My 1991 Toyota Supra

[Kai Robinson]

Well, guess what i recieved in the mail today? Yep - my CT26 Softline kit from Kinugawa Turbo! (I caved in, bought one - bargain for only $83 USD)



Not bad eh? The hoses are surprisingly good quality, they dont feel cheap at all. All the fixings are chunky and well made, the gaskets and crush washers are all Toyota OEM jobbies (came in a Toyota dealership packet :p )

I'm sorely tempted to go outside today and do it but i just got handed a salami and brie filled omelette by Amy...mmm.....food!

[dengyong]

It's been a while... any changes ?

[Kai Robinson]

Yes and no...mainly due to the crap weather here now, it's just soooo cold outside, my fingers freeze up in minutes when trying to fiddle with dead cold metal that's been sat at near zero for weeks :/

However, the oil lines i recieved were...well...faulty. They had sent me a kit for the landcruiser's CT26 flanges, NOT the Supra. I raised this with the vendor, who proceeded to nearly commit seppuku when i mentioned that the product was not as described. They immediately offered a full refund if i returned it, although i said that i'd be happy enough to get the correct M12x1.25 banjo to -4AN fitting instead of the M8x1.5 one they sent. The adaptor plates FIT on the CT26 end of things, but the positioning of the oil feed fouled the compressor housing, and the water return line had to loop around as the fitting was facing the wrong way. So, a blowtorch, a vice and some metalwork tools later, and the flanges and fittings were adapted enough to fit okay. They're not perfect, but i'm happy enough for now. They'll do as a stopgap measure, until my friend Gordon can CNC me a plate with M12 & M8 fittings to -8 and -4 AN adaptors screwed and welded in place. The lines themselves are actually high quality braided stainless hose with decent fittings on, so those i'm happy with.

Of course now after the turbo gets bolted on, it's just running the intercooler piping, installing the thermoviscous fan (hateful, hateul thing!), oh and the dashboard...

[RADCOM]

er how is this going have you finished it?

[Kai Robinson]

Still waiting for parts - unfortunately. Things were going forward slowly, and would have been finished, except for that pesky earthquake/tsunami in Japan. I had a few parts on order from Toyota Japan, and...well...they might be floating their way here, but everything is now ground to a halt until they arrive

[[XC] riptide]

Still waiting for parts - unfortunately. Things were going forward slowly, and would have been finished, except for that pesky earthquake/tsunami in Japan. I had a few parts on order from Toyota Japan, and...well...they might be floating their way here, but everything is now ground to a halt until they arrive

Well it'll probably be glow in the dark, so need for all the neon and UV lighting then.

[Kai Robinson]

Well, whaddaya know? I got a call from Toyota, telling me my parts were ready. So yesterday, i went down there, and picked up a very, very small bag of stuff, and was actually SHOCKED by the price of it all... came to €92.18!! That's £80.74 or $132.14, in case you were wondering. So, i must have got some big, expensive, rare parts, right? Nope!



The only thing not pictured, are 4 spring clips, two stubby PCV hoses, and the Radiator Cap.

Bill breaks down like this:

Turbo Oil Drain to Block Gasket €3.90
Turbo Oil Drain & Feed Gasket €3.58
Turbo Water Feed & Return Gasket €7.16
Water Bypass Hose €17.75
Lexus LS400 Oil Filter €16.80
Oil Drain Plug Gasket €2.20
Radiator Cap €26.89
4 x Spring Clips €5.16
2 x PCV hoses €8.74

You don't get much for your money these days!

Still, with all this lot, i should be able to crack on with the final bits of work, and plumb everything back in, ready to start!

[StickyRICE]

Where's the video of the start up!!!

[Kai Robinson]

Nothing been done yet - have to wait on some W5W Xenon Dashboard bulbs first (the starter and ECU run circuits through the dash), and then actually do stuff with the parts i got the other day...

There's just no mojo right now, i look outside and just go 'ehhhh...' and forget about it. My blue one needs new rear brakes on it, so any car work will be prioritised towards that, first of all. Shame i know, but it's hot & sunny here and half the time i just want to sleep!

[dengyong]

Shame i know, but it's hot & sunny here and half the time i just want to sleep!

Ya gotta stop that, it's bad for the ol ticker ya know. Find some outdoor activities you'll like and get motivated.

[Kai Robinson]

Well it was my birthday on Friday, fiancee came over Friday night and exercise was thus done

Actually i did swimming on Saturday for a few hours, and repaired the fence on my driveway yesterday, so i've had a fair old amount of out and about. Got back from the ferry terminal after dropping fiancee off this afternoon and felt in the mood to do car stuff...until it started raining precisely 5 minutes after i got home >_<

It *will* get done. Hopefully the new dash bulbs will arrive tomorrow, i can get those all fitted and get the interior all stuck back together

[dengyong]

Well it was my birthday on Friday, fiancee came over Friday night and exercise was thus done

Actually i did swimming on Saturday for a few hours, and repaired the fence on my driveway yesterday, so i've had a fair old amount of out and about. Got back from the ferry terminal after dropping fiancee off this afternoon and felt in the mood to do car stuff...until it started raining precisely 5 minutes after i got home >_<

It *will* get done. Hopefully the new dash bulbs will arrive tomorrow, i can get those all fitted and get the interior all stuck back together

Flogging, swimming and fence mending... there's a fair turn of work.

[Kai Robinson]

Okay - time for a brief update i think...

I had to take the dashboard out to refit the illumination bulbs, and check for a short circuit, as the dimmer rheostat seemed to be doing nothing. All the grounds check out, so i took the liberty of replacing the standard green bulbs, with some 5 watt 5000k Xenon White wedge bulbs (bright, super white), not LED's, but proper BULBS!

There's also the matter of the oil pressure gauge lighting being typically annoying, and requiring that i get a totally different bulb to the others, for the illumination. So, i found a bloke on eBay selling 2 watt mini-wedge bulbs (standard are 1.2 watt), so....i now have 9 bulbs left over :P

Once back together, i cleaned up the PCB plug traces with some white vinegar on a J-cloth (works brilliantly!), and proceeded to polish the clear dashboard face.

Little trick i learned that some of you may already know;

Brasso is king, as a plastic surface polish. It's a very, very fine abrasive, easily applied - do so in a circular motion, and try not to add too much at once. Let it dry for a minute or two, then use a piece of kitchen towel to clean it off, again, using circular motions. You'll need another piece of kitchen towel to buff it up. Result? You can now see your face in the plastic, like a mirror finish!

I got so carried away, i ended up cleaning the backplate and screen on my phone, my entire iPod Touch, and figured out a very clever way of getting light scratches out of glass - fine valve grinding paste, tiny smear, rub in circular motion over any piece of scratched glass. Wipe off, and then three to four coats of brasso as described above to get the glass fantastically shiny and scratch free!

I would be out doing more mechanical work to the car, but i seem to have lost my mojo at the moment - which is a right sod, because the weather is perfect for working on Cars.

Having MS is a pain sometimes - you just get so fatigued you really can't be bothered to do much of anything, and end up nodding off in your chair

I'm hoping after the long weekend i have planned on Guernsey will sort me out, energy wise - as i really should get on with it!

[Kai Robinson]

Bloody typical! I get back from Guernsey all fired up and ready to go and....p*ssing with rain! FOR A WEEK! THIS IS JUNE GODDAMMIT!

[Kai Robinson]

So my work on this has so far been hampered by poor weather, and a distinct lack of Mojo. However, on Tuesday, when the sun came out, I thought 'enough is enough!' and went outside for a few hours, determined to swap out the water feed & return on the turbo, as the softline kit I have is just totally wrong. Simple 10 minute job, right? Noooooo!

See, on the CT26, one bolt holding down the feed/drain is easy to get at - a simple 12mm nut. The other 12mm nut? Located right where you can't get any kind of socket or spanner, requiring the removal of the whole turbo...

So turbo came off. Water feed swapped out for the original one. Bolted back up. got under the car to connect the oil drain line and....bloody line is too long, and creates a u-bend. Removed the turbo again, removed the softline adaptor and went back to the stock formed metal pipework. Put the turbo back on. Just as I finish tightening the last nut...i see i've left the one heatshield off the manifold, thats impossible to install with the turbo in place. Remove the turbo AGAIN.

*queue string of expletives and sudden urge to hit something with a large hammer*

Okay then, heatshield installed, now comes the tricky part - bolting up the oil feed banjo. It's a relatively tight space, and you have to perch the turbo on the manifold studs in such a way that any movement will get the banjo fitting out of alignment. TWO HOURS LATER and it still wasn't in! Bloody thing is like, 1mm out, I need to be able to get a second hand in there to hold the pipe in place with the other crush washer, unfortunately the turbo is then in the way. How the f*** do they install these?! Of course, at the tail end of the two hours, i'm just about to get the banjo bolt in place when *PING*....the circlip holding the wastegate to the actuator arm disintegrates, rendering my entire day utterly and totally pointless until I can source another one from the UK...

I swear, this car is testing my bloody patience!

[MRip]

That sounds infuriating. Growing up, my dad always insisted that I "help" him with all car repairs so I feel your pain.

[StickyRICE]

Ditch the oem stuff and put on a single kit.

[Kai Robinson]

Which would be lovely, if i weren't trying to eke out the supplies in my storecupboard - i literally have £0 right now, i have to work with what i have.

[Kai Robinson]

BIG UPDATE TIME!

A friend of mine from the UK sent me over the wastegate circlip, so i could start putting things back together again - Toyota are damn cheeky, asking for £2 + VAT for a SMALL METAL CLIP THE SIZE OF MY SMALL FINGERNAIL. Grr. Sometimes i wonder if i shouldn't just get a kit of stuff like that, and fit a generic one...

Finally, i managed, after several hours of swearing, threatening to beat things with a hammer and telling the supra i was about THIS close so setting it on fire....i got the banjo bolt in



See? SEE THAT? I HATE YOU, BANJO FITTING! I really should have saved up and sprung for the ARZ Softline kit that driftmotion sells - let this be a warning - DONT CHEAP OUT!

Anyway, with that done, i could finally get moving on everything else...turbo to intercooler plumbing? Check, installed and tightened. Oil Cooler line? Check, installed and tightened as well. Turbo water lines? Check, replaced with samco ones, new clips installed. Wastegate was finally bolted back into place, vacuum piping on that side is DONE. Installed the '¬' shaped vacuum line from the fuel rail mounting point to the PCV pipework, new clips installed there, too. Bottom Rad hose swapped out for a samco one, new jubilee clips, and tightened up, rad drain plug re-installed. New Gates power steering belt, and new Dayco alternator belt installed, and i just re-installed the old A/C compressor belt, as i couldn't really be arsed to replace that, there's nothing wrong with it, and the A/C is empty anyway. I've not installed the PS reservoir - debating on whether to use the N/A one, or try and re-situate the Turbo one, in either case, its only two small hoses and their respective clips.

This is how things sit as of right now:



Once the oil gets drained off tomorrow, and re-filled with fresh stuff for the break in (it's 10w40, going to last about 30 mins before its switched out for some fresher stuff), it can *FINALLY* come of the axle stands, the rest of the turbo plumbing can go on, and the dashboard and fascia can go back in AGAIN, once i've checked all the connections twice over. The dashboard has new bulbs installed throughout, proper xenon bulbs, not LED's, of the blue-white variety, instead of the standard 'yellow' white bulbs - they all check out, so hopefully, the dash dimming will work properly.

So....verdict? Reckon it'll start, or explode on me?

[Kai Robinson]

So today i thought 'i'm finishing this!' and went outside to plumb the rest of the turbo intake pipes up, and the power steering fluid reservoir. For the sake of faffing around, i put the NA reservoir on, which i thoroughly cleaned yesterday. Unlike the turbo reservoir, its see through, so you can actually SEE the fluid level in the reservoir. It also means i can now get to the CPS easier. The reservoir will need a bracket. It would mount on the wing, but annoyingly, the intercooler return pipe gets in its way. So next to the airfilter it is...well, i'm going to have to ditch the stock airbox and go for a cone filter, but that's okay - both the stock airfilters and boxes i have are naff.

Once all the under-car stuff was done, it was time for it to get off the axle stands...coilovers make jacking the car up interesting, thats for sure - constantly worrying the whole car is going to tilt over on top of you. Still, once it was on the ground, for the first time since March 2009, the only issue was getting the jack out from underneath on the passenger side, as the tyre had gone flat. 5 minutes and a 12 tyre pump later, and voila, it looks like this:



Yes, it looks sun-faded...but thats okay - for the moment, it's not my primary concern.

Under the bonnet, things look like this now:



It's dry of all fluids right now, the battery is on charge. First thing in the morning, the oil is going in. I'm kind of nervous to see if the thing goes *BOOM* or fires at all. Kind of paranoid, if i'm honest, i don't want to have spent all this time, effort and money to have the thing not work

[thegardentool]

Haven't gotten a chance to read through the whole thread yet but good luck with getting it to run again. I used to own an '87 Turbo several years ago and while I regret getting rid of it it was the right decision at the time. Not sure if I'll ever try to get another but they are wonderful cars, except for the headgasket and hard-to-find OEM parts now.

[Kai Robinson]

Headgasket isnt really an issue, and the only 'hard to find' oem parts are the trim and interior pieces, but theres a decent enough second hand market for it.

[Kai Robinson]

Okay....today is totally the wrong weather - it's been slamming it down with rain all day - not a letup until about 2 hours ago. Turned the key and....nothing. Not a sausage. Oh the gauges and dashboard works fine - but the starter wasn't doing anything, and I couldn't hear the fuel pump...then I looked into the engine bay and saw the positive lead to the starter has become unplugged. UGH! Going to have to jack the car back up in order to get at it - its a sod to get to, although having removed the EGR makes things a little easier, access wise.

However, jacking up the car will have to wait for a day or two, as I have an urgent need to do some gardening before paying guests turn up on thursday! :/

[kingcars]

Does that starter lead actually run the fuel pump too, or is that a separate issue you have to look into?

Looks like you've done great work so far. I know what it's like to put tons of time and effort into a project like that. Spent over a year building the 306ci V8 for my white Thunderbird only to have it lose oil pressure after 800 miles. Took another year and a half before it was in working order again, but it was so worth it; I've been enjoying the new engine so much this summer. I hope you get the same satisfaction out of yours.

[Kai Robinson]

I'm not sure - in my blue one, the pump is audible for a second while it primes, but it could have been due to insufficient battery voltage yesterday. It might also be related to the starter circuit, although i'll trawl through the paper wiring diagrams (28 PAGES!) to see if it's related.