from East Anglia main dealers, and include parts, labour, VAT and all the "extras" you might hear talked about. Prices will vary from area to area. TT owners usually add at least one extra oil change in between services. Cambelt change every 60000 miles (book figure) but good advice is to get it done when you buy the car so you know where you stand. Price will be about £160. Standard brake pads for standard J-spec brakes (sliding calipers frona and rear) = £110 for a full set (not fitted). The NA exhaust is different from the TT or UK one in all apart from the back box. The whole system (not including cats) costs about £500 to get shipped in m Japan so its about the same as getting an aftermarket one in this country, I think. Tyre costs will vary with how you drive the car and what size wheels you have. Goodyear F1s on standard UK sized 17" wheels cost about £250 for fronts and £320 for rears. A well looked after engine should run and run. Watch out for PAS pump noise and oil indicating either worn valve stem seals or (on a TT) leaky turbo oil seals. 94L with 42K miles. I'd say £8K to £9K (boo-hoo). Check your garage out before you buy. Try asking about service prices and standard parts. Their degree of helpfulness should tell you how happy they are to work on an import. They may spin you loads of BS about how difficult it is to get the right parts, but I am yet to have a routine service item not available off the shelf. All franchised dealers will have the Japanese versions of the Toyota parts CDs. They do usually need your model and frame numbers from the VIN plate, though. Happy hunting!

Yep, I had mine about a month before it let go on me - and it scared my sh1tless when it happened. It will happen. Even on an NA with stock suspension setup and without any mods.

Odd that this guy doen't mention valve lift. I take it these longer duration cams also have increased lift over the standard ones, as increasing the duration alone won't change the compressed height of the spring. These are increased lift cams with a longer duration to make a less aggressive profile, yes?

Increased timing drive loads / reduced timing belt durability, especially at low engine speeds.

Interesting one that. I had to read it a couple of times before it sank in, then its obvious! Must be a pretty short period of time where the intake valve is at risk of "blowing open", though, since as soon as it shuts you will begin to a pressure rise acting in the opposite direction on the compression stroke. Also, since there will always be one pair of intake valves open at any point in one crank revolutionm won't the air always tend to take this easier route out as opposed to pushing a valve open? I guess manifold pressure at any point is a function of the air flow through the manifold and the exit resistance, since (for the reason above) its not like you are blowing into a closed volume. If another valve popped open, then it would vent more air and the pressure would drop again instantly so the valve should close itself. I don't know if this would lead to the valve hammering against its seat, or whether it would effectively stop the effect from happening to a noticable degree at the boost levels you turbo'ed guys talk about. At mega boost, though - I can see the logic. Very interesting.

The Rover I4 K-series is unique in that the head bolts go straight through the block and into the ladder frame. If you take the head bolts out (I think they are studs, actually) some non-structural bolts hold the ladder to the block and stop the bottom end falling off.

Edited to remove double post.

As Chris says it all about stiffness. As with so many things in life, the stiffer your bottom end, the better. You can have a ladder frame which links the individual bearing caps together, and either a shallow-skirted or a deep-skirted block, depending on where you want the block / oil pan joint to be. Shallow skirted blocks stop at the crank centreline so the whole bottom face is machined flat in one operation. Deep skirted blocks carry the block structure down past the crank centreline and have cutouts for the caps or ladder. Deepskirted blocks are especially good if you want to cross-bolt the main bearing caps or ladder frame into the cylinder block as well as using vertical bolts. Best of all is the "upper / lower crank case" design where you have a shallow skirted block and a second casting which incororates the main caps and deep skirt all in one. The whole cylinder block hoizontally splits in two along the crank centreline. Again, as Chris points out, it is usual to close the whole block at the bottom with a structural oil pan which is made from cast aluminium. This gives the whole bottom end much more rigidity than an old-skool pressed steel oil pan and also allows you to tie the transmission case or bell housing into the block structure as well. You can also flare out the bottom edge of the lower crankcase into a wide, flat oil pan and simply close off the bottom with a flat pressed steel panel, which without going into a lot of detail is a hell of a lot easier to manufature than a 100% cast "winged" oil pan. I think using the actual sump to carry the bearings is pretty rare on road cars at the moment. It may be more common on race engines with a dry sump where you don't need the depth in the oil pan. If you really have your head screwed on at the design stage you can also stick the oil suction pipe in the ladder frame / lower crankcase. Its a good place to put the oil pump housing as well. Other components which you could also integrate if there is enough room are balance shafts and windage trays. Aluminium ladder frames usually have cast iron inserts to take the direct loading from the crankshaft / bearing bolts.

Doesn't the VVTi have a mechanical odometer integral with the rev counter, which means intercepting only the speedo signal for the speedo conversion (rather than leaving the rebroadcast signal untouched as you can in a pre facelift car) a lot harder?

If your Toyota garage is anything like mine there will be a space on the pre-service paperwork for vehicle mileage. I always make a very obvious show of filling this in: "I checked my mileage so it would be accurate on your paperwork" writes down milage. "Now, can you tell me if anyone will need to drive the car as part of the service, and if so, how far will they go?" They usually the message, but if they say any more than 1 or 2 miles then ask to go with the mechanic or refuse.

Yep, mine does the same.

NAs are blisteringly quick*. Most of the TT guys get really defensive when the select few talk about their legendary performance. Someone with the gear ratios and rolling radius figures should pop up soon with the theoretical top speed calcs. There was a spreadsheet floating around somewhere that worked it all out for you. *Especially when fitted with lightweight three spoke alloys.

Service "B" part 2:

Service "B" part 1:

Service "A" part 2:

Sorry about the delay here. Closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Ho hum. Here it is, anway. Apologies in advance about the bandwidth. Service "A" part 1:

Sorry about not posting detals this evening like I said I would. Unless someone beats me to it I'll scan the relevant pages from the handbook and try to get them up here tomorrow.

Ah, yes. I forgot about the 4500 mile oil change. Most TT owners do this and its a good idea but I'm pretty sure its not mentioned in the handbook. John, is this the first service the car will have had under your ownership? Is there any other info that would suggest which service schedule it has been running? Any bills, etc? Incidentally, in my experience, the price Toyota quotes for an "X-thousand" miles service should include all the extras and fluids. If your garage tries to add these on top of the price again then they may be trying to take the p*ss.

Hi John. Bit confoozed by your post I must admit. There is no service at 41000 miles on the 1994 onwards 9000 mile schedule. The nearest service is at 45000 miles, and its an "A". Next, on either the 9000 mile or the 6000 mile schedule, your car would not have had 9 services until 54000 miles (6000 intervals) or 81000 miles (9000 intervals). Going by the 9000 interval schedule (AABAAB) it would indeed be a "B". If this is the case and you are running a sort of accelerated 9000 mile schedule, you will be due the 81000 mile service at 41000 miles! I have no idea what "extras" you require for this service, but I can find out this evening if you want. If you have a UK handbook, its all in there. HTH