DaveR Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 (edited) Over the weekend, in amongst the Bluewater meet and the Shakespeare County RWYB day, I continued the motion on changing more of my car's tired-looking factory blackish-grey electrical conduit to shiny new blue stuff because, as the title says, you just CAN'T have too much blue in an engine bay! Firstly I switched my focus over to the inlet side of the bay: While I was at it I also trimmed the edges of my SRD engine bay box in blue silicone tube. I originaly did every edge, including the one where it attaches to the inner wing, but actually I decided I didn't like that and preferred the clean look of it being un-trimmed. Maybe you CAN have too much blue! : This morning I also re-covered the wires in the vicinity of the brake fluid reservoir, as well as giving the brake servo a touch of paint where a bit of rust had formed underneath the master cylinder (it's hidden in the pics and in fact is in the flesh to all but the most scrupulous of inspectors - as it were - and me, of course!) and cleaning all of the grime from that portion of the bay too: So my freshly blue'd bay now looks like this: Edited June 9, 2013 by DaveR (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 It seems like ages since I posted an update, so here goes... Apart from a few more gucci bolts / cup washers in the engine bay (decent pic to follow shortly), I took delivery of my new car mats courtesy of DC Automotive. I went for black mats with a blue trim (better than my now very tatty grey-and-mud "Supra Pure Sport" ones) and, for something truly unique and to give my car her true identity, my custom Suki logo on the edge, also in blue. I understand this won't necessarily be to everyone's taste, but I think it looks ace! So, pics: Massive thanks to Dane at DC Automotive - he did me a good deal seeing as I only wanted / needed the front mats rather than all four (pointless seeing as I have no rear seats! ) and the quality is top notch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Something that I've wanted to do for a while is to fit a set of bonnet pins, partly for that added sense of security from a "the bonnet is much less likely to fly up at speed" point of view and partly because I think it looks really mean! So, having found and ordered a set that I liked from eBay for less than £9 delivered, I got around to fitting them yesterday. Having dropped the headlights out (for what seems like the millionth time this summer!), I measured and drilled the holes in the front support bracket thing (someone will be able to tell me the correct name for this I'm sure ) and loosely fitted the pins. I was able to make use of the pre-drilled hole that ordinarily houses the bonnet stay on the driver's side, which was a bit of a bonus: With that done I marked up the corresponding area on the underside of the bonnet: Point of no return time... Guide hole drilled in the outer section of bonnet: And then the (frankly huge) 16mm hole to fit the pin: I decided to angle the top portion of the pin assembly, as that allowed me to have the square-section of the top of the pins themselves parellel to the front of the front support bracket, guaranteeing symmetry. After a bit of to-ing and fro-ing getting the pins set to the correct height, everything was finally bolted down: With all of the metal filings cleaned from my engine bay and the headlights put back in, the end result (unwashed as my car may currently be... ) looks like this: I'm chuffed with the results and it really does add an extra air of menace to the front of my car! More pics to follow when she's washed and I get a chance to take some... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Good updates I do really love the look of your Supra and those bonnet catches do look great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Good updates I do really love the look of your Supra and those bonnet catches do look great. Thanks Josh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrashcanman Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Those catches look awesome dude, also loving the carpets with the suki logo on them like you said much better than those tired old mats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxluc Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Nice touches Dave. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted July 10, 2013 Author Share Posted July 10, 2013 Those catches look awesome dude, also loving the carpets with the suki logo on them like you said much better than those tired old mats Nice touches Dave. Thanks guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 (edited) I can't believe it's been more than a month since my last update, so here goes... After it was pointed out to me at the 20th Anniversary shindig by TheTurtleshead (big thanks again matey! ) that my cam belt was running such that it sat over the forward edge of the cam pulleys, I had a chat to Mr Whiffin and booked my car in for the next day to get diagnosed / fixed. The advantages of running a clear cam pulley cover right there - not only does it look cool it means you can spot potential engine-wrecking problems! As an aside, later that day DavidP broke out the most comprehensive tool kit ever to be kept in the back of a Supra - - and checked all of the obvious and easily accesible bolts for tightness, finding that all was well. The problem turned out to be that the (still stock and therefore 18 year old...) bearing on the cam belt tensioner had given up the fight and started to crumble. Darren at Whifbitz very quickly resolved the problem - that man REALLY works fast on a Supra! - and then, since the front of the engine was off anyway, I got him to fit a nice shiny billet auxilliary belt tensioner (to complement my alloy aux' belt pulleys... ) and a carbon lower cam pulley cover. Before the dressing went on, I spec'd a Whifbitz 72-degree thermostat as well. Carbon lower cam pulley cover and billet aux' belt tensioner (also my cam belt sitting correctly on the cam pulleys ): And my new and improved engine bay (not the greatest pic because it's REALLY bright outside right now!): The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that I also (quite some time ago...) replaced the stock boring bolts holding on my horn and SRD engine bay box with blue cup washer'd M8 bolts that match my M6 ones. Much nicer. With the engine reassembled and the cam belt issue thankfully resolved, I asked Darren to have a look at my gearbox, which I thought was leaking a bit of fluid. I had the upper seal replaced last year when I uprated the clutch and gearbox mounts, etc, so was fairly confident it wasn't that. My theory turned out to be right (it had to happen eventually! ) and it was the propshaft seal that was well and truly on the way out. With that replaced and everything cleaned up and bolted back together things are looking much happier and moisture-free around my gearbox. Darren did point out that my engine oil sump is starting to ooze some oil though - hardly surprising as once again it's still the original part, but definitely something I'll need to address at some point in the very near future. Perhaps with a nice built block or something...? With Paul having just had a delivery of all his range of carbon fibre goodness, I couldn't resist buying a set of carbon door handle surrounds and decided to change the look of the back end of my car slightly with a Ridox-style carbon lip spoiler too (more on that later...). I ALWAYS end up spending way more than I planned when I go to Whifbitz for a day! Door handle surrounds: These are one of the best-fitting aftermarket parts I've ever installed, by the way. Usually there's an amount of fettling or tweaking required with carbon parts but these slipped on perfectly first time. Good bit of kit. Lastly, I asked Paul to have a look at my DASH2. It's still not 100%, feature-wise, with the most noticeable problem (other than the screen backlight functioning in a bizarre way) being that my recently replaced intake air temperature sensor wasn't working at all and read a constant 48-degrees. With a laptop hooked up to the Syvecs, the problem was traced to the sensor simply not being plugged in to the ECU at all...! That'll do it. Darren squared away a pin on the end of the wire and plugged everything in as it should be and the problem has gone away. We then altered my overboost warning. It's been bugging me that the warning lights (which are the same final 2 LEDs in the shift light sequence) come on at 1.7bar, which happens relatively often when I'm 'pressing on' and changing gear at WOT. It's now been set to 1.8bar, which I think is much more the point I need to start worrying that something's gone wrong! I asked Paul if he could check my launch control too, which for some bizarre reason has not been working at all since I last got Ryan to tweak the ECU settings. Instead, every time I engaged it, the engine simply stalled. Very strange. Laptop out and with Ryan on the end of a phone, the problem was actually traced to the cal' switch. It turns out that the launch control HAS been working all this time, but the thing that wasn't was the switch to set it. No one could work out why but when I turned the switch the first three positions (high boost and then sequentially lower) worked as they should, but then when I turned the switch to position 4 (low boost), the ECU saw position 5 (lean cruise). From that point on on the switch, everything was read incorrectly, so when I was on 5, it saw 6 (launch), 6 saw 7, etc... Basically, position 4 just didn't exist and was throwing everything out of whack. I hadn't identified this because as it stands my DASH2 isn't correctly displaying the cal' switch settings (something Ryan is working on a software patch for, apparently). Anyway... With a bit of electrical tinkering on the laptop, things are working as they should and I have the full range of ECU adjustability once again. As I was about to leave, there was a worrying 15 minutes where my car simply refused to start (the fuel pump wasn't kicking in at all, despite the immobiliser being disengaged) and the laptop could no longer connect to the Syvecs, but this was eventually traced to a blown fuse in the ignition circuit. Phew, frankly! So... Suki's fighting fit and better than ever and my launch control (which I've had turned down from 4k rpm to 3200 rpm) is ready to start scaring people for no good reason once again! The uprated thermostat has served to make my water temps a consistent 10 to 12-degrees cooler than they were previously, by the way - I wish I'd had one of these fitted before! Edited August 29, 2013 by DaveR Typo (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jamesy Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Lovely car mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 As I mentioned in my previous post, while I was at Whifbitz having my cam belt issue resolved (yes, and more shiny things fitted...!) I opted to buy a carbon Ridox-style boot lid lip spoiler. The next day, I set about fitting it. Sadly, this is about to turn into a bit of a tale of woe... Expect a lot of these: It all started well. I got everything measured up ready for the necessary single hole in the boot lid to be drilled and got the boot trim / locking mechanism disassembled painlessly and set about drilling a 16mm access hole in the inner skin to allow me to get a tool onto the base of said screw. This led to mistake number one... While I was drilling this hole (no different to the ones I drilled in my bonnet a few weeks ago to fit my bonnet pins, of course), the drill bit caught on the metal and was pulled upwards. I released the 'trigger' as soon as I felt the tug, but a fraction of a second too late and the tip of the drill bit hit the underside of the boot outer skin, putting a minor dent in the metal and also chipping the paint. Because of the angle at which I was drilling the damage isn't in an area that gets covered by the spoiler either... Access hole (pre-clean up, obviously): Damage: Clearly I'll have to get a chip repair company on the case as I fear anything I try to do will only make it worse... I pressed on. Maybe this was mistake number two? Anyway... I VERY carefully measured and checked the dead centre of the boot lid and the spoiler and offered the parts up to check it all looked right, which it did. Boot lid marked up: Spoiler marked up and 2mm guide hole drilled: I also successfully drilled the 5mm screw hole in the boot lid for the self-tapper: And came up with an ingenious way of holding the tool / screw in place while I got the spoiler ready with a generous helping of Tiger Seal adhesive: Spoiler / Tiger Seal (ignore the mess... ): TBC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Continued... This is where things REALLY went wrong. When I planned this process in my head, I had intended to create a vertical slot rather than a simple hole in the boot lid to allow me a bit of flexibility range-of-motion-wise. It is after all extremely difficult, despite all the measuring, to GUARANTEE the hole I placed in the boot lid is precisely where I needed it to be. Unfortunately, as you can see from the picture, I kind of forgot this stage. Consequently, when I came to put the spoiler in place and tighten up the self tapper, I noticed that I did indeed need just a small amount of movement from where the screw was going into the spoiler. This wasn't too much of a problem, I thought, even though the Tiger Seal was now starting to do its thing and the self tapper was pretty much fully home in the spoiler. Very carefully, I unscrewed everything and removed the spoiler. With Tiger Seal now on the boot lid as well, I quickly slotted the hole in the boot lid. Things SHOULD have now proceeded easily, but unfortunately, because I had removed the screw from the (now-widened) hole in the spoiler - the material of which is only 1mm or so thick - it meant the self-tapper wouldn't grip properly. This is necessary because the spoiler doesn't sit entirely flush with the boot lid and needs to be pulled downwards in the centre in order to bond properly. A bit panicked now and with Tiger Seal pretty much EVERYWHERE (it's NOT nice stuff to work with... ), I nevertheless came up with a solution: I drilled an additional 2 slotted holes in the boot lid 20mm either side of the original to allow me to use the same large access hole I'd already drilled and did the same on the spoiler with the guide holes. Unfortunately (yes, it gets worse...), because I'd failed to take into account the fact that the new self tappers would be going into the underside of the spoiler at an angle because I was using the single central access hole, the spacing on the holes in the spoiler were - annoyingly very carefully measured to be - in the wrong place. I realised this as I was tightening everything up and the spoiler began to move to the right (simply because I started tightening the right screw first, although I did them each a little at a time). As a consequence of all of this and because I knew that if I removed everything for a second time I would have the same problem and then have to try to drill yet more holes into the boot lid and the spoiler, which for obvious reasons I didn't want to do, I simply had to press on and fit the spoiler slightly off-centre. As an added insult to injury, as I was removing my socket screwdriver from the underside of the boot lid, the head caught on the side of the hole and pulled off the extension, falling somewhere into the inner skin of the boot lid. No amount of fishing around with a magnet yielded any results so, basically, it's still in there... I haven't got any pictures of the work in progress because, funnily enough, doing so didn't really occur to me due to the "think fast, try to save it..." nature of it all. I used the Tiger Seal to put a bead around the edge of the spoiler, which has improved things slightly fitment-wise (it looks flush, which it didn't before because of the off-centre-ness), but it doesn't take the most observant individual around to notice that it's around 7-8mm off : I guess from a distance it doesn't look too bad (damage to the boot lid between the spoiler and rear windscreen notwithstanding), but I'm guessing anyone following me from now on will twig that something doesn't look right. Basically, I'm gutted. I spent a not insubstantial amount of money on a part that I only decided I sort of wanted for something a bit different and then an entire day's work ruining my car. Sucks... :(:(:( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Lovely car mate Thanks Jamesy. Shame I kinda ruined her... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Sucks to hear about the Ridox lip woes Dave Out of curiosity, is there any reason as to why you didn't just opt for tiger seal exclusively? I believe Marc(AB10) did that for his. It has been on there without issue for a few years now! Though I guess you will have to just invest in a carbon hatch and fit your spoiler/lip to that instead... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Sucks to hear about the Ridox lip woes Dave Out of curiosity, is there any reason as to why you didn't just opt for tiger seal exclusively? I believe Marc(AB10) did that for his. It has been on there without issue for a few years now! Though I guess you will have to just invest in a carbon hatch and fit your spoiler/lip to that instead... Simply because it doesn't sit entirely flush with the bootlid and needs to be pressed down (or pulled from underneath, hence the screw) REALLY firmly to get it to do so. I couldn't think of a suitable way of inducing that pressure for long enough (and consistently enough) to allow the Tiger Seal to cure but not damage the bootlid and / or the spoiler (ironically...), so I took the advice given to me and drilled the hole. It would have gone fine if I'd just remembered that extra 'slotting' step... But yeah, a carbon hatch has just moved further up the priority list... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrashcanman Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Sorry to hear that mate, if that's a whifbitz ridox boot spoiler that's an expensive but tasty bit of kit, I'm sure you'll sort it out soon enough, you coming bluewater next week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 sorry to hear that mate, but for future reference a larger hole and a washer work wonders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Sorry to hear that mate, if that's a whifbitz ridox boot spoiler that's an expensive but tasty bit of kit, I'm sure you'll sort it out soon enough, you coming bluewater next week? It is indeed the Whifbitz one - don't worry about the cost though, I got a good deal! I'm not sure if I'll make the BW meet next week simply because I'm starting back at work the next morning. Yes that's right, for anyone not paying attention, that means I'm starting on the Saturday... sorry to hear that mate, but for future reference a larger hole and a washer work wonders Yeah that was my first thought but the problem was access - I couldn't get a decent sized washer through the double inner skin and reliably not drop it into the insides of the boot lid (like I managed with that socket extension... ), which is why I came up with the slotted hole idea. Uh and then forgot to do it and caused myself all kinds of dramas... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetrashcanman Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 It is indeed the Whifbitz one - don't worry about the cost though, I got a good deal! I'm not sure if I'll make the BW meet next week simply because I'm starting back at work the next morning. Yes that's right, for anyone not paying attention, that means I'm starting on the Saturday... Yeah that was my first thought but the problem was access - I couldn't get a decent sized washer through the double inner skin and reliably not drop it into the insides of the boot lid (like I managed with that socket extension... ), which is why I came up with the slotted hole idea. Uh and then forgot to do it and caused myself all kinds of dramas... Haha, well judging roughly how much you've spent at Whifbitz at the last few years I should bloomin hope Paul gives you a good deal Ah that sucks dude, RE BW, I also have work on the Saturday think I'm starting at 6am an all, hopefully you'll make it Oh and what was wrong with the cambelt? Was one of the pulleys bent in the end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Haha, well judging roughly how much you've spent at Whifbitz at the last few years I should bloomin hope Paul gives you a good deal Ah that sucks dude, RE BW, I also have work on the Saturday think I'm starting at 6am an all, hopefully you'll make it Oh and what was wrong with the cambelt? Was one of the pulleys bent in the end? Yeah the amount I've spent at Whifbitz over the last 16 months is, shall we say, sizeable so I always swing a deal! I'm umm-ing and ah-ing about BW, so don't write it off yet. I'll make the call on the day... Ref the cam belt, this is the problem with posting multiple updates - people miss some of them! So, see Post #359. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Dave car looks good, But you are a copy cat.... Another few parts we now share! But I do like the carbon door surrounds... Both you and dad both don't pay full prices at Whifbitz...We are there best two customers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 you are a copy cat.... Another few parts we now share! Yeah the thought did occur to me at the time that this would mean yet more similarities... Both you and dad both don't pay full prices at Whifbitz...We are there best two customers! Damn straight! If I'm keeping them afloat I want a discount! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bailey Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Yeah the thought did occur to me at the time that this would mean yet more similarities... Damn straight! If I'm keeping them afloat I want a discount! The built block idea sounded interesting....Maybe Paul can do you and dad a deal... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveR Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 The built block idea sounded interesting....Maybe Paul can do you and dad a deal... Stop it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Bieber Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Stop it! Built blocks are awesome..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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