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Diamond in the Rough - Slow 02 5spd Build

18K views 94 replies 23 participants last post by  Pnut00 
#1 · (Edited)
Just bought an 02 IS300 today and feel like I found a great car at a great price.

Specs: 2002 Onyx, Manual, LSD, Leather Seats
One Owner
125k
Dealer Maintained (recent timing belt and clutch)

all for $5k!

The cosmetics of the car are a little rough, but I think most of them can be brought back to 90% relatively easily. At first I plan on just going over all the issues of the car cosmetic and mechanical. Then I might start to convert the car into a dual purpose track car/fun car.

Project one is removing a cracked up clear bra that has been on the car for many years.









 
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#60 ·
Thanks guys. Yeah I probably should have done the pinion bushings too, but trying to keep it on somewhat of a budget too.....track car and budget do not go together well.

And yeah I made the Manzo even worse because I thought I could chop off the outer part and have a skinnier tip, but it just left the wide tip and further back than before. So for now until I figure out a better solution I won't try to clean it up too much.

Out of curiosity, how did you extend your exhaust? Did you put an extra piece of pipe in or something?
 
#62 ·
Very nice! Yeah I love my 4Runner too.

Yeah in some ways I wish I could focus on form and function equally. I'm trying to keep the car to where it's still enjoyable on the street rather than going full out race car (i.e. gutted, a/c, radio, etc). So far so good.

Still have the FD? I've always loved those cars, but man they're going up in value these days for a clean one.
 
#63 ·
Just got back from a track day at VIR. Since my last event I added an SAFC2 (tuned conservatively on the street), FRS Differential, and a homemade diffuser. In total I dropped 3 seconds off my old time, but some of that seems to be an increase in guts at some parts too.

Unfortunately I started picking up some large'ish heat checks on day 1 (those rotors were centric premiums and had 3 days on them). I decided not to risk them and swapped to my 'street rotors' which were Centric C-Tek's with <500 street miles on them. After two sessions I started picking up a vibration under braking. I figured it was just pad deposits which I've dealt with before. Stupidly I did two more sessions and the problem seemed to be getting worse so I went to inspect the car and bam, giant crack in my front left rotor. Need to improve cooling and not purchase $20 rotors I guess.











 
#65 ·
Just got back from a track day at VIR. Since my last event I added an SAFC2 (tuned conservatively on the street), FRS Differential, and a homemade diffuser. In total I dropped 3 seconds off my old time, but some of that seems to be an increase in guts at some parts too.

Unfortunately I started picking up some large'ish heat checks on day 1 (those rotors were centric premiums and had 3 days on them). I decided not to risk them and swapped to my 'street rotors' which were Centric C-Tek's with <500 street miles on them. After two sessions I started picking up a vibration under braking. I figured it was just pad deposits which I've dealt with before. Stupidly I did two more sessions and the problem seemed to be getting worse so I went to inspect the car and bam, giant crack in my front left rotor. Need to improve cooling and not purchase $20 rotors I guess.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF81Sxa4pjE









How much track time on those rotors? You may need to think about some more cooling.
 
#64 ·
Wow that is pure porn for me. Love it man!! Seems that your rotors didn't like you improving your time. I wish we had racetracks here, I would do lapping like you!! Keep on feeding us with those POV videos they are sick
 
#67 ·
Thanks guys.

And yes, first thing when I got to the track and had some down time was researching air bags :) The uhaul trailer is actually a pretty solid design in many ways, but man the way you have to pull up to those metal stops means that the tongue weight is wayyy too heavy. Luckily the 4Runner managed (and it was only 1.5 hours there) but yes I won't tow a uhaul trailer again without them.

As for those rotors (Centric C-Tek btw) they had maybe 500 street miles (with a different brake pad) and then 2 30 minute sessions before cracking. I've never seen a rotor crack that quickly. The other picture with just the heat checking was Centric premiums with 3.5 days at the track. So not great, but better than two sessions. So yes I have some poorly designed 2 inch brake ducts, might up them to 3" and really spend some time on pointing them at the center of the hub.

Can't bring myself to pay $700 for RB floating rotors even though they would probably last much longer.
 
#68 ·
Yeah those uHaul trailers are solid and very heavy. Do you have a V6 or V8 in that thing? I have a 06' 4Runner with the V6 and I towed a 4500lb trailer with a WDH but it was sketchy, that's why I ended selling my trailer. Airbags and Load Range D/E tires would have definitely helped.

The two piece rotors are night and day difference in temps. I have a buddy with a S14 that bought a front Wilwood big brake kit. We could touch his front wheels and they were still cold after hard driving on the street. Whereas we touched my front wheels and they were kind of hot to the touch. I can imagine the transfer of heat to your front wheel bearings and wheels with the 1 piece rotors is pretty bad with your track driving.
 
#69 ·
I have the V8. I couldn't imagine towing it with the v6. Up big hills the v8 already felt like it was doing a lot of work.

And that's true about the 2 piece is they will save wheel bearings too. Maybe if I was honest about the costs there wouldn't be too big of a difference in the long run, just a large up front cost.
 
#70 ·
What's your feedback on the safc? I got rid of my fog lights and installed the Toyota covers. I made openings to let air pass through the covers/liners to the brakes. I haven't had heat problems but if I do in the future I'l add a dedicated duct.
Cool to see updates, good luck with your season.
 
#71 ·
That looks like a really fun and quite tricky track aswell. I really like the video with track showing.

Sorry to see your brake disc fails, i hope you get that sorted. Some cooling is defintly needed there
I got my brake pad to start melting and sticking to the disc on my latest track day, the car started to wobble like crazy during braking.. My teeth almost fell out :p

It always seems to be the brakes that put the limits on the track.
 
#74 ·
Thanks everyone for the advice! I decided to fabricate some better dust shields to accommodate my brake ducts. And by fabricate I mean really crudely chop up some aluminum and drill holes in it. Before my brake ducts were pointed at the rotor face on the inside, now they should be pointed at the center which should help direct air through the whole disc and hub/bearing.

The other thing I'm realizing I may have done wrong is install the directional vanes of the Supra rotors backwards (left on the right side and vice versa). However I'm having a hard time rationalizing what I see with my eyes with what the part numbers say. I swear if I look at the outside of the disc the vanes look as though they are curving the direction that would make me install them backwards. If I did that before then maybe that caused a premature failure as well (on top of the fact it was a $20 rotor).





 
#75 ·
Aha! I finally searched the right thing to answer my own question and yes to all answers.

I did install the rotors in the wrong direction.
They do appear to flow the opposite direction of what I would have thought.

Just in case this helps show up in someone else's search here is a picture of the directional vanes of a Supra TT front rotor.

 
#76 ·
Just bought an 02 IS300 today and feel like I found a great car at a great price.

Specs: 2002 Onyx, Manual, LSD, Leather Seats
One Owner
125k
Dealer Maintained (recent timing belt and clutch)

all for $5k!

The cosmetics of the car are a little rough, but I think most of them can be brought back to 90% relatively easily. At first I plan on just going over all the issues of the car cosmetic and mechanical. Then I might start to convert the car into a dual purpose track car/fun car.

Project one is removing a cracked up clear bra that has been on the car for many years.











How did you remove the bra?
 
#78 ·
yeah having the rotors backwards would do it. It confused me too, but I made sense of it when I thought of centripetal "force" acceleration. The air naturally wants to move outward through the vanes, not inward, so it makes sense to point them in reverse to the rotation, to help pull air through them, rather than try to push air in when it's trying to come out (which is what you did) = no air flow
 
#79 ·
@Jermaine Valenzuela a combination of a handheld steamer and lots of googone and papertowels/microfibers. To be honest it was a giant pain but totally worth it. It was in such bad shape. When I sent pictures to the previous owner they were amazed. I'm surprised they had been living with it for so long. Kind of sad the car was so mint then. Now I'm drilling holes and mounting homemade parts....oh well :)
 
#80 ·
Nice work for the air duct for your front brakes, I'm might steal the idea. Pretty cool. I'm looking forward track days videos :)
 
#82 ·
Been a long time since I've updated this thread. My wife and I just had our second child so track days and updates will probably slow some, but I have been able to get out to the garage and do a few things.

In fact, as part of that I've tried to make the car a tiny bit more street friendly so I can take our 2 year old to daycare in the morning. Part of that was making the car a little quieter. I originally had the Manzo exhaust which is pretty quiet and very nice sounding. The tip was too big and because the DNA header didn't align well it burned my bumper pretty badly after all the track work. Decided to pull the trigger on a Tanabe Medallion Touring.....man certainly a big quality difference from the Manzo.....different sounding and overall a better fit for my needs now I think.






So I was also getting this horrid screeching noise when turning on the A/C this summer. I just replaced the A/C so pretty much knew it couldn't be that. Decided to replace the belt tensioner thinking that could solve it. Didn't realize the only way to get the manual tensioner (with the dampener) is to go OEM for a total of like $400....yeah that's not going to happen. Dropped $115 on the AC Delco automatic unit and a new belt. The sound persisted. Finally found a thread here that mentioned it is probably the crank pulley failing with symptoms very similar to mine. That morning I was ripping redline runs to work and that afternoon I pulled the belt and the crank pulley fell off in my hand :\





Found an OEM unit for cheap-ish on ebay and replaced it. So much better now! Also now every pulley is changed from original except maybe the alternator. Well I do drive this sucker hard that's for sure.



Sometimes can't help but turn around at work and grab a picture.


Lastly I am purchasing a Figs/PPE header used on facebook. Really looking forward to solving all of my exhaust issues even if it is requiring spending a bunch more money than I had originally wanted.
 
#84 ·
Humbucker,

I'm looking through this thread for the first time and its great. I have a quick question about one of your original posts.

I'm looking at getting the exact same rennform wheels and you said they were slightly poke with the +35 offset. When you rolled your fenders did that help make it a bit more flush? would you be able to snap a picture of the wheel fitment for me when you get the chance?
 
#85 ·
@trowe2 Sorry I don't check back here as often as I should. Here's the only pic I could find sitting here on my computer. This was back before rolling the fenders and also at stock ride height/camber. Once I lowered the car I also gained some camber too, so after being lowered I was still only able to get about -2 degrees of camber. Now with the roll/pull and camber it's tucked nicely in the fender.

 
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