Crossy's White Tiptronic VVTI Thread

[Crossy]

Hi all,

 

I've been saying I'll start this thread every month since I bought my Supra in January 2018... And here we finally are.

 

For people interested, I've been way more active on Instagram over the last 2 years @Crossy_Supra

 

I'll be playing catch up on all of the updates to the car as I work through all of my images, so I'm planning on uploading a post here every couple of days at least until I'm at todays present date!

 

I am completely self taught mechanically, so my knowledge isn't spectacular, but everything I do I plan very well and research like mad prior to taking the issue/upgrade on; however I am a Power Engineer so I know my way around tools/cabling/power etc.

 

Previously owned an MR2 MK2 Rev1 NA-T which was my introduction to the world of Japanese Cars which was at best a bag of nails which slowly became less of a bag of nails as I worked through jobs over the best part of a year. I eventually got fed up with it and sold it on, with the intention of buying an ST205 GT4 or a DC5 Integra.

 

I ended up finding a fairly clean MR2 MK2 Rev3 Turbo on Gumtree of all places, non running about 10 miles from me listed for £600, and after a brief chat with the guy who owned it I was off with a trailer to pick it up for £400! I had the intention to get it running, or strip it for parts.

Upon getting to the address I actually realised I knew the lad selling it, but hadn't seen him in years, so he gave me the full lowdown of the car and said it had been in a local garage to us for about a week and they couldn't figure out the problem; so presuming the worst I imagined I would learn a lot about the car by stripping it eventually.

Spent my evenings for a week working through the engine bay components with a multimeter checking the readings against a service manual I had managed to source and found absolutely nothing other than the starter motor being a bit rubbish so replaced that, still no start but the engine was turning and trying. After a week of labouring through with a spare hour here and there I got fed up and left it for 2 weeks while I had a lot of work on, only doing small jobs to tidy the car up bodywork wise and interior wise. On returning to the car a week after, I decided to tidy the bay up and bolt everything loose back in its rightful place, and would you believe it, it started up next time I turned the key! Must have been a ground out of place due to the Fuel Injector Resistor Pack or similar... Couldn't believe it.

Long story short I kept that MR2 for 6 months and then sold it on for £3,000. A nice profit after only spending circa £300 on parts and £400 on the car!

 

I finally got my ST205 GT4 for a reasonably cheap price of £2,400, loved that car and kept it for just over 4 years. It went from being a very average example to being 1 of the tidiest examples I had seen by the time I decided to sell up. I honestly don't think there was a part of that car I hadn't worked on by the time I decided I wanted a new project.

This car was probably up on axel stands just as much time as it spent on the road, I quickly learnt why the OC for them referred to them as "faffs".

It looked brilliant when I went to sell it and nothing had been wrong with it for about 4 months, which must be some sort of record. Had a few people booked in to view it on Monday the following week and would you believe it, 1 of the boot lid brackets snapped when I was at work on the Wednesday, leaving my poor other half who was just trying to unpack some of her bags left with it at an angle left on 1 bracket and the 2 struts panicking until a kind neighbour saw her and helped her line it back up and sit it in the right place. Ordered this and changed it by the next day, disaster averted, 4 days until viewings and issue resolved.

Decided on the Friday to double check the brake fluid levels as I had replaced the old callipers, pads and discs with new a month before and had been bedding them in slowly,

so topped up the fluid and thought it would be best to bleed them, get to the last corner, drivers side front and splat, nice fresh brake fluid all up the arch liner where a fairly new hose had ruptured. Couldn't believe it. Luckily TCB got me a replacement hose out by Saturday 1pm (How's that for service bearing in mind I ordered it at 5.30pm Friday) and again it was disaster averted. Luckily the car sale itself went incredibly smooth and the 1st viewer bought it there and then for £6,000.

 

So, onto the Supra! I had actually picked this up from Mike McDonough a few weeks before selling the GT4. I'm sure a lot of you will know him and recognise the car, he had a 20+ page build thread for it also! Mike was great with all the info he provided, really nice guy to talk to and buy the car from.

 

It was originally imported via JM Imports; it's a 1998 Facelift VVTI.

 

So this is the car in a local car park on the day I drove it home! What a drive it was as well. I had previously driven Manual cars only, so getting used to the Tiptronic system was a steep learning curve, which at 1 point had me reaching for the clutch, left foot braking at full force and bringing us to an immediate stop from 25mph whilst slowing down for a junction luckily the car behind me was a fair distance off.

The other half questioned my sanity and asked me what the **** I was doing. Safe to say I didn't make that mistake twice, proceeding to drive it for the next 60 miles with my left foot glued strictly to the carpet...

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Annabella]

Nice car crossy, how does it compare to the Mr2 and ST? (Besides the lack of left pedal)

[Crossy]

I'd have to say the most fun I've ever had in a car was the MR2 MK2, they're crazy, proper foot to the floor drivers car with loads of feel of involvement, engine noises right behind your head, and surprisingly light so they take off brilliantly.

The ST205 GT4 was great aswell, handled like it was on rails but just felt a little bit lazy at times, even after modifications, probably wouldn't ever want another one mind.

The Supra is a different breed though, by far; but out of all of them I do miss the MR2 MK2 Rev3, and would have one again in a heartbeat for a track car if the chance ever comes up!

[Mr2kyle]

I'd have to say the most fun I've ever had in a car was the MR2 MK2, they're crazy, proper foot to the floor drivers car with loads of feel of involvement, engine noises right behind your head, and surprisingly light so they take off brilliantly.

The ST205 GT4 was great aswell, handled like it was on rails but just felt a little bit lazy at times, even after modifications, probably wouldn't ever want another one mind.

The Supra is a different breed though, by far; but out of all of them I do miss the MR2 MK2 Rev3, and would have one again in a heartbeat for a track car if the chance ever comes up!

 

This is exactly the reason I come back to whenever I think of selling my own Mr2. They are brilliantly fun cars and I don’t even fit right in mine....hence the reason I got the supra

[rider]

Are you planning on doing the Longden car show again this year? I'll be taking my Supra along if the event runs this July. That'd be a first to have two Supras there at the same time. There was a woman who brought a purple Supra one year. That car was rough as was, no better not.

[Crossy]

Yeah I'll be down there if it goes ahead as planned!

Nice to have a catch up like last year, would be great to see yours in person again as well.

[Crossy]

Couple of fun facts about the search for the car.

 

I originally planned that the only colour Supra I wouldnt go for was White.

 

The 2nd was that I would rather keep away from Autos and source a manual TT6 to fix up if needs be.

 

So as it goes, of course I ended up with a White Supra with the Tiptronic variation of the Auto Box

 

Out of the fair few Supras I viewed over a 5 month period, the second I saw the condition this one was in underneath, in the engine bay and bodywork wise I just knew I had to go for it. Stock body so I didnt have to faff around with taking badly beaten bodykits off to see any hidden nasties and sourcing other bumpers etc, a 20+ page build thread on here ensured I could see the condition of the car in most ways before I even turned up to view it! And once I did view it, it was an absolute no brainer. There was nothing on the car I would be playing catch up with from the word go, it had gotten everything it had needed since import.

And most importantly it sat within my budget without stretching over, so I could immediately begin working ideas going forward. I was a little bit gutted I couldnt stretch to some of the very tidy TT6 options people had messaged me suggesting their temptation to sell, but I made a decision and didnt look back! For at least a Month...

 

However I still had the feeling of missing a Manual almost immediately, having always driven them I had never actually driven an Auto/Tiptronic, so one of my first thoughts was that I wanted to drop the Tiptronic box.

 

I began researching box swaps and what I wanted to go with, learning about the R154, CD009, M3 Box, V160 and their advantages and disadvantages; but there was 2 things holding me back at this point:

 

1. All of my cars had been project cars from the day I picked them up, whereas this was in a very good, working and clean condition. So did I really want to start playing with things which would likely see the car off the road for a prolonged duration immediately after getting it.

 

2. I was actually enjoying the Tiptronic system. Couldn't even believe I was saying it. Being a die hard Manual box only sort of person, chastising anything Auto, this was really playing up on my mind.

 

I decided to hold off doing anything rash and enjoy the car for 6 months minimum before messing with it. This was a massive decision for me as I was always tinkering with my cars! Weekends got crazy, I even got back into playing football with my free time haha.

 

I took my Girlfriend to Wales for a mini break, decided to take the Supra and it didnt miss a beat there, around there or back; also a first for any project car I had owned! Down towards a nice beach parking area I had my first proper look back at the car moment, and come to the realisation that I'd finally got my hands on 1 of my dream cars, so obviously had to take a couple of pictures!

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[rider]

Many don't seem to realise how fortunate they are or were to have owned one of these cars. Its good to see you have bonded with yours. I've put all my modern cars on SORN and taxed the Supra for six months from the 1st of May having not road driven it for 7 months, on the second I smiled a lot. So long as the smiles carry on and everything on and about the car works what more could any car offer? Do you see it as a long term keeper?

[Crossy]

That's got to be enjoyment every time you have to set out the house on a drive then! Do you miss any of the modern day options/comforts? I honestly find there's nothing drastic between my Supra and my Girlfriend's BRZ for instance, and on the rare occasion she's driven the Supra she has been beaming ear to ear when she gets out haha.

 

Yeah exactly, that 6 month period I figured would be purely enjoyment and i was not wrong! It was absolutely faultless. And to this day in the 18 months after regardless of what I've been doing to it it's never missed a beat; by far the best car I've ever owned. I largely put that down to how long I looked for the right car, and the steps I went through sourcing information from a lot of you here on my Searching Thread as to what I should really be searching for to suit my ideas at the time. And obviously thanks to you for showing me around your Supra as to what areas to look out for issues and rust etc before I even started viewing options, likely saved me from at least 2 problematic cars.

 

Yeah I can't honestly see myself parting with it anytime soon, I'd love to hold onto it forever if feasible. I was offered an R32 GTR about 8 months ago as a straight swap and although that peaked my interest, it wasnt enough to sway me at the time.

 

I think the only way I would let it go is if I could either get a very good TT6 in swap with cash their way depending on condition. Or if it was plausible for me in future to get my hands on a Viper or something truly crazy and it would fund towards it

[Crossy]

During the first few months of driving it I decided to book tickets to Japfest Silverstone with everyone here on the clubstand!

 

Took a day giving it a good deep clean on the Saturday. Bodywork decontamination, cleaned and a sealant put on. Waxed later in the evening once the sun had backed off a bit!

 

I also managed to completely clean the engine bay, polish the metal components under there, polished the exhaust system and cleaned up the calipers while the alloys were off having a proper clean as well.

 

 

 

 

Was actually the first time I met a lot of the members I had been speaking to in the build up searching for my Supra; had a really good turnout! Couple of pictures of the Supra from the show!

 

 

 

Also snagged a few pics of other members cars that caught my eye!

Including Gary's, LittleNums, Michael's, Shaun's and another Michael's. Had a ruck of other pictures from the show too.

[Crossy]

Worth noting, the very first thing I did after work on Monday was fabricate a new steel bracket for the intercooler where the one bracket had become weak. The lean on it had been bugging the living hell out of me!

[Crossy]

Decided a few changes were going to start taking place with the car by this point.

First on my list were the alloys, as they were still partially curbed in areas, I went through a variety of colour choices over a few weeks.

I've always settled on 1 rule when changing the colour of alloys; it may seem a brilliant idea initially, but I have to wait at least 2 weeks before pulling the trigger and it's always served me well.

Within a week I had decided Candy Red, Cadburys Purple, Cobalt Blue, a more subtle Anthracite colour and just couldn't make my mind up!

I finally settled on the idea that they were going Gold and it actually stuck for 2 weeks regardless of other colours people suggested.

 

I had a hell of a game sourcing a colour I liked, and every single colour I asked the Powdercoaters to source they either couldn't get their hands on it or it was a discontinued powder. They actually suggested a few colours such as Subaru's gold they use on their cars but that just didn't seem close enough to what I was looking for. 1 of their techs had a brain wave and actually suggested I visit a nearby placed called Bitec and work with them to pick a colour. I did. They had 200 variations of gold... It went from exciting to stressful so quickly.

 

Outside checking the swatches, to inside, to under harsh light, back outside, next to the car, continued and continued until I narrowed down 3 final colours and then the final choice. I was so concerned with it being Gold it could look tacky rather than a bold but still sort of classy finish I wanted. Finally it was all booked in, powder chosen!

 

I jacked the car up and put it on axel stands and took the alloys up the next day with some fresh tyres. Had 1 hell of a nervous week at work.

 

Picked the alloys up and was extatic with them, a few of the people there including the owner had actually said they weren't sure the colour would work well when it arrived and they were hesitant to do it, but they were actually so blown away by the finish. I was still concerned if they would look right on the car and against the red calipers and was just in a rush to get them home and on!

 

Here is the finish, and an image from a show which was a week or so later!

 

 

 

 

[Crossy]

The next stage was ordering kit to give the car a complete 3 stage polish. I went with a DAS6 DA and Mezerna Polishes on the recommendation of a friend.

 

I was fortunate enough to have an area at my work place (Engineering Hub attached to a Data Centre with Faraday Cages) that was in shade all day, so I made use of it to keep out of the direct sunlight. Best option I had at the time and it worked perfectly over 2 days.

 

I began by washing the car, used a reset spray to remove any leftover waxes and sealants, followed by a complete decontamination of the bodywork using an iron fallout remover, then a glue and tar remover, followed by another wash stage. I then clay barred the whole car, you wont believe what comes off even though you cant see it!

This was followed by another wash, dried and a wipe down with an IPA to ensure the bodywork was free of any residues, masked up areas that needed it and I was ready to begin polish.

 

 

It didnt look bad at all in person or in pictures, which is why I couldnt actually believe the difference when I began the initial cutting stage as shown below!

 

 

This first cutting stage took me around 6 hours of very careful polishing and ensuring I wasnt being too harsh on each panel and area of paint. In hindsight I wish I had taken pictures of every panel closely to show the difference as the panels became their true colour and swirl free!

 

 

 

That was all I had time for on day 1, I washed the car, IPA wiped it again and set a cover over it for the night. Came back to it at 7am the next day, took the cover off and washed, dried and IPA wiped it down again just to ensure no contamination got onto the paintwork overnight under the cover.

 

I carried out stage 2 which was still light cutting but also the beginning of the gloss enhancement adding depth and shine to the paint, this took me another good 4 hours.

 

I carried out the final stage which was strictly gloss enhancement with no paint cut back at all, buffing the paint to a glass like finish, which took me another good 5 hours. I then cleaned the car again, dried it and IPA wiped it down to get rid of any remaining polish residue and placed my new Likwid Art Gold badges down.

 

 

This was followed by 2 layers of 6 month sealant and 2 layers of wax to ensure the paintwork was protected and not exposed to the elements and it was job done, as well as the whole of my weekend haha.

 

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Crossy]

With the alloys and bodywork tidy I turned my attention to the engine bay. The foundations were already great here, so it only needed a few touches and some good work on the bonnet.

 

Firstly I removed the bonnet, removed the lining which was looking worse for wear and gave the underside a good wipe down.

 

Followed by sanding it down in the areas that needed spraying and then IPA wiping it down and spraying it.

 

I was that happy with the outcome that I decided to leave a lining off of it. I had originally planned to tidy mine up and place it back on with new clips, but it looks so much fresher without. I'm thinking I may counter the heat dissipation issue with reflective foil in future if needs be.

 

While this had been going on I had sanded down the lettering on the cover and hand painted them Gold to match the alloys. This was only quickly done to prove I liked the concept so it wasnt the neatest job, something to do again further down the line.

 

I had also bought a strut bar and sanded that down. I decided to go with crackle black on the strut mounts and gold again across the bar itself and am extremely happy with how that has come out!

 

The last job of the weekend was to remove some left over adhesive from the door sills. I think their must have been kick plates mounted both sides at some point.

 

After using a rubber wheel and some Glue and Tar remover it came off nicely. Gave it a good clean afterwards and laid down some sealant to protect the paint here.

[WayneW]

Where did you buy your brake booster cover ?

 

Looks very nice !!

[Crossy]

They were from SRD I believe!

1 of the parts that was on the car when I purchased it, finished in crackle black, going to be using them a bit more in the future to relocate a few more things underneath when the time comes!

[WayneW]

oh ok !! Will ask Lee

[Crossy]

Had a bulb failure, so next up was replacing the rear bulbs with LED upgrades, the rest were really dim anyway so it was something that was bugging me.

Removed the rear lenses and kept a drying towel in between the light and the body to ensure no marking on the bodywork.

 

This is the mess I was greeted by...

 

Naturally I had to clean it out before doing anything else, having dirt thats built up anywhere bugs the hell out of me! I used a degreaser spray, gave it a very careful hit with the jetwash on a low setting to get rid of the majority. Then another coating of degreaser agitated with a detailing brush and another blast. Finished it up with a detailing spray and a microfiber, paint was like new back there haha.

 

LEDs attached and in, literally the easiest job to do

 

While I was back in the boot area I also decided to unplug the power to the aerial motor and isolate it, then wrapping it in electrical tape and tucking it out of the way.

Had wanted to do this for ages, car looks so much better with the aerial staying down.

 

I had also bought some Carbon Sill covers and had decided while I was out with the tools and it was a nice enough day I'd line them up to plan how I was going to go about fitting them.

 

Went about taking the plastic sill covers off. Best plan of action I found was to slide them left and right to free everything up, and then carefully pop out the retaining clips 1 by 1 ensuring not to be to rough as they're supposed to be reasonably fragile

 

Same course of action here for cleaning as before with the area behind the rear lights, was actually amazed how well these areas were coming up once clean

 

Lined up the Carbon Sills to ensure the fitment was good for a later date, I had a show coming up at this point and the last thing I wanted was to make a quick attempt at something the day before a show and make a mess of it, but as you can see the fitment looked good

 

Gave the car a complete snowfoam and wash, so would have been irresponsible not to take the opportunity to take a snowfoam shot!

 

Went out in the evening to take an image of the rear lights as well now that the LEDs were in

The improvement was crazy, so much better!

The only downside is you now get the bulb error on the dash. I plan to 1 day mess about with the rear lighting circuit as I believe it will be down to the resistance measured. I'll need to put an old bulb in, measure the resistance on it, and then replace the new bulb in and wire in a resistor to that value to see if it cures the warning light on the dash

(However we are about 10 months on from this and I still haven't found time yet haha)

[ShawnPreece]

Looking great mate attention to detail one this one is incredible, looking forward to seeing her again

[Crossy]

Appreciate that mate. Hopefully if the shows at the end if the year are still on eh!

[Crossy]

Decided to book on last minute to Gravity Show hosted by Slammed UK. Fortunately enough they had a few inner spots left and managed to get it onto the inside set up.

 

Drove it up on the Saturday and prepped the car to be show ready, and then left with the other half in her BRZ and went home! Gave it a full clean and 2 layers of wax. Also added a Blackmarket Black Satin Sunstrip to the car and removed the Speedhunters one, added the Gold Chrome 750mm Blackmarket Decal over the top.

 

 

Returned nice and early the next morning to enjoy the show! Was actually surprised how much we enjoyed it, being a mix of cars and a lot of air ride set ups. Was definitely 1 of the best shows we had been to that year, the set up and organisation was spot on.

 

Had a couple of people send me images of the Supra which went straight onto Instagram!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gravity will 100% be something I continue to apply for over the years, may even apply for the Interior Show and Shine in future!

Edited June 14, 2020 by Crossy (see edit history)

[Luxluc]

Nice car

[Crossy]

Thank you mate

[Crossy]

The next time I got to use the Supra was Japanese Performance Show, having been to it the year before on the MKIV stand which was organised here I was buzzed for it this time as it was 1 of my 2 favourite shows of that year.

 

I actually applied for an Indoor Show and Shine position and managed to get 1 alongside 3 other Supras which I'm sure a few of you will recognize as Dom's, Mani's and Elliot's.

 

This is definitely a show I advise people go to if you get the opportunity, its always a great day out.

 

 

 

 

 

I was approached during the end of the show by a young lad that wanted to shoot the Supra along with a couple of other cars, so I stuck around while the place emptied a bit at the end and let him use the car outside now he wanted. To be fair to him he did an absolutely great job of it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm hoping JPS will still go ahead this year as it happens late in the year. I'll hopefully see you all there as it's a great social day out with a good crowd, and you can see the changes to the car in person, as this thread is currently about 9 months behind with what I've done to the car and have ordered still to come!

[Crossy]

I managed to get a quick photo shoot in at Lake Vyrnwy which was a nice day drive out, this was all before Winter when I knew I wouldnt be using the car so wanted to make the most of it!

 

The results were tidy as well, even though the car was covered in road grime at this point.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Also took the car down to Caffeine and Machine on the way to a weekend away in Bath. Was my second visit to the site and people seem to love it and are always asking about it, especially asking to pop the bonnet. (I've actually set up a Supra meet here which was planned for April 2020, which got postponed due to the Covid Lockdown! This will be going ahead still once the lockdown is lifted and they're properly reopened once they discuss future dates with me; a fair few people from this forum have already got tickets!) Definitely up there as 1 of my favourite sites for a day out for coffee and lunch!

 

 

 

In October 2019 I was also picked up as a Sponsored car for Juicy Details; they're a big detailing company that sells car care cleaning products. I actually used their range of products for about 18 months prior to this so it was unreal for me to get picked by them out of thousands of applicants to be taken in for their 15 cars for the year, the work I had put in at shows cleaning my Supra and helping others prepare their cars was one of the reasons apparently which was a nice little feel good moment!

 

 

I'll be with them until October next year, and hopefully more years going forward. It's nice to be able to vouch for products that I genuinely use day to day, as well as detailing others vehicles with them as well.

 

I have a referral link:

https://juicy-details.co.uk/?ref=9082

 

With a 15% discount code "Supra" for anyone interested in checking their products out. I'm also happy to talk through detailing methods or any products with people who message me for advice or just to chat.

 

Alternatively, I usually offer a hand detailing cars once they're parked up at shows (if we actually have any this year...) if I have time before it starts, where I use the products so you can check out results first hand!

Anyone local to Shropshire can always give me a shout as well and venture over for a beer and a car cleaning day, I often have mates over for this every month or so