Cressida Wagon Build Update!

"MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig" (MR2_FTW) 11/18/2013 at 20:52 • Filed to: project, cressida, wagon, toyota

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It's a big one because I sorta forgot when I last updated on Oppo. Sorry if you've already seen some of this before!

10/16/13
It's off the jack stands and on the P-Types!

10/21/13
Belts re-tightened. New hood struts installed so now it actually stays open without the rebar ghetto prop. Also it's leaking fuel from around the pulsation dampener, so I need to figure out what to do about that.

I was actually looking for a 7M bolt, but they are discontinued, and there aren't any 7M-powered cars in any local junk yards.


10/29/13
Got some banjo bolts from Mitchell's box of spare hardware. Harbor freight is out of their copper crush washer multi-packs till they get their shipment on Thursday, so I'll pick that up then. I also posted on CelicaSupra asking how to adapt A6 Supra seats to the X7 Cressi, and I got this super helpful response:
TransAmBandit wrote:I had another photo I took somewhere.


First off lets paint this photo in your head. If you're sitting in the seat, The front left bolt hole closest to the driver's side lines up no problem. The other front bolt, near the shifter needs to have a bracket with a hole welded to the seat rail. So you can bolt in that side.

The two rears are easy. You get a piece of steel, run it straight across the factory bolt holes, mark where the holes are. Drill it out. Then bolt that to the floor, tack weld the two seat brackets onto the piece of steel. Then finalize the welding.

I did mine pretty quick. cause it was cold. And I eye balled the bracket closest to the shifter console. It's very easy. A lot of people made this too difficult when they would plan it. However, this didnt hit me until a member here with a white X7 posted his photos. So I give him credit for enlightening me. lol

So hopefully I can grab some steel this week and if Ju has the time to weld maybe get some new fancy seats put in this weekend.


10/30/13
Made my first order in piecing together suspension: MR2 rear shock inserts and Camaro rear shocks (both KYB AGX). My goal is to have this car lowered by 200DoD. Things left to order in the coming weeks:
T3 weld-on front coilovers
T3 camber plate bearing upper spring hats
T3 front camber plates
T3 front RCA's

Still not 100% sure on a rear spring solution. I really just need to get under the car and start measuring stuff. I have a couple options for adjustable spring perches, but I may end up going with just universal springs in a rate I want.


10/31/13
Leaky leaky leaky!

Hefty hefty hefty!

As you can see I replaced the FPD with a banjo bolt (thanks Mitchell). Hopefully this gets rid of the fuel leak.
I also bought some steel to make seat brackets to mount the Supra seats and some welding wire for Mitchell in exchange for using his welder

10/31/13
I forgot to mention that Gearbox Magazine, a small online digital car mag, liked my build and decided to feature this thing.
Check it out!
!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!


11/3/13
Shocks came in!

Today I spent a solid 5 hours over at Mitchell's house figuring out how to fab up a bracket to let me use the Celica-Supra seats. We ended up getting the driver's seat in and its sah-weet!

It's weird that the wagon has a better drivers' seat than the MR2. I still need to sort out the seatbelt situation, since I don't like how it's currently mounted (probably going to use an MR2 part if I can get one), and I also need to get the little pump-bulb thing hooked up so I can have functional lumbar support. ALSO I need to look into brown aerosol fabric paint/dye so I can brown-ify the red seat to sorta match the rest of the interior.


11/4/13
T3 front suspension components are on the way. Camber plates, bearing upper hats, weld-on coilovers (with 400lb/in springs), and RCA's.

I also thought I'd make an official mod list for the car so far:
Engine/drivetrain -
MA70 W58 transmission swap
-MA60 clutch MC
-MA70 clutch SC
-MX73 flywheel
-Custom one-piece driveshaft
-DriftMotion braided steel clutch line
-ARP flywheel bolts
-AE86 clutch pedal
-MA70 speedo cable
-MA70 shifter/shift boot
ARP 7M-GTE head studs
Rabid Chimp intake w/ K&N filter
EGR delete
Mocal thermostatic oil filter sandwich plate
AE86 GTS oil cooler
Fuel pulse damper delete

Suspension/chassis:
TechoToyTuning heim joint adjustable panhard rod
Celica-Supra P-type wheels (14x7, -8)

with 195/70R14 tires

Interior:
MA60 Celica-Supra P-Type driver's seat
Cheap-o water temp gauge

Soon to come:
T3 front suspension overhaul
-weld-on coilovers with 400lb/in springs
-RCA's
-camber plates
-bearing upper hats
Short stroke front strut conversion
-cut/shorten/reweld front housings
-SW20 rear KYB AGX shocks
Camaro KYB AGX shocks in the rear
Cut rear springs until I can find something better

In the future:
MA60 P-type passenger seat
Aftermarket steering wheel
Better rear spring solution
Complete exhaust overhaul
-RabidChimp header into 2.5" piping
-Magnaflow high-flow cat
-Magnaflow resonator
-Magnaflow muffler
195/60R14 tires
Fender roll + more low
Rear wheel spacers
Tint
T3 steering knuckles


11/6/13
Badge from a 70's Celica.

11/10/13
Friday night I picked up this thing.

It's a 7M-GE OBX header for an MA70 Supra. The header itself should bolt on after a little grinding at the notch on the flange, but I think the downpipe will require some custom work, including adding the proper O2 sensor bung. No biggie, since the car will eventually be getting a custom exhaust anyway. I plan on cleaning up this piece, painting it, and wrapping it.
And before everybody get all "merr OBX is teh suxxorz merr", for the 5MGE you can pretty much do OBX or Pacesetter since that's all that's available. And this was $75. No complaints here.

Today I got under the rear and took some measurements to start figuring out a rear spring solution
This is with weight on the axle, just up on ramps.
9" spring height
5" diameter at the top where it meets the chassis
4" diameter at the bottom where it meets the axle
Want to lower around 2" - 2.5" and be MUCH much stiffer
Shock absorber length 16"

I also fixed the little squeeze ball thing for the inflatable lumbar support on the Supra seat. The bulb came from a friend who works for a company that sells used medical parts. He found it sitting in a warehouse somewhere and just gave it to me (free.99 for the win), and I happened to have a proper-sized hose laying around.

It even stows under the seat for a pretty clean install. And it works great!

11/11/13
Took a spring out, measured it for real, and took it over to a friend's house to see if the bottom would fit on his spare AE86 axle. It doesn't. AE86 parts are out. I'm probably gonna grab some Volvo 5" diameter adjustable perches that should bolt up to the bumpstop mount on the chassis and work from there with some universal springs. Inexpensive and effective.


11/12/13
It's so beautiful.......should have....sent.....a poet......

11/18/13
So the stock Cressida seatbelt receiver is attached to the seat, whereas the Celica-Supra receiver is not. When I put the Supra seat in, I had to use an elongated bolt and sort of ghetto mount the Cressida receiver on a less-than-ideal spot on the Supra seat that was using a smaller bolt on an un-reinforced part of the seat frame. This also put the receiver at a very awkward angle that made it difficult to use.

Luckily, there is a large 14mm bolt that holds the seat slide guide rail to the transmission tunnel that would be perfect for mounting a receiver to. And AW11 MR2's use a chassis mounted receiver that's pretty long. So I posted a WTB ad on MR2OC and got a hold of a guy parting out a rare tan interior AW11 and got one of the receivers for like $12 or something. It works flawlessly and looks like it came from the factory that way

The only real mod I had to do was jumper the seatbelt warning light plug since the MR2 doesn't have one.

Now to get another receiver for when I do the other side......

Rainbow > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 11/18/2013 at 21:06

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Nicely done! I am a HUGE fan of the "I don't care that it won't work! I'm gonna do it anyway!" style. The only real mod I ever got to do to my car was installing a pencil holder to the center console. You know, because someone at Ford decided people don't need cup holders, or something. It was color-matched, too, and the only time anyone noticed it, she only said, "that's an awkward place for them to put the cup holder." So fuck yeah, I win at cars.

Ted Ladue > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 11/25/2013 at 10:09

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well done sir!

Shiftright > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 11/29/2013 at 21:12

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I highly approve of this project.

MarcoP > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 03/16/2014 at 21:36

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Hey! I have an X72 wagon as well. I think this car is awesome. It's too bad there aren't more people out there tinkering with them... but they are rare to find these days! I posted my build back when there was a toyotacressida.net forum.... oh well. I have a 1UZFE 4L Lexus V8 swap, 300ZX 4 pot brakes, suspension, etc. It is also my wife's daily driver! Anyway, we built it as a street car, as such it's been a bit of a struggle to get things "right." My vision was to create a 1980's Japanese version of a BMW 540i wagon. I've been through some trials and tribulations with the suspension, and I am ALMOST there. Replacing the 4-link bushings was very smart. Mine were worn to shit, and that alone helped a great deal. I found that Energy Suspension bushings for the mk1 Supra work for the X72. (I have the mk1 Supra rear end, and the links are the same.) I've been through a few sets of springs and dampers. I have settled on short stroke AE86 Tokico HTS shocks in the rear, and MR2 SW20 (rear) Koni Yellow up front in a shortened tube with T3 coilovers (such as yourself). I was running the AGX up front , but found valving is way to stiff. Worked ok on smoother twisties, but sucked on any kind of poor surface, or hitting bumps at fast highway speeds - Very jarring. The Konis are much better for a road car (perhaps a track car too). In fact, I swapped from 450lb springs to 400lb when I did the Konis, but the Konis improved the ride so much, I will probably re-swap back to the 450lb springs. In the rear,the custom springs was a great idea, but be careful with your rates, The wagon, being solid rear axle, does not have very much sprung weight back there. Most of the weight is attached to the rear axle, which is of course underneath the springs. I fabricated some adapters to move the perch down an inch (down the cone), so I could run a straight 5" OD spring that sits flat (and doesn't touch the cone). I had 275lb 8" spring, but the ride was a bit to low for that spring rate, and the ride suffered. So I switched to a 9.5" 250lb spring as I couldn't find anything in between that would work. Well now the ride is great, but it's a bit too high for my liking. I can get away with removing 1/2" from my adapter, and I add an Addco rear sway bar.. and I think that will do it (finally). If not maybe I will do as you did and get the custom springs, same rate/length but with the 6" top so I can remove my adapter. Keep it up! ~Marco

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > MarcoP 03/16/2014 at 21:49

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I like the idea of the adapter, but I'd be worried about putting the stress on the cone itself. I too would love to do an A40 Supra rear end swap but they are so hard to find. I've played with the idea of using a Foxbody Mustang 8.8 rear axle from an older 4 lug car and transferring all the bracketry to make it fit. Parts for the axle would be super easy to find that way. You can see my complete build here, if you want to see how far it's come since this post.

http://cressidaforums.forumotion.com/t134-1986-mx72…

MarcoP > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 03/16/2014 at 22:07

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I checked out your build on the new Cressida forum. Thanks. My adapters don't place any stress on the cone. All the stress goes to the original intended location.. Here's a pic. Basically a 6" OD, thick-walled steel pipe, and a new plate for the spring to push on. It's essentially just a spring spacer, that gets the spring far enough down that the cone diameter is smaller than the ID of the spring.

MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig > MarcoP 03/16/2014 at 22:11

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That's a really great solution. Very cool! I'd love to get more power in the wagon with either a 1UZ or 2JZ-GE or 7M-GTE, or even putting 7MGTE parts on the 5M to give it some boost. But I've already blown way too much money on the car to do that any time soon. My MR2 is my fun drivers car anyway. The wagon is just for shiggles for now.

MarcoP > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 03/16/2014 at 22:24

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All I owned were MR2s (5 of them) until I got this wagon and my BRZ...haha. I had an 85NA (my first car), 2 different 88SCs, an 89SC (that I turbo'd later), and a 2001 MR-S in which I ran a built 1zz with a Rotrex SC, then I sold the drivetrain and swapped in a 3.5L 2GRFE V6 :) I sold the MR-S to help fund the BRZ. My dad had a 91T, a 93NA and now had a 95T that lives in my garage at the moment for a build. One day I will own another Aw11!

MarcoP > MR2_FTW - Group J's resident Stig 03/16/2014 at 22:28

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PS- the custom spring is a better solution. You get more travel for a given ride height.