Mike's White Widearch N/A Supra Project

[Mike2JZ]

Nope, but it is 20 years old im changing the dash loom due to nasty looking wires figured i might aswell swap the matrix

 

OK cool, can help with that. Just shout when you wanna do it

[The Raven]

nice one cheers dude

[Mike2JZ]

In an attempt to increase the cars MPG, got some new denso 02 sensors that were installed this morning

 

Got a fairly long trip to pick up some parts this weekend, so will see if I can get more than 275 miles out of a tank.

 

 

Also got the trd spoiler being painted 040 white. Hopefully it's done in time for bluewater, so for the moment back to being spoilerless.

 

 

 

Really need to change that front bumper. If anyone has any second hand top secret or do luck, please give me a shout.

[Mike2JZ]

Quick update of recent happenings.

 

After upgrading the O2 sensors, I went for a trip to Southampton and back, managed to get 340 miles out of a tank, not driving like a saint either.

 

Quite a result compared to the 250-275 miles I used to get. Will upgrade the leads/dissy cap/fuel pump & see if I can get closer to 400 miles per tank.

 

In Southampton I picked up some second hand black floor mats in good condition, thanks again Wipeout!

 

Also picked up these cobra seats

 

 

Will get some rails for them over the next month, hopefully get them installed in the new year

 

Decided I will keep the kitted look, but will be making some slight adjustments to make it look a little more modern.

 

To mark the upcoming changes to the car, decided I'd make a quick photoshoot to document how the car looks at the moment.

 

 

 

 

 

(forgot to close the door on this shot, didn't realize till I got home )

 

 

The 2015 look

 

The changes I have in mind aren't too drastic, and using my nooby photoshop skills here is what it should look like once it's done:

 

 

 

• Paint the lower section of rear bumper black
  
• Fill in the area on either side of the license plate
  
• Relocate fog light to rear lights
  
• Install facelift rear lights
  
• Change exhaust to something with more angle.
  
• Fill in & fix gaps around rear arches + any other paint defects
  
• Debadge
  

 

 

 

• Install top secret front bumper
  
• Install UK headlights (maybe)
  

 

And thats about it, the only thing after that would be dropping the suspension slightly + bigger spacers. Quite sure, my budget won't extend that far, at least for the beginning of the year.

 

Works starts in January, can't wait

[ripped_fear]

very nice plans for it mate. good luck.

 

Also i have a set of Uk's if you fancy a deal to swap mine for yours.

[The Raven]

Nice set of plans dude.

 

Will look mint when your done

 

The only problem i can see is the "Fill in the area on either side of the license plate" I dont know how you would do that without the risk of cracking

[Mike2JZ]

Nice set of plans dude.

 

Will look mint when your done

 

The only problem i can see is the "Fill in the area on either side of the license plate" I dont know how you would do that without the risk of cracking

 

Gonna shop around some of the local bodyshops to see what options are available. The guys at dings,dents,trims seemed confident it was do able, time will tell I guess

[The Raven]

Yeah those guys are good, but id make sure on what they are using, i know they have mad plastic modding skills over there. So maybe thats the plan.

 

Id be interested none the less.

[Abz]

Looking good for 2015, especially the rear which will look a whole lot cleaner!

[supra_ufo]

seen this on OCUK mate

plenty of haters on that LOL

Anyway liking the plans

[Mike2JZ]

seen this on OCUK mate

plenty of haters on that LOL

Anyway liking the plans

 

Well it's expected once you leave the friendly doors of this forum, I'm sure opinions will change once its done.

[Hammer]

Great to see this one out and about again, well done. Like the plans for the rear. Like the Veilside front on white, for some reason it really goes well IMO but the change also looks good. Good work.

[The Raven]

Whens the work looking at being done dude?

 

 

Also can you text me, i changed my phone and lost all my numbers!

[Mike2JZ]

They reckon it should take about 4 days to get every ready, but I'm not going to be around for the next month, so I think mid-late Jan will be when we schedule this in. Just txt'd you as well

[Chris6t9]

Lovely car mike I do love a white supe! Where abouts are you in Kent, cause I know what I'll be doing if my heater matrix goes! Looks mad! Don't think I would know where to start!

 

Look forward to seeing it sometime next year hopefully at blue water!

[Mike2JZ]

Well haven't updated this in quite some time, so time for a recap.

 

At the end of last year my clutch started slipping so in the new year I had a new exedy stage 1 clutch installed. After the run in period, the clutch feels really good, almost like oem. Also returned from my holiday to find that some scum had broken off my passenger side mirror and made a small dent in my door

 

Browsing the internet one day I found some guy in japan who did the following to his supra:

 

 

 

Compared to mine, I loved the way that he kept the stock wings, but had the veilside skirts + rear wheel arches, giving only the rear of the car a wider look. I was sold on it, and found two new stock wings asap.

 

 

Absolutely loved the flimsy wrapping the new wings came in, 1 layer of bubble wrap but luckily nothing was damaged

 

Before installing the new wings, decided to go drifting one day. Had a lovely session of going sideways, and instead of calling it a day sensibly, I thought "let's go for one more run" and of course managed to have a love tap with a rail. Needless to say the rail came away the victor and my rear quarter and wheel took a hit.

 

 

 

The rear bumper damage was all cosmetic and just needs a bit of filler/sanding to fix. The rear quarter was bent slightly where the rear bumper and quater meet, so got my friends at GRD motors to bend it back.

 

The rear wheel had a good chunk missing from it. Most wheel refurb shops said the wheel was gone, so I set about trying to source another AVS VS5 18'' 9.5j and couldn't find any in the UK that matched.

 

I didn't really want to run mismatched wheels, so I broke out the credit card and after much photoshopping of what could look good I decided on getting 4 Japan Racing JR10's

 

Here's a gallery of the possible choices, though I thought this looked the best

 

 

 

 

 

 

Front - 18'' 8.5j +45 - 235/40/18 Falken 542

Back - 18'' 9.5j +40 - 265/35/18 Falken 542

 

My first inspiration of this build that can be seen on page 1 of the project had CCW classics and I loved the way they looked with the bodykit. I can't afford the actual CCW's so started looking for alternatives and it was a toss up between the XXR and Japan Racing equivalents of the classic. I can't say I've ever been convinced by the XXR polished look, looks a bit weird to me and no doubt a pain to keep clean. The polished silver look of the Japan Racing wheels was more subtle and got my vote.

 

Yes I know they are "knock offs" of CCW classics, but for £600 I couldn't say no. I guess time will tell if they endure the sands of time or if I die in a catastrophic accident that all the wheel purists can say "ha told you so".

 

Anyway, with the car off the road for a bit whilst I was waiting for the wheels to arrive, thought I'd get round to installing the new wings and playing with the bodywork a bit.

 

 

 

It was also around the time that I sourced a genuine top secret bumper from Ash's T51 supra that he was breaking. In anticipation for it to arrive, thought I'd take off the veilside bumper and rip off the huge undertray it has to see how it looks. I don't know about the rest of you, but I actually really like the veilside as it looks above. If only it had a more subtle undertray then maybe it could make a come back.

 

Took a trip up north to leicester one weekend to pickup the top secret bumper and meet the famous keron to get a new wing mirror and some other bits

 

Upon returning spent most of a sunday with mates at the workshop switching my tyres from my old wheels to the new, and installing the new bumper. After a few weeks of waiting for parts I was back on the road.

 

 

The supra was going through it's panda looking phase at the time as I had to wait to get the new wings/bumper painted, but I was back on the road so didn't really bother me too much.

Edited April 6, 2015 by Mike2JZ (see edit history)

[Mike2JZ]

So whilst I saved up for the new wings and bumper to be sprayed I drove around with a mix of black and white, and I was really tempted to paint the whole car black, but as we already have a black supra local to us, decided to keep the car white so we can get some ying and yang photos in the future

 

I'd driven the supra as far as bristol a couple of times (roughly 320 miles there and back), but really wanted to drive it abroad on a long distance trip to see if it could make it there and back in one piece.

 

Managed to get 4 days away from work and university to make a quick trip to switerland to go see the folks. With a 10-12h drive to get there, found a friend to help share the driving with me. With such a long drive, it is also probably a good idea to have a good night of sleep before setting off, but with our eurotunnel train leaving at 3:00am, I decided 3 hours beforehand to install a 1st decat that arrived that night in order to get more noise for the Swiss tunnels.

 

Barely making our train with 0 sleep, we set off on our journey through france.

 

 

I normally don't like the french, but I have to give it to them that their toll roads are epic. Huge straight roads, where we were averaging 100mph the whole way, much to the displeasure of my fuel economy.

 

12 hours later, we arrived at our parking spot

 

 

Where a brand new M3, 911 and mint ferrari 360 were waiting, all owned by the same guy. Only in Switzerland I guess

 

It was quite a strange 4 days in terms of weather. There was a foggy haze that had landed itself over the UK, France & Switerland that limited visibility and ruined the chance of getting any cool scenic/mountain filled photos.

 

 

There is meant to be a glorious view of the mountains, valleys and lakes I swear!

 

So the best shot I got of the whole weekend was

 

 

Definitely need to return one day and get some proper photos and mountain driving when the weather is more favorable.

 

Upon returning back home safely, I have to credit the Supra, it covered a decent amount of miles

 

 

And it ran flawlessly, had no issues the entire time, even whilst being ragged through the french countryside.

[Mike2JZ]

Once back in the UK, I had enough money to get my front end resprayed.

 

 

Also sourced some facelift clear indicators off an old MR2. I presume they are the same as the Supra indicators as they are a perfect fit.

 

Next on the list was some clear side markers to fill the holes on the side of the bumper. Gonna be running the 3 indicator look for a bit till I decide whether to go with the full prefacelift or facelift look.

 

Was working on the car one night in the workshop when we had a special visitor, that made for a cool shot. Even cooler now that F&F7 has a white supra in it

 

 

So most recently I got the new side markers installed and got the car ready for the F&F7 bluewater meet.

 

Took my first trip into London after the film with branners, abz & another black supra (sorry don't know your username!). Was pretty awesome to roll through London with a small convoy of Supra's! Even had me and Abz lined up at the traffic lights lighting up our rear tyres for some spectators.

 

Took some quick shots in front of the London Eye before returning home.

 

 

 

So that's everything till now.

 

Only thing I've got left on my to do list for now is to respray as many parts of the body as I can with some new paint, as the new wings/bumper paint looks so much nicer than some of the worn paint on other parts of the car. Once that is done, I'll just be enjoying the summer driving and taking the car to as many meets and shows as I can

[Abz]

Fantastic update and was superb having a run in London with you Mike! Car sounds lovely & goes well, them new wheels make a HUGE difference to the car!!

 

Oh and the other chap in the Black is Bob, his been on all the Dragonball Runs with us, might have bumped into him there.

[The Raven]

So that's what you been upto. Looks much better now. The best bit was she ran for that many miles with no issues always nice to know your car is tip top.

 

I'm back in the road now to so if you hear of anything local give me a shout

[Mike2JZ]

Recently I took some time to take my headlights apart and give them a clean. All in all not a difficult process, but I found that I couldn't replicate the chrome look of the pre facelift inner section with paint (testing on something other than the headlights).

 

Cleaning and polishing the inner section gave me a pretty good result so I'm happy for now with it, ultimately the yellowing of the lens from inside has been removed which was the point of the restoration.

 

Not the best pictures/lighting but:

 

Before

 

 

After

 

 

 

Next up was a quick trip north of london to pick up an exhaust and some other bits from Broomie, who was an absolute legend and helped me out a great deal. Thanks again dude!

 

Got the supra loaded on a ramp and took the old system off.

 

 

New 3'' system on

 

 

Finally got the angle I was looking for out of an exhaust

 

 

Idle sound between the new and old system is almost the same, however on WOT the new system sounds sooo much better, a very deep sound.

 

 

 

Have had some issues with the top secret bumper fitment due to some old threads that have been tapped into the bumper. Retapped the bumper and can use proper screws to hold the bumper in place instead of zip ties. Bumper actually sits properly now.

 

 

Quick photo from the recent bhp show

 

Edited May 5, 2015 by Mike2JZ (see edit history)

[ShawnPreece]

Just read through your whole thread mate and you done a great restoration there loving the look of it now and the new exhaust looks great too

[supra_ufo]

Hey mike seen this on OCUK, one think i forgot to mention, your tyres are looking rather slick

[The Raven]

Nice work mate.

[Mike2JZ]

Hey mike seen this on OCUK, one think i forgot to mention, your tyres are looking rather slick

 

New ones already on the way