[_zaclemore]

Timeline so far:
2019: Got the car. Low, intake, exhaust, wheels, eventually did 264 cams and a cam gear.
2020: Turbo IS300 GReddy EMU. stock piston ringlands started to crack
2021: Turbo IS300 ECUMasters EMU Black. rebuilt with 9:1 pistons, TT headgasket, H beams, new bearings, stock main bolts
IS300 Vibrant Catch Can Setup

2022:
New Motor Installed
Driveshaft came and installed!
Tach Swap
First drive
New Wheel Project
Second Drive
First Drive Worth Actually Noting
The first drive of real worth because my brakes didn't lock up on me this time
Radiator Upgrade
Clutch Stopper
Finished Wheels + Q45 Throttle Body
FReddy Intake
Wheel Pics
Diff Bushings
Subframe Collars/Broadway Mirror/GS RUCA
Trunk Deck Part 1
Fixing Stuff
GReddy Kangaroo Bag + Pics
Injector Upgrade
Subframe Bushings + Rack Bushings
Tial MVR Install
Driveshaft Received
Sequoia Alternator Mod
Extended Rear Lug Studs
Ganador Replicas Acquired
Driveshaft (again)
Ganador Replica Photos
DODO runners + turbo manifold
New(ish) Head Acquired
Altezza Cluster Install

2023:
Putting the Altezza Cluster on the backburner
Totally awesome HID install
Cylinder Head Parts arrive
Cam removal + Head build start
Valve Cover Polishing
Radium Fun Time
(re)Built Head returns
PCV Breather Tuck
Cusco Rear Strut Bar Install
Cusco Front Upper Control Arm
Parts back from welder
Final polishing

Mod List (All current parts/mods):
Engine/Engine Bay:
86.5mm 9.1:1 Diamond Pistons
Eagle H-Beam rods
ACL bearings
Stock main caps
New OEM main cap bolts
Brian Crower BC264 cams
Brian Crower BC0300S
Titan Motorsport v2 cam gear
Real Street belt tensioner
OEM Toyota timing belt
ARP head studs
Tomei 1.5mm head gasket
ATI damper, smaller size
Vibrant catch can
Shaved and powder coated valve covers
Looped power steering cooler
CXRacing turbo manifold
Comp Turbo CTR 3693S 360
CXRacing downpipe
TiAL MVR
Custom exhaust
GReddy RS muffler
Treadsone TR1035
GM IAT sensor
GReddy Airinx filter
ECUMaster EMU Black
Battery relocation
FIGS Engineering hood struts
Partial wire tuck
Sequoia alternator

Fuel Delivery:
Single AEM 340
1000cc Bosch EV6 injectors
Radium DMR fuel pressure regulator
-8AN feed line
-6AN return line
Modded stock fuel hat to accept return line
Radium fuel rail
GM FlexFuel sensor

Drivetrain:
AR5 from 2006 Pontiac Solstice
R154 conversion parts, bearing retainer, etc
CUBE Speed JZX110 Verossa shifter
Stock R154 pressure plate
DriftMotion 19lb flywheel
ARP flywheel bolts
ARP pressure plate bolts
Stage 3.5 Kevlar DriftMotion clutch disc
OEM Clutch Master Cylinder
Xcessive Manufacturing clutch pedal
Xcessive Manufacturing 3" CV driveshaft
Stock auto LSD
SuperPro differential bushings
SuperPro subframe supplement bushings

Suspension/Brakes:
Silver's coilovers 14k/12k
Eibach sway bars front/back
Cusco Front/Rear Tower Bar
Cusco Front Upper Control Arm
Roll center adjuster
LS400 Brakes
R1Concepts brake rotors
StopTech brake lines
FinishingLines ABS relocation kit
Motul RBF600
SuperPro Steering Rack Bushings
Weds Kranze Borphes 18x9 +35/18x10 +38 (rebuilt)
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 F:225/40/18 R:255/35/18

Interior:
Nardi Clasico
Works Bell hub
GReddy shift knob
Cusco drift knob
White LED conversion
GlowShift gauges, boost, oil pressure, wideband
JDM center console+ebrake
Clarion M508 head unit
Scoshe trim
Soundstream Reserve RSM4.1200D amplifier
Infinity 6.5 up front, 6x9 out back
Sound deadened headliner, rear seats + trunk
Vibration dampened door cards
Altezza cluster swap

Exterior:
Painted taillights/ Altezza light delete
Tinted side markers
GReddy Kangaroo Bag
Aero Twenty Three mirrors
WIndow tint

Most recent pic (rearranged for thumbnail):

For starters, here's how it looked a day before it came apart(2021 setup), gross:

I forgot to take pictures of the wire tuck that I did for the ABS relocation and DRL relay thing I stuck under the fender. I'll update in the morning or so.

Anyway, the main point of the thread--I polished some stuff.

Before:

After:

So for a first timer it's not so bad, I'm going to go over it again because I missed some spots and it's not that hard to touch up. Smoothed out the casting marks and went right over the Comp Turbo logo. There's also a few tighter spots that I can't hit until I get some cone felt tip polishing bits. Figured it would be interesting, IDK if it really requires its own thread. I also got a GReddy Airinx filter so the color palette is much more in sync.

 

[_zaclemore]

Personally i think the wire tuck would be a great start to see on mine, im always impressed sing the clean bay in hot rods and likes where they have hidden away all the piping and wiring.

It's not gonna look that good, but it will look better than it was. Updated with pics.

 

[_zaclemore]

That's it this is a build thread now.

Made room for the Xcessive Manufacturing clutch pedal by cutting my brake pad. I also had to cut the XM pedal to fit the OEM pad over it, so take that to account.

Also can't forget more polished stuff. IDK what Treadstone puts in their cast to make it impossible to polish nicely, but that's a thing apparently. I actually had to sand it to 2500 grit then green rouge to make it shine decently, the turbo I only did 320 and it came out amazing.

And what the turbo should look like on the manifold that I need to touch up with that $3 grill paint lol.

 

[_zaclemore]

Huge milestone! Learn how I increased my car's value by 100x by this one simple trick.

Got the motor back from the machine shop the other day and after a little snag with a broken piston ring, circled in red, the motor was returned to me and is now be it, tightly, in the car. Seems that routing brake lines and wires behind the head before having the motor in makes for a tight squeeze when reinstalling.

No good pics so here's a screenshot from a video I took. The AR5 is in the car along with the stock weight Driftmotion flywheel, stock pressure plate and a "Stage 3.5" clutch from DM as well. I opted for the Kevlar variant, I figured I wanted this to be as easy to drive as possible. I will update with more pictures in the following days, I was just eager to get work done. For anyone interested, my driveshaft length is 50.5 inches, do with that information as you wish, it's not my fault if you get the wrong size

 

[_zaclemore]

Got the new (I think) VVTi 36-2 steel trigger wheel because my keyway got messed up somehow, so my timing map would say one thing and the sensor would say that -.5, which at this point is fine by me, but I'm going to make this thing work. Seems like the inside diameter is too small which sucks, I expected better from Powerhouse Racing. I could have just gotten an OEM one for $60.

You can see the teeth are more square and longer, it's billet steel and I assume the OEM one is cast of some other metal. Another win for the OEM one is that the zinc finish won't fail because Toyota knows how to make parts that work right the first time lol.

The Motul fluid looked cooler in the Driftmotion Supra's reservoir, but this looks like orange juice lol. I bled the clutch and I think it feels like a stock car, I assume that's the OEM pressure plate doing its job.

I'm going to get new shift/e-brake boots, I'm thinking about the Vertex set, they seem nice and I've wanted them for a few years now before I did the swap. Both of my current boots are from the JDM center console that I got 2 years ago.

 

[_zaclemore]

After some sanding of areas that got messed up by my botched ATI Damper install, along with using my impact gun, the PHR timing gear is now installed happily on my crankshaft.

Next to do are the cams and time up the motor. Before I start is the 30° advance necessary or not I forget.

You need Toyota #90311-40020 (2)

I'll update with pics later tonight. Updated.

 

[_zaclemore]

I was once helping a buddy work on his Grand Prix GTP; he had the balancer off it for whatever reason. Anyway, when he installed the balancer, he didn't have the keyway lined up - and proceeded to try and get it seated with the impact. Wish I had a picture of that balancer - because he damn near forged a new keyway into it.

I didn't read the instructions about getting it machined so I just tried boiling it like it said in one part and it damaged part of the shaft, but the keyway is alright.

 

[_zaclemore]

Did cams for hopefully the last time tonight. Seeing the intake like that makes me want a FFIM so badly, but it's all in due time.

Up next are spark plugs then hooking up all the electrics, after that goes the piping + lines, setting up DBW, then waiting for the driveshaft. I might order a Koyorad too.

 

[_zaclemore]

Cut out all the automatic transmission harness. I spliced the two big wires on the automatic harness together so let's hope it works, seems like that doesn't exactly work for some people. Maybe the standalone can fix that haha. If you compare the last pic to one of the first, you can see that I finally tucked the harness below the intake runners which gives a much cleaner look. I'm also waiting on the gasket for the water neck, so I'm going to shave off that small bolt hole and get it powder coated. I might update with pics of that later.

 

[_zaclemore]

Hooked up the intercooler piping, fuel lines and squared away some things that pictures won't really convey. I also ended up looping my power steering cooler line because it's totally unnecessary. What is necessary is for me to replace my rack sometime in the future because mine is leaking from many places. I wonder if that's what my "oil leak" was this whole time.

I love this intercooler so much. It looks so cool and it performs quite well. Treadstone doesn't sponsor me but I cannot express how much I like it, maybe it's just principle.

I also got my reverse lights hooked up, notice my brake lights are on? Notice the TOTAL FAIL debadge? We won't talk about that. When I cut my brake pedal I broke my stop light sensor. I fixed that though.

Here's the broken sensor, you can see the red tip is snapped off. This won't do!

An M6 bolt fits in nicely, but only when it goes in straight.

The bolt fits perfectly where the original part goes. I think it was a green rubber pad but trying to sawzall my brake pedal turned it into a million pieces lol.

Remember how I said it only goes in straight? Too bad the brake pedal is on a pivot which naturally curves when depressed, I remedied this by cutting the bolt.

This allows for the bolt to hook into the stop light sensor hole.

There is the finished project, I just had to orient it in the proper way and it goes in and out without a hitch, I greased it just for extra safety. Having grease around makes you consider how smoothly everything operates. It really makes you strive for everything to be lubed nicely and in this situation helped me from cutting that bolt any further to release any snags.

How's that for a hack job?

 

[_zaclemore]

Can you put a bash bar in with that Treadstone IC? I figure the factory one won’t fit, but there’s a few aftermarket ones out there. I don’t remember the brand I got, but it’s lean enough that the CX-R IC would clear it without having to “neck” down for the stock bar.

The only one that comes to mind is the Street Faction bash bar. This intercooler is the TR1035, meaning 10" tall, 3.5" core, so if your dimensions are similar than it might work. I also had to trim my hood latch support. The way mine sits is that the bottom is maybe 1/8" below the lower radiator support and as close to that support as possible, it is suspended by cut up pieces of my old core support along with the silicone couplers. It's surprisingly firm.

 

[_zaclemore]

Small update. With the DriftMotion driveshaft and OEM water neck gasket taking their time, I'm starting to lose it. I've shaved and polished my water neck. Why? I didn't feel like doing anything else on the car.

You will never see the parts where I didn't polish. Though unnecessary, it really cleaned up nicely.

All the polished stuff looks better together, looks much better in person though, these pictures are heartbreakers haha. Anyways, I think I should delete my MAF because standalone life, It would also clean up some wiring and I'd just get a new pipe.

I also picked up this cool Aoshima model kit. It was a real pain to put together and the finished product left a lot to be desired, mainly because I've never done one of these before. I didn't get the Altezza one because it was kinda boring.

 

[_zaclemore]

Got pretty much everything hooked up today. Everything except the starter actually haha, I went to crank it over and nothing happened and was super confused for a while. It'll get there soon. I got the boost controller plumbed up, using the dual port setup:

Still a few things left, my Koyorad should come in tomorrow, I also ordered a new OEM radiator shroud so I can have that nice new plastic because mine is dirty, faded and cracked. Who knows when that will get here, the facility is close to me, but they don't seem to be too quick. I still have a lot to do on the car, like finishing my detail and debadge.

 

[_zaclemore]

I didn't feel like posting the same picture with 1 slight difference, wrapped up those wires on the right side and got DBW to work through the standalone. I also got the bumper back on and wet sanded some parts that needed it.

 

[_zaclemore]

Lots of shiny goodness there! Man that strut brace looks so close to the engine cover

It touches it actually, the engine cover is sandwiched by it haha. I had to take some of the posts off.

 

[_zaclemore]

Smallish update again, got that Koyorad in the mail tonight. Very nice piece.

I just don't know whether to polish it up or have the top coated satin black to look "factory." I can't have everything polished, I need to break it up. I think I'm going to have it coated. I will also get a cooling panel to match. I'm thinking about the Carbing one since it's the flattest. If anyone has a GReddy cooling panel for this car, please let me know, I'd love to buy it.

It would match my GReddy filler cap a lot better. If feel as if I should have gotten the polished version of that cap, it would look better once the radiator is black. We'll see how it goes. It came with another sticker so I may experiment with it.

I'm also ordering 10 replacement bolts for up here, along with 2 new radiator supports. Very very minor detail, but those new bolts are so nice to work with and those current supports are looking rough.

Lastly, in my detailing quest, here's a picture of the car from about a year and a half ago. Notice the red arrows pointing to a streak of touchup paint. I was touching up my hood, albeit poorly, and I spilled all the paint on my headlight and bumper. Finally, I am starting to correct that. Wet sanded 2000 grit and compounded it by hand. It's a labor of love. Almost three years into owning this car, I have learned to love it for what it is. If you blow up picture #1, you can see that it is gone.

 

[_zaclemore]

Big update tonight boys, my driveshaft finally came in. Thing's pretty cool I guess, it does what it's supposed to. Hopefully it's balanced well, some people seem to have bad luck with these, but I have my fingers crossed. I opted for the 3.5" variant.

The driveshaft in its compressed form here, measured 48 inches in length if I remember right, so my measurement of 50.5 was compensated by the joint at the front that extends the extra amount paired with the billet adapter.

The billet adapter sometimes hits on the JZX110 shifter housing, mine had maybe a half of a millimeter of material that needed removal, so I sanded the bottom of it with 150 grit for a total of maybe 45 seconds and it fit perfectly. I put blue Loctite on these 6 bolts and cranked them as hard as I could with my allen wrench lol. They have lock washers and didn't feel like they were moving anymore after I lifted myself up trying to tighten them as hard as I could. Technically I think I should have done 30ft/lbs, but that should suffice.

These big ones are torqued to 40ft/lbs. I believe that's about the right number for the diff flange, so it should be fine. Also Loctite'd.

Really looking forward to the next few days. A bunch of things are getting crossed off the list. Next step is to get my radiator back so I can start it up and break it in. I'm going to break it in via the HPA method. With my own oil change interval of: 50, 250 then 500 miles then I'll move to a full synthetic. Technically after the first 50ish miles or so the rings "should be 90% broken in" but I also have a clutch to break in, so no aggressive driving for me for the next few days.

Hopefully the radiator comes back soon because I'm dying to be on the road again. Hopefully I can update with pics from this Saturday's Cars and Coffee. Here's to no leaks (except power steering) and no engine failure.

 

[_zaclemore]

I think oil changes @ 50, 250 and 500 miles is excessive.

I've always warmed them up, checked for leaks, then taken them out on the road for WOT pulls in 4th gear. First from 2000-4000rpm followed by snapping the throttle shut for a coast down. Then again from 2000-5000 and snap the throttle shut. Then 2000-rev limiter, followed by snapping the throttle shut. Usually you'll see a good plume of oil smoke as you close the throttle after the first pull, and then not again.

Drive it home, change the oil. Done.

Of course, ask 1000 people about engine break in and you'll get 5000 answers, so....

Anyway, looking great. Good luck, hope you make Cars and Coffee!!

Thanks man, this is my second motor so I want to be extra careful haha

 

[_zaclemore]

Not as exciting as the last update, but I got my new OEM radiator shroud today. It's nice to have a lot of fresh or freshened parts going into your car. Makes you feel good. Makes me wish I bought new fans too, to be honest.

Once I removed the overflow hoses I realized that the new shroud had the routing clip on the complete opposite side of mine.

Strange indeed. Must be a 2001 thing.

When was the last time you cleaned your overflow hoses?

The debadge ended up looking decent at this angle. Too bad there's ghost badges where they used to be. Definitely looks a lot cleaner, though. I may try using a paint pen and wet sanding it all together. Worked where I got keyed well. I'm also going to pull off all those stickers, the GReddy license plate cover can stay for now, the plate looks goofy without it

 

[_zaclemore]

Got my Altezza cluster today, came a few days early. Here's a little mod that I thought of a few days ago.