My MKIII - My Project - Need a few answers

[Grandavi]

Im thinking I will probably find out what it is when I pop apart stuff for the new lower baal joints. Will do a pic of what I find there.. could be just bad bushings. Hopefully I dont have to rebuild the entire front suspension (of course.. if I do.. thats just one more thing off the list)

[Grandavi]

Woot! Found the fenders!!! : ) Adding that to my list of parts to get. Man.. I gotta do a good month in November.. parts added up to too much, cant buy until Nov 28th now... yikes. Ahh well.. car will be parked by then, so I can tear down/rebuild!

Anyway.. anyone interested.. here's where I found the fenders...
Champion ToyotaWorld

[mrnickleye]

The little black lever on the door post is the seatbelt tensioner. It allows a slightly less tension on the seatbelt when you are wearing it, to allow you to move forward easier (like reaching into the glovebox).

More tension when door is open, to help retract the belt when you take it off. Isn't Toyota thoughtful ?

The should have spent MORE TIME getting the BHG problem solved.

By the way, after owning my supra for 6 years, and moderating this forum for about 3 yrs, I have determined that the headgaskets will go bad (leak again, even just a tiny bit) about every 3 yrs, or 20k miles.

I will do a thread on my findings soon, so look for it, I will sticky it in the general section.

[Grandavi]

Originally Posted by mrnickleye

The little black lever on the door post is the seatbelt tensioner. It allows a slightly less tension on the seatbelt when you are wearing it, to allow you to move forward easier (like reaching into the glovebox).

More tension when door is open, to help retract the belt when you take it off. Isn't Toyota thoughtful ?

The should have spent MORE TIME getting the BHG problem solved.

By the way, after owning my supra for 6 years, and moderating this forum for about 3 yrs, I have determined that the headgaskets will go bad (leak again, even just a tiny bit) about every 3 yrs, or 20k miles.

I will do a thread on my findings soon, so look for it, I will sticky it in the general section.

So, is there any way to tell when the head gasket is leaking "slightly"? The head gasket in my car isnt a Toyota gasket, but it isnt a MHG either. Plus the bolts aren't ARP and I haven't checked yet to see what the torque is on them, but would hope that whoever rebuilt the engine torqued them correctly. I get to see them when I redo the top, but if putting a MHG (or alternative gasket as I dont really plan on putting in oversized injectors or a larger turbo) and ARP headbolts would solve the issue longer, I would go for it. I plan on keeping the car for about 10+ years so I do want to pamper it a bit.

[Grandavi]

Thought I would update this (been a while)

As of last week, I found a guy in Calgary that does rust repairs out of his home (its all he does). He only charges 45.00 per hour flat rate + parts currently which is a super duper deal and he seems to be good. Also, all the work is photographed so I will have a journal of repairs.

ANYONE who is thinking of buying a Supra in Canada, should read this!!

Here's what happened. If you are familiar with this thread, then you may have seen the pictures detailing rust repairs needed on my car. I searched long and hard and NOBODY would touch the car. All they want to do is accident repairs because insurance claims are gravy for them. (weinies!)

Anyway, I found this guy (Rust King is what he calls his company) and I saw pics of rust repair on a Mustang that looked similar to my problems.. here's what I found after he got the car and agreed to do the work...

The rear wheel wells were far worse than what I could see. The rust was actually behind the undercoating so you couldnt even tell there were huge holes in the wheel well on the passenger side. All that is now repaired with metal.. full seam welds too, no tacking and gluing and bondo. Very nice job there. The driver side was just flakes of metal left and those are now replaced with solid metal. The factory primer was good up to the rust areas so he cut back to that area and replace/reshaped them. (still ongoing btw)

There was also a hole from rust behind the rear seat on the passenger side which was quite an odd location for it. That also was replaced with metal and is being sealed. (starting to feel better about the car regardless of the $$ being thrown at it now)

The trim along the bottom of the car is all bolt on (I didn't know that) and is rusting in certain areas, so needs to be replaced (behind the front driver side tire is bubbling). that will have to wait as the single piece is 325.00, so I may just go with a body kit and forget replacing it. The rocker panel under the doors is solid metal, mine is in great shape luckily.

The quarter panels (i have pics earlier on in this thread) were "bubbling" along the top of the wheel wells. Why? Because the previous owner did the rust repair and rivited sheets of metal over top of the rust (didn't clean up the old rust) then put about 2-3 mm's of bondo over the whole thing just gluing the metal to the quarter panel. Now.. this may work okay in Texas.. but in Canada.. it wont work. Thats why my quarters were falling apart. (now it is solid metal again with just a very thin film of bondo for shaping). And to rebuild the quarter it has about a 1/2 inch flat area around the top of the tire which this guy has had to hand shape. I think this will look very sharp when its complete and I get it painted.

The warning? Open up the side panels of the hatch and stick your damn hand inside. Feel around... if you feel dirt.. the wheel wells are likely shot to hell. Press against the top of the wheel well (I did on mine a year after I bought it and my hand went right through!!) Check for flaking or breakage. Most people are aware of the spare tire compartment, but if you live in a wintery (snowy) area, it is very likely your rears are going to be like mine if they were ever done improperly or poorly maintainted. You can use that to lower the purchase price, or just walk away. I had no choice on my car. Do it or watch it fall apart. (I love my Supra.. so no real chioce..)

Total cost (not including a paint job) to repair both quarter panels, both wheel wells, the front edge of both wheel well areas (both rusting out beneath the ground effects flare near the rocker panel), the rust part on the front driver side fender, including him removing my interior and putting it back in.. will be about 2400.00. That may seem like a lot to the person who has not costed this out.. but i figger its about 1/2 what I expected..

the kicker is.. now I have to worry about my doors, because if the body work was this bad on the quarters.. I am guessing my door skins are going to present problems in a few years.

[Grandavi]

INSIDE THE Driver side WHEEL WELL



The front fender is getting repaired rather than replaced (at least at this point it is.. we will see when its ground down what will really happen)



Both sides of the bumper had these brackets rusted... in following pics.. you will see what they attach to. The attachments are completely gone. Ordered new sets with hardware for both sides.





This is the mudflap/ground effects right behind the driverside front tire, the bubbling shows that the metal inside is rusting. Not replacing this until I decide.. body kit or stay stock.



This is the bumper mount that is rusted completely off where it attaches to the bumper. Same on both sides.



Passenger side quarter (driver side is complete, but I dont have a photo of that yet. You can also see where my gas tank is leaking. I am hoping it is just the gasket and have ordered a new one this week along with all new screws, etc. But I think I will have to drop the gas tank and have it checked over and possibly repaired as the seams look like they "may" be split on this corner. Toyota put a guard on the gas tank that is basically just a plastic beach pail.. all it does is hold dirt against the gas tank. Not designed well. Anyone know if I can remove it safely and leave it off??



The inisde of the the mudflap/ground effects behind the driverside front wheel.. you can see why its bubbling. All I am doing is sealing it to prevent further degradation for now.



This is the odd rust spot. no idea why it rusted here... but it is repaired now with a patch of metal and being sealed.

[Grandavi]

Does anybody have a suggestion for sideskirts that are bolt ons for the 88? (I could replace front and rear bumpers.. but not sure if I absolutely have to or.. if I dont.. will it look like I'm an idiot?)

Also, I have to replace the rear trim on the driver side.. (the black rubber peice that wraps around the car, not sure of a technical name for it, but its what is supposed to protect the car from other doors (yeah right).

The new one (there are 2 in the world that Toyota can find for me) is going to be original grey, but mine are black (painted I believe). Is it a hard process to paint, or should I replace the whole trim package (the wrap around door guard... whatever you call it.. lol)

[mk3teen]

nice beast u got there, did u find where the oil on the spark plug galley was coming from? where is tht dipstick sticky id like to read it, i have the same frustration with reading the level

[corrosivecopper]

[QUOTE=Grandavi;62395]I read the manual entirely, cover to cover and still cant find what that black swing thingy on the door post is...



This to me looks the door switch.. tells the car whether or not the door is open. Haven't looked at my Supra for a bit (snow and all lol) but if I recall there are indicators on the dash for door open.. Hope that helps

[cre]

Originally Posted by Grandavi

I read the manual entirely, cover to cover and still cant find what that black swing thingy on the door post is...

It's connected to the seatbelt; It adjusts the rate at which it's retracted... doors open the spring is uninhibited and the belt retracts with more pressure and quicker.