I have an 84 & an 88 turbo, what are some mild to moderate upgrades/tuning I can do to

either one of these engines? Granted they will still both be street cars so I would like to

retain durability, but a little more kick in the pants would be nice without breaking the bank

 

 

 

I want to change my auto Supra, to a 5 speed.  What will I need, and how do I do it?

 

 

 

Will I need a Metal Head Gasket with the 7MGTE? How do I fit one?

 

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I have an 84 & an 88 turbo, what are some mild to moderate upgrades/tuning I can do to

either one of these engines? Granted they will still both be street cars so I would like to

retain durability, but a little more kick in the pants would be nice without breaking the bank

 

I assume both your cars are stock at the moment? As a start, try changing your fluids to synthetic in both cars.

 

Upgrades for the 84:

You need to free up some of the factory restrictions in the exhaust and intake. I don't know if there are emissions standards where you live, so you may need to retain your cats? Here in New Zealand there are no requirements as far as this goes. For an N/A engine, I believe the biggest you would want to go is 2.5". Fitting a mandrel bent 3" pipe in place of the twisted factory intake pipe is also a good idea. Have you been to http://www.celicasupra.com/? There is info about this mod there.

 

Also you can:

Replace air filter with hi flow one

New headers, or a turbo if extra keen.

Port, polish, 3-angle valve job

Camshafts (not too aggressive to keep drivability)

Increase fuel pressure

NOS

Front and rear strut bars. Contact CelicaSupra.com

 

Upgrades for the 88:

You will be able to get reasonable gains quite easily. Exhaust around 3" is a good size. A drop in hi performance air filter in factory air box will do wonders as well. With these mods done, the boost can safely be raised on the turbo by a few psi. Cheapest way is to shim the wastegate. Basically this is putting a few washers in front of wastegate shaft so it needs more tension to open it. Be careful not to add too many! Need an aftermarket boost gauge to check what you are running.

 

More expensive upgrades include:

Bigger injectors e.g. 550cc used in conjunction with a larger AFM from Lexus V8 motor. There are articles at SONIC site on this. Allows further boost increase and raises fuel cut too :-)

Metal head gasket torqued down to 70+ ft/lbs is a very good idea. You could also just re torque your factory one if short of cash.

 

Other mods if you're extra keen:

Bigger Turbo

Bigger intercooler w/ 2.5" piping

 

P.S. You could do a 7MGTE conversion to your Mk2. Will be quicker than the 88T!

 

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I want to change my auto Supra, to a 5-speed.  What will I need, and how do I do it?

 

To swap a W58 Manual transmission into an  Auto Mk2:

 

Probably easiest to obtain all the bits from a parts car, but you can certainly obtain them all separately. I recommend going with the 7MGE clutch disc and pressure plate as it will handle more power :-)

 

Parts you will need:

W58 transmission with M series bell-housing and manual shifter

Clutch release fork and bearing (should be with the W58 already)

5M/7M GE series Flywheel (NOT 7MGTE which used a R154 transmission and different type of clutch)

5M/7M series clutch disc and pressure plate

Clutch pedal

Brake pedal (Auto one is too wide)

Clutch master cylinder and lines

Clutch slave cylinder and lines

Front half of the 2 piece drive-shaft (manual piece is longer. From centre bearing aft, its all the same)

Cross member under tail end of transmission (need one from a manual car)

Pilot bearing

 

NOTES:

The hole in the floor needs to be cut slightly bigger for the manual shifter to fit.

 

A little bit of wiring has to be done:

Short out the neutral start switch for the automatic. The connector for the reverse lights is different, Could make a sub harness by combining pieces from the auto transmission harness and the manual one.

 

You don’t need to switch the ECU. The differences are minor. The manual one has a rev limiter. The Auto one has the neutral start switch. Cully from NZ Supras has checked this on the schematics for the ECU. Only the JZ series Auto ECUs retard the timing on gear change, not 5M or 7M :-)

 

The Speedo drive gear is matched to the differential ratio. If your W58 was from a car with a different rear end to your Auto, then the speedo calibration will be incorrect. Options are either to change speedo drive gear on the side of the W58, or change differential to match the W58.

 

MODEL DIFFERENCES:

US LHD:

Speedo cable may be too short. Consider swapping in a manual one to prevent breakage.

 

The clutch master cylinder/pedal bolt holes in the firewall do exist, but you will need to install the top bracket from a manual car that holds the clutch pedal. The mounting block and holes for the top part of the bracket may not be there and may need to be welded in from a manual car.

 

Jap/Aust RHD:

Dash is on the same side as the speedo cable connector on the  gearbox. Speedo cable is too long. May need to be restrained, to prevent contact with the exhaust.

The mounting block and holes for the top part of the bracket are already there, no welding required.

 

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Will I need a Metal Head Gasket with the 7MGTE? How do I fit one?

 

If you put on a MHG properly, your 7M will not have any BHG problems. BUT, you WILL need the head, and possibly the block resurfaced before fitting the MHG. You will not really know what size MHG to get until the surfaces are prepared (if you want to keep compression the same). If you don't have an almost mirror finish on the block/head surfaces, the MHG will not seal properly.

 

WARNING: Don’t go to any old shop for a job like this. Go to one that does this sort of thing all the time specifically for metal head gaskets. Some shops will give you a finish that is worse than it was before you took it in. Find out where the racers go in your area :-)

 

However, there is nothing wrong with the Toyota 7MGTE factory head gasket. The reason that lots of people have BHG issues with the 7M is because when they left the factory, the bolts had not been tightened enough. It was a mistake toyota made with the torque setting, not with the HG itself.

 

If you need a HG change, and want to fit a toyota gasket, then you won't have to be so fussy about the block/head surfaces. It has been found over the years, that retorquing from the original 58ft/lbs to something more like 75 ft/lbs will be more than enough to prevent your 7MGTE having a BHG.

 

A MHG is a strong gasket for high boost, but it needs to be installed properly to work at all. The Toyota gasket doesn't mind some imperfections in the block/head surfaces, so is easier to install if you are worried about being able to get that perfect finish.

 

The easy fix it to just retorque the head as it is, assuming it does not already have a BHG.

How to retorque the 7MGTE head

 

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