Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

My friend brought me a set of CX racing coilovers over the weekend.


1st thing I did was take them a part to inspect everything. I noticed right away, that it used a rubber bushing in the top hat and didn't have it's own bump stop.


The dust boot and bump stop were integrated together and it was destroyed. These coils were supposed to only have 100 miles on them.


I reassembled everything with the UAS bag setup. It's not quite as pretty as the HKS/UAS setup, but it'll save me from having to rebuild the HKS again.


*edit* I had some time to split the rear coilovers and inspect them to find the front coilovers did have bump stops at one point, but since the previous owner changed the preload to lower the car they got smashed to pieces.


It must have bottomed out so many times it ripped off the stickers too, but that's not saying much.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I was trying to figure out how to setup the coilovers with the bags. UAS recommends mounting the bags 4" below the top of the shock like this:


The reason for this is because when the bag is fully compressed it is 4" tall, so the height of the bag compressed + the height of the brackets will keep the shock from bottoming out. It acts as an alternative bump stop.

All the coils/bags are assembled. I can't make up my mind if I want to install them. The car is already completely wired and plumbed for the air, so it wouldn't take me longer than an hour and a half to install everything.


I don't think I've ever posted a picture of the tail lights in the sun.

empringham

very clean man... love what you did with the tails. do you still have your SSR's? those would look killer with some new barrels....

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Those wheels have been gone since 2015. The viennas were 2 piece welded, so I would have needed new lips and barrels. My cost at the time was around $1,800, so it wasn't worth it. Luckily, lips and barrels have gotten much cheaper since then.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Steering Overhaul:

Everything waiting to be installed:
- Remanufactured steering rack: A1 Cardone 26-1688 (ended up rebuilding my stock one)
- Left tie rod end: Moog ES3561
- Right tie rod end: Moog ES3560
- M14x1.5 jam nuts: (qty: 2)
- Figs Engineering solid steering rack bushings
- Supra MKIV high pressure steering rack line: Duralast 91862 with a lifetime warranty. (Factory style crush washer can be used on the reservoir side, but you'll need 3 M16 washers on the rack side.
- High pressure M16 PS gasket: Toyota 44327-30040 (qty:2 if using OEM line, qty:1 if using supra tt line) or generic M16 crush washer (qty: 4 for oem line, qty: 5 for supra tt)
- Low pressure M17 PS gasket: Toyota 90430-17007 (qty: 2)
- Pinch bolt on the steering shaft: Toyota 90080-11555 (qty: 2 in engine bay)

Additional info/research posted here: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/bui...ml#post9951470

Additional tools I needed:
- 38mm wrench (to remove evo unit)
- 18" extension (to reach the rack bolts from the top) - using multiple extensions connected together flexes too much
- 17mm universal joint socket (to reach the banjo bolts)
- 12mm universal join socket (to reach the steering column bolts)

My figs engineering solid steering rack bushings showed up today. I originally bought the Superpro steering rack bushing and decided to go with the solid bushings for a more responsive steering feel.




MKIV (top silver/black) vs sc300 (bottom all black) high pressure PS line


- The biggest difference between the two lines is that the Supra line has less rubber hose.
- From the U bend to the PS pump the hoses are roughly the same length.
- From the U bend to the rack, the supra line is longer


- The fitting on the pump side measures 19mm on both lines, and the angle is clocked differently on both.


- The fitting on the rack side is where these lines are completely different. The SC line measures 19mm tall (like the rack side) and has a fitting for a sensor. The supra line measures 14mm tall and has no opening for a sensor.


In order to run the supra line on a SC you'll need 1 or 2 more copper crush washers on the rack side to make up for the 5mm difference in fitting height. I've been running the supra line on my car for 5 years and never noticed the difference without the sensor.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I pulled the old steering rack out. A couple of notes for anyone that is going to do this:

- Remove the 12mm bolt on the steering shaft completely. It makes it a lot easier to disconnect the shaft in comparison to loosening it and trying to disconnect.
- The bolts for both sides of the high pressure PS line is M16x1.5, but the low pressure PS line is M17x1.5 (buy crush washers in advanced because they're hard to find locally)
- To remove the Evo unit on the steering rack you'll need a 38mm or 1.5" wrench or adjustable wrench
- The wire connector on the steering rack is held on by a 6mm hex next to the evo unit
- To remove the high and low pressure banjo bolts use a 17mm universal joint socket + 18" extension from the top. It's a lot easier than attempting it from the bottom and your knuckles will thank you
- Make sure your new steering rack is centered before installing

This is a comparison of my old rack vs my new rack. The old rack is centered while the new rack isn't (that's why the driver side boot is compressed)


To swap the evo unit over you'll have to remove the 6mm Hex in the upper right corner to move the wiring, then use a 38mm wrench to unscrew the evo unit.


Everything installed. The supra line fits similar to stock, but only 1 mounting bracket can be used when connecting it to the oil pan


While I was under the car I noticed my radiator hose is rubbing on my Titan sways


My almost 20 year old oem brake lines are cracking. I ordered some Goodridge steel braided lines already


I finished everything and did my 1st round of bleeding the PS system last night. I aligned the car this morning and bled the system some more and went for a quick 1 mile test drive. Overall it was smooth, but there was still some air in the system. I cleaned the garage and moved the car in. I heard something burst and fluid dripping everywhere. After 1 mile the seal on the driver side gave out and there was fluid bleeding out of the boot.




I'm not sure what happened, but I did my best to follow the bleeding procedure Cardone recommends.

I bought the rack from a 3rd party on amazon back in August, so I'm not sure how to proceed with a warranty claim. I guess I'll find out Monday morning.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Almost 2 weeks later, I have all the parts to put the steering rack in.

I spoke to cardone about warrantying the rack, and they told me to go back to the shop I bought it from to get it dealt with. I had bought the rack off of amazon 4 months prior, but it was a 3rd party shop that only offers support for 30 days. I'm on your own after that.

I had the rack rebuilt by a local shop. They cleaned everything and offered to put in my solid steering rack bushings for me. While talking to them, they told me that the only way for my rack to blow as fast as it did would have meant it was already defective when it arrives or I over pressurized it. He said since, the in and out lines are different sizes on my rack it was very unlikely that I did that.


When I was getting ready to put in the rack, I noticed one of the pinch bolts for the intermediate shaft was stretched out. These bolts are very unique and can only be ordered at the dealer. The bolt is M8x1.25x30mm for anyone looking for a temporary solution.


The local dealer told me the bolts are only sold in quantities of 10, so if I wanted it, then I had to buy 10. Luckily, Ren/Luxor was able to help me out and sell me the bolts along with 17mm gaskets (for the low pressure line) that I couldn't find anywhere.


I don't want to risk blowing out this rack again, so I looked up the proper procedure to install and bleed the rack from the factory service manual.


These are the measurements required to center the rack.


Fluid replacement procedure:


Bleeding procedure:


Got some 245/40/18 Kumho Ecsta PS31's for the front of my car. I was going to order some Sumitomo HTR ZIII to match my rears, but the supplier didn't have any in stock. These tires are a bit thicker than the Hankook V12 I had before, but they're not as wide as the Michelin Super Sports I had before that.


I started detailing my engine bay while the SC is on jack stands.




I'd have to pull everything out and buy a lot of small polishing pads to finish the job. I don't see that happening any time soon.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

The steering rack went in last week. It took me a while to connect the steering shaft by myself until I realized the upper connection has a flat spot/key. The flat spot lines up where the pinch bolt is. Once lined up properly, the shaft will slide up towards the steering wheel and you can slide it back down to connect on the rack side. The bolt can be loose on the top, but it has to be completely removed on the bottom (rack side connection).

From my short test drive, the solid steering rack bushings cause a slight vibration and have more noise when turning the wheel back. If I'm making the right turn, I don't notice anything different, but when I'm straightening the wheel out there is a slight vibration. It's possible I still have a little air left in the system and it's causing this. I haven't noticed a difference in steering response, but I also changed tires. The new tires are a lot softer and are possibly muting the effects of the new bushings.

The brake overhaul:

Parts Purchased for install
Brake Master Cylinder rebuild Kit: Toyota 04493-30241
Brake Master Cylinder Gasket: Toyota 47275-12020
Brake Booster Gasket: Toyota 44785-14020
Supra TT Front rebuild kit: Centric 143.44031 (qty: 2) or Toyota 04479-14140
Supra TT Rear rebuild kit: Centric 143.42021 (qty: 1) or Toyota 04479-14130
Goodridge steel braided lines: 21113
ATE Type 200 brake fluid

Some things purchased for install:
Rubber grease: Toyota 08887-01206
10mm Flare nut wrench
Master cylinder bleeding tool
Air pistol with rubber tip to seal
C clamps



My Goodridge brake lines


Part Numbers:


The master cylinder rebuild is very straight forward. Remove MC, compress piston use a snap ring pliers to remove clip and the 1st piston (front brakes) will fall out. Then there is a 10mm (I think) bolt at the end of the MC that has to be removed to release the 2nd piston (for the rear brakes. Inspect the inside bore of the MC for any major damage. If there isn't any damage, then grease all the seals with rubber grease, slide the 2nd piston in, torque the 10mm to 7 ft lbs, flip master cylinder over and make sure the piston doesn't slide out, grease the seals on the 1st piston and slide it in, compress pistons and install snap rings, use the master cylinder bleeding kit to get all the air out of the MC, and reinstall on your car.

The brake caliper rebuild was a pain in the ***. It took me 6 hours to finish the 1st corner (removal until reinstall) because I had to stop and go buy more tools. The rest of the calipers took about 1 hour each. You need an air pistol with a rubber tip to create the best seal possible on the brake fluid opening. Have lots of rags on hand and wear a mask because brake fluid gets everywhere. You'll need 3 extra C clamps to hold the pistons once they start breaking free. Once the pistons are free, all you need to do is inspect the pistons and bores for any surface damage. If everything is still smooth it's just a matter of greasing up the square seal and piston, then sliding them back in.

The goodridge lines come with all new clips, bolts, and crush washers. The banjo bolt torque spec is 22 ft lbs. The fronts were easy to install and went in with no issues. The rears however, I had issues with getting the flared end through the bracket to connect to the OEM hard lines. I had to enlarge the holes a bit for it to fit.

Bleeding the brakes at the end has been a bit of a challenge. The lines ran completely dry because they were open for 10 hours. I have a dead space in the 1st half of the pedal travel, but after that it brakes nicely. My guess is that there is air trapped between the MC and ABS pump. I've been trying to find out how to engage ABS to release this air without taking my car into a gravel road and slamming on the brakes. Toyota has a special service tool to test the ABS pump, but I'm hoping there is another way. For anyone that's interested the tool's part numbers is 09990-00150 and 0999-00210, 09990-00250, 09990-00280 for the appropriate SC sub harness. Anyone know if I can engage the abs using a tech stream or am I going to have to pay the dealership to bleed my brakes?

*Update* I hooked up a tech stream to the car, and the abs unit isn't supported for our cars, which means the only way to actuate the pump is with the tool (part numbers above) or force the car to engage abs.

I opted to force the car to engage abs. I found an empty road with a downhill section and got to about 60mph, and slammed on the brakes and skidded my way down (on brand new tires ). After that, about 1/2 the dead space went away, but I haven't been able to engage the abs a 2nd time. I still need to bleed the brakes again to see if it removes the rest of the dead space. My friend, that I borrowed the tech stream from, recommended I gravity bleed the brakes since I drained the entire system. He said it's the slowest process, but it usually works the best.

He told me to 1st, bleed the master cylinder again by pumping the brake pedal slowly, and cracking open the hard lines on the MC to make sure there is no more air in the MC. After that I can bleed the brakes normally, and if I still have issues, then do the gravity bleed.

mteele

iTrader: (5)

Would love to see more information and pictures on rebuilding the Supra TT calipers since I haven’t seen a detailed post on it before. I have the same rebuild kit but haven’t done the work yet. What air pistol and clamps did you find worked best? Did you remove and replace the O-ring in the middle of the caliper, or leave the original factory one in place? Looking forward to see how you fare on getting the ABS system bled.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures during the rebuild process because there was brake fluid everywhere, and I didn't want to touch my phone.

For air pistol, the one on the right was the one that worked best because it has the rubber tip.


1st, I started with the black one on the left and it sprayed fluid everywhere and made a mess.
2nd, I cut that rubber stopper and drilled a hole through the center to act like a gasket, but the diameter was too large to seal the opening.
3rd, I considered giving up for the day and ordering these: 4th, I ended up buying the pistol on the right with the rubber tip and it worked perfectly. If you have an old brake line, you could also cut that and insert the barbed tip into the brake line.

For clamps, I used some Husky C clamps I bought a long time ago at home depot, but I would recommend using some bar clamps or something with a non-marring cover. These would be perfect:

The process is fairly simple if you have the right tools
1. remove caliper from car
2. drain as much fluid as you can
3. Place a 1" thick block of wood between the pistons or a rag will work (you don't want the pistons to fly out and crash into each other)
4. Take the air pistol and try to seal the brake line port the best you can and cover everything with a rag to protect your face before you start blasting air
5. Once the 1st piston is out, then reinsert it partially and use a clamp to keep it from flying out again. (You'll want the pistons to be inserted partially, so you can pull them out with your bare hands)
6. repeat step 4 until another piston comes out, then repeat step 5 until you break all 4 loose.
7. Once the pistons are out, then inspect each one for any major damage. As long as the surface is smooth and shiney, then it's safe to go back in
8. Use a small flat head screw driver or pick to remove the square cut seal and inspected the bore of the calipers
9. If the bores are good, then grease up your seals and pistons.
10. Install dust boot on to piston then reinsert piston back into caliper
11. attach dust boot to the caliper and slip on retaining ring

I left the factory O rings in the center since I wasn't refinishing the caliper. If I was refinishing the calipers, then I'd probably split them and use that seal. The factory kit from the Toyota doesn't include the seal. They don't want you to split the calipers ever.

*Edit*
Here is a mock up with one of spare supra TT brakes, so you can get a visual

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

Recently, I noticed a clicking sound coming from the rear of my car and my parking brake would go abnormally high when I would pull it. It would go as high as 11 clicks when it's supposed to be in the 6 or 7 range. I had messed with the parking brake hardware when I originally installed the supra TT rear brakes, but I never knew if it was put back together properly (It was my 1st time messing with any drum style brake). I ordered a Wagner H17267 rear parking brake hardware kit to fix any potentially damaged part.

The wagner hardware kit


Once the rotor was removed, I noticed that one of the retaining spring/clips was making contact with the wheel studs.


New pin on the top vs bent pin on the bottom


New pin installed.


Plenty of clearance with the new pin installed and the parking brake locks up with under 6 clicks again. I ended up only installing the pins and using all the original hardware.

I have some 20" Leon Hardiritt Ordens on the car right now. I'm still undecided if I'm feeling it. I like ordens, but I'm not sure if it suits my car. The fact that these ones are 20's doesn't help either.


Also, got a new center vent in the mail to replace my stock one that broke a couple of months ago. This new one smells like it smokes multiple packs of cigarettes a day. Can anyone offer me advice on how to install it without breaking it?

myLEXsc400

The HRE's look 1million times better on your car IMO. The green calipers look distracting with the Ordens, but they look ******* with the HRE's.

Blkexcoupe

iTrader: (8)

I took the car in for alignment on Friday because I didn't want to attempt to diy it anymore to get the wheel straight. The specs were almost spot on and required only a little bit of adjustment to straighten out the steering wheel.


While I was there, I got to check out my friend's IS250


I want these JP scaras and JP type II exhaust for my SC.


Afterwards, I headed over to my friend's shop to use his Toyota tech stream to try and bleed my ABS unit. The tech stream doesn't have an ABS interface for our cars, so I had to engage abs the old fashioned way by slamming on my brakes and forcing the tires to lock up. After engaging the abs and bleeding the brakes, 3/4's of the dead space is gone. Overall, the car drives great now. I'm going to order an oem shim kit for the TT brakes to hopefully eliminate the rest of the dead space. The brakes are supposed to engage smoother with the shim kit too, so I'm looking forward to seeing if that is true.

It's funny you mentioned the green with the ordens. The 20" ordens didn't clear my brakes and left a flat spot on them during my initial test fit, so the brakes have to be refinished now. I ended up passing on the deal because I would need to put my air back in for it to look the best. I think the only way I'm going to replace the HRE at this point is if I can find a 18x11 +40 that weighs under 21 pounds (weight of my current hre).

t2d2

iTrader: (8)

I've never seen anything along those lines on dilaing in the ABS. Are they self-adjusting when locking up, sort of like the parking break when in reverse, or did you have to do something else in conjunction? Mine have always felt a bit vague since doing the LS400 caliper upgrade. They work fine and you get used to it pretty quick, but they don't grab initially like the stock calipers.

My early cars didn't have ABS, and I've never locked up my breaks since getting into the SC... I don't know what the pulsing feels like, let alone if it does anything to adjust the system.

97-SC300

iTrader: (17)

Next time you get some snow, just hit the brake pedal really hard and you'll instantly feel what the pulsating brakes feel like.

That's pretty much the only time I've felt ABS on all our cars...on icy and snowy roads if you slam on your brakes.