V6 & restoration project thread Options

[snapshotgt]

Quick background:

This project was "started" by a board member from Ohio. After a year of frustrating stories and miss leading information i decided it was time to transfer the my car to Speed-Source to be completed.
Upon arrival to speed-source we soon realized the reality was much worse than first anticipated. The problems ranged from exterior damage, terrible wiring, torn apart interior with missing parts etc etc etc.
I was on the verge of parting out this project. Literally trying to decide between continuing or selling the shell and spare parts. This was a tough time. Especially realizing the wasted year of turmoil and money i had just been dragged through. It was not cool, and I'm still very upset, disappointed and devastated.

So, what's the plan now then?

The plan is already in effect. The swap has started over. The engine is out and being torn down and gone over. After seeing the level of craftsmanship that this project had been subject to, it was the only option.

At this point, I'd like to thank Carl at Speed-Source for being willing to take on this project. They're top quality guys and will make sure things are done right. They've worked on members cars here like jgreening's past 3sgte Celica.

The pictures:
**pictures taken of project after being received by Speed-Source.**

Exterior:







Wiring:







Exhaust welds:







Interior:





Engine bay (nowhere near complete):





This post has been edited by snapshotgt: Aug 12, 2008 - 1:21 AM

[snapshotgt]

Jay, you're up to no good! Esp when i PM you updates!!!

4/2/08 Update:

Picked up the car last Wednesday the 26th. Carl and the gang are cool guys. I then left the following day on my 1000 mile drive back. About 2.5 hrs into the trip, the drivers side axle popped off in St. Louis. This was strange because we had used the EXACT same axle setup as others with 3s + e153 trannys. Once i got it to a shop there, they could see no damage was done. Then, Carl machined a .55" spacer and sent on the next greyhound bus. It was lucky that this happened there because i have relatives located in St Louis, and it was one of the few "larger" cities i crossed. After the spacer was installed, i made it home just fine.
Anyway, about the car...

PROS: All i can say it that it's pretty darn quick. The engine feels amazingly strong while you glide through the gears - torque at every corner - all V6 with no boost lag. It also sounds awesome - again, pure V6. The tone is pretty tame and not too loud when cruising, but when start it, or step on it, it lets you know who is boss. The suspension is pretty stiff now with sway bars, bilstein struts, F&R strut braces etc. I will say i have yet to really take it out and enjoy it on a curving country road. Hopefully i will get some time soon for this. Mitch did a VERY good job on the tach calibration, as well as the AC inverter he built us.

CONS: These are somewhat temporary or "smaller" cons. Right now, the car shakes pretty heavily when at idle (800 RPMs). This is due to my one piece poly mounts. I have a few solutions... First, i will probably bump the idle up to 900, or 1000 RPMs. I talked to Carl, and this should be ok. The other solution is to change the mounts back to rubber stock ones. Most likely, i will go with bumping up the idle a little bit more for cost reasons atm. My check engine light is also on throwing codes for the EVAP emissions system. This is something that probably will not go away. Its tough, and Carl did not know how it would turn out. The Solara gas tank is TOTALLY different than ours - its plastic and has all of its own baffling for the crazy OBDII sensors... So, if the exact pressure value etc is not reached, it throws the code. I also sometimes have a bouncing idle. This looks like a Solara/Camry issue because i see people report this issue on their boards - it is not really a big issue though...according to Carl. I will nevertheless have this looked at by a long time toyota ...well now ex-toyota service mechanic.

Current stuff: Right now, i'm going through and un-installing/re-installing the interior to match OEM quality. Things were not fitting too well when Carl got the car from the other guy. I am also deep cleaning EVERYTHING i install. Even down to the insides of the vents. I'm also looking for interior parts to complete the re-install. I'm either missing some stuff, or the plastics were painted poorly by this other guys... or they have been abused with bad scratches. So, i am slowly trying to repair my life.

Here are a few pictures of interior fun:












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Oh wait, where are the engine pics?
You're going to have to wait for those! Yes yes, videos too.
I will make sure to periodically post updates here with pics. Right now, i'm all about getting the car back to daily driver status after 1.5 years of pain and anger.

This post has been edited by snapshotgt: Apr 2, 2008 - 11:35 PM