So I sold my mint 1990 mk3 a few years ago. Recently bought a 1989 with a 1jzgte swap that needs work. One thing is that it has the spare wheel area rot. Has anyone done any mods to this? Maybe eliminating the well, and making a flat piece of metal to cover it? I don’t know. Just curious. I don’t really need the spare so that isn’t an issue. And the car is far from mint, so I’m not really concerned about keeping it stock. Just seeing if there’s any ideas. Thanks
Spare tire floor mod?
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I’ve seen pics with people modding for fuel cell and pumps mounted with surge tanks. Obviously easy to tack a flat piece of sheet metal across but it’s wasted space underneath. Maybe a trap door with external pump under could utilize it
I’ve actually thought and seen the fuel cell idea. And if my tank was rotted I would definitely go that route. I agree with the wasted space by just laying a piece over it. I’m leaning towards just cutting the bottom out and replacing that
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Ya you could do that for sure. Most of them I’ve seen have rust/rot coming up the radius with the flat bottom being decent
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I have a spare from my old 03 Acura TL which is same bolt circle but the hub size is a 64.1 which is bigger. you could probably get a hub centric ring to adapt it. I haven’t tried it on the front of my cars and both mine have 4 piston calipers.
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The idea of putting the battery down there is actually a great idea. I was planning on relocating mine to the back right as most do but was in the process currently of fixing the rust in the spare tire well by welding in a flat piece of sheet metal to the bottom of where the rust stopped in the well. I could trace and cut out a section for the battery to sit in here so that its completely hidden after the carpet is down and keep everything as low as possible for weight.
This is my progress so far.
This is my progress so far.
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Space saver? As in am I putting the battery down there to save space?
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It’s a skinny inflated spare
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Sorry Doug, maybe not what your thinking of as a space saver. You looking for one that you inflate when you need like gm cars had in the 70’s?
Yeah - that. Looking for a lightweight skinny spare like yours. It will weigh less than me finding a factory sawblade and putting a tire on it. Edit. That's perfect, or close enough. Yours is 1.2" in Circumference smaller than a factory wheel/tire on 79" of circumference. So perhaps 1.5% different. Easily handled by the differential as a get home tire. And have you actually fit it on your supra as a test? If yes - total score!
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A pic of the Acura spare on back of my car. I don’t have a Supra with stock front brakes, both mine have bigger rotors and 4 piston calipers. Once my lift is free , I’ll try the spare on my 92. It has 4 piston brembo up front and mkiv tt rear.
The spare weights in at 30lbs on my bathroom scale. The work meister I pulled from car with a 275/40-17 for comparison is 50lbs.
![Tire Wheel Automotive tire Automotive lighting Hood]()
![Head Tire Wheel Automotive tire Tread]()
The spare weights in at 30lbs on my bathroom scale. The work meister I pulled from car with a 275/40-17 for comparison is 50lbs.
Oh man, that's REALLY kind of you to bolt it on to show me it clears brakes, etc! Thanks a million. So, they have 3 Acura TL's at my local yard. A 98, 01, and 02. Any idea if those are the same model as yours and therefore a certain target of that same spare? Or, for that same certainty - does the rim have a stamping number of the wheel size and offset? It will often be something like "6X16JJ ET35".
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