Guff's A90 Supra Rebuild - TA90 Lives On

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New episode is out! Parts are expensive for this car! Thankfully, friends at Elmhurst Toyota hooked it up and got me some solid discounts, so it wasn't too bad. I'll keep you guys updated with the progress of disassembly. I need to take more photos though.

 

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Guff? Do you have a patreon or anything? Is your YouTube monetized?
 
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Guff? Do you have a patreon or anything? Is your YouTube monetized?
YouTube is monetized, yes! I don't feel comfortable opening a Patreon just yet until I know I can provide something consistent for Patrons. I'd rather people direct that money to a charity or humanitarian aid effort. Australia can use the help right now! I'll let you guys know of and when I do open a Patreon though! Until then, I'll keep finding a way to get content out as best I can.
 

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Awesome that Elmhurst came through. It's odd to see boxes w/out the traditional red Toyota labeling on them.


btw, when do you plan to remove that wrap?
 
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Awesome that Elmhurst came through. It's odd to see boxes w/out the traditional red Toyota labeling on them.


btw, when do you plan to remove that wrap?
I'll leave it on the wrecked parts, but once we start working on the quarter panel, we'll get rid of the livery. I plan on designing my own to put on the car after paint, but haven't designed it yet!
 
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New Episode Gents! This time we're ripping the car apart! You can see how much BMW is on the car here and boy, it's a lot....

 

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And I thought I had it bad with my A-D-D... no but in all honesty as a Supra Enthusiast this video was great and it also made me appreciate my girlfriend more as I realize she puts up with a shit ton of my own ADD lol...
 
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Sorry for the lack of updates guys! I'll give you guys a rundown of everything going on.

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So I started the bumper conversion to the significantly more attractive BRZ front bumper...

Yeah, I'm just kidding.

I did, however, try replacing the seat belt. Titan was nice enough to sell me one of their A90 seat belts that they weren't using, but...

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It's not the same! My seat belt on the right is a dual stage and the belt they sent me was a single stage. Very odd. They insisted that it came off their shop Supra, so I'm not sure how that can be since the Supra should have dual stage everything, but idk maybe there was a difference in different production series. I returned it and will go with another route.

That route being SafetyRestore.com! They were kind enough to hook us up with a full refurbishing of my driver's seatbelt, as well as resetting the airbag computer. AND, I'll be getting some colored seatbelts as well. Haven't decided the color yet, but I'm thinking the whole car will be blue eventually, so maybe blue belts to match?

Moving on to the exterior, I installed the fender panel which was very straightforward.

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A few of the brackets that hold the fender on were bent, but a quick look at the other side helped me bend them back into their original shapes and the fender bolted on perfectly.

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The fender is held one with 5 brackets, one of which is only accessible from this angle. You have to use a long extension and bolt it in from here. Fender liners need to come off of course.

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I mocked up the plastic top fender piece and the stuck in a push clip or two.

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It looks pretty spot on!

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Then I went about installing the new door, which was easy. Except for the fact that the door is kind of big and I was by myself. Which resulted in the door slipping out of my hands while I was trying to hang it on the hinges...

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You can see that little dent there in front of the side blade piece. Yeah thats a dent right on the seam of my brand new door. Not even sure if it can be pulled out but we'll see... :(

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With the door on, the car looks great! The black primer even flows well with the livery on the car haha

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Then I threw the new headlight in. Unfortunately, the turn signal ballast that I pulled off the wrecked headlight was fried, so I'll have to order another one of those.

I also put the mirror on which was an interesting install... The main three bolts that bolt from the door into the mirror to hold it on are your standard torx bolts, but upon closer inspection of the bolt holes on the mirror, there were no threads. Literally none, just a smooth hole. So I looked at the old busted mirror and saw that it WAS threaded. I was a bit bamboozled, to be honest. Why would a brand new part from the factory not have threaded holes for its bolts? Especially something as integral as a side mirror? I didn't have a tap, so I just said Yeet and bolted those bitches in. I figured it'll make its own threads as it goes, so whatever haha. The mirror is solid and holding just fine, so I guess its all good. Not sure if that is how it's supposed to be, but I doubt it! I don't have any pictures of all this, but I'll see if I can get some.

After that, I went about putting on the front end.

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These are the parking sensors that go in your bumper. There are two types. A black one like above, and a brown one like below.

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As you can see mine was a bit damaged. The other brown one was actually nonexistent, I'm assuming its somewhere in that tire wall :p. These are $180 each unpainted, $260 painted, so try not to break them. The brown ones go in the center and the black ones go on the outsides, 4 black, 2 brown.

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And here's what she looks like put back together. I used the old hood, because a new hood is $1400 from Toyota and a CF one is double that, and this project has already bankrupted me enough. If anyone has a line on a hood that isn't going to kill the wallet, please let me know!

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And here are all the repaired panels. Not bad if I do say so myself! The rear quarter is still smashed though, but it's all good!

After all this, I started putting the airbags back in. I had to lower the headliner for the curtain airbag, which meant taking off the dome light and SOS call box/Mic array. Which later came back to bite me in the ass, but we'll get to that.

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Now, this is mostly on video (you'll see that soon), so here are some screencaps.

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It was a bit of a PITA. There are these metal clips that require a special tool to remove. I didn't have that tool, so I had to basically destroy these clips until I could break it into pieces and take out the small pieces one by one. Just awful. Plus I should have fully dropped the headliner, but I was lazy so I just lowered it down a bit and did it that way.

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After I buttoned it all up though, it was mint. Could hardly tell that I hacked my way through the whole install...

Now back to that dome light assembly.

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Bad pic, but again: screencap.

So, I plugged it all back in and reinstalled it. But when I went to start the car up again a little while later, I got an error on the dash that read: Emergency Call System Malfunction. And the light on the SOS button would flash green. Now, I'm pretty used to error codes, but this one cannot be dismissed. It just stays on your dash and doesn't let you look at your odometer or trip computer or anything!

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So I ended up looking at the button a bit and then pressed it. Big mistake haha. It began to call the SOS service! An alert popped up on the infotainment that it was contacting the mothership. I tried to find a cancel button, but there isn't one! I got hella worried, so I ran to the back and disconnected the battery. Everything shut off. Okay, phew.

Then I reconnected the battery and it immediately went back to calling the SOS service! I panicked and disconnected it again, and figured if it was disconnected for a minute it would go away. So I went inside my house to chill for a little bit.

A couple minutes later, BANG BANG BANG. Somebody is knocking on the door with some serious force. I think its a disgruntled UPS man, so I ignore it. Then a few seconds later, BANG BANG BANG BANG. Maybe he needs a signature? I go downstairs and open the door.

It's the cops.

Fuck! One of the neighbors must have complained again that I'm running a chop shop out of my garage. I got ready to curse out Karen once again, but the officer said, "Is this your BMW Supra?"

I thought he was talking shit tbh, so I was like, "That's my Toyota Supra, yeah?"

"Well, we got a call from BMW emergency services that this car just sent out a distress signal, so I came by to check it out. Everything okay?"

I laughed. This damn car called the police on me!

I kindly explained to him that this POS was very broken and had the automotive equivalent of a head injury, and thus was not in its senses. He said okay and told me to call the SOS service and explain the problem and see if they can fix it, and then he left.

So call them I did. And the number actually goes to Toyota! But it doesn't go much further than that. I was put on hold by the answering robot for about 25 minutes before I gave up.

Okay, so I googled a little and tried to figure it out. BMW guys have had this issue on a variety of their cars and the solutions are all over the place. Some people said delete all your Bluetooth pairings (idk lol), so I tried that, no dice.

Some said to power cycle the car a few times. No dice.

Some said to just drive it for a while. No luck.

Other's said to remove the little battery in the telecom box. This exists in the rear side for most BMWs, but in the Supra, its right in the center of the car, under where the subs would be. Thankfully, my interior is totally gutted, so I had access to this little box.

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It's the one right behind the seats.

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Now, for those of you that don't know. BMW puts one of these boxes in all their modern cars. It has an AT&T SIM in it and does 4G data and GPS. This is what enables the maps, the BMW/Supra Connect features, as well as the SOS function in the car. Inside, is a little 4.8v battery that powers in whenever the main battery is not supplying juice.

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Funny enough, the battery in this box is the only thing in this car that's made in Japan!

I tried removing and reconnecting the battery, but it didn't help. Now, I doubt the battery is dead, since this all started happening after I disconnected the SOS button. I don't think I missed any plugs in there, but now I want to check (even though it's a big PITA to remove). The only other option is to take it to the dealer which could result in an overnight stay for the car so they can recode it and I'm not tryna do that...

If any of you guys have any info about this, I would be very appreciative! It's super annoying!

Beyond that, I needed a left side mirror. The actual glass itself, since I already replaced the mirror stand assembly. How much do you think that costs? $100? $200? $300!?

All reasonable guesses. But no.

$700.

Yes. that one piece of glass is $700. Why? Because Toyota/BMW went and put a goddang radar inside of it for the lane-keep assist. The mirror assembly with the whole stand, the motor, the lights, and mirror cap was $500, and the glass is more than that. Obscene.

I'll replace it eventually, but I'm broke. So what did I do in the interim? Let's go to Amazon.

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What's this? A replacement piece of glass for BMW mirrors? How much does it cost???

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18 DOLLARS DELIVERED TO MY CHEAP ASS IN ONE DAY! THANK YOU JEFF BEZOS!

Now, this is not a full replacement. It is designed to stick over your existing mirror if your OE mirror is cracked. Thus, it is a little bit smaller than a standard mirror. So what did I do?

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You bet your ass I used it as a full replacement! Double stick taped that bad bitch right on and here we are!

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Does it look comically small? Yes.
Does it have zero functionality other than being a mirror? Yes.
Do I need it to be anything more? Not a chance.

Now, before you get up in arms, the actual mirror is on order, but thanks to the parts supply constraints, I probably won't get it for quite a while. Such has been the sad story of my life with rebuilding this car. Nothing is available and most things don't even have ETAs. Almost a year in and both the BMW and Toyota supply chains for replacement parts are painfully lacking. Oh well!

So, despite all this, I got the car inspected, passed, and registered. I now have plates and am enjoying the joys of driving this ridiculous car on the public motorway.

Here it is next to a garbage bin at Wal-Mart, a truly global scene with the best of Germany, Japan, and the USA all assembled in one photograph.

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I'll update you guys when the videos are ready and/or when I get some more stuff on the car. If any of you guys can help with the hood or with figuring out that damn SOS Malfunction, I would be tremendously grateful! Until then, follow my Instagram page if you want to see the latest of my antics with the car: https://www.instagram.com/albonfilms

Also, at the request of many, I started a Patreon! I was hesitant at first, but I think I have things that I can offer in return that are reasonable enough for anyone interested in supporting the build and the channel. You can find it here: https://www.patreon.com/albon

Thanks for reading!!
 
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Wow, great progress man!

I might had missed this, but when you stripped down the impact side of the car, suspension wise; the only thing that broke was the toe arm? I was just wondering if any of the adaptive suspension components were damaged (not that it really matters).

The electronics alone would send me insane. More power to you. Can't wait for the next update.
 
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Wow, great progress man!

I might had missed this, but when you stripped down the impact side of the car, suspension wise; the only thing that broke was the toe arm? I was just wondering if any of the adaptive suspension components were damaged (not that it really matters).

The electronics alone would send me insane. More power to you. Can't wait for the next update.
Yeah, it was just that lower control arm that was damaged. I got super lucky no doubt. I have inspected and compared all of the other suspension components to the passenger side as well and everything is exactly as it should be. Car drives dead straight and has no suspension issues, even with the electronic damping!
 

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Nice! Last thing, are you trying to put the car back to stock as close as you can? Or would you be adding in some aftermarket sauce here and there?
 
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Nice! Last thing, are you trying to put the car back to stock as close as you can? Or would you be adding in some aftermarket sauce here and there?
I will definitely be modding the car! Exterior wise, I'm holding off on the OEM lip kit in preparation for an aftermarket one that I like. Prob go with some sort of wing, but not sure yet. Other than that, I'd like the car to be RSP, so I'll probably wrap it whenever I finish up bodywork. Then I intend on designing a livery for it as well. Haven't planned much other than that!
 

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Nice work! Good luck with the SOS system. Stuff like that infuriates me about BMWs.
 
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Nice work! Good luck with the SOS system. Stuff like that infuriates me about BMWs.
Thanks! Yeah this car has been a back and forth between "This is some dumb shit" and "Okay that's actually very clever"
 
 
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