[Build Log]1981 Celica Supra

[Savan]

I say 4 link the rear with some fatties and then rebuild the engine and add one or two of those shiny hair dryer thingies

Its got the 5M-E (116HP) in it which isn't worth putting shiny hair dryers on. If I wanted to go that route I'd need to swap the engine out with a 5M-GE(145-175HP), 6M-GE(170-190HP) or a 7M-GE/GTE(190-230HP). If I went with the 7M series, I'd need to worry about blown head gaskets, as thats a notorious problem they have. But I think I'm going to keep it mostly stock... at least for now

[dr_bowtie]

head gaskets arent a real issue these days with the right stuff... on the weaker ones you need to O-ring the head and block and sometimes we've even added extra blots where feasible to make a 6-bolt head instead of 4 per cylinder....

 

I would not be afraid of the hair dryers on your current engine as you could shoot for the moon with the right cams and boost...the smaller engines rev higher so more boost is possible. you have to remember the larger the engine the more violent it becomes with boost... so I like lesser size for more control and just poor the coals to it and then i can usually do better than all the violent ones who are out of control

[Andrewr05]

That's 116HP new, even still if you could get 200 and lighten it a bit it would be a sweet little beast of a car.

[Savan]

Part 3 uploaded

[Andrewr05]

Its amazing what working shocks will do isn't it?

 

Now part 4!?

Edited September 7, 2013 by Andrewr05

[Fragsman]

This is interesting.

[Kiro]

Don't know too many Celica Supra enthusiasts.  Nice.

 

If I remember correctly, the 7M just had incorrect head bolt torque specs from factory.  Just need to tighten them up and you should be good to go.

 

I've only looked at first generation Celica's in the past so I don't know if this is applicable, but adding more power required extra support and chassis stiffening so that the car wouldn't tear itself apart.

 

Just FYI, since you're keeping it mostly stock for now.

 

Good luck with the AC!  Still having issues with mine in my first gen MR2. 

[Locutus]

This is freaking rad, and the price is amazing. I'm jealous. 

[Wesstron]

More PICS man... more pics plz lol

[Savan]

Pt. 4 The AC Debacle... 

 

 

Sorry for how long its been since the last update. I was hoping to have more done on the car by now but you guys deserve an update as to the state of the car as it sits, so without further ado I give you Pt.4 The AC Debacle.

 

So I was never really sure if the AC in my car worked. The guy I got it from said it had worked, but the AC belt broke while he was driving one day and he never bothered to replace it. So when I was ordering a bunch of parts off Rock Auto I ordered a new AC belt.

 

I wasnt sure if there was any pressure left in the system, and knowing that r12 was illegal to just vent into the atmosphere I took it to a number of shops who all said they didnt have the equipment to capture r12 anymore. They all said to just bleed the high pressure side, but to wear an insulated rubber glove because if I got some on my hand it would flash freeze. I didnt want that to happen, so luckily one of the shops pulled used a bleeder screw and it turns out I was worrying about nothing as the system was dry. 

 

I got a r134a conversion kit and 2 cans of refrigerant from a local auto parts store and went on my way. I removed the fan shroud to get access to the tensioner pulley for the AC, loosened it and went to put the belt on... it was too short. I loosened the pulley as far as it would go and still nothing. This is by the way the belt that Rock Auto says fits my AC pulleys... Thanks... So I went back to the auto parts store and asked them for the pulley their system says fits my AC. It was longer so I thought everything was set... I went to put it on and it fit, so I tightened up the pulley and there was still too much slack. So I tightened it some more, still too much slack, so I tightened it even more and... 

I snapped the bolt. So I went to home depot.. they didnt have one, went to lowes.. they didnt have one, went to menards... they didnt have one, looked up fastener stores in my area, Found one called Fasteners Inc... They were closed by time I got there. Went back the next morning... they carry construction equipment... why would you call yourselves Fasteners Inc if YOU DON'T CARRY FASTENERS!? So I looked up another bolt place. They did carry fasteners, and they did have the right size bolt, but it wasnt threaded all they way. They told me about another place that may have what I was looking for, and I called them this time since I was tired of driving all over town. They said they could have one sent in from another store the next day. 24 hours and $8 later I FINALLY had a replacement bolt. But I still didnt have a belt that fit. 

 

So I went to the nearest place that would carry belts, which happened to be a lawnmower dealer gave them the 2 belts I had and said I need one thats in between both of these. After about 10 minutes of him looking in his catalog he stepped into the back and came out with a belt that was indeed inbetween the 2 belts I already had.

 

Finally... I had all the parts I needed to get my AC working. I went to a friends house who's done AC work before and he charged the system and IT WORKED. It was glorious. I took a picture of the vent I knew it was dumb at the time, but I didnt care, it worked. 

but not for long... After we had it all set and working we took one last look and noticed that the tensioner pulley seemed like it was out too far.

It wasnt in line with the others, so we took it all apart to make sure we had re-assembled it correctly. We had, but there was a problem. The bearing in the pulley was shot and the race had disintegrated, so nothing was supporting the balls inside and it just flopped forward. The only reason it hadnt been squealing like a banshee is because the bearing sits on a sleeve which was free to spin. So once again I went out to the lawnmower place in hopes they would have a bearing that would fit... It was a pipe dream. And neither did any of the other auto parts stores I visited. Apparently no one stocks the AC bearings for a 33 year old Japanese sports car. Who would have guessed?

 

So I did some looking on forums and found a guy who goes through a lot of these cars in Washington who also had some miscellaneous interior parts I needed, but most importantly he had an AC tensioner pulley with good bearings.

 

So now here I sit with a car that finally has working AC, and I cant drive it... Why cant I drive it you ask? Well I'm glad you asked dear friend, The reason I cant drive it is because I lent it to a friend who drove it 1400 miles to a car meet in New Jersey and on the way back it developed brake problems... and by break problems I mean I topped off the brake fluid reservoir and the next morning it was empty. It had always leaked a little fluid, from a section of line but this was way more than usual. It turns out one of the calipers has decided that it just didnt want to play along with my plan of having a functional car and did this 

I know it doesn't look like much, but that wet spot on the bottom of the caliper just oozes brake fluid when you touch the rubber cover. So now I need to replace that caliper and while I'm at it I'm going to change out all the brake lines on the car. I just need to find the time since my new job is working me weird hours and on weekends. But thats going to be...

 

Pt. 5 I'd like to stop now... 

 

In the meantime enjoy these video's of my car losing at the drag strip after the auto show (pics of the auto show coming soon)

 

 

I like the guy in this one who applauds my car for not exploding

[sword_fish]

project looking good

 

but it's disappointing why on earth we don't have that refrigerant on cans here. life could be much easier having those.

[Locutus]

Hopefully it's not too expensive for new calipers, I know it was like 35 for my old car (the local shops charge like 200 for calipers lol)