mclarenross Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) Hello to anyone who is reading this, I've had my fair share of Japanese cars in the past and have now decided that I wanted to find a car that I could restore to its former glory or better.... I've looked at various Jap cars, from Subaru’s, 200sx, 300sx and evos but my mind was finally made up when I spotted a 1994 Toyota supra in my local breakers yard. It’s a cat D write off and they were wanting just under 2K for it, I ended up getting it for 1100 delivered. Well.... how can I describe what needs doing to the car.... Firstly it bright orange... although I’m sure this was fashionable at some stage, it certainly isn’t the look I want to go for and hopefully with some helpful advice from you guys, It will all come together in a fantastic finished article... I am however planning to do all the work myself. Here goes, this is what I am planning to do with her. Repair all the panel damage to front wings New front bumper Full bare metal respray - colour to be decided. Interior Striped and probably race interior Currently has a NA engine, to be changed to either a NA–T engine or TT – dependent upon cost and reliability. Wiring fixed- very messed up at the minute. New brakes (everything ) all round. New coilover suspension New Exhaust And anything else that’s broken, that needs fixing. I’ve attached some photo of the car when I saw it in the breakers yard. I have now had it delivered and its taking up most of the double garage at the displeasure of my wife. To date, I’ve managed to remove the brake callipers, the disc brakes – omg the back right disc was so so jammed on, the parking shoe had somehow got stuck on, it must have taken me 4-5 hours of banging it, whacking in screwdrivers, pulling and pushing before it eventually came off! I ended up sitting in the garage lifting the brake disc up to heaven “praise the Lord! It’s finally come off” I’ve also removed the suspension from all four corners, not to difficult, only real problem is there are a lot of bolts on this thing that have been rusted on over the years. This makes it both frustrating and time consuming. I’ve also removed the hubs off the front, but yet to do the back one… as that looks like a mission for a whole Sunday! I’ve also removed some of the interior and also the bonnet. I thought it was going to be really heavy and I got a friend round to give me a hand, turns out it’s a fibreglass one and weighs nothing… bonus! I’ve also posted some photos of the car as it’s sat in the garage. And that’s pretty much all I’ve got round to so far. Next I’m going to finish off the panel damage and then start preparing her for paint. Planning to sand her back to bare metal and then spray in primer, before deciding on a final colour all from the comfort of my garage (it’s going to be interesting to see the final result) Hope this will be of interest to someone; I’ll keep updating this forum as I go on… I’ll probably be grateful for any advice and encouragement as I’m going. Current plan is to get her MOT'd before the end of the year. Edited November 29, 2014 by mclarenross (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ripped_fear Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 good luck! is she a auto or manual? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Could turn into a major project if you catch the Supra bug!lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammer Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Looks like an interesting time ahead. Good luck with the build. Looking forward to seeing the up-dates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Im all for a project, but for the money youre gonna put into that you could get a sorted TT that wouldnt have the dreaded Cat D on the HPI. But best of luck with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welshbuddy Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 hey mate! First of all! welcome!!! =] second of all,congratulations on making the right choice of car!!, im guessing by reading you already got the supra bug! as stated above , wooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted May 26, 2011 Author Share Posted May 26, 2011 (edited) Thanks for all the fast reply for encouragement! Its an Auto - But only a 4 speed, so I'm going to have to swap that for probably the 5 speed and change the rear diff... yes, I do believe I have caught the Supra bug and I'm already desperate to drive her... regarding the sell it and get a sorted TT, the whole point of my project is so that I can learn how a car goes together from start to finish and I won't have any intention of selling her after this (after all the amount of hours I will have put in!) so I'm not worried about the Cat d on its record. I've seen from many posts on this site that loads of people recomend selling their NA in favour of a TT, but I'm looking forward to pulling out the engine and getting my hands oily! Edited June 19, 2014 by mclarenross (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry_10 Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 good on you mate I did a similar sort of thing with mine makes you appreciate the car more knowing your the one that has put in all the hard work and made the car how you want it. Check out my project thread if you like 'new member,new project' Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robzki Posted May 26, 2011 Share Posted May 26, 2011 Welcome and good luck m8, looks like you may need some I'm a little confused why you didn't just buy a shell with a v5, they go fairly cheap around here. seems you are replacing everything anyway so would have saved money and time stripping it. But as said I'm all for a project and this will be a good one to watch Please don't take it as a negative, we all have different ways of doing things and I applaud that I guess you will make your money back on selling the bits you strip out anyway......anything interesting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 yeah, sold quite a few on Ebay so clawed back a bit of money. unfortunatley nothing too exciting! Chris, just read your Thread, excellent, you've turned your machine into a monster! that similar to what are trying to aim for. couple of questions, was the engine replacement difficult? and did you change the prop shaft and diff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parry_10 Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Thanks mate, not difficult if you know what your doing, or if not there is a guide on here, I used the same prop but I changed the diff to a tt diff- if you need any more info on anything just send me a pm I'm happy to help anyone out as a few have helped me out:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Nice one, looks like an interesting project. No doubt this will be running big power in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob_Mitchell Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 good luck with the project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra Gaz Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 (edited) Good man, its brilliant to see someone saving a Supra from the grave. I think I spotted mkiv owners club stickers in the rear quarter windows? Who killed the car and the biggest crime, who fitted the failside wing? Good luck mate, I look forward to seeing this progress Edited May 13, 2012 by Supra Gaz (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lkspicer Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Good luck with the project.. It looks like a big task!! About the colour.. Thank god you decided to get rid of the orange!! And I think Gun Metal Grey looks amazing on any Supra!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra joe Posted May 27, 2011 Share Posted May 27, 2011 Good luck. This will be an intresting build thread ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 (edited) Time for an update… I’ve have now taken off the exhaust up to the front manifold, very difficult, getting under the car and the bolts just sheared off when I applied some force. Had a good look at the Cat and it was pretty much dead, I suppose that happens after 120K miles. So I had a good look round for a replacement and managed to pick this one up on eBay for £12. Result. It’s in very good nick and comes off a car with only 35K on it, so plenty of life left in it. Its only to pass the MOT anyway, I plan to get it de-cat as soon as it's received its 12 month badge of honour. The rest of the exhaust is in good shape and it has a 3 inch straight through system so I think I’ll be keeping that for the time being. I also need to get some of those rubber bungs that hold the exhaust on as I gave them the chop when I was pulling out the exhaust. They were knackered anyway. I’m also trying to find a source for a new or newish rear brake shoe and assembly. When I wedged off the old disc I completely destroyed all the springs etc. do any of you guys know where I can find these parts? Or do I need to buy a whole new hub? Any advice would be welcome… And so I moved on to the sanding…… I take my hat off to the guys who work in body shops and paint! It takes ages, I started with loads of sand paper and quickly realised that by hand it would take until the next millennium. I then got out my electric sander, that vibrates, this was much quicker, but would still take until my retirement to finish the job and so I finally went out and bought a belt sander! Finally paint was starting to come off the car. At the time off writing this, I reckon I’ve done about half the car and it has taken an age, many evenings in the garage doing one panel at a time. At least my wife has been working late so I haven’t got it in the neck from her. Also being the beautiful orange car that she is! there is now orange paint all over the garage. It gets everywhere and I’ve still got half a car to do. I’ve got a question for the paint guys, do I need to sand bodykit parts back to their original state or can I just paint over the top of it? A friend told me that I could give it a rough sanding all over so that the new paint sticks better? Again, any advice would be appreciated. Once I finished sanding (probably a couple of weeks) I going to then order some primer and paint. Current thought is to go for Audi white, with a final candy flec on the top coat… I’m also on the lookout for a nice front bumper, preferably similar to a Veilside one, so if anyone knows of one, please PM me. I’ve also got my original one in the garage which I’ll sell shortly so if anyone wants to make an offer… I’m listening. I’ll post again once I’ve finished this damn sanding! Edited June 17, 2011 by mclarenross change (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 More pictures.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safcdixon Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Nice work so far, did you buy this from north east salvage btw ? It Looks familiar, if you after a veilside front mine will be available in a week or so if your interested. Good luck with the rest of the build Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
add heywood Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I’m also on the lookout for a nice front bumper, preferably similar to a Veilside one... http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?246412-Bomex-type-1-%28big-mouth%29-front-bumper&highlight=bomex+sale would look great on your car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Yes, I got this off the guys at north east salvage, went to look for a 200 sx and bought a supra. How much are u asking for the front bumper? And yes, Haywood love the Bomex front bumper your selling, but a little out of my price range. Sorry, although I'm sure someone will snap that up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spike3.0 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 I'm a little confused why you didn't just buy a shell with a v5, they go fairly cheap around here. seems you are replacing everything anyway so would have saved money and time stripping it. If you see one of these cheap Shells with V5 let me know, I'm still looking for a half decent one... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotty71 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 with regards to the rear discs you must of just forced the disc off without releasing the handbrake shoes. You have to move a cog through one of the holes in the disc and turn one way and the handbrake shoes will release and the disc will come off. Seems you just PULLED Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mclarenross Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Hi scotty, Yep the first one came off straight away, the second one I pulled and before you know it, it was jammed. Could even turn the wheel to get access to the hole. School boy error! Safc, how much do you want for your bumper I see on another blog your after an oem one, I've got a bright orange one you can have, plus money your way... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safcdixon Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 Cheers for the offer dude but I already got a oem one fella got it a few month back, make me an offer on the bumper I have no idea what it's worth tbh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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