After a few months of neglect it's time to update!
First off the body damage that was done to the car is repaired. The body shop did an excellent job painting and installing the new body panel and corner light.
The car hasn't seen any miles since I had it retuned back in early December. We found an extra 40 peak hp at the wheels and an extra 23ft.lbs. Lightspeed did the tune with the factory air box removed so the car was sucking in air using the stock rubber ducting that leads from the air box assembly/AFM to the turbo.
We also found an that the ST185RC intercooler doesn't flow as well as many of us had hoped. We were seeing a pressure drop of ~4psi. The inlet to the intercooler core was seeing around 23psi whereas the outlet/manifold pressure was at 19psi. I have been trying to decide the fate of the intercooler. Do I want to get rid of the whole system and go to a front mount air to air setup, or maintain the water to air system I currently have installed and upgrade to a better flowing top mount core. I'm 99% sure I'll be sticking with the ST185RC core for a few reasons.
1-This is supposed to be a "Nothing Crazy" project. lol.
2-I'm sure come spring time I will be happy with the 262awhp the car is putting down
3-The house I'm having built should be done this summer so I'll have another expense in the form of buying massive amounts of new furniture, lawn care stuff, a fence, window coverings etc.
4-I want to start finishing the car off and call it done so I can enjoy it. I need to learn to put the brakes on my ambitions and be happy with the car.
I have a few parts there have been collecting dust for a while. Speed Source hooked me up with their poly engine mount kit, subframe bushings, and shifter base bushings. I also ordered up some valve cover bolts to replace the stock Toyota ones. I have a valve cover gasket to install in the spring so I'll swap out the bolts at that time.
I tend to get carried away with this car so I made a complete plan to finish the car off. I'll be sticking to it.
-Replace Armrest lid(has a crack/tear on the lid)
-Replace Cup holder(originally I thought it was the retaining clip...but the shaft that slides into this is broken)
-Fix Vent(x2) on passenger side(one keeps sliding out, the other is loose)
-Replace ABS cover(mine is missing)
-Install Speed Source Shifter Base Bushings
-Install Valve cover bolts
-Install new Valve cover gasket
-Tidy up the engine bay(wiring, paint some parts black)
-Clock turbo for better alignment to intercooler inlet
-Fix Antenna(doesn't come all the way up)
-Install Speed Source Crossmember bushings
-Install Speed Source Engine Mounts
-Invert resister packs to make room for straight intake
-New Battery PC680
-Install Darth Ripley/Just Joe battery/fuse mounting bracket
-Complete straight air intake(thermal barrier coating on exterior) with a mount for the boost controller solenoid
-Redo front leather seats
-Fix any rust
-Replace speakers/amp
-Fix AC
-Replace damaged ABS sensor
I've spoken with Darth Ripley/Just Joe and they have been great and agreed to make me a copy of their fusebox/battery mount bracket for me. They should have it ready for me around the time I'm all set to complete the air intake this spring. I'm sure many people out there will agree it's a very clean design.