Supra hardtop v160 twin turbo, single turbo conversion and complete car overhaul

[Andy Ven]

So, i finally purchased a car which i have been wanting for many years and only now have been able to afford and to house. I was never keen on the interior so decided that i would buy a car which needs quite a bit of work. By doing this it would mean that i know the car inside out by the time ive finished rebuilding it and it would be exactly what i wanted.

 

I managed to get myself a 1993 red twin turbo factory manual 6 speed v160 which was fairly unmolested. The only parts fitted were an aftermarket intercooler and a fuel cut defender. Practically everything else was stock. The car has done 130k miles so not exactly low milage.

 

The engine

 

The plan is to rebuild the engine with new parts to give it a refresh and make it like new again. Parts which are worn will be upgraded. Im trying to do this on a ‘budget’ but parts that need money spending on them will get the money they need. Power wise i want this car to be a great street car with possibly the odd track day. Not the usual 1/4 mile car. Responsiveness is key to my build so i will be keeping the stock intake manifold and using a relatively small turbo. Target peak power is 700hp at flywheel.

 

I have a twinscroll borg warner s362 sxe turbo with a mild steel tubular manifold. 800cc denso injectors which mount in the stock fuel rail.

 

I have also bought a r3c triple plate clutch. This might seem as overkill for such a small turbo but i would rather be safe than sorry, especially with the hammer it will get on trackdays.

 

I will be getting a standalone ecu but havnt fully decided on which one yet.

 

The chassis:

 

The plan with the chassis is to get it fully acid dipped and starting again from fresh. This way i know i have a good base to start from and it should be perfect when fully protected. This car will not be used in wet weather either. Just a nice summers day.

 

I really like the factory look as far as rear bumper, and the stock side skirts (hockey stick sides) but think an aftermarket front bumper may be needed.

 

I will update on the more i do and add some pictures of the progress i have done so far.

 

The time scale is a year, possibly a year and a half. Any questions on anything just ask!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Style]

Looks like a good base for the extent you plan on going to with the build, good luck!

[mr.gill]

Nice base. Looking forward for all the upgrades and stuff. [emoji1687][emoji482]

 

 

[MrGRT]

Nice base find Andy, following

 

 

[Andy Ven]

I removed the engine and gearbox a couple of months ago ready for overhauling and cleaning.

 

The previous owner had done a messy job of filling up the power steering fluid, but to my benefit as it had stopped anthing on that part of the engine bay from rusting [emoji1305]

 

The car shell itself has been left alone for now as i wanted to concentrate on getting the engine and gearbox in a good place. Knowing what these things can cost to repair, i thought it best to strip them both to check any wear and replace parts as necessary. The car came with little to no service history so i feared the worst. The gearbox also wouldn’t engage 6th gear so i took a gamble getting it.

 

Having removed the gearbox from the engine, the clutch seems fairly new as it does not look bedded in yet.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

Into more detail on the engine for the next part. So i have bought myself an engine stand and started stripping the engine. 25 yeArs of wear with 130k miles and no service history. Whats the worst that could be.

 

Ideally i should have done a compression test before hand to see what all the cylinders were producing. But i was too giddy to get it all stripped down and see inside.

 

I stripped all the inlet manifold, starter motor, and other small parts off and jet washed the whole block off on the engine stand. This took a small amount of the muck off.

 

Then i removed the cam cover and found out how black the inside was with burnt on oil and everything else. I also found the spark plugs to be loose when removing them.

 

This is the parts all stripped down ready for cleaning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Swampy442]

Ah, you bought this one, good luck with it

 

Few points, have you driven a 700hp, rear wheel drive car? People often chuck figures around without actually understanding what it means in terms of driving or understand just what it feels like.

Second, if you want 700hp you'll certainly need bigger injectors than 800s for a bit of fuel safety, and lastly get a Link. I just got a Link plug in foe my big turbo aerotop

 

I have an Excedy twin plate for sale in my parts thread btw

[Andy Ven]

Ah, you bought this one, good luck with it

 

Few points, have you driven a 700hp, rear wheel drive car? People often chuck figures around without actually understanding what it means in terms of driving or understand just what it feels like.

Second, if you want 700hp you'll certainly need bigger injectors than 800s for a bit of fuel safety, and lastly get a Link. I just got a Link plug in foe my big turbo aerotop

 

I have an Excedy twin plate for sale in my parts thread btw

 

Swampy, no i have never driven a 700hp rear wheel drive car. I am not one to go for stupid power and then bin it. One of the lads i know is a tuner who does traction control methods on high power fwd cars to stop wheel spin and gain traction in lower gears. I will also be looking at having the boost mappable by what gear it is in to make it more driver friendly. It wont be getting used in the wet and will be having the best tyres i can afford fitted.

 

I will see at the time what the injector size is like for power and keeping the afr at the desired amount. I hear a good few people running these injectors and making good mid 700hp so i will have to wait and see. I havnt bought these denso injectors so they don’t owe me anything. If they do not suffice, i will go to some 1000cc and probably have to go for rear fuel rail setup rather than fuel through.

 

I quite like the sound of the haltech ecu with its self adjustable afr which kind of ‘self maps’ to a degree. You just set your afr you desire at certain rpms and it adjusts the fuel to suit. But im still weighing up all the pros and cons of each one.

 

Yeah ive got an os giken R3C triple plate ready to go on which should be more than enough for the power i want.

 

 

 

[Scooter]

Best of luck with it all.....

 

Not getting in 6th could be a easy fix...

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?39598-Trouble-getting-in-to-sixth-gear&highlight=reverse+gate

 

http://www.mkivsupra.net/vbb/showthread.php?58639-Anyone-else-experienced-this&highlight=reverse+gate

[Swampy442]

Things happen pretty quickly, even with less than 600hp, its just something to be aware of mate, not being a knob. Well, no more than normal

 

Also 6th gear, check the bushes on the tripod supporting the shifter, the rod from the shifter to the gearbox input (one on my box was worn) and the nylon bush on the lever itself

[Andy Ven]

Yeah i can imagine it will be a handful. I will probably start with 1 bar boost and get used to it before getting too giddy. I have gone for the setup i believe to give me the most linear curve possible without using a supercharger if that makes sense. I want it to be drivable but also go well when pushed to the redline

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

Engine update:

 

So the engine head and block has been cleaned. I cleaned the head using a high pressure cleaning cabinet which uses a cleaning solution and an anti corrosion solution.

 

I could not believe how good it came up. Looking basically like new. The only parts it didnt do so well at was the carbon buildup in the exhaust ports themselves. This didnt phase me so much as i have also ported the exhaust slightly. Just removing the casting marks more than anything. (Pics of the porting to follow)

 

I also cleaned up every valve on a wire wheel and got them back to basically brand new. Result! I didnt clean the springs up as i have purchased some new BC springs but am keeping the oem retainers. I am not revving much over stock so the small weight saving of titanium vs the high cost of nearly £200 determined the outcome of that one.

 

One thing i did notice was that the valve seats on the exhaust looked slightly pitted almost like rust spots. Has anyone witnessed anything similar? Again i dont have close up photos of this.

 

I have lapped all the intake and exhaust valves to give them the best possible chance of sealing. Doing this has removed the small surface marks on the exhaust valve seats which is a bonus.

 

Valve guides and valves seem all within spec which im very happy about considering the milage on the car.

 

Brand new valve stem seals fitted with the new BC uprated valve springs.

 

New nice parts that have just turned up on my doorstep are some GSC S1 7030 cams along with some adjustable cam gears off ebay. £35 for the cam gears. I thought at that price its worth giving them a go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Annabella]

Cool build.

[Andy Ven]

So, today

 

Head work:

 

I test fitted the new gsc s1 cams to the head to check all the valve clearances. Most were within spec with only 2 being out of tolerance by 1 thou. I will get these shims ordered but am yet to fully find somewhere to purchase them from.

 

Bottom end:

 

I have been in two minds on how to progress with the bottom end. Half of me would expect an engine with little to no service history and 130k miles to be well.. much past its best. So the initial plan was to replace all bearings, main, crank, and install new rods and pistons.

 

However, after doing alot of measuring and comparing against what sizes are when they are built. The engine itself seems to have barley worn which has absolutely amazed me.

 

Each bore has worn 1 thou which is amazing.

 

Each piston is still the same size as they came out the factory having not even worn the machining marks off.

 

The ring end gaps are still within factory spec of initial size from fitting. Possibly worn 2-3 thou from day one.

 

All of the main big end bearings had very minimal wear but i will replace these as i have removed the conrods off the crank and replacement bearings are only around £80.

 

Because i am keeping the oem pistons, rings and rods. I have cleaned them up to remove the carbon and old oil. You can see how much baked on oil there was on the oil seal rings. The block has been cleaned up already so they can be re-fitted when the new big end shells arrive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

Sorry its been a while since the last post. It has been a busy time with work and trying to sort out my bearing sizes on the crank and conrods.

 

So, i stripped most of my engine parts off that i wanted vapour blasting and took them to the local blasting shop. I was quoted £300 to clean a handful of parts which i was shocked about. Safe to say instead i have now bought a blasting cabinet and a sack full of walnut blasting media. This means i can clean up anything from now on which will be great for the build.

 

The valve covers have gone away for power coating satin black. I have also drilled and tapped the pcv breather holes to suit AN10 fittings (one was drilled and tapped m16x1 (hole measured 13.5mm before) and the other measured up at 18mm, which was tapped m20x1.5.

 

Ive been pulling my hair out with bearing sizes. So much so, ive ordered plastigauge, a DTI bore gauge and some 0-25mm 0.001 digital micrometers.

 

Ive come to the final hurdle which is finding that the rods seem to have stretched where the bearings fit. Vertical is around 0.03mm bigger (over 1 thou) that the horizontal measurement. I need more information before perusing wether to buy new rods or live with the rods i have.

 

When i have more information, i will have more updates and photos of parts that have come back, and the engine assembly will begin!

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

New update,

 

After extensive research, i have decided that the stock conrods have stretched too much on the big end, and therefore would need grinding back to circular. They have worn oval by 0.03mm. It doesnt sound alot but as i am planning on running more than stock power, i will upgrade them.

 

I can only assume that its due to having done 130k miles that it has stretched oval.

 

I was stuck between two different rods, brian crower sportline rods. Rated at 175hp+ a rod. Or maxpeeding rods rated at 150hp per rod

 

The BC rods are £630

The maxpeeding are £320

 

I decided to go for the maxpeeding rods. Ny power goal is 6-700hp so well within the limit of the rod. I could not justify the extra £300 and thought i would give them a try.

 

Because i am stripping the rods and the pistons, i will balance them all to the same weight.

 

I have also purchased acl 0.025 main bearings as these were closer to the size i needed from the measurements i had.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

Evening guys,

 

So its been a busy time at work and frustrating time as well.

 

Firstly I bit the bullet and went with the maxspeedrods... and when they arrived i wish i didnt. Everything looked great till i measured them up.

 

The big end measurements ranged from 55.014mm to 55.039mm across the 6 rods. There was only 1 rod which was anywhere near. Measuring 55.018mm top to bottom and 55.022mm left to right. Even this seemed a bit on the tight side.

I asked for a return the same day they arrived.. to which it took nearly 3 weeks of arguing and threatening legal action for them to finally accept a return. They would not pay for postage to return the rods which did not even meet their own tolerances.

 

A local race engine builder had such in depth knowledge about everything i was wanting to know. From the different manufacturers to the size tolerance each part should be. One thing he commented on was that Brian crower rods are now manufactured in china, and explained the full backstory behind why i should not choose them and get manley instead.. even though they are cheaper than BC. He also explained the reason why carillo rods are so expensive, the fact that the quality control is so strict and every rod is made perfect. What it says on the tin is what they are to the exact mm.

 

The acl main crank bearings i ordered from H-Tune never even got dispatched after been ordered 2 weeks prior.

 

So.. not a great start to the build. From here i have

 

New standard size ACL race main and conrod bearings have been ordered from WHIFBITZ

 

New manley conrods have been ordered from

Whifbitz. These come with the arp2000 bolts.

 

So parts are due to arrive next week. The cam covers have come back from the powder coaters. I have modified them to have an10 fittings for the oil breathers and also removed the baffle plate and will be bolting this back in with green loctite.

 

Hopefully more pictures to come next time when it starts to go back together.

 

 

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

So,

 

All new parts have arrived the other day from whifbitz. Great service, was there on time and speedy delivery from America.

 

So today was assembly day. Ill let the pictures do the talking this time

 

 

 

[Andy Ven]

 

 

 

[Burna]

Are you not replacing the pistons?! I definitely would while you are there, and I did!

 

Ringlands going on old OEM pistons is quite common from what I was told, and is what happened to me not long after I showed it single turbo boost, at a very moderate level off boost I might add, way less than 500bhp.

[Andy Ven]

Hi, what do you mean by ringlands? Do You mean the groove where the rings sit in?

 

 

 

[and1c]

Hi, what do you mean by ringlands? Do You mean the groove where the rings sit in?

 

 

/QUOTE]

 

Yeah, looks good progress though! But I would have fitted some CP pistons at the same time and arp head studs b

but the pistons arent cheap. But my single was running on stock pistons no issues. I heard it was NA T (eg NA) pistons that had weaker ring lands, but if Burnas went and it wasnt detonation related, then who knows

[Burna]

Hi, what do you mean by ringlands? Do You mean the groove where the rings sit in?

 

 

/QUOTE]

 

The material that supports the rings. Here’s a photo of mine that went.

[Andy Ven]

I was reluctant to buy uprated rods, i checked all the parts against the manual for deformation and everything seemed bang on. I have heard alot of people run stock headbolts with no isses. My target is not massive HP (6-700) so i have aimed my parts accordingly.

 

I am building to a budget, now i know buying new and upgraded is always safer, but if i did this. The engine build alone would be thousands dearer.

 

It will also hopefully give insight for others who are looking to build on a budget, what can be kept and what needs upgrading.

 

Thanks for the feedback though guys [emoji1305]

 

 

 

[Burna]

Yeah, looks good progress though! But I would have fitted some CP pistons at the same time and arp head studs b

but the pistons arent cheap. But my single was running on stock pistons no issues. I heard it was NA T (eg NA) pistons that had weaker ring lands, but if Burnas went and it wasnt detonation related, then who knows

 

Nope, no det at all, just old tired OEM pistons.

 

I agree with you, fully build it while it's apart, but I'd go for better than CP pistons, I went Wiseco.