10/20/98

SONIC TECH NOTE SERIES:

NOTES ON BUILDING A SUPRA GTE v1.5

By Reg Riemer, Calgary Alberta Canada. Phone# 1-403-259-3106

Sept 5/98

Due to the overwhelming number of phone calls and letters I receive with questions regarding upgrading the MA-67, I decided to write the following text to help anyone interested in upgrading their older Supra MK II into a fire breather Supra GTE car. The following Disclaimers are required to be sure anyone reading this page understands this project before they undertake it.

DISCLAIMER #1 FOR SUPRA GTE CAR Keep in mind that the upgrade project we are talking about here, will make the 1982 to 1985 Supra GTS a dangerously fast car. It will run away from most of street and racecars you will find around. If you do not respect this cars performance, and drive it foolishly you will kill yourself and maybe some other innocent people.

Be careful with a Supra GTE out on there on the public roads and highways. I will not be held responsible for anyone driving a Supra GTE outside the rules of the road! This car should be driven on your local racetracks. If you do drive the car foolishly you may very well spend some time in a jail cell. The Supra GTE when driven properly is as safe as any other Toyota on the road; it will meet emission laws as well as provide you with a 28-MPG daily driver.

The 7M is a fantastic motor but many of the examples you will find for your GTE upgrade project will have seen more than a normal life span as the cars are getting very old. Therefore your plans for this upgrade should include opening up the 7M-GTE engine you use to make sure you don't have work to do inside the motor. On more than one occasion in the past 3 years of Supra GTE projects, the person doing the project did not look at the engine he was using and just assumed that it was good engine, only to find out later that it was not up to the task.

In some occasions a Supra owners who could not afford to buy my conversion kit, started into this project trying to put the project together on a very low budget. In the end all of these attempted projects ended up being terribly disappointing to the owner, and more expensive than they expected and a Supra that is not driveable. When a project ends in this stage it is very hard to help the owner with the problems. I'm sorry guys but I just don't have any time left in my day to try and carry people through this type of project unless they are working with the products and systems that I have designed to build the car correctly. All of the past low budget stories have resulted in a second and final disclaimer for the Supra GTE project.

DISCLAIMER #2 If you cannot afford the costs to rebuild the engine you currently have in your Supra you will not be able to afford to build a Supra GTE car or any high performance car for that mater. Its not that this GTE project will cost all that much money when compared with new performance cars its just that costs will start to add up.

Many owners expect to have a car like mine by investing a total of 1,000 dollars over the cost of the used engine and 7M-GTE parts they purchased from a junker MK III car. This will not be sufficient funds for successful completion of this project. A number of good examples have come together in the $3,000 range above the cost of the 7M-GTE Mk 111 parts. If you weigh the amount of funds required to build a good Supra GTE car against the cost of any other type of car in this performance category the Supra GTE project cost is a bargain! This is regardless of how much money you sink into parts and later performance upgrades. One way to look at it is; If you would have trouble meeting the costs of the removal and rebuilding of your current 5M-GE engine this project is not for you.

Because the 7M-GTE in the lightweight 82 to 85 Supras has a very high power to weight ratio combination, it is very important that the car you plan to upgrade has a very good body. Never plan to upgrade a badly rusted or previously badly damaged and repaired body shell. The 7M-GTE modified engine can and will pull a damaged car to two pieces. Also the trans and diff, short shafts and brakes should all be in good working order.

A good MA-67 body stands up perfectly to 450 HP under the hood with no complaints what so ever. My car is still just as rattle free and tight as the day it came from Toyota City and my Supras body shell has over 340,000 km's on it. The rear stub axles and half shafts are all original equipment.

With my electrical sub harness connecting the 7M-GTE to your MK II Supra the 7M-GTE and its TCCS factory computer will have no idea that they are not sitting in the original Supra Turbo. The OBD, two-speed fuel pump system, and all other control systems will be moved over to your MK 11 Supra from the MK 111. The MK 11's electrical systems are left untouched. Only the 5M-GE engine computer is removed along with the 5M-GE engine wire coming through the firewall. My sub harness kit plugs into the 7M-GTE's engine wire and the 7M-GTE TCCS {Toyota computer Control System} ECU, the sub harness also plugs and wires into the cowl wire connectors under the dash, side kick panels and under the hood of the 82 to 85 Supras

The stock EFI fuel pump is ok to about 375 HP the flywheel, if you have an 83 and up MA-67 with in tank fuel pump you can upgrade this to the pump from the 87 to 92 MA-71 fuel pump from your parts MK 111, or other high performance in tank pump is so desired. On older 82-83 MA-67's with external fuel pump I used the high performance external fuel pump from NOS systems. The stock 82-83 external pump is also ok to the peak hp available with the stock injectors and turbocharger.

Because the stock factory 7M-GTE computer is used you will be able to use any HKS, PFC-FCON and VPC fuel upgrades designed for use with the 7M-GTE engine. You may also use my Lexus Air Meter fuel upgrade coupled with 560 cc injectors as well.

The first step to doing the conversion is to buy a wrecked MA-71 with good or rebuild able 7M-GTE. The next step will be to talk with me about getting your sub harness built. The electrical will be easy with my sub harness ready to bring life to your 7M-GTE installed into your MK 11 Supra.

PARTS YOU WILL NEED TO DO THIS CONVERSION

�� *7M-GTE complete, with engine wiring harnesses all sensors andcoils

�� *TCCS ECU matching the 7M-GTE engine wire. 87-88 and 89-92 etc

�� *Complete electrical harness from behind dash, including all wires, fuse and junction box's all the way out to the right and left front fenders aprons. This also includes the dash gauge cluster and wires running to them. The only thing I will not need when building your sub harness will be the wires that run into the back sections of the car and the doors. Basically the complete electrical system from the Mk 111 car will be in a box with my name on it. I do not need your 7M-GTE's engine wire or ECU

�� *Alternator, power steering pump, AC compressor if required {extra weight} :-)

�� *Igniter, Airflow meter, EFI resistors, COR on wire harness under dash, fuel pump

�� *Fuel pump relay and fuel pump resistor.

�� *Stock Intercooler from MA-71 or high performance after market if desired

�� *Intercooler pipes from MA-71. Silicone hose joints, or custom fit HKS or Greddy pipes M bend J bends. Some members have left the IC pipes up to a good muffler shop and received excellent results

�� *Exhaust systems again leave this work for a good muffler shop 2.5 or 3 inch cat back exhaust system from the

The best and easy way to do this is just to purchase a wrecked 87 to 92 Supra Turbo off the street or find one in a wrecking yard complete, cut a deal with the yard owner for all the parts you need right from the beginning! Much cheaper this way.

The owner of the Supra GTE I was just working on in California put all his parts together piece by piece from junkyards around the country. Doing it this way worked out ok for him. The problem with the piece by piece way is that it is hard to know if all the used parts you purchased are in good working condition. If your donor car runs before you start this project you won't have any problems getting the car running. When I finished my car I went inside the car turned the key and on first crank, Brrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmmm, :-)

If you do the project the piece by piece method by buying parts, make sure that the parts yard will give you a replacement part for any bad components. Some of the good yards will let you plug the component into your friends Mk III Supra to test it. Your friend might not like it though. "Hi frank, Joe here do you think I could borrow your Supra Turbo on the weekend if you won't be driving it, I need it for a test drive to the auto wreckers, Hee Hee".

The service manual bench test procedures do not always tell the story of the Air Flow Meter, Igniter, ECU, CPS, etc. Your TCCS engine computer will tell you exactly what it thinks of the air flow meter; Ed's junkyard sold you for you Supra GTE. If possible I recommend the complete parts car off the street approach. There are many good candidate Mk 111 cars on the road. I have had members who purchased them from insurance action yards as write off's as well as from the original owner of a car that is just a high mile clapped out beater Mk 111.

SOME NOTES ON PERFORMANCE OF THE SUPRA GTE WITH 7M-GTE

The lightest full feature GTE car would be about 2850 Lbs with the heaviest at around 3200. My GTE car is at 2850 LBs as it sits in the photos on this web site.

Most Porsche racecars are lighter than the Mk II let alone the Mk III. If you know anything about Porsche's history, their lightweight car designs were their prime advantage. The 7M-GTE MK II Supra is basically a serious performance car with a lightweight and strong body shell.

Here is some numbers on my Supra GTE in its latest form. Peak HP 480 {390 rear wheel} Curb lbs. 2850 lbs. Lbs. per BHP 2850/480 = 5.83 lbs./bhp

This is Race Car Territory. I you do the math on a Mk III and you will see that 650 HP will be required in a Mk III to just match the lbs./bhp rating of my Mk II. 650 Hp in the Mk II would put it at 4.3 lbs/bhp.

{from the book We at Porsche by Ferry Porsche}

-Some Lb/bhp ratings on Porsche cars

-Type 911 Turbo street car- 9.66 lbs./bhp

-Type 904 GTS streetcar 7.82 lbs./bhp

-Carrera 911 RSR race car- 4.00 lbs./bhp

-Type 917/30-race car- 1.59 lbs./bhp

-Type 917/10-race car- 3.03 lbs./bhp

-Type 908 ShortTail race car- 4.53 lbs./bhp

SONiC SUPRA GTE CONVERSION KIT INFORMATION AND KITS PRICING INFO

I have done a number of kits in the past two years so I can tell you exactly what it will cost to get a kit made up for your MK II from your MK 111 parts car. With the first few GTE kits I made up I badly underestimated my time to do the electrical and mechanical work.

This kit work is not a business for me. I have only done them in the past due to the overwhelming number of requests to build the Supra super car. The cost of the following kit sections covers my time to build the electrical drawings and harness's as well as to have the mechanical parts built, it also covers all costs for materials and processes used.

The Intercooler installation and exhaust system piping is not included in my kits. This work is best done by a competent exhaust shop in your local area. For more info on the upgrade see www.supras.com then link to the Sonic Page, then link to the Supra GTE Story Page.

-The Supra GTE Kit Comes In Two Parts-

(1) The first part is the complete Electrical Sub Harness that I build for each specific application depending on which year of MK II you have and which MK III 7M-GTE engine parts car you are using. Ex: {84 supra to 89 engine} or {84 supra to 87 engine} or {82 supra to 89 engine} or {82 supra to 87 engine} Auto or Manual Trans for all off above, Price's will vary depending which combination you use. The cheapest are the ones using the 1987/1988 7M GTE engine. The 1989/1992 engines require more work convert but are basically the same systems when installed.

(2) The second part of the kit is the Oil Pan and Pickup kit. I sell this separately from the electrical section because some of the car builders have been fabrication type people themselves with ready access to Tig welding and X-ray and test equipment. This kit includes a modified 5M-GE Oil Pan as well as a custom made 7M-GTE oil pump pickup. The parts are all Tig welded, X-rayed for cracks and pressure tested to assure Toyota style long term reliability. The oil pan is also coated with a Ceramic Silver High Luster or Black finish dry coat. You do not want this area of your Supra GTE conversion to be less than absolutely perfect as this is how your turbo motor get its lubrication. Any errors in fabricating this part of the conversion will lead to engine failure. The parts I supply in this Oil Pan Kit are equal to or better than anything Toyota would build for their engines To build this part of the kit requires someone with a good understanding of Tig welding and engine oiling systems including oil pan windage. {This kit requires you to supply a good core 5M-GE oil pan}

PRICING OF KIT PARTS IS AS FOLLOWS

�� (1) Electrical Sub Assay Kit, complete $1,000.00 US

�� (2) Oil Pan and Pickup Kit $400.00 US

�� Total Cost of Supra GTE kit, if section one and two are required $1500.00 US

OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES AVAILABLE FOR FUTURE PERFORMANCE UPGRADES

Your stock Supra GTE engines fuel system is good to 320 hp at the flywheel, or 267 HP at the rear wheels running 11 psi boost. All HP levels talked about below are derived from rear wheel HP runs on the Dynojet 248E. The conversion formula to get the flywheel HP number I use below is Rear Wheel HP plus 20%. Also note that the stock Toyota 7M-GE clutch will only hold 300 Rear Wheel HP or 360 flywheel HP.

TURBOCHARGER UPGRADE OPTIONS:

HKS Sport Turbo Charger upgrade kit: $2150.00 US This is a BRAND NEW Garrett T04E with all needed parts to install, if you have the money the best turbo you can buy. Good to 430 hp, 400 ft/lbs. Torque and better spool up than the stock turbocharger. See Dynojet runs on my car at FTP site in Sonic/Supra GTE directory. Link to FTP site at www.supras.com under the SONiC link. NOTE: This Turbo upgrade will require that you change your clutch to the Metallic Lexus CM clutch, the stock 7M-GE clutch used will not hold this Turbo.

Turbonetics E-trim TO4E/Ct-26 upgrade: $550.00 USD uses your stock turbo as a core to upgrade to TO4E wheel, including full blueprint rebuild. Good to 300-rear wheel hp. Stock 7M-GE clutch ok.

CLUTCH UPGRADE:

Full Metallic Lexus Clutch Master custom race clutch and disk: Required for the HKS SPORT TURBO.

BOOST CONTROL OPTIONS:

HKS Variable boost control: $78.00 Cheep way to go but will not give flat boost curve, boost drops of at RPM'S above 4300.

HKS Electronic Valve Controller 4: $500.00 The best that money can buy.

FUEL UPGRADE OPTIONS:

SONiC LEXUS Fuel upgrade {to make up to 400 HP}: $1350.00 kit includes Lexus V8 air flow meter, 6 x 560cc matched injectors, adjustable FPR and custom air screw, upgraded fuel pump. I use this on my car and make 410 flywheel HP. Requires custom tuning for your car. Will yield totally stock running car with better than average fuel economy. Can also use the HKS product below if owner wants to at a later date.

HKS PFC-FCON fuel upgrade {to make up to 360 HP using stock fuel injectors}: $1200.00 US This system is not fine tunable and can yield a car with a lump in the idle and some black smoke during normal driving. Also can hurt overall fuel economy on some cars.

HKS 560cc injector and prom upgrade to make up to 400 HP: $1100.00 US this upgrade works with the above PFC-FCON and is not fine tunable, this upgrade will give the car a lump in the idle and some black smoke during normal driving. Also can hurt overall fuel economy on some cars.

HKS VPC vain pressure converter: $1400.00 US this unit works with HKS PFC-FCON to yield a totally adjustable fuel system for your car {up to 450 HP}. The best setup you can have, but as you can see you have to add the cost of HKS PFC-FCON to run it correctly.

INTERCOOLER UPGRADE

HKS Intercooler upgrade will be needed with turbo upgrade depending on how hot the climate is in the area you drive your car. Also if you extend to race the car you will need it before the fuel system upgrade. For short bursts of power, IE: street driving the car the stock Intercooler is ok in cool climates up to 400 HP.

I hope this tech note answers some of your questions.

Regards,

Reg Riemer

SONiC

Supra Owners Network In Canada FROM THE HOME OF THE SUPRA GTE

Information provided is given free of charge in good faith without prejudice

Visit my Supra Page at http://www.supras.com/reg/reg.html

Calgary Alberta Canada.

Office#1-403-259-3106

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