My 1991 Toyota Supra

[Kai Robinson]

Yeah - the w*nker that fitted this engine only torqued it to 56lb/ft instead of 75.

Here are the pics of how it stands now:



Yes, thats the upper intake manifold on the floor.



Still struggling like a bastard to get the turbocharger off, so i can get the exhaust manifold off. Then i can get the head off, and then fit a new headgasket. For now though, i've been working for a few hours and my heart feels like it's about to pack in (only 4 months since heart surgery). I hate being disabled :/

[ForcedInduction]

As much as I love MKIII's(owned 2 of them) they do require lots of work, but such fun to drive. GL with the HG.

[Kai Robinson]

It needs to be warmer dammit - force 9 f*cking gale like winds out there, and overcast - no sun. Ugh. You spend 5 minutes outside and freeze your nads off.

The Turbo oil feed is an absolute PIG to remove - i may invest in the driftmotion softline kit, as the fixed line is nothing but a PAIN IN THE ARSE. Yeah, try getting two 14mm nuts off when you can't see them, feel them, or fit even a ratchet spanner in the gap...

[Kai Robinson]

Today!

*FINALLY* managed to get the turbo off the manifold, the annoying bolts holding the oil feed on came off after much swearing and scraped knuckles and back twisting, although i have NO idea how i'm going to put it all back on.

Been re-conning the turbo today - the oil feed gasket was totally perished and turned to dust when i touched it. The water feed was lacking a gasket at all, and was just held on with FIPG. Ran the tap & die over the actuator bolts & holes, and the 1/8" NPT hose takeoff from the compressor housing to the actuator. Cleaned with some petrol (not the internals, that'd be suicidal) and it's come up a treat.

The turbo itself, turns out that it WAS a Turbo Technics Stage 1 afterall - the compressor wheel in it looks almost identical to a Garrett T04B-S3 (70mm/48mm, 7 main fins, 7 sub) so it should be good for about 1.2 bar (17psi or so), although i'd hit fuel cut at around 10psi until i get around to fitting a new AFPR, SAFC II/SAFC Neo, 550cc injectors and Lexus AFM.

Tomorrow - the removal of the manifolds begins, and the head finally comes OFF with any luck.

[Kai Robinson]

Today!

The wiring is OUT and boy, does it look a mess! The lower intake is off, the exhaust manifold is off and so is the head. Bolt #9 was a b*stard to get out as well, necessitating a 10mm allen key, a 10mm deep reach socket, and 9" of extensions. FINALLY got them all out - although they're done for, threads are mangled, some of the heads in them are going soft and i'm glad i have a set of ARP studs to go on instead.

Although, my fingers are SO sore, and my thumb is torn after grabbing the fuel pulsation damper and not realising the far side of it had a large sharp metal splinter sticking out of it. The intake side of things is all nice and clean, the fuel rail has come up a treat, and the injectors are going back in with lovely fresh O-rings. The cylinder head is still dribbling on the table outside, but i'll clean it tomorrow, measure all the valve clearances and do all the stem oil seals...oh god 24 valves is going to take AGES O.o

Here are some pictures for all:

[Kai Robinson]

Been stripping and cleaning the Cylinder head today...the face of it is pretty good, no nicks or dinks out of it, and a green scourer and petrol brought it up nice and shiny, although i've yet to attack the combustion chambers with the brass wire brush on the drill of doom!

The cams are out, as well as the buckets AND the shims. Upon measuring the clearances and the shims, it looks like i'm going to need some 3+mm shims, as most of the clearances i measured were 0.40 and even .45mm!

Got to reaaaaaallly scrub the head with a toothbrush, and it's going to take...AGES. AARGH!

[Kai Robinson]

Yeah some of the studs in there are new-ish, so no problems. The heatshield studs however, came out with the bolts, so new ones will go back in there. Kicking ass? More like it's kicking MY ass - my right arm is exhausted through over scrubbing - cleaning the cams til they come up near MIRROR finish on the lobes puts masturbating into 3rd place for arm cramp...

So, er...yeah, how about some pictures?









SHIM CITY! Just, none of them fit

I've decided that i'm going to source some shims from Ford instead (Zetec-E ones are direct fit, and 1/8th the price...and have the size etched onto them), but until i get them, i can't get anything done really, other than cleaning...

Yes, i realise that i have no EGR cooler...thats cause it's going in the BIN. Yep - EGR is GAWWWWN. I have blockoff plates, a non USDM ECU and 95 octane (91.5 for you) fuel and a death wish :p

[Kai Robinson]

After much complaining, this is the end result, as far as the cylinder head is concerned:



All of the intake and exhaust valves have been cleaned up and ground into the seats. New valve stem oil seals installed, and can i just say - I HATE COLLETS! >_<

So small and fiddly and annoying!

The fuel rail has been re-installed, but this time, with the set of 550cc RC Injectors, and to make sure i don't run pig rich, the Lexus AFM housing has had the Supra AFM electronics installed, and the accordion hose to turbo fitted (b*stard of a job to do as you have to stretch the rubber over the larger opening).

The lifting hooks got given a few coats of primer, ready for the high temperature black paint later on this month (i really, really have NO enthusiasm for that at the moment!). I'm *still* waiting for a set of ARP's to arrive, so in the interim, i've been cleaning as many parts as i can. Also cleaned, sanded down and sprayed up the 3000 pipe (crosses over the cam overs to the throttle body) in primer - and i'll give it a few coats of Ford Solar Gold like the cam covers, and do the fine detail work on the embossed writing. The oil filter head has been removed, cleaned, treated to a new copper crush washer & bypass spring (for the oil cooler system).

I'll take another picture later on of the assemblage of parts i have ready to go back on!

All systems go? Keep your fingers crossed!

[Kai Robinson]

Today - installed the lower intake manifold, and i'm most annoyed that i seem to have lost half the bolts that i took off, despite putting them in a magnetic tray. Well, i *have* bolts, but i didn't label where they're all for. Some are obvious (like the exhaust manifold bolts), but some are very generic. And the full engine gasket set does NOT include a gasket for the EGR to the upper intake, but the lower has been blocked off successfully, and i'm just going to order new bolts & gasket for the rear of the head (removing the EGR cooler) and new bolts & gasket for the plenum.

At the moment - the only thing holding me up, is needing a set of ARP's. I have a set in the UK, but trying to get my friend to actually GET them even 20 miles down the road to another friend of mine who can mail them to me, is seemingly impossible. GRRR.

[Kai Robinson]

Right! Some pictures for you



Notice, new stocker on the left, blown stocker on the right. Cylinder #6 had a mangled fire ring, and the water passages were buckled on #1, #3, #5 & #6 on the exhaust side.



How do you like your wiring harness? Crispy? I can do that! Yep - it's BAKED. The plastic bit that goes across the upper timing cover just crumbled away in my hands. Some f*ckwit had decided to rewire the knock sensors with DOORBELL WIRE. With SCOTCH TAPE.

See here for more carnage:



Ooooh - nasty, as Treguard from Knightmare would say.



The CPS side of things looks really, REALLY manky :/

Oh, and just for sh*ts & giggles, i opened up the ECU so you can have a look inside - look at that 25 year old 8-bit goodness



The harness is off to the UK to be reworked, along with a few spare connectors (thankfully, i have a spare, albeit hacked up, harness).

[[XC] gomeler]

Looks like a nightmare, glad to see the teardown is going well though

[jaguarking11]

May I ask why a stock head gasket? There are some very nice layered steel reusable gaskets that are street ready that can handle just about anything you throw at it. The ecotec guys swear by multi layer gaskets & they run 35+ psi on a daily basis. I mean if your dropping the cash for ARP studs, why not go with a gasket that is both reusable & stronger.

Maybe you covered the reasoning before but I seem to have missed it.

[Kai Robinson]

Yeah, see a MHG is the ultimate way to go, but...you need to get the block and the head machined to 15 to 20 RA in order to fit one. You can't just slap one on and hope for the best. As i'm limited by budget, even a 2thou skim on the head is pushing it. I had the ARP's spare from a planned build, before i was bankrupted by some a-hole last year. I have a full engine gasket set, and the set of ARP's, so i figure, torque to 78lb/ft and all will be well. I'm not pushing silly power - i'm still on the CT26 at the moment, which, even though it's got a Garrett T04b-S3 compressor wheel in it, is still limited to 1.2 bar.

Couple with a set of 550cc injectors (just put in), the Lexus AFM housing and i should be good for 350rwhp with ease, and no piggybacks. Add in an Apexi SAFC Neo or GReddy eManage Blue later on, and i should be able to push 400rwhp more reliably, with better MPG, better AFR's etc.

The head is now FINISHED. Cam caps are all torqued down to 20NM and the #1 caps have been sealed with FIPG (using Loctite Copper FIPG instead of the Toyota stuff thats...silly money). CPS has been loosely installed, but i'm pretty sure it's about as bang on as i can get by eye. Front cam gear plate has been installed after being painted at around 6am, and all the lifting hooks have been installed as well. I toyed with the idea of spraying up the 3000 pipe as well, but i don't have enough Ford Solar Gold to do the job properly - so that'll wait, i think.

PICTARS TIEM!





Just waiting for the ARP's and then the head? Yeah, it's GOING AWWWWN

[FlawleZ]

Yeah, see a MHG is the ultimate way to go, but...you need to get the block and the head machined to 15 to 20 RA in order to fit one. You can't just slap one on and hope for the best.

Exactly. I made this very mistake some 6 months ago when I was reassembling my 300ZX with a blown HG. I just assumed a razor blade on the block and good acid bath on the heads would suffice. Not the case. After putting on freshly ported heads with 274 schneider cams and springs, I ended up boosting my coolant system once I saw past 10 psi or so. At 18+ lbs I was exploding radiator hoses left and right. After a lot of head scratching and double checking my torque specs, I've concluded I simply made a mistake not decking my block and resurfacing the heads.

[StickyRICE]

Did you check head and block for wrapage?

[Kai Robinson]

Both are fine and unwarped.

[StickyRICE]

Both are fine and unwarped.

Oh ok, cool that is a lot of work, but you know sometimes that is the fun part of owning cars.

[Kai Robinson]

Today!

Cleaned the block surface - and look, it's come up a treat! What did i use? Twisted wire brush on an angle grinder, then a green scourer, then 400/800/1200 grit wet & dry with 3-in-1 oil.

The waterways look a little 'oogly', a bit pitted, but thats sort of to be expected i guess. The rest of the surface is fine, no pitting anywhere near the sealing rings. Yes, i know the turbo side of the block still needs to be cleaned - i'm going to take off the pipework that runs around the block, and give that a good clean on tuesday, when i have some more kerosene, and then toothbrush & kerosene to clean the block. Then it's just a case of wait for the ARP's and the head can go on

[metalop1g]

Can we get a pic of the interior? Pehlease? I only own a scooter but cars always impressed me..

[Kai Robinson]

I would, but at the moment, the only picture i'd be able to take, is of it covered in dust with half the dashboard missing!

I spotted this on eBay, and it's my birthday on the 27th, so if y'all want to chip in and buy me one of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=290412379557



The Zetec shims i ordered were WRONG as well - turns out its the Zetec-SE / Ford Sigma ones i need - which is just fecking annoying!

[dengyong]

How did you keep the sanding grit out of the cylinders ?

[Kai Robinson]

Well, you use wet & dry paper, with mineral oil on the block face - you can just wipe the majority off the face with kitchen towel, nothing ends up going down the bore, really, although, compressed air blasts anything small and potentially ruinous out of the way. It's not ideal, but when you can't remove the block, you pretty much have no choice!

[b1lk1]

You're not going to hurt anything whatsoever by not getting it all out It just won't be course enough to do damage.

[Kai Robinson]

Well aluminium oxide particles in the bearings wouldn't be a good thing :p

But, thats why i bunged the oil feed

[.Logic]

My knowledge of cars doesn't really extend to their inner-workings but nevertheless, this is very interesting. Keep up the good (I think) work!