Tallyhoe

Well this will be a winded post, lol.... After owning this car for a year, I think its about that time to upgrade some stuff.... rear suspension looks tired and sagging a little and has bottomed out a few times, so I'll be looking at some suspension options.... I'm also looking for new wheels, so I'll be scavenging the wheel fitment thread. I may just go with a newer OEM wheel IS250 18s to keep the oem+ theme, looking for a low police interaction, I'll leave the high interaction to my Celica... The amp is starting to go as well so I'll be looking at audio options as well... I'll have to wait for the resistors to come back into production as I waited too long to get my ECU rebuilt, so I either have to eventually buy a new ECU from Tanin, wait for the rebuild option to come back or research a standalone, not committed to Force Induction just yet, but maybe in the future, low boost 350 hp goal not too wild, would love to keep this car for awhile. I'm having erratic long turn over no start issues unless I disconnect the battery 5 minutes and reconnect it and it will start right up with good idle... I'll dig through wiring first before I take the plunge...

Tallyhoe

Well... This will be fun, I think, my radiator is done, it appears sorta corroded and leaking... I sorta knew it was leaking as I noticed a leak under the engine and splash guard, so I thought it was a water pump leak at first. Then I pulled the engine splash guard and I would notice a slight leak all along the front bumper, and I posted previous pictures somewhere on this.
This is probably the clearest picture I could take...



Once, I saw this, I figured it was 1 of 2 things, if not both I purchased a Denso radiator and a radiator cap, just to make sure it wasn't the cap leaking making it leak down or the expansion tank. I replaced the cap and ran it to operating temperature and allowed it to cool down, and I got this result. Its right under the bumper, and its away from the drain tubes and expansion tank, nothing on the passenger side nor in between. AC has been off and its been sitting for just over a week.

Tallyhoe

Took it for a high speed run, and it went well... minus the slow down and parking portion for the night..
Freaked me out at night, but it was all coolant, not sure what its doing behind the wheel, but I'm assuming the fan is just equally spreading it all over the place...

Darkness and looking for leaks, scared me into thinking it was oil, but it wasn't...

everything is splashed like a scene from an explicit movie

Radiator box was received open, I'm shocked the radiator cap remained inside this box... Have not installed the radio itself.

Tallyhoe

Besides this, I've accumulated a fair amount of parts to upgrade.... I want to take it on a Highway 1 run in Nor Cal, but I want to address a few things first. Radiator is obviously a MUST. I'll be replacing the expansion tank cap, thermostat and inspecting worn out hoses and I will post those later.. I want to lower it, but not too much since my driveway is super steep that even in stock suspension I'm scrapping the mufflers and sometimes the front chin spoiler, so I have to think on how I'm going to do it, since I already exit at an angle...My Celica is lowered, and I struggle equally with both to leave the driveway, maybe I should buy some 2x4s and place them on the ground and see how long they last.. I'd say a week, before they're gone..... In the meantime..


I could list a few things on the to do list:
-Tein flex Z Coilovers
-LS400 front calipers and awaiting brake pads and new rotors
-Supra subframe mounts for rear sway bar
-Polyurethane bushings for both front and rear sway bars
-TRD Mark IV Supra sway bars F/R
-99 GS400 steering wheel and airbag
-picked up V's SSR Wheels, which are super wide in the rear... so, I'll be getting them addressed, and will post changes soon enough, exciting, LOL.... maybe just for me...

On the wanted / wish list
- Swap all bushings to polyurethane
-Tint, saying goodbye to the fish bowl look
-Upgrading of the radio and related components
-Debating if an exhaust mod is even on the list... this is more personal, due to one of my kids being super sensitive to sound, so its a matter of me bein able to sneak out the house, or wait 20 minutes and push to start..... Meaning I got to push this b down the street to start it, LOL...

- V -

iTrader: (1)

I'm surprised i missed your build thread, looking forward to seeing all the mods. When you say the rears wheels are super wide do you mean there is a fitment issue?
Exhaust wise, you could do a bypass gate where you can route the exhaust through a resonator when the car first starts and then once youre far enough away you could flip a switch and go loud. Its more expensive but you get both. Its what i would do (hell i still might just because sometimes I want it to be quiet and other times i want it loud)

Tallyhoe

Lol... no fitment issue, just wider than I'm accustomed to.. with FWD Celica, Mr2 and my tundra they are mainly squared up pairs..
good point on the exhaust will look into it..

Tallyhoe

I'm burning rubber, and not tires, LOL...... Not sure where its coming from but I'm getting a burned rubber smell the last 2 days... its filtering through my A/C system, not sure if its my A/C clutch system, or my power steering has started leaking.... This has just started, but its strong around the driver side front wheel after I turn it off and through the vents on start up.... Brought it to work today with no A/C and no noticeable burning smell....

Tallyhoe

Resolved the burning rubber my timing matched the building being demolished next to my workplace.. fooled me into thinking something that wasn't.... got a flat on my oem 16s and decided to informally swap to my Celica's 17" wheels.. they're good from afar, but good enough for the meantime..




It's still on stilts..... for now... the wheels are temporary I have another set getting some work done and will swap in when ready.

Tallyhoe

Well, after a few weeks of sitting, low idle is back and immediate death upon starting... back to square 1... I was going to need it for a long trip, now it'll need to be towed there... maybe it's the heat...

Tallyhoe

Ok...... i have moved and need alot of work and my tools are all over the place.... I have a stripped driver side end link, cracked radiator and I need some assistance with a cracked engine part. I believe its behind the harmonic balancer.. is this normal???, or do I need to worry???

bstallion

White Shadow, nice name for a nice car!

Tallyhoe

Thanks..

Shipped off the ECU to Tannin, got another 93 ECU, and Its got issues, have a 95 spare which I may swap in, but as soon as mine is back, I'll be sending this one out too... She is sitting at this time due to awaiting some hydraulic fan parts for a new radiator... so far my radiator has given the front of the engine a few money shots, a list of mods is still pending, as end links are stripped and need to be cut off... My war horse has been hogging time, so its awaiting items..

Some ocular pleasure..

Spare ECU


My ECU


Coolant sprayed all over the front of the engine

My war horse...

perfctreig

FWIW, I had the hardest time last spring sourcing a hydraulic fan clutch for my 400. Never did find one. Ended up switching to e-fans. Been happy ever since.

Tallyhoe

Nothing wrong with the hydraulic clutch yet... I need a gasket and a bolt for when I separate the radiator with fan shroud from the engine bay... If you don't mind me asking what e-fans did you use. I may swap to them in the near future.

Tallyhoe

Well, I got my ECU back from @TaninAuto and it felt like a quick turn around to be honest.. May have been a 2 week turn around, but it felt quick since I had a group dumpster fire going on at the same time... I got it last night, but decided to drop it in late today....


I did struggle to get it to idle for about 5 minutes, meaning if I didn't hold the gas pedal it would die.. For reference It is low on gas, the gas is old and it has been sitting for about 3 weeks, since I sent out the ECU.. Didn't feel like being stranded on my spare ECU, Which I will send out to them later, but it also struggled to idle with that ECU... Maybe bad gas...




Also got a union bolt and brass gasket for the hydraulic fan for when I replace the radiator later this week.. She should be almost good to go maintenance and mechanically wise... so the mods will start rolling out next month or January