Project Lex (92 Royal Jade SC300)
04-26-17, 12:20 PM
#844
Thanks. It's just a 3" turbo back. Vibrant Ultra Quiet resonator by the driveshaft, with a Vibrant straight thru muffler at the end. Goal was as quiet as possible because I like to go unnoticed as much as possible. I've actually thought about getting it modified to dual's out the back with the main purpose being it'd add another muffler potentially quiet it down even more. None the less, super happy with how it turned out, the shop who made it did a great job!
05-17-17, 11:09 AM
#846
Here's how it sits as of now on the new coilovers. Much nicer stance than on the OEM Supra Springs. May go a touch lower ( ~ 1/8") later, but this is where I'm trying it for now, and it's all aligned so not going to touch it for awhile.
Last edited by Halon; 04-03-18 at 12:45 PM.
Real nice group of guys, known a few of them for about a dozen years now.
05-31-17, 11:08 AM
#850
Some updates on the car on a few things I've done lately.
- Had a lot of heat in the tunnel area. Like serious significant heat, felt like there was a Sun down there. I think it's due to the CD009 heat, as well as the exhaust right there now and no stock heat shield, and also because I have quite a large opening there now from my various shifter setups I've been trying. With the windows down on the highway, the negative cabin pressure you could really feel it sucking the heat up from under the car through that opening and into that tunnel area. So I decided to wrap my exhaust with the Titanium / Lava Rock exhaust wrap that I've been hearing good things about. Wrapped the entire downpipe, and also wrapped the front portion of the turbo-back exhaust up to my resonator which is located pretty much at the tail of the transmission. I also bought some Dynamat type material and used that to cover the enormous opening. I feel absolutely no heat at all anymore, the difference is incredible! Also the cabin is significantly quieter with that opening covered. It's literally the perfect amount of quiet and once again a nice quiet comfy cruiser-mobile!
- I had found my eBay FMIC core was leaking when I was doing a boost leak test at 30psi. I had this same type of eBay core on my Talon 10 years ago, and had the same problem. So lesson learned, basically I'd never recommend anyone use one unless they plan to run lower boost (i.e. sub 20psi). I purchased a new Treadstone FMIC to replace it (TR1045). It's actually just a touch smaller than the eBay one (12x24x4 eBay vs. 10x22x4.5 Treadstone). But Treadstone rates it at being efficient up to 860hp so I think it'll work great. I called them and talked to someone and they say they tend to 'under rate' them as well just to be conservative. I compared the design to my eBay/CX Racing unit. The external fin design is extremely similar between the two. Extruded straight thru fin design with slots cut in them (not louvered, just slots I suppose so air can travel between the fin tunnels to some degree). Not staggered at all just straight thru which I personally like for external fins as it allows air to pass through fairly well to the heat exchangers behind it (AC condensor & radiator). Staggered and louvered external fins would be better for thermal transfer, but at the cost of potentially blocking airflow to the heat exchangers behind it. And coming from DSM's, that was an issue on those cars so it's forever ingrained in me that I don't like that. The internal fins are much different between the two. The eBay core uses basically the same type of fin design on the inside as it used on the outside fins, just straight thru extruded fin design. Great for flow, but not as great for actual heat exchange as there is little turbulence/tumbling. The Treadstone internal fins are staggered which I feel will do a much better job at transferring heat, ultimately resulting in lower IAT's. What I also really like about the Treadstone is the built in diverters in the end tank to help direct some of the air towards the upper half of the core. Really cool idea I think to help try and use the entire core rather then potentially the bottom portion being 'overused' and the upper portion being 'underused'. Does it actually make a difference I have no idea, but I like the idea behind it! So despite being just a touch smaller, I think this FMIC is going to definitely outperform the old eBay one by far. And the best part is that these intercoolers are veeerrry affordable. I little bit more expensive than the eBay cores, but not by much, and significantly less than other aftermarket companies. I used two 90* brackets to mount it, very simple and just the standard zinc/steel brackets you can find at Menards or Home Depot, they were about $3/ea. Just cut and drilled new holes as needed. I also picked up some plumbing metal strapping for $1 to help keep it stable. It's on there pretty firmly and I made sure it was nice and level (crooked FMIC's drive me nuts!), I'm happy with how it turned out!!
- I got my new brake SS Braided brake lines installed. Brake fluid flushed and refilled/bled with Dot4 fluid.
- I did a complete radiator fluid flush. I drained out as much of the green stuff as I could via the radiator plug (seemed to be about half the coolant system capacity). Refilled with straight water. Turned car on to get up to temp. Then repeated that process about 4 times until what I was draining was pretty much just clear water. Then I added the Toyota pink coolant. In the end probably ended up at about a 70% water / 30% coolant ratio. I had an excellent helper during this process.
- I bought a new Wise style front lip. my old fiberglass one had cracked to the point it was basically two pieces. So I pulled it off, and put my new one on (poly this time not fiberglass). So I have that all mounted up. I will be giving the car back to my body guy in the next month or so to get it painted along with some other misc stuff.
- I bought two new / remanufactured door hinges from Daryl Demarte in Australia. He rebuilds these things to be better then stock, for a reasonable price I felt. Mine are old, a little saggy, and figured since I'm giving the car back to my body guy, might as well have him put these on at the same time. They should arrive from Australia later this week, already painted to match my paint code.
That's it for now!
- Had a lot of heat in the tunnel area. Like serious significant heat, felt like there was a Sun down there. I think it's due to the CD009 heat, as well as the exhaust right there now and no stock heat shield, and also because I have quite a large opening there now from my various shifter setups I've been trying. With the windows down on the highway, the negative cabin pressure you could really feel it sucking the heat up from under the car through that opening and into that tunnel area. So I decided to wrap my exhaust with the Titanium / Lava Rock exhaust wrap that I've been hearing good things about. Wrapped the entire downpipe, and also wrapped the front portion of the turbo-back exhaust up to my resonator which is located pretty much at the tail of the transmission. I also bought some Dynamat type material and used that to cover the enormous opening. I feel absolutely no heat at all anymore, the difference is incredible! Also the cabin is significantly quieter with that opening covered. It's literally the perfect amount of quiet and once again a nice quiet comfy cruiser-mobile!
- I had found my eBay FMIC core was leaking when I was doing a boost leak test at 30psi. I had this same type of eBay core on my Talon 10 years ago, and had the same problem. So lesson learned, basically I'd never recommend anyone use one unless they plan to run lower boost (i.e. sub 20psi). I purchased a new Treadstone FMIC to replace it (TR1045). It's actually just a touch smaller than the eBay one (12x24x4 eBay vs. 10x22x4.5 Treadstone). But Treadstone rates it at being efficient up to 860hp so I think it'll work great. I called them and talked to someone and they say they tend to 'under rate' them as well just to be conservative. I compared the design to my eBay/CX Racing unit. The external fin design is extremely similar between the two. Extruded straight thru fin design with slots cut in them (not louvered, just slots I suppose so air can travel between the fin tunnels to some degree). Not staggered at all just straight thru which I personally like for external fins as it allows air to pass through fairly well to the heat exchangers behind it (AC condensor & radiator). Staggered and louvered external fins would be better for thermal transfer, but at the cost of potentially blocking airflow to the heat exchangers behind it. And coming from DSM's, that was an issue on those cars so it's forever ingrained in me that I don't like that. The internal fins are much different between the two. The eBay core uses basically the same type of fin design on the inside as it used on the outside fins, just straight thru extruded fin design. Great for flow, but not as great for actual heat exchange as there is little turbulence/tumbling. The Treadstone internal fins are staggered which I feel will do a much better job at transferring heat, ultimately resulting in lower IAT's. What I also really like about the Treadstone is the built in diverters in the end tank to help direct some of the air towards the upper half of the core. Really cool idea I think to help try and use the entire core rather then potentially the bottom portion being 'overused' and the upper portion being 'underused'. Does it actually make a difference I have no idea, but I like the idea behind it! So despite being just a touch smaller, I think this FMIC is going to definitely outperform the old eBay one by far. And the best part is that these intercoolers are veeerrry affordable. I little bit more expensive than the eBay cores, but not by much, and significantly less than other aftermarket companies. I used two 90* brackets to mount it, very simple and just the standard zinc/steel brackets you can find at Menards or Home Depot, they were about $3/ea. Just cut and drilled new holes as needed. I also picked up some plumbing metal strapping for $1 to help keep it stable. It's on there pretty firmly and I made sure it was nice and level (crooked FMIC's drive me nuts!), I'm happy with how it turned out!!
- I got my new brake SS Braided brake lines installed. Brake fluid flushed and refilled/bled with Dot4 fluid.
- I did a complete radiator fluid flush. I drained out as much of the green stuff as I could via the radiator plug (seemed to be about half the coolant system capacity). Refilled with straight water. Turned car on to get up to temp. Then repeated that process about 4 times until what I was draining was pretty much just clear water. Then I added the Toyota pink coolant. In the end probably ended up at about a 70% water / 30% coolant ratio. I had an excellent helper during this process.
- I bought a new Wise style front lip. my old fiberglass one had cracked to the point it was basically two pieces. So I pulled it off, and put my new one on (poly this time not fiberglass). So I have that all mounted up. I will be giving the car back to my body guy in the next month or so to get it painted along with some other misc stuff.
- I bought two new / remanufactured door hinges from Daryl Demarte in Australia. He rebuilds these things to be better then stock, for a reasonable price I felt. Mine are old, a little saggy, and figured since I'm giving the car back to my body guy, might as well have him put these on at the same time. They should arrive from Australia later this week, already painted to match my paint code.
That's it for now!
Last edited by Halon; 05-31-17 at 11:19 AM.
06-01-17, 10:46 AM
#851
I did a little test today. This is far from a controlled experiment but it's data none-the-less.
I looked at my last 3 data logs to try and see if the new FMIC made any noticable difference. Here are my last 3 pulls I did back in March:
PEAK BOOST-----BOOST AT REDLINE-----AIT START-----AIT END-----AIT DELTA-----GEAR
27psi--------------22psi--------------------60*-------------89*----------29*-------------4th
23psi--------------20psi--------------------69*-------------101*---------32*-------------4th
21psi--------------19psi--------------------63*-------------94*----------31*-------------4th
So that was the old setup with the eBay CX Racing FMIC. There is that noticeable boost taper. And also a pretty repeatable ~30* increase in AIT over the course of the pull, even at some 'lower' boost levels.
Here's some data from two pulls I did today over lunch. Now it's obviously a different day today, about a month later in the season, so weather variables are uncontrolled, lol. But thought I'd share what I found anyway. Only real difference on the car would be the FMIC swap with the Treadstone TR1045. Here's the results of today's pulls
PEAK BOOST-----BOOST AT REDLINE-----AIT START-----AIT END-----AIT DELTA-----GEAR
30psi--------------25psi---------------------83*------------95*-----------12*-----------3rd
31psi--------------27psi---------------------84*------------100*----------14*-----------4th
So first thing is the AIT's are significantly better. Secondly boost increased, and the taper doesn't seem so bad anymore to me. Now it's a hotter day today then it was in the March pulls, so I would have thought that would have a negative effect? Or maybe I'm wrong, but none-the-less much better. Perhaps the boost leak in the old FMIC core was a large contributor to the boost taper, and maybe also for the temp.
Anyhow, long story short, I'm very happy with the new FMIC. Considering how little they cost, unless you're running say 15psi or less I don't see any reasonvfor anyone to mess with the eBay cores. Treadstone is my new go-to line for FMIC's now! Solid quality, at a very reasonable price!
I looked at my last 3 data logs to try and see if the new FMIC made any noticable difference. Here are my last 3 pulls I did back in March:
PEAK BOOST-----BOOST AT REDLINE-----AIT START-----AIT END-----AIT DELTA-----GEAR
27psi--------------22psi--------------------60*-------------89*----------29*-------------4th
23psi--------------20psi--------------------69*-------------101*---------32*-------------4th
21psi--------------19psi--------------------63*-------------94*----------31*-------------4th
So that was the old setup with the eBay CX Racing FMIC. There is that noticeable boost taper. And also a pretty repeatable ~30* increase in AIT over the course of the pull, even at some 'lower' boost levels.
Here's some data from two pulls I did today over lunch. Now it's obviously a different day today, about a month later in the season, so weather variables are uncontrolled, lol. But thought I'd share what I found anyway. Only real difference on the car would be the FMIC swap with the Treadstone TR1045. Here's the results of today's pulls
PEAK BOOST-----BOOST AT REDLINE-----AIT START-----AIT END-----AIT DELTA-----GEAR
30psi--------------25psi---------------------83*------------95*-----------12*-----------3rd
31psi--------------27psi---------------------84*------------100*----------14*-----------4th
So first thing is the AIT's are significantly better. Secondly boost increased, and the taper doesn't seem so bad anymore to me. Now it's a hotter day today then it was in the March pulls, so I would have thought that would have a negative effect? Or maybe I'm wrong, but none-the-less much better. Perhaps the boost leak in the old FMIC core was a large contributor to the boost taper, and maybe also for the temp.
Anyhow, long story short, I'm very happy with the new FMIC. Considering how little they cost, unless you're running say 15psi or less I don't see any reasonvfor anyone to mess with the eBay cores. Treadstone is my new go-to line for FMIC's now! Solid quality, at a very reasonable price!
06-14-17, 07:42 PM
#853
Notice the curve in the blue one? The round tube is supposed to be basically straight from the shock mount to the subframe mount.
As for updates on the car. I just got back from a long trip to Japan. I had a new cold side IC pipe made for me since my old one was not very nice and was several pieces with several couplers, and a weld was leaking at the BOV flange. So a new pipe that is better (only uses one coupler now) and no leaky welds was made. Man between fixing the FMIC boost leak and that pipe boost leak, the car is way more responsive, the BW turbo 'sound' is back and as loud as I remember it used to being. I have a couple more very small/minor boost leaks to tend to but wow makes such a difference! I used the A/C for the first time a couple weeks ago and it still works pretty well. Coolant temps I've been keeping an eye on since it's been getting hotter here (90's occasionally) and my cooling system seems to be doing very well. The fans kick on at 190, sometimes it might get up to 195 before the temps start to come back down as it takes a minute for the coolant to flow fully through. The IS300 fans cool it right back down though to 180 and shut off. Just a nice cycling between 180-195 basically without any overheating what so ever. Nice new OEM Denso radiator + IS300 e-fans + Wel flowing FMIC seems to be a great combo for keeping my engine temps right where I want em.
I also added an OEM Evo shift ****, those are my favorite shift ***** ever, just the round leather ball kind!
That's about it, just been driving it as often as I can and it's been running amazing!!
As for updates on the car. I just got back from a long trip to Japan. I had a new cold side IC pipe made for me since my old one was not very nice and was several pieces with several couplers, and a weld was leaking at the BOV flange. So a new pipe that is better (only uses one coupler now) and no leaky welds was made. Man between fixing the FMIC boost leak and that pipe boost leak, the car is way more responsive, the BW turbo 'sound' is back and as loud as I remember it used to being. I have a couple more very small/minor boost leaks to tend to but wow makes such a difference! I used the A/C for the first time a couple weeks ago and it still works pretty well. Coolant temps I've been keeping an eye on since it's been getting hotter here (90's occasionally) and my cooling system seems to be doing very well. The fans kick on at 190, sometimes it might get up to 195 before the temps start to come back down as it takes a minute for the coolant to flow fully through. The IS300 fans cool it right back down though to 180 and shut off. Just a nice cycling between 180-195 basically without any overheating what so ever. Nice new OEM Denso radiator + IS300 e-fans + Wel flowing FMIC seems to be a great combo for keeping my engine temps right where I want em.
I also added an OEM Evo shift ****, those are my favorite shift ***** ever, just the round leather ball kind!
That's about it, just been driving it as often as I can and it's been running amazing!!
Last edited by Halon; 06-14-17 at 07:49 PM.
06-15-17, 05:28 AM
#854
06-15-17, 09:32 AM
#855
These are the MT ET Street SS 305/45/17. On a stock 9.5" wide TT wheel, which is pushing it I know. But I wanted a little taller sidewall than that 275/40, and my plan is to eventually widen these wheels to 10.5 or 11" which at that point a 305 or 315 would be an excellent fit.