Supra Forums banner

The Muse: A Build to Last (or take) a Lifetime

7K views 59 replies 9 participants last post by  Captain 
#1 · (Edited)
Some of you who used to hang around SM may have seen my long running build thread there. "Delilah's Build" I spend much more time on here now that SM is a ghost town. Having a new surge of Supra motivation I thought it was time that I brought my build over to SuprForums.

You can also follow me on instagram @ryan.payne to get more real time updates.

Without further ado.........

Meet Delilah as she came to me back in 2006 just after I graduated high school. Stock aside from wheels and a kenwood head unit.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Coupé
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Hood
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sedan


She either previously had or suffered a minor BHG on my 4 hour drive home from picking her up :( which prompted swapping the 7mgte with a extremely low mile spare engine I had picked up along with BPU mods. Those included spearco replica IC, Lipp Elbow, bosh BPV, HKS Dragger midsection, and I built new IC pipes & 3" Downpipe. I later added a maft pro and arp headstuds due to something we will just refer to as the incident.

Auto part Tool accessory Automotive super charger part Machine
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Engine Auto part


I came up around some of the MKIII legends like Ian, Duane, Rain, Ron, Nate, Brad and have always had big plans for the car. I have amassed a large amount of parts towards those plans but unfortunately had limited funds through college and once that was remedied after graduating time went out the window.

Some Shots from a few meets back in the day

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Hood
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Automotive design
Vehicle Rear-view mirror Automotive mirror Car Mirror
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Coupé
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sports car


I have had motivation in small sprints over the last several years but they always seem to get interupted by life......Major Job Change, kid #1, Kid #2, Moving ....

Going to keep myself accountible my starting fresh here this time around and giving the people what they want UPDATES!
 
See less See more
10
#2 ·
Nice to see some of the the older members on SM are still around on here. It's very sad to see the almost non-existent traffic on SM but I been checking in everyday lately to see if anything is new. Looking good so far. What other plans do you have coming up for your Supra?
 
#5 ·
Unfortunately on the test drive she was pissing fluid out of one side of the rack. I topped it about as full as I could and after a 2 hour drive it was very low.

That prompted this
Vehicle Car Tire Automotive tire Automobile repair shop
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Hood Supercar
Transport Vehicle Auto part Machine Commercial vehicle
Vehicle Car Automotive exterior Auto part


Makes sense to complete all of the mechanical work before cutting and buffing the paint right!? Dont have to worry as much about dust swirls from leaning over it then right? :nuts:

So parts have been trickling in for this, Subframe and all other bushings, Rack rebuild kit, ball joints, tie rods, wheel bearings ......



The long term plan is complete the suspension overhaul, cut and buff the body, reassemble then work on the motor in stages. It has a stock motor aside from arp studs at the moment but I have 3 complete spares along with eagle rods, probe pistons, 2 P&P heads 1 with 2jz valves installed. I have a 57 trim for short term and a Boss bolt on 62mm after that hopefully with a long block with some of the above parts.

Ultimate dream was compound turbos or playing with a holset HE551VGT to create the ultimate no-lag 1000whp setup. Something is in the works that may be changing those plans. I am still trying to figure out where my head is at on some things.

These have been my daily's for the last couple years which also hasn't done the supra any favors in the motivation department.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automotive tire Tire
 
#3 ·
Used to spend a LOT of time on SM, I think I have something like 10,000+ posts on there by now. However, job change where I am not at a desk with long lunch hours dictates that I not spend so much time on forums anymore. Shame too, used to rather enjoy all the company on there.

On the plus side, less time on the forums equals more time in the garage, so there's some benefit. Maybe all of us old SM folks are just getting the cars into better shape! :)
 
#4 ·
Good to see your still around Brad, I still skim the new posts on SM at least once a week. I am going to do my best to update the original build thread there as well, feels like I am talking to myself though.

Car looks a bit different than above at the moment. I started doing some paint touch up in 2010? which turned into a full respray. Sat like that tucked away in my Dad's shop as I Graduated, moved then bought my first house and moved again.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Automobile repair shop Coupé
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sports car
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sedan


I also had a hotstart issue I was chasing prior to painting. After changing every ignition and fuel component, checking the fpr, rest pressure etc I concluded that my harness must be shorting when hot. So I focused on getting it running properly before re-assembling the body.

rebuilt my harness completely
Wire Wood Cable Electrical wiring Technology


Then finally decided I had to take her for an extended drive to verify the hot start issue was resolved. I threw in the bare min turn/tails and went for a drive.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sports car
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Coupé


Ran great and felt amazing to be behind the wheel after so many years but there's a huge amount left to do.

Vehicle Car Compact car Hood
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Auto part Engine
Vehicle Car Auto part Engine Family car
 
#6 ·
Boy can I relate. Car looks great. I've been sitting on one for 14yr that I thought was gonna get buttoned up 5yrs ago. Life has a way of pissing on your plans you made in your early 20s...provides new great things like houses and kids if your smart and work hard, but really puts your personal plans on hold. Look forward to seeing how this progresses as I'm in the same boat.
 
#7 ·
.......Life has a way of pissing on your plans you made in your early 20s...provides new great things like houses and kids if your smart and work hard, but really puts your personal plans on hold.
Thats the truth, I really cannot complain though because like you said, good things have come from it. We bought our first house at 22, 6 years of hard work and remodeling + 2 kids later we were able to trade up to double the house. 3 car garage and 1+ acres for a future shop. I can't say that we have been anything short of blessed.

Made a bit more progress, lots of cleaning needed.

Auto part Machine Automotive exterior Vehicle Family car
Auto part Vehicle Car
Auto part Wire Pipe
 
#8 · (Edited)
Progress Marches on.

Also PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Do not use Autozone reman racks. I sent one back after it showed up with no packing in the box, bent hard lines and input shaft splines and ball joint threads that looked like a hammer had its way with them. The spray paint over dirt, grease and the boots was a nice touch too.

If anyone has ever wondered what the inside of a MKIII Rack looks like.

Auto part Machine Engine Transmission part Tool accessory


Also some things came together and I Sold my Evo X this weekend. An Evo 8 was my Dream Car for the better part of high school, along with the MKIV that is. The X was a very impressive car and I feel very fortunate that I was able to live out that dream at this stage in my life. It was one of, if not the, most confidence inspiring cars I have ever driven and would duck into s corner as soon the thought crossed your mind. I also have to say that while the smooth rev of an inline 6 will always hold my heart that 4cylinder 4B11T's angry growl from 5-8k also did something to you. I will miss it but it was time to move on and free up room for something else in the garage. Also does hurt that I made a few k on the car and drive it for 2.5 years.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Mitsubishi Mitsubishi lancer
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sky Automotive design
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Snow Mitsubishi
 
#10 · (Edited)
I'd say your in good company.

Nothing too exciting on the build mostly stripping and cleaning things up. de-greased the front subframe but that is not pic worthy.

Lower Control arms gave me a bit of a run for my money.
Had to run a piece of pipe down to set up in the press after all the cutting and chiseling. I put it in the toolbox and marked it as SST:WTF001 just in case, not that I wish to ever do this again.


Hammer drill Tool Compact car
Auto part Tire Automotive wheel system Automotive tire Wheel
Auto part Muffler Pipe
Tire Auto part


These will be going in their place after a bit more work.

Auto part
 
#12 ·
The paint/dip toyota used on the lower control arms is some though shit! Blasting was taking too long, even @90 psi. I ended up chemically stripping them followed by blasting to get the tight areas that could not be scraped or brushed. It also provides a better surface for adhesion.

Auto part


And here are a few more teasers for your viewing pleasure.....:wackit:

Auto part Brake Automotive wheel system Wheel Vehicle brake
Tire Photography Automotive tire Audio equipment Close-up
 
#13 ·
I wish you could have seen my build thread on the AZSupras site man, would have given you all sorts of "what not to do" ideas when it comes to rebuilding the stuff under the car. Damn you Photobucket!!!

As far as the front LCA's go, I was told that factory installed parts were powder coated, while replacements had been painted. Not sure why, but the ease in stripping them is night and day apparently.
 
#14 ·
I believe it, it behaved more like powdercoat than paint. If they were in as good shape as the subframe is, I would have just cleaned them. The subframe appears to be powerboat as well but I I would guess it was dipped to apply it due to the thickness in areas and the internal coating.
 
#15 ·
Can you dip a part in the substance they use for powder coating? I thought it was sprayed onto an electrically charged component that is usually hanging... I'll freely admit I've not seen it done in person, so I'm not sure here. Perhaps the bath that parts are dipped in could be charged, or the part itself could be charged while it is being dipped? Something I've yet to play with, due to a lack of an oven in the garage, and the missus likely frowning on me cooking car parts in the kitchen. ;)
 
#16 ·
Yes, the powder is a polymer (basically plastic) and can be dissolved in reducer, lacquer thinner or a similar solvent and then parts dipped or sprayed. I have a gun so I have never tried that method but it's used by some hobbyists who do not. Some industrial processes do something similar to coat the inside of abnormal parts where an inside charge coating can't be applied.

Powdercoating is a fun venture but I'll warn you, it tends to snowball projects. I coat almost everything I take apart now haha. I started with a free craigslist oven in the garage and later picked up a large industrial unit after starting to do coating for other people here and there. I would not recommend the kitchen, for both fumes/safety and the risk of getting powder somewhere.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Making old crappy things new again.....

Auto part Machine Engine Transmission part Tool accessory
Factory Machine Toolroom
Machine
Machine


Had a drain pipe fail in my house and flood my office that I was just getting ready to finish with paint and flooring. Now I have to start over on drywall work so that will take some time away. Not excited about it. :furious:



On another note, time to quit dropping teasers and introduce the new addition to the garage. Meet Jazmin :love:

92 black/shadow grey sun roof
Vehicle Car Sky Automotive design Sports car


I may have a problem.........
 
#18 · (Edited)
Nice new Supra and paint job you are doing to your parts. Looking great.

What seals are you using when rebuilding your rack and pinion?
 
#20 · (Edited)
Everything is Powdercoat and I am using a complete kit from Toyota. I tried an Autozone rack and it showed up with bent hardlines, damages steering shaft splines and spray paint covering the whole thing - dirt and boots included........... I tried an advanced auto rack and it was slightly better so I decided to just do it myself.

Yep, your headlight motors are broken.
I know, I remedied that as soon as it got home. Haven't decided what I am going to do for lighting long term. I am leaning towards 90mm hella highs and lows.

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Sedan
Land vehicle Vehicle Car Coupé Sports car
 
#22 · (Edited)
Glad to hear it. I have always wanted to fabricate up dual rounds in the 89 but it was low on the list. Since I don't like the setup in this one it makes more sense to play with it here and do 5x7 e-codes +osram bulbs or drop in LEDs in the 89. The current LEDs actually put out sufficient light but with two round hotspots rather than a field and nice cutoff.

Some more details on the new project, I couldn't resist the car when it came up...... or diving full on into the project once I had it. Perfect swap candidate while still keeping some 7M in my life with the 89......

1992 original Turbo 5spd power sunroof 100k miles
202 black/ Shadow grey w/ leather
2jzvvti swap refreshed w/ ARPs
Tweaked harness running on Apexi Power FC Standalone
Mishimoto rad
BW S366 /SP QSV /Precision Gate / Tial BOV
Greddy Style FFIM w/Q45 TB
OS Giken twin plate
Alum 1pc driveshaft
meh coilovers
Whiteline Sways
MB front brake kit

Engine Vehicle Auto part Car Automotive engine part
Engine Auto part Vehicle Car Fuel line


and some shots of the kids having fun with the car

Land vehicle Vehicle Car Sports car Automotive exterior
Eyewear Sunglasses Glasses Cool Luxury vehicle
Pink Child Summer Vacation Dress


This changes up the plans for my 89 a bit and also opens up some cool new options.
 
#25 · (Edited)
I have been watching that thread and wondering if they will come out with a standard H4 bulb.

You might look into the LED 5x7s from SuperBright LEDs or the GE NightHawks. Neither are cheap but the beam patterns are significantly better than any H4 drop in LED I've seen.

But you can't go wrong with the E-Codes and a quality bulb.
Agreed, I was looking at both the SuperBright and GE's and also the Truck Lites. I have been hoping the cost will start to come down as more vendors enter the market.
 
#26 ·
Ahh, how I love the march of progress with LED tech... I don't drive much at night, but will probably pick up a set of those SuperBright headlights sometime, as budget allows.

Nice acquisition of the 91, but don't let it hamper your main project. ;)
 
#27 · (Edited)
I think the 92 acquisition has changed up the direction that I want to take Delilah's build. I have always loved the factory seats despite their weight drawbacks. I also think the factory ride is great and that TEMs is cool as hell for the era. I cannot retain all of these things and achieve the performance I am looking for. No car can do everything well so why torment myself with trying.

Delilah will get a restoration style build to keep all of the amenities I i fell in love with on the MKIII plus some old school parts to spice her up and make her interesting. I will enhance her by finishing the suspension refresh, mild drop - whiteline springs if I can find them. Mild power adders to leverage the 7Ms torque and keep spool fast and just enjoy it.

The 92 will fill the role of the big numbers build. The car is already well on its way and much more suited to this. I am setting a hard rule for myself that only one car gets work at a time so that one will always be in the stable ready to drive.

I have the car together and driving great but that was the primary focus of the project. Now I have to go back and address all the little things that need attention to get up to my standards on Jazmin .......... Also have to fight the urge to do anything that takes the car 'down' It really doesn't NEED anything as it sits but I am notorious for being way to good at finding projects

Replaced the aluminum pogo stick shift knob with a TRD leather one
Auto part
Gear shift Auto part Vehicle Car


Adjusted the headlights back flush, plugged the motors back in and altered the throw to align accordingly.

Hooked up the ground for the factory temp guage so it works now. It was an oversight of the swap, the Power FC displays temp on the handheld but non functional guages bug me. Troubleshooting the oil guage is up next, I have an aem in the pillar that I trust much more but I would like both to function due to OCD haha
 

Attachments

#29 ·
I think the 91 acquisition has changed up the direction that I want to take Delilah's build. I have always loved the factory seats despite their weight drawbacks. I also think the factory ride is great and that TEMs is cool as hell for the era. I cannot retain all of these things and achieve the performance I am looking for. No car can do everything well so why torment myself with trying.

Delilah will get a restoration style build to keep all of the amenities I i fell in love with on the MKIII plus some old school parts to spice her up and make her interesting. I will enhance her by finishing the suspension refresh, mild drop - whiteline springs if I can find them. Mild power adders to leverage the 7Ms torque and keep spool fast and just enjoy it.

The 91 will fill the role of the big numbers build. The car is already well on its way and much more suited to this. I am setting a hard rule for myself that only one car gets work at a time so that one will always be in the stable ready to drive.
Smart man. I've found that the balance between comfortable street car and race car is a difficult thing to achieve. Sure, I COULD strip the interior to its bare essentials, swap seats for Kirkeys, replace current battery with lithium, and a few other tricks, but then I'm left with a miserable car to be in, that just happens to be fast. So, I choose to keep the stock seats and sound deadening, and put up with the ~200 lbs (absolute MAX) penalty. I'm road tripping the car, it's full of luggage anyway, I'd rather enjoy the drive than shave a second off my times...

Plus, she's only about 3600 lbs with a full tank and me in the driver seat, so it really isn't THAT bad.

That said, your approach here (one road car, one race car) is a much smarter one than I took. If I had the means, I'd do the same. :) Race cars are actually easier to build than it seems, if you're willing to put in the time. One benefit, you're only constrained by your creativity and current skill set. Both of those can be expanded... Road / Race cars are constrained by a long list of compromises, unfortunately.
 
#30 ·
I just picked up the Truck lite rampage which is not bad off amazon. Just installed them on my 91 and boy what a difference over the stock halogens sort of like first installing HID's. Over all I'd say I'm happy.

BTW your build looks fantastic.. Man I wish I had the time!!

Tell me about your harness, what exactly did you use? Looks like Tech flex but not the kind that is meant for heat. Apparently, that stuff burns instead of just melts when it gets too hot. (Tonythetiger warned me) I also would like to know how you did the splits where you have wires coming out? Looks really clean did you use the special boot shrinkwrap that has the split-offs?
 
#31 · (Edited)
Thanks, although I wouldn't say time is something I have an abundance - the build duration is proof

The Truck lites are about 190 ea on amazon is that around what you paid? Looks like there are also knock offs now for a quarter of that that are supposedly DOT I wonder how those are. I like this option because unlike e-codes + quality bulbs a rewire is not required with the low draw.

I stripped the harness down and replaced any brittle wires completely. There were a few where I could not locate pins so i had to use butt splices to replace the degraded sections. I then wrapped the harness with Elliott tape (no adhesive mess), then the flex mesh over that. I am not sure of the brand, I sourced it from a guy locally who does a lot of track builds.

I melted all the ends to keep them from unraveling while working with it and it seems to melt and not burn. For the splits I did not want to fork over the $ for Raychem splits. For Y's I just used standard heat shrink by wrapping both legs individually to secure the mesh then a larger shrink went over both those ends. For T splits I wrapped the split the same way and then punched an according sized hole in the larger head shrink for the wire to come through off the main harness.

At the time future plans were to go stand-alone with the car and build a new harness from scratch at with firewall connectors etc. I meant to use this one only until I could go FFIM, had ECU in hand + made all the other changes: trigger wheel/cam sensor, and anything else that would affect the harness layout. Now with the 92 in the picture this car will stay on the stock ECU with either 3Ps board or the maft-pro - if I did it again knowing this I would have sprung for raychem.
 
#33 · (Edited)
We put the same E-Codes in my brothers Supra and they worked very well. I am leaning toward led's for the 89, especially if the price comes down more in the next 6 months.

For the 92 I am thinking I will fab up something to mount two of these per side: 1 high beam and 1 low. May have to go down to the 60mm, I am not sure they will fit.

 
#34 ·
Yeah, I paid the 190, I wasn't going to pay the 400. Note there doesn't seem to be a high beam though on these.

Also when you say you punched a hole with what and how? Just drilled it? Or used a hole punch for paper?

On my 87 I have the Hellas you posted above, it's what I used with my HID's but they were so finicky so I just left in my Sylvania silver stars which have worked flawlessly for like 10 years
 
#38 · (Edited)
Made some progress on both cars over the last week.

New bearings and seals from Totota showed up. Disassembled the hubs on the 89. The 3 ton ram in the press i was using would not budge the outer races. I'll have to drop them off somewhere today.

Auto part Plastic wrap

Auto part Disc brake Locking hubs Automotive wheel system Wheel
Auto part Family car Rim Vehicle
Auto part Engine Automotive engine part Vehicle Disc brake


On the 92 I installed the Mercedes/Brembo BBK. Unfortunately my wheels require spacers but these are beefy and I don't have any real concerns. I'll take the stopping power over not ideal.

Auto part Fuel line Machine Machine tool
Disc brake Auto part Wheel Vehicle brake Tire


Also replaced the driver side fender liner. The existing one was pretty well f*cked from the car being low and the liner not properly attached. I also persecuted the wiring above it including the battery relocation mains. Luckily none were damaged.

Auto part Tire Automotive tire Rim Automotive wheel system


Lastly the suspension needed to be properly set. The coilover setup was quickly thrown together to get the car driving, It was definitely not ideal. . I backed everything completely off set the perches for 0 preload, I then adjusted the overall length to compensate and leave it about 1/4 higher.

Auto part Suspension Suspension part Engine Transmission part


Still need to do the rear but the car rides & handles much better now. The suspension was quite bouncy before and under dampened. Now it rides softer but feels firmer and much more predictable.
 
#40 ·
I have been terrible at keeping up on this thread, I have made some progress over winter. Mostly on the Red 89 but also sidetracked by other project including a rally car and the house.

I don't have any specific updates for today but its my birthday so I though I would stop in an say whats up to anyone still following this.

You can also check out our Shop Instagram @BoostRodeo to get an idea what I have been up to. There are also a couple videos on our YouTube Channel BoostRodeo Garage and with a lot of cools stuff coming once all the footage is cleaned up a little. Going forward I think I will do video updates as I have been playing with that quite a bit lately.

Hope everyone is having a good day
 
#41 ·
Happy birthday, uh... I wanna say "Chris" for some reason? I like the idea of video updates. I've considered doing that for my build thread, as I suspect youtube will be around for a VERY long time. You should post a few of your videos in here then, since you've already uploaded them? :)
 
#42 ·
Thanks, Its Ryan.

I don't have any of the supra videos up yet but I will embed them here as they get posted. Right now all I have up is a few updates on a TE72 Corolla Rally car project that we have been working on. I need to spend a few full days editing and get some of the excess of content I have got over the last several months out.
 
#43 ·
Thanks, Its Ryan.

I don't have any of the supra videos up yet but I will embed them here as they get posted. Right now all I have up is a few updates on a TE72 Corolla Rally car project that we have been working on. I need to spend a few full days editing and get some of the excess of content I have got over the last several months out.
Well I think it's safe to say you'll probably be getting a new subscriber when I make time to check that out...
 
#44 ·
Excited about some Progress I made on the Supra over the last two weeks...........unfortunately I don't have the videos ready yet but hopefully not too long so stay tuned.

Did put out a new episode on the Rally Corolla today though.

 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top