HarleyFDMD

SRD have really done a fantastic job of setting everything up perfectly. Not just engine wise but also how the car handles - something i was a bit nervous about was how the car would feel.. In the years that I'd had it on the road previously i never thought it felt that great, it wasn't confidence inspiring and felt a bit unstable. I was also questioning whether I'd made the right decision by going with the harder grade polyurethane bushes and on top of all of that I've been worried that the drag radials would make it feel even worse! In fact the handling of the car has probably been one of my biggest fears... Ash at SRD spent 7 hours setting up the geo and wheel alignment and working out correct tyre pressures and it shows! It drives perfectly! Its firm but not too harsh, the back end squats as you come on boost and you just feel the car dig in and take off. It also feels agile though, and i really cant even tell that its on radials as its not bouncy or wallowy at all. Huge credit to Ash for that - its very impressive! The grip the car has is phenomenal, im easing it into gears and being particularly mindful in first due to the R154 which im fully aware is well past its usual limitations! But 2nd gear hooks the whole way to the limiter which feels incredible.

So i picked the Supra up on Thursday and have had the most amount of fun in it! Honestly its better than i thought it was going to be - and i knew it would be awesome. On the way home from SRD a 2.5 hour drive turned into a 5 hour drive with the help of huge tail backs on the M25 also the 27°c weather wasn't helping oil temps. I need to get a laptop so Mike can check the ecu log because i was hitting a boost cut occasionally - i think this was down to oil temperature because since Thursday I've only really driven it in the evenings when the air temperature is much cooler, and subsequently cooler engine temps and i haven't had an issue. In the meantime im going to buy an oil cooler, its something i just over looked when building everything else but definitely worth while. VID-20230617-WA0117.mp4 VID-20230617-WA0065.mp4 VID-20230616-WA0245.mp4

Yesterday was the big day! Mapping! I didn't realise it was being done until Mike sent me the dyno graph.. 666whp! Absolutely crazy. I thought I'd be lucky to make 650bhp let alone whp Mike said the car performed faultlessly on the dyno which was nice to hear. It sounds incredible.. and honestly that was half the reason i built it. I was never really chasing figures or trying to build the fastest supra.. i just wanted it to be pretty fast and make all the right noises - and im pretty sure I've achieved that just cant wait to pick it up and drive it now!! received_703117118490175.mp4 received_565302922422746.mp4 received_557913493087143.mp4 received_939789413974971.mp4

While the supra has been at SRD I've been paying some attention to a pair of oem leather front seats i bought a few months ago. They came from a low mileage TT6 and underneath all the dirt they'd picked up from seemingly spending years in storage they were in really good condition. Only problem with them is that while in storage other things had been placed on top of them resulting in indentations all over. I left them in my garage hoping the indentations would come out over time - but after 6 months they still looked the same. Google said to use a steamer but that did very little.. so i went all out and soaked them with water before then ironing them! I figured if i ruined them I'd just buy new covers but its actually made vast improvement you can still see the where the indentations were but no where near as bad. The worst one was on thr drivers seat below the headrest. Hopefully with a bit more time and usage it'll improve a bit more. (Excuse the flooring - currently having our downstairs renovated!) I'll be fitting them as soon as the car is back. The Recaro's in the car currently are alright but i think these will be nicer

I know the feeling! Took over a year to get mine painted because i had a colleague do it for me in his spare time at our body shop - rather than booking it into another bodyshop and having it done in a few weeks. Did save about 5 grand though

Today the car went on the dyno to get the engine run in.. not sure if the run in period is complete but so far so good! No major issues. Just a few small things.. slightly leaky power steering line which was presumably a quick tighten up fix. Blocked heater matrix - which i kind of knew about as the heaters have never been great. And then lastly (which i will take full credit for ) a damaged fan due to the fitment of the power steering cooler - i mounted it directly to the radiator using some studs that i pushed through the core as I'd seen done online.. i just didn't check that the fan wouldn't then hit the studs so when the engine was running and the fans came on, one of them smacked the studs from the cooler and destroyed itself. My bad. I mean in hindsight it wasn't the best of ideas! I'll probably buy a new radiator and re do all of it in the future. But in the meantime i just need a new fan to get it functioning again. so currently it just has the one fan running at full chat! Received this video from Mike of it idling. Love the sound of high lift cams. It has whifbitz 269s installed received_1912129565811184.mp4 During its run in time today the guys were kind enough to loan me some spare rear wheels and tyres to save the Mickey Thompsons from being burnt out on the dyno

Awesome job mate. Its a long process isn't it!

Best day ever! (Aside from the birth of my son) It lives! received_1969422303392593.mp4

I think i know whos car that is..

So I've had a couple of updates from Lee.. All the fabrication work is completed, so thats the intercooler pipe and exhaust done. They've also made a small loom for the gauges and got them working.. Assuming there's still a bit of engine bay wiring to be done and then hopefully we'll have it running soon!

Thanks guys.. its been a journey! Sometimes i look back through this myself and just laugh to myself.

Wow! What an amazing build! James and Kane really are superb at what they do. I used spectral clear on my car and loved the finish it gave. Looking forward to updates on this

Just caught up with this.. i assume it never actually came to light what happened?

You're doing an awesome job and doing it right! Love the car, you're making good progress

Yeah intercooler pipework, down pipe and mid pipe fabrication. Adding additional sensors for the Link ecu, installing the engine loom, wiring the fuel pump relays and gauges, wheel alignment, few other loose ends that need finishing and then basically getting it run in and mapped!

Did this ever sell?

Got the car loaded up last night then made the trip to SRD this morning. Had butterflies in my stomach the whole way home knowing that in a few weeks it'll actually be finished and i can drive it again. Thanks to Mike, Ash and Lee

well i actually have both sides, just haven't fitted the other side yet!

I got all the lines installed underneath the car too. Which were the perfect length. The kit included 4x billet fuel/brake line mounts for the centre of the car but nothing for the rear where the fuel lines route over the subframe. I had some AN8 duel line clamps which i mounted to the factory locations using some thread bar, i pinned the brake lines in the same place too using plastic P clips - all in all im pretty pleased with the result. No loose fuel lines or brake lines and all done neatly. Photos are pretty grainy due to the poor lighting under the car i also got a mount made in the boot to accommodate the fuel pump relays. Ive left the wiring for SRD

So i spent the day today finishing the fuel system (or atleast everything i could) I'd built the fuel pump hanger up a few months back but needed to pull my oem pump out the tank and swap over the sender unit

Thanks Keith, its been a long time coming but i can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks mate, i bought it from Lee Elkin-Afonso. I then cut the top off it and added the heat shielding to the side. Once this is all done and back from SRD and i've enjoyed it over summer I'll be booking in with you for some underside work!

Then i moved onto the fuel system, im using all Radium products, i have the triple pump hanger and the complete fuel line set. Made a good start yesterday and plan on finishing it today

Been finishing a few jobs this week before the car goes to SRD Saturday morning. Took the week off work because i know everything always takes longer than expected! Started by finishing my heat shield for the clutch and brake reservoirs. and then finished my power steering cooler lines and filled with ATF - no leaks so far!