been a minute....

[Boost_Lee]

Mike

Glad to hear you are doing well. Sorry to hear about the CB, its the same fear I have. Keep up the good work, I'm sure the NSX will be no different than your other successful builds

[LoDollar92LX]

Nice work getting the supra back together. Friend of mine has a tuning shop in Southern NH & is highly sought after for anything dealing with Supra's or any turbo car in New England. He is currently rebuilding his Supra but has been a long process due to his shop & family taking up time. It will be back on the road some time, maybe later this year.

Resqueing cars inst a bad thing. Saves the car from a neglected owner/past life to be driven/enjoyed again.

Great job on doing what you do & continue to do, building the best cars that you can in your own garage.

is it Alex?


thanks lee! i saw your z build, things beautiful!

[jst_4_kiks]

is it Alex?

Yes. Alex Wohlwend that owns/operates at Granite State Dyno & Tune. Does incredible work there. Did you go to his open house event last year? I did & was very impressed with the cars they build & fix & tune to be street/track monsters.

[LoDollar92LX]

yeah alex is the man. ive been friends with him since like 2007. guy is brilliant when it comes to tuning and building cars. my supra is actually at his shop now so he can figure out a hardware issue with my aem ems, since hes got connections to the developers and programmers.
i wasnt at the open house last year but ill try to go this year

[Kev1990]

Who's that fat guy leaning on your Lexus he's gonna dent that shit up? Rofl naw LOL. No offence if it is you just fucking around. BTW that LS 400 in the lexus picture to the left of your Lexus deserves some respect too D

[LoDollar92LX]

Who's that fat guy leaning on your Lexus he's gonna dent that shit up? Rofl naw LOL. No offence if it is you just fucking around. BTW that LS 400 in the lexus picture to the left of your Lexus deserves some respect too D

haha thats my buddy pat. he has a broken back so hes constantly leaning on stuff. doesnt show in pics really, but the body/paint on the lexus is pretty crappy, so its not gonna kill it to get leaned on.
heres a better pic of the LS400. my buddy sean (noxidea on here) got it for 700 bucks off some guy. we threw coilovers on it, i did some fender work, and tossed some 18x9.5/18x10.5 wheels on it. paints good from far but far from good. still cool cause you dont see many big body cars done up around here.

[HenRoc]

Hey Mike

What is Sean up to nowadays? Last time I saw him was way back in 2008 when he still had his sedan. I know some personal stuff went down and he disappeared off the boards for awhile.

[jst_4_kiks]

yeah alex is the man. ive been friends with him since like 2007. guy is brilliant when it comes to tuning and building cars. my supra is actually at his shop now so he can figure out a hardware issue with my aem ems, since hes got connections to the developers and programmers.
i wasnt at the open house last year but ill try to go this year

Awesome. Alex can work his magic with anything tuning wise. Supra is in great hands at GSD. Perhaps some more upgrades/work done to it while its there or he only does the tuning & you build it?

[Kev1990]

Dam man! He got the Lexus LS 400 FOR that cheap? How many miles does it have? What year is it lol :P I am actually into the LS 400's older ones though their very nice cars when you put some work into them cosmetically that is.

[LoDollar92LX]

Hey Mike

What is Sean up to nowadays? Last time I saw him was way back in 2008 when he still had his sedan. I know some personal stuff went down and he disappeared off the boards for awhile.

hes doing well, still lives about 30 min from me. hes had some health issues that have made it hard for him to work but hes getting by. sold his sedan last year i think, body was rotting away.

Awesome. Alex can work his magic with anything tuning wise. Supra is in great hands at GSD. Perhaps some more upgrades/work done to it while its there or he only does the tuning & you build it?

hes just figuring out a misfire issue that we think is hardware related to the aem infinity. up to this point ive done 100% of the building/tuning on the car. i tried really hard to fix this issue myself, but i have limited experience with this system. car went 11.2 @ 129 on radials with my street tune, so im on the right track. will be high 10's this spring without a doubt, alex lent me his 28" hoosier slicks so thats going to make a world of difference.

Dam man! He got the Lexus LS 400 FOR that cheap? How many miles does it have? What year is it lol :P I am actually into the LS 400's older ones though their very nice cars when you put some work into them cosmetically that is.

yup that cheap, they pop up now and again for little money if you keep an eye on craigslist. its a 1995 with i think 150k on it. it had a few mechanical issues when he got it, but we were able to fix all of them in a evening of work. they really are great cars, with a super reliable powerplant.

[AccordWarrior]

yeah, 25k is a good place to start. you can find them for less if you shop around. a tt/auto can be had from 17k-ish. if you ever get to the point where you are serious about buying one, let me know. i have made quite a few connections since i got mine and can probably help you find a decent one.

mine was a disaster when i got it. it hadnt moved in 8 years, head was missing, turbos were missing, paint was neglected etc. took a month and a half to get it running and on the road.
few before and afters






the good part about the condition was i got it cheap (by supra standards).

That's quite the find. I couldn't do an Auto/TT. I know that they're almost preferable to go fast in a straight line, but now that my truck is automatic, I need something to shift. I'm just not mechanically inclined enough to get a basket case.

Honestly, lately the Z32 TT T-Top has piqued my interest. If I could find a minty fresh unmodded one with no rust, and I mean literally no rust on it, I'd probably jump on it. The idea of an open roof that's not a convertible really appeals to me. Now that I've got a garage, I don't need a car that while is fun, is still practical. Plus, even with 60K miles, a conservative tune and driver, GC 0w-30 and a KillerB pickup with UOAs performed every 3,400 miles, I still feel like my car's a ticking time bomb, just because I'm paranoid like that.

[LoDollar92LX]

That's quite the find. I couldn't do an Auto/TT. I know that they're almost preferable to go fast in a straight line, but now that my truck is automatic, I need something to shift. I'm just not mechanically inclined enough to get a basket case.

Honestly, lately the Z32 TT T-Top has piqued my interest. If I could find a minty fresh unmodded one with no rust, and I mean literally no rust on it, I'd probably jump on it. The idea of an open roof that's not a convertible really appeals to me. Now that I've got a garage, I don't need a car that while is fun, is still practical. Plus, even with 60K miles, a conservative tune and driver, GC 0w-30 and a KillerB pickup with UOAs performed every 3,400 miles, I still feel like my car's a ticking time bomb, just because I'm paranoid like that.

theres always the option of a tt/auto and then doing a manual swap with the r154 transmission. its not as robust as the v160 6 speed, but will still handle 600hp and stay together, especially with the marlin crawler upgrades. or, a n/a 5 speed and n/a-t it, or GTE swap it. lots of possibilities if you can do your own work to save money.
the z32 tt is an absolute nightmare to work on. i built one for someone at one of my old jobs, and theres a special place in hell reserved for the engineers that designed the engine bay on those cars. it wouldnt be bad with a RB engine, but with the VG, it sucks bad. good thing is that they are pretty cheap. bad thing is also that they are pretty cheap, and not appreciating in value like the mkiv. lucky for you, its way easier to find a targa supra then a hardtop. personally id rather have the hardtop, when the roof is off you can feel how much structural rigidity is gone. i rarely take mine off due to this.
turbo subarus are a time bomb, even with proper maintenance they still puke rod bearings. i think theres 5 or 6 in my yard right now that need motors. your on the right track though with the oil pickup and good oil, thats a good place to start for keeping them together.

[AccordWarrior]

theres always the option of a tt/auto and then doing a manual swap with the r154 transmission. its not as robust as the v160 6 speed, but will still handle 600hp and stay together, especially with the marlin crawler upgrades. or, a n/a 5 speed and n/a-t it, or GTE swap it. lots of possibilities if you can do your own work to save money.
the z32 tt is an absolute nightmare to work on. i built one for someone at one of my old jobs, and theres a special place in hell reserved for the engineers that designed the engine bay on those cars. it wouldnt be bad with a RB engine, but with the VG, it sucks bad. good thing is that they are pretty cheap. bad thing is also that they are pretty cheap, and not appreciating in value like the mkiv. lucky for you, its way easier to find a targa supra then a hardtop. personally id rather have the hardtop, when the roof is off you can feel how much structural rigidity is gone. i rarely take mine off due to this.
turbo subarus are a time bomb, even with proper maintenance they still puke rod bearings. i think theres 5 or 6 in my yard right now that need motors. your on the right track though with the oil pickup and good oil, thats a good place to start for keeping them together.

I think if I were to change to anything Supra related I'd just want something I could get in and drive, I'm reallys tarting to get out of my high HP dreams phase. The main reason I am even looking at cars like the Supra/300ZX are the removable roofs. I completely get that for a performance car they're a real drag because of the loss of rigidity and whatnot, but that's actually what I'm looking for.

Building a NA-T seems like it could be fun, but from what I've read you're almost paying the same ultimately (although maybe the NA-T is better) as a good TT.

You're not the first person to tell me that the Z32 is a nightmare to work on. That being said, as I mentioned, I'm more or less over it. If I got a Z, I'd probably keep it almost 100% stock outside of sticky tires and a Borla catback. I'm just looking for something to cruise around in and enjoy the occasional spirited backroad drive. The other thing that is appealing is that I've found a few really good ones for 10-12K, which if I sold the Subaru would give me a solid 8-10K cushion just in case of incidental repairs, etc. The Supra would be at the absolute TOP of my budget if I got all the money for my car and then if something went wrong it would be a garage ornament until I could save up to fix it, and I'm really not wanting to go down that road.

The Z definitely isn't appreciating as the Supra though, I will give you that. It's insane how much those cars are worth. Can you get into a 98 TT for under 35-40K?

I suppose with the Subaru thing I'm very vigilant on maintenance and oil level so I should be okay. I think I drove under 2,000 miles last year. I'm going to do the T-belt and go through it again this spring when I pull it out of storage.

I'm slowly realizing I'm a truck guy, go figure.

[LoDollar92LX]

I think if I were to change to anything Supra related I'd just want something I could get in and drive, I'm reallys tarting to get out of my high HP dreams phase. The main reason I am even looking at cars like the Supra/300ZX are the removable roofs. I completely get that for a performance car they're a real drag because of the loss of rigidity and whatnot, but that's actually what I'm looking for.

Building a NA-T seems like it could be fun, but from what I've read you're almost paying the same ultimately (although maybe the NA-T is better) as a good TT.

You're not the first person to tell me that the Z32 is a nightmare to work on. That being said, as I mentioned, I'm more or less over it. If I got a Z, I'd probably keep it almost 100% stock outside of sticky tires and a Borla catback. I'm just looking for something to cruise around in and enjoy the occasional spirited backroad drive. The other thing that is appealing is that I've found a few really good ones for 10-12K, which if I sold the Subaru would give me a solid 8-10K cushion just in case of incidental repairs, etc. The Supra would be at the absolute TOP of my budget if I got all the money for my car and then if something went wrong it would be a garage ornament until I could save up to fix it, and I'm really not wanting to go down that road.

The Z definitely isn't appreciating as the Supra though, I will give you that. It's insane how much those cars are worth. Can you get into a 98 TT for under 35-40K?

I suppose with the Subaru thing I'm very vigilant on maintenance and oil level so I should be okay. I think I drove under 2,000 miles last year. I'm going to do the T-belt and go through it again this spring when I pull it out of storage.

I'm slowly realizing I'm a truck guy, go figure.

you would be surprised. you can get a manual n/a for around 12k if you shop. the w58 will take about 400hp without blowing apart if you drive it smart. building a n/a-t is pretty cheap if you use factory parts like a tt ecu and injectors. if your not looking to run a ton of boost you dont even need to swap out the headgasket.
the nice thing about the supra, if you get a tt/6spd its so overbuilt from the factory, theres not much in the way of parts to break...
the 98's are still alot of money, but for that price you could probably find a high mile one, or one with accident history. 25-35k you can get a nice single turbo car thats built right and makes over 600hp

[laz93se]

I didn't even know you sold the cb , it was an inspiration indeed.