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The is most likely the view from a passing motorist.
And here’s what it looks like from the outside to those simply walking by the car, or driving by it in a taller SUV on the highway. The interior is truly transformed on this car and it doesn't look 20-something any more!
In recent months, Project Supra was sidelined in the garage for a while due to a leaky power steering pump. One of the reasons I love to have a vented hood like the TS-style Seibon is that if something like this happens you’ll see a spray mist or smoke right away before it really dirties up the engine bay (or before the problem gets worse). In the case of this little unit, it would drip ever so slightly on the pulley, which would then zing it up through the vents and onto the windshield in a mist so fine you could mistake it for parking under a sapping tree. I ordered this remanufactured unit from Modified by KC locally, who in my opinion provides the best deals in town.
After pulling on the belt tensioner to release the accessory pulley, I simply used a 17-mm gear ratchet to remove the pulley. I used another wrench and wedged it against the block to keep the pulley from spinning while I loosened it. There are four more bolts to remove the pump, along with the two fluid feeder lines, which you can see to the upper and lower right sides of the pulley. Once it was installed, I haven’t had an issue with the new pump since.
Probably once a year or so I get a small puff of oil smoke coming out the passenger side vent above the turbo, which is usually an indicator that the oil feed line has loosened up. Normally I take it out, put more Teflon on it, retighten, and not worry about it for another year. This time, however, I looked down and noticed that not only was one of the four turbo housing bolts completely gone, but the gasket between the exhaust manifold and turbine housing was completely gone! With heat, things get loose, and proper routine maintenance is key, even when things are seemingly operating just fine. I ordered this gasket from Modified by KC as well, who thankfully had it in stock that very morning (because it was already Friday!). Pictured here is the Swaintech-coated and Thermo Tec-wrapped Power House Racing S45 exhaust manifold, which was featured in Part 4.
When I found this issue, I thought to myself surely there was a boost leak here, even though I couldn’t spot it. Well, I found out real quick that it did take care of a significant leak. As soon as I got in the car the turbo was spooling what easily felt like 150-200 RPM sooner, and the boost went up by 4 PSI (that’s over 80 WHP)!
