CLToy's Supra Documentary

[CLToy]

I have been a member of this site for a number of years and have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. It has been frustrating and a love affair all in one. One thing that I always enjoyed were the write-ups of proud supra owners from their purchase to a road-worthy work of art. For those that are interested, this is my story, both worthy and troubling at the same time. Ultimately, this thread will discuss progress (that I hope to continue to update as improvements are made) and to let you know more about the people I have had dealings with so that it could help other forum members here. So many others have been helpful and I desire to contribute in my own way.

This is my 1982 L-Type supra given to me by family upon graduation. It is in pretty rough shape as you can tell.




I previously owned a 1992 Mazda MX-3 GS V6 and had restored it for shows and was ready to autoX and then the supra fell in my lap….MX-3 or Supra? Geeeee….this is a no-brainer (Besides, the MX-3 was getting a bit ricey for me).

[CLToy]

I moved to Cleveland, OH. Being a recent graduate, I had insufficient funds to begin my restoration. However, there was a radio station contest held by 100.7 WMMS called, “Rock Your Ride.” Can you believe it…I WON! This gave the supra the shot in the arm that it needed. I was able to have the rust removed, a new paint job










interior restoration



(now going with a carbon fiber seat texture with black highlights along with the Maroon leather interior), a complete sound system upgrade with an in-dash DVD unit



alarm system, and new wheels and tires.

[CLToy]

Now before we continue, I must add that I have already received quite a big lashing for the wheels guys…(Check this thread: http://forums.celicasupra.com/showth...t=29925&page=3)

I only had FWD rims to choose from (I know…I didn’t make the rules here) so I got the best ones he had in stock. Believe me, this will be changed as soon as I can stretch the money. I have started a thread to assist us L-type owners with options for wheels. Not much love thus far but hoping (Thread: http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=47509) I have added spacers to make them look as good as possible for now.

Introduce Robert from 935 Motorsports, where I purchased Eibach coil-over front kit and ST springs in the rear. He was very patient and helpful and provided a great product and timely shipping. I highly recommend supporting this vendor.

[CLToy]

This project was supposed to allow the supra to be featured in Cleveland on billboards and a backdrop for WMMS contests and models…wow wouldn’t that have been cool. But thanks to poor planning and management by Hellraizin’ Audio, that never was an option as it took him 2 years just to get the improvements completed before I moved back to WV. It was nice, however, to have 3 offers to purchase the supra before I got it home…you have to take the back ways and cruise around a bit, of course!

Time to head for home!


When I got the car home, it was all about getting it ready for a swap. I purchased the front and rear sway bars off of EBay for a great price and then found a member selling version 1 of the LJM front strut bar who supplied the product very quickly (stevrock). The rear strut bar was purchased from Wes
(Thread: http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=37447).
I am sure that he is a nice guy, but I had a horrible time trying to communicate with him. If you do not need products in a hurry, feel free to order. Once the item arrived, it was top quality and fit perfectly. With a now decent suspension, I needed to make sure that the ride would stop fast so I purchased the BBK hardware and rotors from Suprajayaz, a very nice guy that helped me understand what it would take to get this completed. I then had some dealings with George at Raptor racing. I got the tail-end of a group buy for calipers and braided brake lines. It took a bit of time (as group buys do) but George came through with flying colors getting me all setup. I installed the front kit

and then purchased oem rear calipers, brembo rotors for rear and replaced all pads including the brake shoes.

[CLToy]

Along the way, I acquired some interior pieces from Bob Shapton during his part-out to better accent the trunk in black. We had at least 3 transactions and all were smooth as silk. He is an excellent seller. I was also collecting parts for my swap and gaining knowledge from DangerousKen. He has a wealth of knowledge and I purchased a diff from him with 3.73 gears.

My 5M is very tired.

It was at this point that I had to rev the tired 5M to keep it running and letting it smoke until it warmed up…so I put some ‘feelers’ on the forum for anyone interested in helping with a swap. I decided that 1JZ was the way to go for me. Aaron at Driftmotion had convinced me to go this route quite some time ago. Discussions with Junkie and Norbie proved to be very helpful as they have many pearls of wisdom. MrTechNic provided the motor mounts for the 1JZ conversion (Thanks for making my life much easier!).

[CLToy]

In October 2008, I was contacted by Leon Wilson (Lee_MA61) trying to start a company called Random House Racing

(This thread: http://forums.celicasupra.com/showthread.php?t=43117).

He had offered to perform the swap for a flat fee if I covered parts. Shortly thereafter, we went into contract and I transported my supra from WV to IA (Wow, what a drive!). Leon bragged how he could get the swap done in one month (actually he said 3 weeks!) but I knew better from reading this forum. Being very understanding, I told him to take his time and get it done right the first time so that I would not have any major events with this swap. He seemed knowledgeable and that is what I needed since I am unable to complete the wiring on a project of this nature.

I sourced a chaser 1JZ from the internet, purchased a couple thousand dollars in parts from Aaron at Driftmotion to get started, and unloaded the car in Iowa. I was told that teardown went smoothly as he had it removed and was cleaning the bay before I made it home from the trip!


As the 1JZ was getting evaluated, I got a fateful call…seems as if the previous Japanese owner had run this car hard enough to fry the turbos. Oh no! Leon said that if I wanted to rebuild these, it would be possible but I could upgrade for about the same price and have more HP, it would just take him a bit longer. OK….let’s get more horses!! Since starting this swap, Armin (pitula) has been very helpful! He has saved me money and given many words of encouragement. A special thanks goes out for all his help. When he was in the market for a turbo for his 1JZ, he offered one to me as well….well who could say no to a turbo capable of making 700 horses?!?

Enter the beast:


Here is the upgrade plan:
• Precision Turbo 6262A
• SARD 800cc injectors
• Greddy Emanage Ultimate Piggyback management
• Aeromotive AFPR Kit
• Single turbo manifold
• AEM goost gauge and UEGO meters
• HKS Turbo timer
• HKS Super SQV
• Fuel Pump upgrade
• 3" turbo back exhaust

[CLToy]

Once we got this underway, the block was dropped off to a shop to get a real bath

and start to get assembled…and getting into its new home


Here are some other close-ups of the bay getting put together:
Intake side:

Exhaust side:

The turbo:

A HKS turbo timer cunningly installed:

And the fuel pump:

[CLToy]

Here is where the story gets interesting. After promising the car would be ready 2 other times, he swore that it would be ready this time.

At this point, I will only hit the highlights as it would be a small novel just to get you all the details of what was discussed and promised in this build. When Leon was contacted on June 11, 2009 he was asked if the vehicle was ready to be picked up. His response was that everything was ready except for the drive shaft. I called the shop and paid for this item myself, directly to the machine shop. I called again and received word that the car was ready once the drive shaft was installed. I then started on the 1,686 mile round trip to pick-up my supra.

What do I find when I get there?


Shots from front and sides:




Tial Wastegate


YES! WhoooHoooo. It looks amazing!

I am stoked…then I get, “there have been some issues.” Issues? What do you mean issues?

Now I know that many of you will be laughing reading this list, but imagine driving over 800 miles to get a so-called completed car, only to find that these items are not completed:

1. Power steering lines not run
2. A/C lines not fabbed and connected
3. No blow-off valve installed
4. Tachometer does not work
5. Water temp gauge does not work
6. Power wire to the audio system was removed and not fixed after the swap, audio components loose and hanging out of the dash
7. Exhaust system is loose and banging/scraping the ground with every bump

The car did not idle well, and died twice on my test drive requiring a jump and better securing of the coil packs. I went to SEARS and purchased another battery to assist in the test runs. It does not idle well and will stall not allowing the turbo timer to run the car long enough to cool the turbo unless the engine is really warm...as you can imagine my test drives did not last very long. And it is running with a whopping 8 psi of boost!

[CLToy]

I have taken about 100 pictures of this car upon return. Once I pushed it in the garage, we got each end on a set of jacks and looked it over. Here are some pics from the job.

I welcome comments and ways to fix these issues.

The radiator was mounted in the car crooked and held in by only 1 of two brackets…here is one that is doing a great job!



and the upper radiator mounts were flimsy pop can material...yes i am pulling it loose with two fingers.


I purchased a radiator fan and sent it to him for installation…

and the lower mount?

Yep! MASKING TAPE! WOW, what a great idea!

[CLToy]

OK, on to the exhaust system. I will tell you that I paid $600 for a turbo back exhaust system on this car…and he charged me for the muffler, and did not include a catalytic converter (which would have made this car street legal in my state...which we discussed.)

Seems ok, minus the muffler tips…take a closer look.

Check out the welds and the bends here. Is there any wonder it bangs against the differential?!?








Here is where the power steering should be threaded I believe:


Some of these connections, I do not understand...

The pump pulley is connected and he put over 150 miles on the car without having this system functional. I hope the power steering pump will still work once I get lines to fit.

This line looks frayed and cross-threaded.
Anyone agree?