My '91 Supra Turbo build thread.

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

This thread is dedicated to the building and restoration of my 1991 Toyota Supra Turbo. Lets start with some background. I bought the car in early November of 2012 (10th or 11th I believe to be exact) I am the 3rd owner. I bought the car from Mechanicsburg, PA. The PO was the 2nd owner, he bought it from his boss who was the original owner. The car was purchased in 1992 brand new in Oregon, right around the time I was born (1995) the car made a cross country drive with its original owner to a new home in PA. The original owner kept the car until around 2005 when it was sold to the second owner, he drove it for a few years as his daily driver then he let his daughter use it to drive to and from school. He claimed she had blown the headgasket twice, but there is no evidence to support that. I do believe it may have spun a bearing once in it's life, due to some noticeable work in the bottom end, but the head appeared untouched. Car comes up for sale on CL and I snatch it for $4,000.

And here she is, the day I brought her home.

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I drove the car for hmm, maybe two weeks? Had some notable issues, such as a complete failure of the power steering system (rack and the pump) which I replaced, next order of business came about on thanksgiving. It was time to start sanding the car down and putting primer down. Very messy process so I've only got 1-2 pictures of the car in this "paint prep" stage.

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By early December 2012 it was time to pick up the car from paint. I was very happy with the results, though looking back on it I regret the color decision. Wish I would have went with a Silver or black. Oh well I'll paint it again eventually.

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At this point, the car kept the same outward appearance for a while while I focused on making the car more fun. First step, get rid of the fucking automatic! Then I later put on a 57 trim CT26, Apexi CAI, Bic Performance Divorced downpipe, 11psi wastegate actuator, 3" CX boost pipes, and a 3" DM catless exhaust. Car was loads of fun and decently quick for a daily, But I was on stock injectors so fuel cut was an issue. Eventually got the 550/ Lex maf setup. Probably running about 13-15psi at that point. At some point in there I did plastidip my Front toyota badge, my wheels, and my rear turbo badge. Later I swapped from the toyota "T badge" to the pre 1990 "Toyota Supra" Badge.

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As you can see I love this car, drive the shit out of it, and generally have a ton of fun.. But you know what they say. You got to pay to play. So after these various shannanigans....

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxYKXVDx-A[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOf9MqTK_mQ[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htObDxrDZtg[/video]

It's probably not surprising for you to find out that in February 2014 my motor started playing a knock knock joke on me. Who was there you ask? Main bearings 1,3,6 spun and the Ringland on cylinder 1 was broke. Needless to say I really fucked the bottom end and a engine pull/ rebuild was needed. Took the block to my local machinist and had it bored .020 over, crank turned and micropolished, block decked, acid washed, new oil squirters, new NPR pistons and rings, and King bearings all the way through. Was one hell of a learning experience for me.

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Well... It's was finally about time for that fateful moment everyone secretly dreads. The first startup.
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCKY4j2jcQ[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7V0aN_9ILA[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBLeU_Nk6gk[/video]
Needless to say I was beyond happy to hear it start without a knock! Now after a short breakin period it's back to the shinanigans.

[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ry9tvJhm0R8[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TCpkxSIRLQ[/video]
[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WH5GMzMC4U[/video]

As luck would have it, only 1,012.5 miles after my first rebuild..... My motor blew again. Just in these past couple weeks I have pulled and re dissembled the motor attempting to find the cause..

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jason · Mar 10, 2015

This thread is going to reel in users that know absolutely nothing about cars. Great!

Nonetheless, great progress. Let's hear that turbo spool.

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

Then I found it.. Spun a rod bearing on cyl. 4. Bearing is pretty damn chewed up. Now that I'm thinking back, I don't believe I ever cleaned the oil cooler during the first rebuild... Whoops. Live and learn right?

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Just recently dropped my block off at the machine shop, I'm getting ARP Headbolts, ARP Rodbolts, New OEM oil pump which I'm going to shim, New Rings, Toyota OEM HG, my crank is damaged beyond repair so I'm also getting a new crankshaft and clevite bearings. Will also be on the search for a CT26, a W58 clutch, 89+ Turbo TPS, and some other little things. Also need to get around to stripping the head down and replacing the valve stem seals. I already have them, just have to actually install em. Will update this once I actually have some more stuff done.

I got the valve stem seals done in the head. Took a little while at first, but once I got in the groove of things it went fairly quick. Also some parts showed up and I ordered some more parts as well. Going to go out and get some de-greaser and clean the head some tomorrow along with putting it back together just got tired tonight.

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Been a while since I've updated this BUT I've got some big news! Ordered the last of my parts, and got my block and other parts back from the machine shop!! I've been kinda slacking due to the cold/ snow and not having a heated work space. Also just picked up a second job so that has been slowing me down as well.

My cover blew off during a windy night and I woke up to this, all over my year old paint. Fack!

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Jason said:
This thread is going to reel in users that know absolutely nothing about cars. Great!
Nonetheless, great progress. Let's hear that turbo spool.

Yea I figured it probably would, haha. I have some videos posted in the first post but that didn't link up properly.

edit- Re read the first post, please, I've updated the video links.

Bomb · Mar 10, 2015

That's a nice Supra. if it was 4 years newer though O_O

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

Bomb said:
That's a nice Supra. if it was 4 years newer though O_O

2 years newer, your referring to a MKIV, which was made between 1993-2002 though they stopped importing them to the US in 1998. But I would never own one of them, they are way heavier than my model, and not really any better. There was 1,000+HP MK3 Supras before the MKIV was even a concept. Thanks for the compliment though!

jason · Mar 10, 2015

Bomb said:
That's a nice Supra. if it was 4 years newer though O_O

As a car enthusiast and mechanic (not ASE), sometimes it is the feeling of nostalgia that matters.

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

Jason said:
As a car enthusiast and mechanic (not ASE), sometimes it is the feeling of nostalgia that matters.

You could say I'm a bit nostalgic with cars, this was my first ever car (Sold it to buy the Supra)

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Isaac · Mar 10, 2015

I enjoyed the read, but how long did this thread take to make?

Sakura · Mar 10, 2015

Love this thread, probably going to swap a 1J into my S13, you know.. for sliding purposes.
Or maybe an RB, not sure yet.

coltie2 · Mar 10, 2015

nice! its looking good dude

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

Isaac said:
I enjoyed the read, but how long did this thread take to make?

I originally made this on another forum and copy+ pasted here, that is why there is some places where I may say "updates soon" or something similar. All in all it probably took around 2 hours to upload my pictures and get the story itself typed out.

Tundra said:
Love this thread, probably going to swap a 1J into my S13, you know.. for sliding purposes.

1j's are great motors but I would never put one in my own car, the aftermarket support is huge but getting stock parts can be a pain since that motor was never sold in the US. Plus a lot of those "low mileage" JDM motors have sat for a very long time, or only have low miles because they were city driven. What year S13 you got? My best friend has a '93 Hatch, still has the original duel cam KA with over 250k miles and his brother has a '93 Coupe with a SR20 redtop, GT35R, 550 injectors and nistune. Still slow as piss though.

Sakura · Mar 10, 2015

Reminisce11 said:
I originally made this on another forum and copy+ pasted here, that is why there is some places where I may say "updates soon" or something similar. All in all it probably took around 2 hours to upload my pictures and get the story itself typed out.

1j's are great motors but I would never put one in my own car, the aftermarket support is huge but getting stock parts can be a pain since that motor was never sold in the US. Plus a lot of those "low mileage" JDM motors have sat for a very long time, or only have low miles because they were city driven. What year S13 you got? My best friend has a '93 Hatch, still has the original duel cam KA with over 250k miles and his brother has a '93 Coupe with a SR20 redtop, GT35R, 550 injectors and nistune. Still slow as piss though.

93 Sil80 (coupe front convertion) with a KA. I know for sure I want to swap to some kind of JDM engine and turbo it. Maybe I'll stick with Nissan and swap to a RB25

Reminisce11 · Mar 10, 2015

Tundra said:
93 Sil80 (coupe front convertion) with a KA. I know for sure I want to swap to some kind of JDM engine and turbo it. Maybe I'll stick with Nissan and swap to a RB25

Yea I know what a Sileighty is, my buddy with the '93 KA is planning on doing one of them, though personally I prefer the pop ups. He is going to do a (try) to do a full sil80 conversation like kidd hart did back in the day. But those rear windows, and the center valance for the taillights that say "sileighty" are super rare and hard to find, not surprising considering only 500 were made. Personally I would go 1jz over RB25, just due to cost. You could build a nice 1j for the same price as it would cost you just to get a RB25. In the end, it's all up to you.

coltie2 said:
nice! its looking good dude

Thanks!

Reminisce11 · Mar 19, 2015

Got some pretty small updates, but it's steady progress. I'm hoping to be driving the car in the start of April (just in time to wish I had a targa) and I'm planning on (finally) attending May in May down in Virginia. Been trying to go to that show since I bought my car in 2012 and every year either work or the car being broken has interfered. Anyway before this turns into a massive wall of text, onto pics.

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I also did some painting during the down time.

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Also reassembled (most of) the head, shes just waiting to get dropped onto the block.

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And my brand new Aisin oil pump getting ready to get shimmed.

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Also started to sand down the bay to prepare it for paint. Definitely gonna clean it up some while I'm in there but I'm not going to do a tuck or anything, just hide a few things
such.

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Also noticed a few months of sitting did some damage to the leather.

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I'll be sanding the rest of the engine bay on Friday, and re assembling the motor Saturday. Hopefully I'll have some time (and a nice day) to lay down the paint during the week and I'll install the engine and be driving next weekend! If everything goes according to plan, of course.

Reminisce11 · Mar 27, 2015

I've finally made some progress with the motor assembly, also been working on the engine bay when I can but the weather hasn't allowed painting to happen yet. I've got tomorrow off work, hoping to make some good progress.

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