Homer

The weather was for once nice today so rather than tiling a bathroom I got on with some bits of work on the car I fitted the new alternator, but ran into a small problem: Now the connector is at the rear of the alternator the plug didn't reach it. Had to split the wire out from that part of the loom and re-route it. Will tidy it up and insulate it when there's some daylight. Also refitted the new alternator belt (Thanks to Shane for that part ) I also took a quick vid. It's running rough but that is probably due to not being started in a while and the poor condition of the coil packs. I'll fit the new ones along with some new plugs next time. Also noticed the UK bonnet vent is letting a lot of water drain on to the top of the engine which likely isn't helping the spark either, the plug well had quite a lot of water in them. I either need to block it off or, preferably get a UK OEM panel to fit under the bonnet so that the scoop is functional again (UK engine still has the scoop above the turbo's so might as well make use of it! Next steps: - Fit rad (Ideally needs a new one, but that can wait until after it's MOT'd) - Replace coil packs and plugs - Move car to begin gearbox & diff removal Vid from today: 1) Needs a clean, not touched it in 2 months (It's still up on stands at the front) 2) Wires pulled out of stock loom to allow for the longer reach needed with the new alternator: 3) New alternator finally fitted

Yes, I don't see why not, it looks like the only issue is fitting an NA one to a TT due to the turbo water pipe fouling the connector. The pulley doesn't need to be changed, the tensioner will take up the very small extra slack

Ah gotcha now, yeah that is bad John, I feel for those guys, really do. You never know when your number is up regardless of what you do or how well I paid for mine on Wednesday and received it on Friday so pretty quick, not sure how much stock he keeps so best to send him a PM. I believe that with the version Lee sent it can be used for NA or TT, only the pulley *may* need to be changed. However, NA ones are easily available, I found many examples for sale on the forum and else ware, it's the TT ones that are hard to come by.

Everyone I know there is over worked, I haven't done less than an 80 hour week in months. I guess you are dealing with another business unit! If you have a specific complaint feel free to send me a PM and I can take it to the right people 3PAR are awesome bits of kit, not cheap, but they do work well. In a round-abouts ways you are contributing towards this project Keep buying HP

unfortunately no updates yet, I haven't even touched the car since the last post, work and a refurb of my letting property has taken up all my time since then. Hope to get back on it in a couple of weeks I did manage to sort out one part - at last I have a brand new (non OEM) TT alternator thanks to Lee P Very good price on it too considering what some places were asking for! Also just to add (as it might be useful to others), the alternator backing is the same as an NA one, but the plug on the backing plate has been changed so it points out the rear instead of upright. This should stop the plug fouling the turbo water pipe (I am certain Lee has used them on SRD built cars so any fitment issue would be known by now). The pulley is also a TT sized one which is slightly larger than the NA pulley.

Stunning as always Steve! Without a doubt this is my favourite supra on the club

This post saves me having to type my own response I have an NA now, but have owned TT, BPU and single turbo Supra's before. The NA isn't slow, but it's not that quick either. I was bored with the performance from day 1 so spent time doing all the other stuff to make it go quicker in other areas (Brakes, suspension, clutch type diff, weight reduction, etc). It's a lot of fun to drive but I'm going back to TT as the power just isn't enough to keep me interested.

I agree with Tim a bit here. Granted I moved from an open diff to a TRD 2-way but I found it giving a fair bit more under steer on the way in to corners, out of corners it was of course a brilliant improvement. It's far more apparent now the wetter/colder conditions have hit, it was noticeable in the dry but not so severe. This is only in an NA so it's hardly putting out any real torque, but that doesn't account for the understeer I get since changing the diff I am wondering if the diff is not setup correctly rather than the diff type itself. The suspension, geometry and tyre's are perfect (mostly brand new). On the other hand it may just be a lack of driving skill on my part I do not experience any wheel hop (probably due to lack of torque), but it doesn't skip during tight turns and only slips the inside wheel very slightly when pulling out of junctions.

That's a faily wide open question, but in a short summary... - The R154 is by far a superior box when it comes to running higher torque engines, it's far stronger than the w58 - The R154 has a closer but longer gear ratio through the range, making it better for a turbo car Down sides: - You will need some rare parts to make it work (hard to find and/or expensive) - The shifter will sit way too far forward so you'll need to make a custom extension to make it work - Snobbery value for resale - If it's not a 6spd it's not genuine, it'll cost you getting on for 6spd costs to convert but will be worth far less when it comes to a sale. If you want to keep it forever do what you want, if you plan on selling, 6spd is the way to go.

I thought about doing this.... Then thought of this... Instead I ran it into the ground and bought a new car after a good few years of NA ownership. The NA has been and still is the cheapest run around I have ever owned by a very long way (including 'sensible' cars), it's cost me £80 a year to run aside from tax, insurance and fuel. Love that piece of crap car, but it works and has never let me down in over 4 years (it's never been serviced and never will be). NA's are slow but awesomely dependable cars As for modifying, I tried it but it only made it louder, not faster. It's pretty pointless and a waste of money.

I remember, you were the 7 foot black guy yeah? I was impressed when I saw your car, it was so darn clean. Now I read the thread I know why. Good to meet you too and I'm sure we'll have chance for a catch up next season, hopefully I'll be in my car by then so we can have a decent run. I don't think I'll be near your times, but the challenge is were the fun is

Great work Rich, this thread was a good read tonight and it's nice to see the attention to detail you've put in. The new kit will be a very good move, I was never a fan of those XS turbo's once I started to understand the basics of compressor maps. Keep up the good work, I'll be watching this one with interest

That's a damn good idea my friend, I really should have thought of that before... Okay, problem solved I think. Nice one Logie

Thanks mate, that may well be a good option I'm waiting on a few parts currently but once they arrive I should have everything needed to get it driveable. The engine is running now so just need to fit all the items like pedals, lines, etc before it's ready for the box swap (and of course cutting out that tunnel, but that's a really simple job if it was on a ramp). If I get completely stuck I'll let you know in the new year. Thanks again

Yeah I know mate, it would be far easier if I could get to it underneath. I wish I was able to get the car up on 4 axle stands, but unfortunately the car doesn't fit in the garage (which is full of the interior of the car). The driveway is on a slope as well and the auto gearbox is still in there. I still haven't figure out how I'm going to get it up in the air to replace the box, diff, driveshafts and prop yet. It's a bit of a catch 22, I could get the car in the garage if I had somewhere to put the interior, but I need the trans tunnel swapped before I can fit that into the car I'll get there in the end somehow.

Looks like the next 2 weeks are going to be in Amsterdam as well No real progress on the car as I simply don't have time other than an hour here or there. I did get one little job done today, partially repairing the damage to the boot and getting it to close correctly. I was very surprised how thin the metal lip on the boot is, I was able to move it all back to where it should be with a nylon hammer, a chisel and a pair of pliers. Was quite pleased with the effort and it just needs a little bit of paint to proctect it where it was scratched (It's on the inside of the seal so no big deal). Also fitted the facelift rear lights, such an improvement and they work much better with the paint colour. Also started again on the trans tunnel but ran out of time. Pretty certain the dash is going to have to come out as well now due to the welding, I could get any cutter into the recess under the dash and because the weld is so think anything short of a grinder isn't going to work. Such a ball ache as this problem didn't need to exist if the job had been done right the first time. That's it for now, I don't expect to be able to do any more work on it for a month Really frustrated as I just want to get the car done and on the road, the rest of it is actually quite simple....

If you've got the correct grade plugs, good coil packs, connectors, etc it'll be as Ian says. It'll only become more frequent as the temps drop and the air gets denser. Your restrictor ring will may be adequate for summer, but it's likely too large for winter. This is where you start scaling back the restrictor ring size and adding a boost controller to keep it in check during summer (it's a fine balance believe me)

Oh and the car still drives fine. No smoke, no loss of the (albeit) small amount of power, once its warm its fine. Must admit I took it from the cold start right up to triple digits down the local carriageway and its just the same as always. I bet it could be driven like this for another year or two before it finally coughs. We'll see I love the GE lump, I really do. It's just keeps on going no matter what you do (or don't do) to it.

That's my view too. I never intended on keeping the lump as it was a scrap yard one and had not been taken care of before I fitted it into the shell. It cost £100 so servicing it would have cost more than just getting another good engine (and as things have played out), it would have cost me many times more as the lump is still worth more for it's few useful parts. Not really, it's just a crappy NA engine. Though it possibly killed a good crank. My bad. GE's can be had for a pittance anyway. I don't care, it was a scrap yard engine and it's going back to the scrap yard (or being recycled) I'm thinking of getting it cleaned and made into a coffee table stand for my office once the TT is on the road.

After a week of the car being stood I fired it up today and had a good minute of bottom end knock coming from the engine (though it cleared and runs fine again). They are one tough lump, this is what it took to kill it: 1) 2008: Pull engine out of an abused crashed supra 2) Drop engine on front end of said supra while removing it 3) Rag the hell out of it for 4 years 4) Not servicing it. Ever. Didn't even change the oil, filter, plugs, nothing, it's as it was when it was pulled out of the scrap yard 5) Not fixing the engine oil leak and letting it run with the oil level light on many times (and sometimes the oil pressure light) 6) Having a missus drive it 200 miles "with those two 'oil can' lights on" (She was clueless what they meant but drove it anyway). This was 6 months ago. 7) More ragging the hell out of it I'm amazed it lasted so long. Got to hand it to the 2JZ GE, it's difficult to break one I will treat the new one better, promise

Oops, seem to have locked this in error!

Cheers Dave and Abz, no more updates for a while as I'm back to Amsterdam for work till next week. Not a huge amount I can do on the car until I get time to pick up the gearbox from Craig in Cardiff

I never informed dvla on my last manual conversion, but that was because the entry on the v5 next to transmission was blank

Hardly any progress this week, been far to busy with work. Got a good amount of parts arriving at the moment, so just need to get my gearbox back of Dr Jekyll (It was due to be picked up at the weekend by Listy but seems he's using it as a mock up at the moment. Not such a big deal but it's a set back. A few of the bits here, new OEM trans tunnel plate, as-new facelift lights, lots of OEM parts for the engine bay, alternator wires, body fixing bolts, screws and caps, washer bottle (which was completely absent on the car), some odds & ends and my massive evil kitten that wanted feeding: Couldn't find these mounts anywhere, so had to buy new. Cost about £60 for these but I like new stuff The original ones that came with the car for comparison (posted earlier in the thread) Thanks to Keron for supplying the odds and ends no matter how small, can't fault his service Also thanks to Marc P again for the coil packs and Noz for the perfect lights Hope to do a bit more over the weekend but that will be it for a week or two due to work commitments.

This is what worked for me, it was still a ball ache removing the box and I would not advise doing it on your own! I mean ball ache literally, I dropped the box on my nuts. Boy did that hurt