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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

UK Spec Engine Rebuild @ HiddenPerformance


Karl M N

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Apologies for any poor picture quality, I crop everything in Microsoft paint to reduce the file size. Can never get image upload sites to work.

 

My car is a 1994 UK Spec auto which I bought about 2 and half years ago. It was a bit rough, had some horrible 19" wheels on it, veilside skirts (which I unfortunately still have on) and a variety of half done jobs. I would have preferred a manual however at the time Supras were jumping up in price quickly and I decided to jump on and worry about a manual swap later. Had I known my wages were going to effectively double I would have just saved some more but I guess there's no going back now.

 

A few months ago I took my car down to HP for a run on the dyno. It made 392hp, which is okay although I was hoping to break 400. However several health problems were discovered. The compression was poor; with at least two cylinders below 150psi, and the car was running lean at higher RPMs. Where you see most TTs peaking at around 6.5krpm, mine peaked just below 5.5k. Naturally I felt like it could have done better.

 

 

Months later the car was due an MOT. It couldn't make it as it kept dying and the garage couldn't figure out what to do. I was getting a bit fed up with fixing the car, as multiple small fixes soon cost a lot so I decided to go all out. I gave Mike at HP a ring to discuss a full engine rebuild and a few other bits and pieces. I went down to the garage, got the car started and stashed it away at work. Mike came down on the Sunday to pick it up himself.

 

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After the engine was removed it was stripped down for inspection. As you would expect, everything is a bit filthy.

 

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After the strip down the block and crankshaft were off to the machinist. The crankshaft was polished up and in full working order. Because of the compression being so poor I was expecting to have to fork out for some oversized pistons, but luckily it didn't come to that. Just a hone and some new piston rings.

 

 

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Edited by Karl M N (see edit history)
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With the harder to reach parts out, it was a good opportunity to get them hyrdoblasted. They look 10x better now and hoepfully I can keep them that way.

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New parts then arrived. Usually when I buy things they sit in my room until I decide to sell them on again so it's good to know they'll be used for once.

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Finally the engine was put back in and the car was given it's final health checks.. Mike replaced the first fuel injector which I'm hoping was the reason for the car running lean.

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Here are the final results of the compression test

Cyl 1: 180 psi

Cyl 2: 175 psi

Cyl 3: 175 psi

Cyl 4: 175 psi

Cyl 5: 175 psi

Cyl 6: 173 psi

 

 

The car was taken in for it's mot. Although it didn't quite make it to it's last one the MOT tester did identify some issues with the brakes which were sorted out before the MOT.

Last week I finished up the last few miles of the running in period and gave it an oil change. The car feels a lot smoother now, and I'll be updating then when it gets back on the dyno. I'm sure it will have no problem breaking the 400BHP mark.

I'll be taking the car back sometime next year for some other much needed work like the rustproofing.

Edited by Karl M N (see edit history)
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