Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) The Beginning… I thought I’d put a thread up showing the progress with my Supra since I have owned it and then update it with it’s progress, this is more of a way for me to document all that’s been done and a way for everyone to use it as a reference if needed. So from this the Supra was bought in October 2011 and then Project Dark Knight began. First I’ll explain the project name, I want to keep the car looking stock with a stealth/sleeper feel to it and this name kind of suits what I want to achieve! I bought the Supra as a stock 94 pre-facelift jspec GZ twin turbo auto, with the only modifications being ASA alloy wheels, HSD coilovers (a very welcomed mod!), K&N panel filter and a custom 2.5” catback. Also the UK brakes came with OEM discs, Chris Wilson Fast Road pads, braided lines and Motul RBF600 racing fluid (which has proven to be a great setup for these brakes!). I always try and buy a near to stock car as I then know exactly what mods have been done, but all the above were welcomed mods Being a GZ model it did mean it came with traction control, ABS, Torsen limited slip diff, UK/bigger brakes, active front spoiler and electric folding mirrors, it also came with the optional roof spoiler. One of the main reasons I went for this car was due to it’s full engine rebuild, so it is a very strong engine and has done 14,000 miles to date, the car has done around 103,000 miles. Anyway this is how the car looked: The Mods Started… Well the starting point wasn’t really a mod; it was a thorough cleaning and detail combined with removing the roof spoiler (I really think it ruins the line of the Supra). The wheels were taken off for cleaning and sealing and the arches also had a good seeing to. The paint received a 2-stage paint correction, which left great results, the paint pretty much looked new! All the work was then sealed in with a premium wax, the car really did look stunning! A few examples of how the paint was: During: And then the results: I was really happy with results and was definitely glad I removed the roof spoiler! Edited November 27, 2014 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) The Looks... The next point on the list was the looks of the car and what I wanted to do with it, I wanted to update the look but with everything I did make sure it still followed the stock style. The starting point was to fit some facelift rear lights, which completely changed the look of the rear! Pre-facelift and facelift: And the finished article: Carrying on with the lights I moved onto the front, the lights themselves were in very good condition for jspecs, no yellowing and no corroding on the chrome rings. From this I fitted some 6000k HID’s (HB3/9005 fitment) which greatly improved my vision at night! A comparison: Now you will notice that this is the first picture where the active spoiler is down, this is because for some reason it didn’t work. Through having the lights out I found out why, basically it wasn’t plugged in, I reconnected the connectors and it was working perfectly and was good to see the great condition it was in I picked up a Zunsport grille, which I picked up off Ryan from his V8 Supra; it’s a really well made part and is very easy to fit, it also protects a lot of the stuff that sits exposed in the mouth of the bumper! All fitted and finished This takes the car to January 2012 where I got a few Christmas goodies that I wanted to get fitted. One part that really makes the car look dated is the pre-facelift indicators they really don’t suit the look. So I fitted some facelift indicators (with sidelights) using chromed bulbs so I didn’t have the amber reflection. I also swapped the sidelights for LED’s that matched the HID’s colour. I also finally got round to sorting out my private plate and fitted it to the Supra. Before: After: Another purchase was something else off Ryan, I bought his S2000 stubby aerial conversion as I really didn’t like the stock electric one. This was really easy to fit and with the signal booster the radio is crystal clear Before: After: Edited September 1, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Suspension Setup Now the car was looking the part and the LMM meet was coming up I thought I’d really want to start using the car more so I took it to have a full 3D wheel alignment done as well as get the whole car lowered slightly as even though it was on HSD’s it still sat pretty high! London Motor Museum Meet At the end of January 2012 was the LMM meet, it was a good day and a 370 mile round trip (on one tank of fuel too!)! This was really my first opportunity as a Supra owner to meet some of the members (even though I had been at Suprapod and JAE in 2011 lol). Nick had put a great video together where my car featured http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGZ5TEYFo1g&feature=plcp Fast Show 2012 Now I wanted to know what the car was running at stock before doing any performance mods, I had already been on a Dynodynamics dyno and the Supra made 316BHP which I was pleased with. In March it was the Fast Show at Santa Pod so I thought I'd go down to see what the car ran in stock form and full street trim, it proved to be a great day out and the weather couldn’t have been better! The day proved the car was strong for stock but that my launches were awful lol, I put a video together of my runs, the best being 13.9s @ 103mph: And a few pics from the strip: Pre-Dragonball Detail Earlier in the year I signed up and paid for Dragonball 12, so with the countdown starting I gave the Supra a wet sand and full detail so it was looking perfect for the event: Edited September 1, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Dragonball... This brings the car up to Dragonball the event was epic, the car performed perfectly and everyone just had a great time! From leaving from Nottinghamshire, going all the way to Rotterdam and then back just felt great, everything was as it should and I got to enjoy some great driving! Some pics from the trip (note in the 2nd pic that my TT has the bonnet down with no problems and there are 2 NA’s behind it with the bonnets up ): And as usual Scott made a great video of the trip, where I was camera car for the Saturday we were there: Edited March 26, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) The beginning of more power After Dragonball I thought I should start adding some performance and so I started buying the parts for BPU. The first few purchases were a Blitz Nur Spec R catback and 3” custom stainless steel 2nd decat, this added some great noise to a very quiet stock car! Interior From this I decided to think about the interior and particularly the steering wheel as I had the big 4 spoke OEM wheel with the airbag, now I searched for an age trying to work out which would look the best when keeping a stock look in mind! I settled on an MR2/Celica steering as it looks the part but also looks stock. In keeping with the stock functions I wanted to keep the cruise control, so I fitted a facelift stalk into the steering wheel and it works perfectly What I removed: And finished: Suprapod 2012 I went down to Suprapod in July to catch up with people and also have some fun on the strip, I managed a lower 13.9 but I wasn’t running for times as my brakes in the way of boost braking were not playing ball and needed replacing so the launch was even worse than when I ran in March at Fast Show, this does show though that the car is quicker even with just the catback and 2nd decat as I slightly improved my time without doing proper launches, here are some pics of the day: And a great video of the event: http://vimeo.com/45827642 Edited September 1, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) More BPU Parts… After Suprapod I thought it was time to give the Supra a good service while at the same time swapping the spark plugs to some grade 7 NGK BKR7EIX’s and installing a boost gauge into the clock location: After the service some more BPU mods were fitted these being a Whifbitz 2.5” 1st decat, Walbro 255 fuel pump, HKS fuel cut defender and a Chris Wilson 1 bar restrictor ring. Old fuel pump: New Fuel pump: FCD: 1st Decat: This meant the car was boosting nicely to just under a bar Hull Motor Show & Posty Cruise At this point not much had happened to the car other than going to a good couple of shows, first, of which was the Hull Motor Show and the Posty Cruise: On route to the posty cruise: At the Posty Cruise where I got 2nd in the show and shine : JAE & Japshow Finale I went to JAE in September, wasn’t a high turn out numbers wise but it was a great weekend! Here are a few pictures: At the end of September I went to Japshow Finale but for some reason didn’t take any pics of my own car lol. But I did put this video together, was a great convoy and a pretty descent show! Edited January 19, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Now the shows/meets had mainly finished for the year I started to look at a few things that I wanted to get done to the car. To start off with I started looking at the suspension, brakes, wheels and tyres. This was due to me wanting to make sure I had the optimal setup before adding more power... there isn't any point increasing the power if you can't put the power down the best you can. From this I actually found out about a few parts that Lee had for sale (cheers Jamie!) and this timed well as I wanted to decrease unsprung weight where possible so the Advan RS wheels he had fitted the bill perfectly. They fill the arches and allowed me to have more rubber on the back and were substantially lighter than the wheels I removed: Now while on route to SRD I met up with Branners to pick up a few bits, these were the sidepods and arch plastics so the skirts and spats can be removed if I decide to: Edited March 26, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Now in between the mods I went on Dragoncol which was a great event to give Colin a good send off! There were some great driving roads down in Wales! Definite proof of some hard driving in all sorts of weather lol, this is how the car was at the start: And this is how it ended up, really needed a clean but was proof that a Supra doesn't get hurt when dirty And whats an event without one of my videos : Edited March 26, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Right now at this point I thought the car was pulling well, the grip is there after having a full geometry fast road setup and having very good tyres, so what was the next step? Well I decided to improve the efficiency of the setup rather than just upping the boost from 1 bar (this will come), so the car was booked in with Lee at SRD for one of his 4" front mount intercooler kits, a new exhaust and dual autobox coolers. After a 3.5 hour drive I arrived at SRD and the work began: Here are some pics of the parts that were to be fitted: SRD 4" Front Mount Intercooler Kit: SRD Dual Autobox Coolers: 4" HKS Ti Exhaust: So onto the ramp and the the front end was stripped down with the new PAS cooler fitted on the right: Dual gearbox coolers fitted: FMIC fitted: Intercooler piping modded so the stock airbox can be used to increase the efficiency: Exhaust fitted, it's weird that the bigger 4" HKS Ti exhaust has better clearance than the 3" Nur Spec R I had before! All fluids popped up and checked and then fired it up, it's quite loud now! And finally back home and all cleaned, the front end looks a bit empty now as the active spoiler had to be removed to fit the FMIC: Edited March 26, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 8, 2012 Author Share Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) Now as some of you know I ran a group buy for the MVP lips and received mine a while a go and just hadn't got round to do anything with it. So now the active spoiler was removed and the front end was looking very bare I thought I'd fit it. It still needs modding in terms of the ears being removed and it needs painting but I do like how it looks: And I went to the Dynodaze meet and here are some pics of how it stands now, the only modification being is that I've added a UK number plate holder as it really looks a lot tidier that the jspec one: Edited March 26, 2013 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abtin90 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Great mods so far. Lovely looking car you have Keep the updates coming. Subscribed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
safcdixon Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Nice write up Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra Gaz Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Nice work dude, lovely deep glossy paintwork you have there, drooooolll... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 This is quickly becoming one of my favourite cars on here Looks like you bought a cracking example, which as I'm sure you're aware are hard to find now. With the plans you have for the bodywork it's only going to get better. Are you going for facelift headlights at some point? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 This is quickly becoming one of my favourite cars on here Looks like you bought a cracking example, which as I'm sure you're aware are hard to find now. With the plans you have for the bodywork it's only going to get better. Are you going for facelift headlights at some point? Cheers Yep facelift headlights are on the list Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross C Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Good write-up mate. I do love your car and totally agree with the "stealth look" you are going for Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kill1308 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Cheers Yep facelift headlights are on the list I was about to say I think some facelift headlights would really finish the car off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Very nice indeed. Subscribed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Nice Adam! The new wheels transform the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Cheers guys Nice Adam! The new wheels transform the car. Thanks Will point out it was your thread that got me thinking that I should document mine lol, it was a great read:thumbs: You can't beat a black Supra Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Westy Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Thanks Will point out it was your thread that got me thinking that I should document mine lol, it was a great read:thumbs: You can't beat a black Supra Thanks buddy! Takes alot longer to do these threads that I thought!lol! But will be good to look back one day and see how far the car has come. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt H Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 One word that you could benefit from: concise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkddav3 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Good thread mate. Just wondereing though. Now you bought those advans of lee, are you sticking with them or still going for those hre's you showed me at the pod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littler Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 (edited) Good thread mate. Just wondereing though. Now you bought those advans of lee, are you sticking with them or still going for those hre's you showed me at the pod? Sticking with the Advans, the HRE's were a 12 week turn around and then they didn't have the wheel well in stock for the size I wanted on the rear, the Advans came up at the right time as I hadn't parted with my money for the HRE's and I've always wanted the Advans so very happy (Hence why I was slightly happy when Jamie mentioned it at Pod lol) Edited October 9, 2012 by Littler (see edit history) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FOSTA Posted November 18, 2012 Share Posted November 18, 2012 Hummm I feel really silly now as my thread title i picked is pritty much the same :/ Fantastic work buddy and loving the sup! Black cars rule! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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