jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Hi all, long post alert! After many years of being off the road, the Supra is now back on it! As a bit of background she’d been off the road for nearly decade owing to an overheating issue, which caused head gasket failure (water pump failure was the initial cause it looks like). Personal circumstance at the time and the following years meant I could not afford the repair bills, but I also couldn’t bear to part with her and so she was laid up a good long while (longer than I’d planned obviously). Fast forward to today where I’ve now been able to give her the attention she deserves and she’s now back to where she needs to be. It's been weird driving her given it's been so many years since I stopped, but it's also a bit like when i first bought her. I've not fully pushed it yet (only been out 7-8 times so far in last few weeks) due to the weather and I also have the (probably irrational) fear of me binning it straight after getting her back on the road! I’ve already managed to get an agreed value through my insurer of 25k, however I initially pushed for 30k and am thinking I should still push for 30k, my thought being that I would struggle to get myself an Aerotop Supra (either NA-TT or true TT Aero) in a similar condition to what mine is now for any less money. So anyone’s thoughts on my current agreed value being accurate or not would be appreciated. Spec/ work done to the car is as follows; Base Car 1993 Storm Blue Aerotop, originally NA but converted to TT approximately 11 years ago Shell has approximately 110k miles on it, Engine has approx. 80k miles on but recently fully rebuilt using a rebuilt 60k mile cylinder head. Tein coilovers Stock 17’’ Alloys/ 18’’ Japan Racing JR10’s Whifbitz style front lip Everything else is now stanard. Engine Rebuilt engine using low mileage cylinder head. Cylinder head rebuilt and block decked cleaned & honed by a local engine specialist (Crank polished, head shimmed, hardness tested etc). engine reassembled and put in car by myself with lots of new parts (as below) Low mileage twin turbo’s and VSV’s from an Aristo installed with all new OEM gaskets, bolts & nuts All aluminium parts including turbo hard pipes, inlet manifold, sump, engine mounts etc. vapour blasted Engine run in by Whifbitz on their rolling road and then dyno’d by them, with the car making 325bhp. New engine (& engine bay) parts include - all items are original Toyota parts except where specified as pattern part Head Gasket Kit Head Bolts Core plugs Side mount intercooler (and nuts/ bolts) Intercooler top hose (that connects to inlet manifold) Intercooler ducting (and bolts) Oil pump Front and rear Crank seals Crank position sensor Water pump Radiator (pattern part) Viscous fan coupling Thermostat Cambelt Tensioner Idler pulley (Koyo) Alternator (pattern part) Cambelt Fanbelt Crank pulley with new bolt Timing belt cover lower Timing belt cover upper Spark plug cover Fuse box lid Cam cover breather hoses Turbo link pipes (accordion style pipes) Power steering reservoir Battery Tray Battery clamp Radiator clamps Radiator fan shroud Radiator cap Top and bottom radiator hoses All rubber water bypass hoses around the engine Heater matrix Hoses Turbo drain hoses Replaced all vacuum lines with Gates hose (got a couple from Toyota where the bend radius required does not allow for Gates hose which just kinks) Cam cover bolts and washers OEM Bolts, Nuts & Studs for exhaust manifold, inlet manifold, Turbo hard pipes, oil feeds engine mounts & lots more. Spring clamps for hoses being replaced Pattern part oil Pressure switch & knock sensors Replaced coil pack clips, a couple of injector clips, and a VSV clip that was brittle Injectors cleaned and flow tested. New OEM seals etc. Body Full respray including engine bay New OEM Body/ Chassis parts include: Facelift headlights Facelift front Indicators Facelift rear lights Facelift bumper grill bar Bumper radiator grill bottom trim Front lip retaining brackets Front bumper crash foam Bumper side retainers & bolts Bumper to bonnet seal & bracket Number plate holder, nuts, bolts etc. Scuttle panel Windscreen seal Rear window seal Front & Rear Aerotop seals Boot seal Front Hockey Sticks Rear Hockey Sticks Lower sill/ rocker trims Fuel tank cover Upper Arch liners Lower Arch Liners Front and Rear Badges Front to rear brake lines and fuel lines Goodridge braided lines to replace rubber flexi brake hoses. Rear diff rubber mounts Lower rear suspension arms Lower rear Toe arms Handbrake cables New OEM Interior parts; Handbrake lever and rubber surround Auto gear lever Brake and accelerator pedal covers Speedo ‘’glass’’ & Speedo bulbs Climate control buttons and knobs Boot tools – spanners, screwdriver, spark plug tool, pliers & Chock second hand black facelift carpet fitted, with black plastic seat trims. There’s still more I plan to do on her such as interior retrim, more cleaning up of the engine bay and work on cleaning up the underside, which is the bit that lets the car down now (as has surface corrosion on subframe/ diff etc.) However Whifbitz dropped the rear subframe while they were doing the fuel and brake lines and they treated the areas around the mounting points etc. so any surface corrosion didn't progress to anything worse while I wait to begin the full underside refurb. There's also some little niggles with the paint that i need to get rectified too. I’ve put a few pictures on, but haven’t managed to get any while out and about with nice backdrops etc. as the weather’s been poor over the past couple of weeks when I’ve managed to get out for a drive in her! I'll run the 18's that are in the last pics more in summer I think, not fully sure which wheels i prefer more at the moment. Oh and the pic of the engine bay is part way through the suspension swap and before the rad, fan shroud and power steering tank got replaced, I’ve also taken the TRD spoiler off and put a standard one on. Jim 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evinX Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Love it 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annabella Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Brilliant job! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AC93 Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Looks great, a lot of work gone in to that! Just need to upgrade those Jspecs for TT or LS400 brakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swampy442 Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Why have you got odd front coilovers lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 20 minutes ago, Swampy442 said: Why have you got odd front coilovers lol I took the engine bay pic before I'd finished swapping the suspension over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamilton Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) What a stunning car! It's so nice to see a Supra lovingly restored to glory, well done. If it helps I have a GZ Aerotop and tried to get an agreed value insurance policy for £25k - given it's condition, the work carried out and the rarity premium I felt this to be reasonable, however the insurer came back to me a few weeks after the policy was taken out and said they would only agree to £20k. Stupidly I just went along with it but I now regret not challenging the decision or going elsewhere (think I was outside the cooling off period by that time). In short, I think £25k for yours is reasonable, but some insurers seem to disagree! Well done again, great job. Edited December 23, 2020 by Hamilton Spelling (see edit history) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev.O Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 That’s stunning, great work. Am I allowed to say that I prefer the stock alloys, they look great, I presume they’ve had a refurb as the barrels look really smart too. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 6 hours ago, AC93 said: Looks great, a lot of work gone in to that! Just need to upgrade those Jspecs for TT or LS400 brakes I am looking to put the larger TT brakes on at some point when funds allow, baby due in the new year so got my Supra spends out the way early! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 2 hours ago, Hamilton said: What a stunning car! It's so nice to see a Supra lovingly restored to glory, well done. If it helps I have a GZ Aerotop and tried to get an agreed value insurance policy for £25k - given it's condition, the work carried out and the rarity premium I felt this to be reasonable, however the insurer came back to me a few weeks after the policy was taken out and said they would only agree to £20k. Stupidly I just went along with it but I now regret not challenging the decision or going elsewhere (think I was outside the cooling off period by that time). In short, I think £25k for yours is reasonable, but some insurers seem to disagree! Well done again, great job. Thanks, it's by no means perfect and will continue to be a rolling restoration, but it's well on its way now. I guess it's the luck of the draw with insurers/ underwriters as to what they're happy with, I'll probably keep reviewing it as I do more work to the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 21 minutes ago, Kev.O said: That’s stunning, great work. Am I allowed to say that I prefer the stock alloys, they look great, I presume they’ve had a refurb as the barrels look really smart too. Thank you, and you're allowed to say whatever you like I do like the stock alloys a lot, though I do have an issue with the fronts and how they sit in from the arches and not more flush. I might look at spacers for them in the near future. They have been refurb'd too, got the powder coaters to spray the centers in the same colour as the alloys then I laquered them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blythmrk Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Great to see it back together and best of luck with the baby in the new year! We must catch up soon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supra2jze Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Welcome back Geat to see another Storm Blue. One of my favourite colours in the Supra 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 30 minutes ago, blythmrk said: Great to see it back together and best of luck with the baby in the new year! We must catch up soon Thanks mate, and yes definitely, need to pop over at some point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 23, 2020 Author Share Posted December 23, 2020 23 minutes ago, Supra2jze said: Welcome back Geat to see another Storm Blue. One of my favourite colours in the Supra Thanks, always loved the colour, though does seem to divide opinion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradleyh_15 Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Nice one mate, will keep an eye on this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iky Posted December 24, 2020 Share Posted December 24, 2020 Very nice restoration Jim. Doing something similar myself. Great result on teh engine, made good power for the spec. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammer Posted December 25, 2020 Share Posted December 25, 2020 That's lovely mate, well done on all the work you've done. One of the very best colours as well imo. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwilkinson Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 Great work Jim. As others have said, nice to see the car back on the road and having recieved some much needed TLC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Posted December 26, 2020 Share Posted December 26, 2020 I remember seeing this as a NA many many years ago, about a month after I bought my first Mkiv, looks great Jim! But burning question, do you still live in a windmill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim_supra Posted December 27, 2020 Author Share Posted December 27, 2020 On 12/26/2020 at 11:25 AM, Shane said: I remember seeing this as a NA many many years ago, about a month after I bought my first Mkiv, looks great Jim! But burning question, do you still live in a windmill? Thanks, and I'm afraid not, my Windy Miller days are long gone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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