What's up CL,

My name's Davis. I sold my track car earlier this year and picked up a stock GS4.

I've been working on her for some time now as seen in this build thread:

http://www.tunemytoyota.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=10636

I guess you can call this the Mid-Build thread. When I was researching and seeing cool builds, I was quite intimidated to show off my stock car, silly, I know. I think it's time to start sharing my build. I'll continue from the last post from my original build thread:
________________________________



It was time for a shakedown with the GS! I signed up for the Twilight event at Streets of Willow, the event starts at 4:30pm and ends at midnight. I was planning to do at least 3 sessions before heading home.

Everything was looking well until a thunderstorm rolled in mid day. The track officials closed the entire course due to 12 inches of standing water at various parts of the course. They had to alter the track configuration in order for us to run. First run group didn't go until 8:30pm.

It was fun getting the car set up in the rain. Talk about being drenched.



A little rain didn't scare anyone. Vtec Club in full attendance.



GT wings everywhere!



This 4runner was totally set up for the weather condition.



The hot pit was covered.






Here was my first and only run. I had a blast! Pretty damn fun in the rain. The only thing that scared me was getting rear ended or rear ending someone. For some reason, everyone likes to stick close to one another. Which is why I kept pointing everyone by on the straight away. There were a lot of close calls and spin outs. Needless to say, it was fun hanging the back out, and in the end I got cocky, spun out, and lost my front lip on the track lol. I didn't realize it till I got home. But that's okay, I wasn't feeling the lip any way.

 

Read through the thread on TMT... EXCELLENT build man!! Definitely went a way not a lot of people go. The track video looked fun although a bit hairy at times and as usual, the GS is a bit of a boat lol. But it looked like you had a blast and it was funny watching it with the car being so quiet Keep it up bro. Definitely following this thread.

 

Really liking this! Going through your build thread as I write this. Looking forward to see more!

 

Just had a read through your build thread on Tune My Toyota.Awesome work & nice to see someone doing something different to a GS

Bet you can't wait till to get that manual gearbox fitted.How do you find the auto box performs on track?

 

Thanks guys!

I've been following your build on ClubAristo for some time now North.

Eiwiss, can't wait for awesome racecar content in your thread!

Pete, I was manually shifting the autotragic from L-2-3, but since it was raining and I didn't want to ruin the car, I kept it in 2nd most of the time. The 2-3 upshift is pretty damn slow for my taste. I can't wait to get the r154 fitted, but I have to take the family on vacation in 2 weeks, so car plans have been moved back, but that's okay.

 

Back from vacation with the family. Went to San Francisco and the Grand Canyon. 1800ish mile round trip and my Prius V averaged 41mpg, more money for the GS.

Anyways, back to working on the GS! This guy came in the other day.



MX73 Clutch Pedal w/ 90-93 Celica clutch master from Xcessive Manufacturing. Thanks to whiteraven for posting up his parts as he is also doing a manual swap. I was going to use an IS300 pedal, but this was way cheaper haha.



I made this template out of cardboard to make drilling a whole lot easier.





I removed the fiberglassed backed matting on the bulkhead, and what do you know there is a flat spot there. The cabin side isn't as flat though. I mean why would it? That would've just made this job that much easier.





Due to it not being flat, I actually moved this template an inch or so to the left.



Sometimes you gotta make speed holes.



No turning back now haha!



Not bolted up yet, but it's looking pretty good.





Bolted everything up. I guess this is where the 2 hours of measuring and test fitting pays off, the pedal is almost perfect. Position is good, but I still have to cut and extend it forward a little, I'm maxed out on the clutch adjustment rod. Damn, it's satisfying to look at.



I'm planning to leave the foot parking brake just to confuse people lol.



All back together. There is a slight interference with the brake actuator and the clutch master, but oh well what can you do. I'm just glad that this install went as well as it did for a first timer.

 

Hey bud, love what you're doing with your build! Keep at it
Hope to see you at Willow one of these days!

 

hey man, awesome stuff. thanks for sharing

 

Thanks guys, glad my build is entertaining.

Might have to meet up earlier than that Danny, I'm in Buena Park and always need an alignment since I keep tinkering with this dang car.

Pete, no prob!

Today, I was just putting everything back together on the lower dash. There are a few items that have fitment issues.

The VSC beeper(and its mount) that is attached to the ABS ECU was going to hit the clutch bracket.



Since I disabled the vsc and unplugged this connector, I didn't care for it, so I shaved it off.



ECU fits nicely back in place.



Clutch pedal pressed all the way down. I need to move it to the right a little more.



I tried installing the lower dash cover, but the left foot vent prevents the clutch from coming back up. Easiest solution was to not install it, but then the OBD port and light bulb wouldn't have a home. So I decided to cut the foot vent off, I never use it anyway.



Cut and trash.



Sorry guys, one more photo of the clutch assembly, puts a smile on my face everytime I look at it.

 

Just need to get a rubber cover for the clutch pedal and that will look very OEM.

 

I love seeing real track oriented set ups( Actual track not drag racing) No offense to the stance guys or high horsepower 2JZ guys, but this is what more people need to do with their GSes. Keep doing ya thing man!

Also, loving the steering wheel! How do you like it? I want something smaller, the GS steering wheel is like driving a 60s Caddy
I'm trying to get a quick release hub with paddle shifters so I don't lose that function, but god damn are they expensive!

 

Consider cutting the ends off the brake pedal to make it "manual" size if your foot keeps catching. Works great in s-chassis manual swaps but have not seen any 2gs swaps do this.

Great progress !! keep it up

 

Yeah, I hated how the stock wheel felt. It was big and bulky. The OMP Corsica feels great, mine is the suede deep dish 330mm, so it's definitely smaller than OEM. What I love about it is when you get a little hand crazy with spirited driving, the wheel is so far away from any switches that you don't accidently engage the wipers lol.

The downside is that the blinkers stay on after completing a turn. I guess since the wheel is smaller, it doesn't travel enough to reset the blinker switch. You have to manually stop it. Nothing you can't get used to.

Thanks! I remove the foot rest a couple days ago, so I could pretend to clutch kick on my commute to work. Found out that my foot is nowhere close to touching the brake pedal. Also, as I pretended to heel toe, the stock brake pedal makes it super easy to blip the throttle. I might not even cut it.

A little bit of progress today.

I removed my exhaust and driveshaft. Drained the trans, disconnected the a/t lines, disconnected all electrical connectors on the trans, and removed all the wiring from their clips on the trans, so now they're just dangling. All is left is to remove the torque converter and bellhousing bolts... Then my son woke up from his nap, so I won't have time till next weekend lol.





So wish I had a set of PPE headers right now lol!

 

Ahh, I can't wait to have my car up like yours to put my headers on. My PPEs have been sitting for like 3 weeks now! Your build just entered hecticmode!

As for the wheel, that's great to hear. I hate when I hit my wipers when driving with a bit of spirit and dirtying up my whole windshield. I can easily get used to the blinker thing.

http://www.evasivemotorsports.com/mm...PADDLE-SHIFTER

This is the hub I've been looking at for some time.

 

I was looking at that WorksBell paddle shifter too, then I realized my MR-S WB hub was able to fit the GS. Saved some cash there.

If I did stay auto, I would buy the paddle shifter set up. I miss driving the auto and being able to cycle through the gears during engine braking.