Restomod Racing

The igniter came today.  Shane installed it, which only took a few minutes.  He started the car and

 it ran good.  He test drove it around the block and parked it.  When he went to restart it, nothing!  He checked and not spark.  He ran his checks again and the Cam Position Sensor (CPS) still showed that it was out of specification.  He decided to try starting the engine again.  Unexpectedly the engine started.  When he shut it off and tried to restart it, nothing.  He noticed that each time he used the ohm meter to measure the resistance in the CPS, the engin would start afterwards.  He came to the conclusion that the CPS must have some kind of short in it.  He surfed the net and found a used CPS for $140.  Since a new one costs $500, he ordered it. 

This morning the engine wouldn’t start.  Shane checked for spark.  None was present.  Looking

at the Supra manual, it indicated that the Igniter, Coil pack or Cam Position Sensor could be the problem.   Running the tests, the Igniter and the Cam Position Sensor both were out of specification.  Shane decided he would try replacing the igniter since it was apparently farthest off of specification.  He found a used one on Ebay and ordered it.  The reason for buying a used one is pure economics.  A used one costs $100 versus a new one costing $400.

The engine is done.  It runs like a charm!  Shane said that his clutch feels different, but the car

runs good.  Finally, he can start driving her again.  The overheating is no more.  Turns out to be the notorious blown head gasket. 

It was determined that the rubber ring around the rotor housing had given out.  Keith decided to

use the aviation type.  He also had to replace his rotor housings due to excessive wear.  He had the replacement housings bridge ported.  The choice was to use Mazda 3mm apex seals as well as a lot more stock type parts rather than their racing brothers. This turned out to be a good decision as the engine has never ran better.  The over heating problem is gone too.

Shane had his block and head milled, balanced the crank assembly and had the block honed.  He

added new pistons due to the wrist pins being slightly out of shape on his orginal ones.  Of course he replaced the usual stuff like the main/connecting rod bearings, Rings, oil pump and timing belt.  Since the engine is disassembled, a valve job was in order too. 

The old clutch is going to be replaced with a Spec clutch rated at 500 ft lbs.  The interesting thing is that the clutch is removed by removing the pressure plate bolts from an opening on the side of the trans.  Much easier to install than the conventional trans.