Continuation of my fixer-upper: 91 "Turbo"

803 Views 31 Replies 5 Participants Last post by SavetheFlipUps, 2 d ago

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · 23 d ago

6

If you'd like to take a look at the lead up to all this, you can check out my intro thread. I covered most of it's flaws and mods, but don't worry! There's more issues to uncover!

It's been a little over a year since I got it. I've spent that time mostly accumulating parts and deciding what work to prioritize. I couldn't really work on it much due to other projects and work getting in the way. I've only gotten it back into the garage in the last 2 months. I want to actually do some driving this summer (I drove it for like 2 hours total last year...), so I won't be fixing everything up to how I want it right away, but all of the important things will be addressed.

With all that said, let's get started... By looking under the front.

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Uh oh. That wasn't there when I got under it last year. Apparently it had an VERY slow leak when I took ownership. I knew I should have got that Yonaka rad during the Black Friday sale. I only got suspicious when I noticed a bit of a dried puddle on the concrete of the storage unit.

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During draining we see our other problem: Wrong coolant. This I already had suspected based on the quality of the work done by previous owners. Fortunately, I was always going to drop the coolant for other modifications and for piece of mind.

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Motor vehicle Vehicle Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire

Just before I dropped the fans and then the rad. Do you like their horn wiring? Let's fast forward to when I got the Yonaka radiator and fans, which by the way, are backordered until September for anyone else in need of them. I literally got the last one, and they only found it after a physical check of their stock. Lucky me. You can maybe still get them from PrimeMR2, but it looks like they bought up their stock and then added a $50 markup... Not too keen on that practice.

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Here is a 12 inch SPAL fan next to the generic fan that comes with. I fortunately already had the SPALs for another project. One of the generics came damaged so that option was out even if I wanted to bother with them.

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Both SPALs on and it's ready for mounting. Of course, the downside to the SPALs is that they require their own relay setup to handle the amp load. I'm working on that at the moment, so they will remain off for now. Let's look at what else I've been up to.

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SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #2 · 23 d ago (Edited)

4

Let's look at some other things I found wrong with the car. Some were found during last year and some are more recent.

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Don't think I need to say much about that. Yes, it flapped around a lot.

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One or a few of the previous owners apparently despised connecting grounds.

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"Shroud" for the intercooler. Made out of the thinnest gauge aluminum. I almost thought it was thick paper. I'll post more updates in a bit.

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JimKing

· #3 · 23 d ago

Those ground straps attach to the M6 bolts on the engine side panels I guess to prevent any galvanic corrosion or... Not sure, but Toyota must have put them there for a reason.
This is a turbo-swapped, original NA car, it looks like?

Reactions: 1

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #4 · 23 d ago

JimKing said:
Those ground straps attach to the M6 bolts on the engine side panels I guess to prevent any galvanic corrosion or... Not sure, but Toyota must have put them there for a reason.
This is a turbo-swapped, original NA car, it looks like?

You got it!

And I just realized it may have sounded like I was asking what those were, when really it was a joke at the previous owners expense. These were not the only grounds I've found disconnected...

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #5 · 23 d ago

5

Power steering has not worked since I've had the car. While it's not the only issue, the rack had seen better days. Decided preventive maintenance made the most sense.

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Dropped the steering rack and obtained a Detroit Axle rebuild. Looks like it was the original?

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Rack reinstalled along with the new Whiteline swaybar with reinforcement brackets. For others who have the Whiteline kit: What's up with the bushings they give you for the front? They are way too tall and would have been a pain to use. I chose some Moog bushings instead and called it done.

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Also, the old power steering reservoir was a rusted mess. Bought one in much better shape and painted it to help prevent future issues. Don't mind the black smudges, just some fluid film that got on my gloves.

You'll also notice I changed out the battery terminals, as those old ones only belong in the garbage.

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SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #6 · 23 d ago

2

I do have to give some credit to PrimeMR2 or Fortune (or both?). I ordered some Fortune 500s through them right after they transitioned to the Gen 8 line. I found the $300 jump in price ridiculous and Prime still had them listed for $1500 (before I tacked on Swift springs). I figured they must be Gen 7s and that was fine with me. Fast forward them arriving and what showed up appear to be Gen 8s. No one said anything, but someone ate that cost. Whoever it is, thank you!

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Here they are with the Wilhelm mounts during an initial fit. You can also see I've got the geometry correction kit as well.

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SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #7 · 23 d ago

2

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Test fitting the future brakes with the wheels. Realized after I had grabbed the rear calipers, but I was still impressed they fit behind the wheels. They are authentic LMs in the 17x7 and 17x8 sizes. I plan to leave the front faces as they are, but maybe inset the rears. They are in a good, useable shape, but could use a refinish down the road so I may wait until then.

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xxxboosted2xxx

· #8 · 23 d ago

Can we talk about them brakes for a moment?! Love it

Also, your mirrors and the flapping around - I fixed mine for about 7 cents each side and an hour of time.
Using info from others on here, I pulled my mirrors off, disassembled, compressed spring (I used a vice and some zipties to keep it tight), then I drilled a small hole on the rod that is in the 'middle' of spring. What is supposed to happen, from Toyota, is that there's a notch and a little C-washer in there that keeps the spring under load. With the tension, it keeps the mirror from flopping about.
So I drilled a small hole, put compressed spring on, put a washer on top of spring and then a small nail through the hole I drilled.
Put it all back together and years later it still works great! Also, when I opened one of them up, the C-washer thing was resting in there, but worn too much to be used again.

Anyway, it's a cheap fix (that works!) and only took a bit of time and got me more familiar with the car (first time pulling the door panels off etc)

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SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #9 · 22 d ago (Edited)

xxxboosted2xxx said:
Can we talk about them brakes for a moment?! Love it

Also, your mirrors and the flapping around - I fixed mine for about 7 cents each side and an hour of time.
Using info from others on here, I pulled my mirrors off, disassembled, compressed spring (I used a vice and some zipties to keep it tight), then I drilled a small hole on the rod that is in the 'middle' of spring. What is supposed to happen, from Toyota, is that there's a notch and a little C-washer in there that keeps the spring under load. With the tension, it keeps the mirror from flopping about.
So I drilled a small hole, put compressed spring on, put a washer on top of spring and then a small nail through the hole I drilled.
Put it all back together and years later it still works great! Also, when I opened one of them up, the C-washer thing was resting in there, but worn too much to be used again.

Anyway, it's a cheap fix (that works!) and only took a bit of time and got me more familiar with the car (first time pulling the door panels off etc)

Thanks for that tip man! I wondered if there was a decent fix, but hadn't gotten to looking. When I restore them I'll give that a try.

And yes, the Engineer Freely kit should provide a great budget upgrade. Plus, everyone knows having Porsche on your calipers means it's now a super car.

In the service of getting it on the road, I'll be leaving the calipers as they are for now. They appear to be in good working order. This winter I'll look into rebuilding them and getting them powder coated (Provided they don't cause issues before then).

Celica GTE

· #10 · 21 d ago

SavetheFlipUps said:
View attachment 87455
View attachment 87456

Test fitting the future brakes with the wheels. Realized after I had grabbed the rear calipers, but I was still impressed they fit behind the wheels. They are authentic LMs in the 17x7 and 17x8 sizes. I plan to leave the front faces as they are, but maybe inset the rears. They are in a good, useable shape, but could use a refinish down the road so I may wait until then.

Where did you get your brake adapters? I have those same Calipers
front and rear?? Looking good, wanting to do the same but hoping to get some black Friday's sales this year.

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #11 · 21 d ago (Edited)

Celica GTE said:
Where did you get your brake adapters? I have those same Calipers
front and rear?? Looking good, wanting to do the same but hoping to get some black Friday's sales this year.

Post right above yours I mentioned it. Engineer Freely is the company.

Looks like the full adapter kit is out of stock. Comes with the brackets, rotor adapters, and stainless lines. It's a nice kit. They did have 10% last Black Friday. I would have done it, but I wasn't committed yet on what direction to go with brakes.

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Celica GTE

· #12 · 20 d ago

SavetheFlipUps said:
Post right above yours I mentioned it. Engineer Freely is the company.

Looks like the full adapter kit is out of stock. Comes with the brackets, rotor adapters, and stainless lines. It's a nice kit. They did have 10% last Black Friday. I would have done it, but I wasn't committed yet on what direction to go with brakes.

Thanks, I missed that post. I have had these brakes since he did a write up years ago. I think it's time for me to finally put mine on. Loos awesome and keep up the great build.

Reactions: 1

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #13 · 20 d ago

2

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Found these on Etsy (Link), which I had never used before. I like them a lot more than the RacerX offering and since OEM ones that don't require some adhesive to attach properly are just about impossible to find... They were a bit pricey, but if they last then I'm fine with it.

Comes with the vent and hardware. You'll notice I have one screw that's different due to the hole being wallared out by a previous owner or rust. Anyone else looking to do this should be prepared for such a possibility. Still looking for a matching screw.

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I posted more pics of these in Alex W's thread about chassis stiffness. I fortunately bought them before they started getting greedy on the pricing. Install was easy enough. Link to where I talk more about them.

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SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #14 · 20 d ago

Celica GTE said:
Thanks, I missed that post. I have had these brakes since he did a write up years ago. I think it's time for me to finally put mine on. Loos awesome and keep up the great build.

You should man! Would be nice to see some more people embrace the kit.

Alex's kit is, without a doubt, superior in many aspects but is more than I need (at least for a while yet). A major downside to this kit, of course, is lack of a direct bolt-on rear parking brake option. Plan is to either have brackets made or buy some parts from Wilhelm or MR2Heaven to make the Wilwoods work.

Right now though, a parking brake is not a big requirement so I'm not worried about it.

Celica GTE

· #15 · 19 d ago

True, I have a RacerX bracket for the fronts but he does not make rears. So I am hoping these will work with my calipers. Wildwood may have a rear parking brake option but I have to do more research on it. Will let you know what I find. Are you using the Supra front rotors?

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #16 · 19 d ago (Edited)

Celica GTE said:
True, I have a RacerX bracket for the fronts but he does not make rears. So I am hoping these will work with my calipers. Wildwood may have a rear parking brake option but I have to do more research on it. Will let you know what I find. Are you using the Supra front rotors?

Yeah, the Wilwoods appear to be the go-to option for the parking brake. Wilhelm and MR2Heaven use the MC-4 caliper. Part # 120-12069 and 120-12070 (with the addition of the color code at the end).

This kit uses the RX-8 non-sport front rotors in the front (and includes adapter rings to properly seat them) and Toyota RAV4 front rotors in the rear. Upside is that parts are pretty darn cheap. Downside is you have limited options on higher performance rotors. I went with Bosch rotors front and rear and Powerstop Evolution Z23 pads. Should be perfectly fine for the street use I'm looking to do.

I also just noticed looking at the Engineer Freely Facebook page that he won't be stocking this brake adapter kit for a while. With the prices of these calipers going up I suppose it doesn't make as much sense. I have a feeling it also involves wanting to focus on the DSG conversion stuff more.

xxxboosted2xxx

· #17 · 19 d ago

SavetheFlipUps said:
DSG conversion stuff more.

DSG?

SavetheFlipUps

Discussion Starter · #18 · 19 d ago (Edited)

xxxboosted2xxx said:
DSG?

Dual clutch transmission swap from VW/Audi's for the 2GR. Pretty interesting stuff!

xxxboosted2xxx

· #19 · 19 d ago

OH wow!

xxxboosted2xxx

· #20 · 19 d ago

To add-if it would work on a 2GR, wouldnt it work on a 3S engine too?
Im sure I couldnt afford it, but Im interested!

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