6G Celicas Forums

I appreciate the sentiment, and I was annoyed for sure, but there would be no point to yell. In the end its just paint. I should have taken the car to the local alignment specialist instead of a good year center. The guys in goodyear/firestone/wherever are just there to get a job done. They don't look at cars the same way people on this site do

The silver lining to all this is that it motivated me to find an off-the-shelf solution for the inner tie rods!

If you are trying to convert your car to superstrut, you only need to buy inner tie rods from a MKIV Supra! They are the perfect length to fit superstrut outer tie rods to a USDM steering rack

Observe:


Stock st205 inner tie rod on the left, 1994 Supra rod on the right. The ST205 joints are a little too short to work on a USDM steering rack, but the Supra part makes up for this difference perfectly. No need to custom machine anything, no need to weld anything, just buy the supra parts and bolt all of the superstrut parts right on



As always, this is a custom application for my specific car. Your experience may vary and I cannot be liable for damages resulting from attempts to copy my work

This post has been edited by enderswift: Sep 1, 2014 - 8:39 PM

great job finding a replacement and easy plug in inner tie rod. thanks for updating the mcpherson to superstrut thread with the pics.

by the way i see you don't have abs stock on your celica gt. did you happen to see how the abs line was connected to the st205 knuckle on the clip you bought long ago??

I knew there was bound to be a direct fit part out there somewhere. I would have just never guessed it would end up being a 4th gen supra. And I was more than happy to update the conversion thread. I feel these suspensions have a lot to offer so its good to put together a one stop shop for information.

As for the abs sensor line, it actually ran on the underside of the banana arm to the knuckle. It was protected by a plastic cover which I have unfortunately thrown away (you can still see the two 10mm bolts that used to secure the cover on the arm on one of my previous photos). After coming up from the banana arm it simply runs to the the axle just like in the mcpherson setup.

This post has been edited by enderswift: Sep 1, 2014 - 8:26 PM

good job!

Thanks Berto

Quick update:

Stainless brake lines and new clutch have arrived


Gave the resurfaced flywheel a rinse with brake cleaner before checking to see if they sent me the correct kit


Looks like they sent me a 5s disk instead of a 3s disk with a 5s spline. Whatever, I have no doubt it will hold power just fine


It was interesting to see that they have changed their pressure plate design in the last two years. It is has more cutouts compared to the previous one, which looked like every stock pressure plate ever.



I am very impressed with the quality of these lines. They are produced by a company called HEL, and this particular set is for an ST202 celica, which comes superstrut. So they should be the correct length for my car. The GT lines work, but they are too short to be secured at the stock strut location. At the moment they slide past the strut during every turn, which I feel will ultimately lead to a failure.

where u get the clutch?

Purchased another fx300 directly from clutchmasters

Hey 6gc,

I have another small update. The majority of the body work has been done on the car and it's going to be getting a fresh coat of paint very soon. Therefore I've been busy fixing up a few small things on the 3s so that it's ready to be dropped in as soon as the car returns.

observe:



Nearly all of the nuts and bolts securing the turbo system began to loosen shortly after the first swap and I developed tiny but annoying leaks. Therefore I took everything apart, replaced all of the exhaust studs, replaced all of the gaskets, and reassembled the system with Nord-lock washers. I should have zero issues no matter how much the engine vibrates or how many heat cycles it goes through


Unfortunately I didn't layer enough coats on the block when I painted it, so the finish was starting to break down from the turbo heat Next time I'll make sure to put on more than two coats.


The turbo parts painted with VHT extreme paint held up beautifully. I'm nothing short of amazed by this stuff, it's approaching powder/ceramic-coat levels of durability! Easy to paint with too


...which is why I coated the downpipe with it as well. The original ceramic was beginning to look a little beat up from my non-stop tinkering.


After lots and lots of masking I touched up the block with multiple coats of engine enamel. I'm curious to see how it holds up this time.


And done

I cant wait to revive the monster

This post has been edited by enderswift: Sep 15, 2014 - 9:51 AM

Very nice!

So pretty.

Amazing builds man

Thank guys!

Paint is done!


Aluminum is apparently a god-awful material to try and repair. But they did a fantastic job anyway


All together it took a ton of work to restore the panels to something presentable. I'm very happy with the attention to detail so far. This bodywork is head and shoulders above everything else I've had done in the past. Just goes to show that its always best to take your car to another enthusiast. In my case this body shop owner is part of a miata club





Everything is done

The windshield frame has been acid etched to remove any traces of rust. A brand new windshield was installed with a new seal, the fenders were straightened and sealed, the hood was completely reworked, the front bumper had all cracks fixed, the rocker panel was pulled out and smoothed over, and finally all panels were painted and blended with the rest of the body. Quality work everywhere. I'm terrified to drive this thing now.


So recap:

SuperStrut Suspension = done
GT4 brakes = done
Interior = done
GT4 body panels = done
Helical LSD S54 conversion = done

Next: 3SGTE swap

This post has been edited by enderswift: Oct 12, 2014 - 9:19 PM

oh wow, now im jelly. beautiful color...

absolutely beautiful!

Got her looking clean man
not to add the powa!!

Looking awesome, Luke! I can't wait to see this car at the Spring meet, if not a mini winter meet before then!

Looks great Luke! Worth the wrench time for sure!

you can't hide from me! the tie rod combo for plug and play superstrut suspension! wheres the effort.

Looks great brotha! I don't know how you have the patience with that 3S staring at you haha

Thank you! But I think the poor camera on my HTC makes it look like some fancy silvery white when it's really just good old Toyota 040 white. For once the camera worked in my favor haha



Thank you, it's been a long road to get to this point. Still a long way to go..


Hopefully soon!


A winter meet would be awesome!



It always is


Don't worry, I haven't forgotten. I have all the parts in my garage, it's just a matter of taking the car apart to do it. So I think all that is going to have to wait until the swap.




At first it really bothered me lol. But after a while I forgot what boost feels like and it wasn't so bad any more. Plus I had a bunch of fun side projects to keep me busy