What did you do to your car today?

[DJKOR]

Today I made up a strip of IR LED's and mounted them nice and low to complement my reverse camera in night conditions. It was a bit of a failure as it doesn't light up much, but it helps for when things are in close proximity and down low.

Also found a couple more DataDot patches hiding on the bodywork of the car.

[xoom]

drove the car :D since i have been away for a few weeks

[1stKill]

Drove the absolute sh!t out of it on some tricky roads today... :)

[Spillzee]

Spent all day washing/taking out scratches. polishing and waxing, cleaning tyres and shining. I stand back now in awe. man. can a car be that cool. im trying to upload pics. Shes only factory, but its got something.thanks daryl for your input today. What do ya think. this forum is great. Your imput boys takes the guess work out of so much. cheers

[Foss]

Finally fitted my eyelids over the weekend. Goddam drivers side one still doesn't look like it fits quite right, but looks good enough for me to leave it on. Plus its kinda sikaflexed there, so its not going to budge too easily anytime soon if I wanted to!

Also painted my front calipers metallic blue. Bloody Tasmanian weather made that a tough job to do outside, and prevented me from doing the rears at all. Next few weeks I'll get her up on a hoist indoors and do the rears.

[Silver-Aurion]

Spent all day washing/taking out scratches. polishing and waxing, cleaning tyres and shining. I stand back now in awe. man. can a car be that cool. im trying to upload pics. Shes only factory, but its got something.thanks daryl for your input today. What do ya think. this forum is great. Your imput boys takes the guess work out of so much. cheers

Very nice. Black TRD is a very risky car to clean

Well yesterday after gym I gave inside of the car a vacuum after its been a taxi for the last three days and today I washed it. No wax or anything. Just a regular wash with megs wash and wax and dry(inside doors, boot, bonnet, fuel lid etc), tyre shine and go for a quick drive :)

[Spillzee]

Spent all day washing/taking out scratches. polishing and waxing, cleaning tyres and shining. I stand back now in awe. man. can a car be that cool. im trying to upload pics. Shes only factory, but its got something.thanks daryl for your input today. What do ya think. this forum is great. Your imput boys takes the guess work out of so much. cheers

Very nice. Black TRD is a very risky car to clean

Well yesterday after gym I gave inside of the car a vacuum after its been a taxi for the last three days and today I washed it. No wax or anything. Just a regular wash with megs wash and wax and dry(inside doors, boot, bonnet, fuel lid etc), tyre shine and go for a quick drive

Not risky......Pain in AR-E. but i like it so will keep on spending the time

[rob323]

Loaded the rally car on the trailer last night, off up to the International Rally of Queensland tonight straight after work.

If anyone comes up to watch and you see an Echo (car 83) being wrung within an inch of it's life, then drop your dacks and bend over and give me a "moon".

Then I'll put the in-car up on Youtube and we can play "guess that ****".:P

Rallyrallyrallyrallyrallyrallyrallyrallyrallyrally! ;)

[Mole]

Got the car into WTF Auto, woohoo! Time to get rid off all the stupid **** thats been put on my motor!

[johnnieboi]

rear brake rotors machined! no more screeching..

[Guest]

Got the car into WTF Auto, woohoo! Time to get rid off all the stupid **** thats been put on my motor!

WTF auto... thats awesome, they are fucking pro with toyotas.

[KevO]

Clayed and waxed the car today.

Will polish it once the weather clears up <_<

[WellsieTRD]

Full tank of fuel and x2 lower ball joints

[Kozmo]

Sudden burst of enthusiasm after 6 months of neglect...

Ok, not all done today, but yesterday and today combined.

Got some parts from the wreckers:

• "Clips" to stop my rear pads rattling around in the callipers
  
• Centre console lid/box
  
• Wiper washer bottle
  
• Drivers side mirror (AE96 style)
  

Got parts for weekend service:

• Red Line Water Wetter
  
• Bottom Radiator Hose
  
• Gates fan belts (DAMN SQUEAK, LEAVE ME ALONE - please!!!!)
  

And...

• Topped up oil with 1L Nulon Fully Synthetic 15-50
  
• Blasted a kilo of rust out of my "front/rear wiper water control valve"
  
• Sanded + primed my new mirror.
  

[Steven]

Bit of work today:

- Now have GPS and Stereo (integrated)

- New headlights

- Front mounted video camera to capture all those fun times

- New Side mirrors (slimline type)

- And finally, a good wash (no wax)

Yep, my mountain bike has improved 100% since this morning. :D

[DJKOR]

After hearing some suggestions from Andrew, I experimented a little with the idea behind 'cowl induction'. I didn't do this for the purposes of air induction though, I did it to attempt to lower my supercharger temperature. The one thing that the TRD suffers from is heat soak on the S/C. I was wondering if there was a way I could get some airflow over the S/C body to help cool it down a little as I have found that there is a little more power to be had when this is kept cool.

So taking the idea of cowl induction where the high pressure air at the base of the windscreen can then be forced downwards through an inlet underneath/on the bonnet, I drilled a few well positioned holes in the plastic cowl underneath the rear of the bonnet.

After some hard driving, I had noticed that this appears to be helping a little in cooling down the S/C. I don't own any thermometers for this purpose, but the fact that I could actually sit my hand on the S/C after some driving around where I previously couldn't definitely shows me that there is a difference. I plan to get a thermometer wired up later so I can see what difference it makes etc.

Only thing I've noticed is that even though the total surface area of plastic removed equals about 15-20cm2 or so, the amount of extra noise that can be heard inside the cabin with the windows up is quite significant. The plastic cowl sits about 5cm away from the S/C and with only that small amount of plastic removed, you can now hear the rattling sound of the S/C when the engine is revving. It's funny how such a thin piece of plastic can actually block quite a bit of sound.

[Andrew357]

What is your final verdict?

New cowl or can we call you Holey McGee?

[DJKOR]

What is your final verdict?

New cowl or can we call you Holey McGee?

Final verdict is that it's okay to stay in the meantime. Until I get my hands on a temperature probe, I'd say it is working to cool the supercharger. It doesn't appear to be letting in enough air to affect the engine bay air pressures so the radiator can still do it's job, but once again, I'll need a thermometer to test this.

The next time it rains will also b another test I have to make because I don't really know how much water it can draw in at highway speeds.

Either way, if it all goes to ****, I will use a some plastic furniture end caps to plug the holes because it's all pretty much in a non-visible area.

[Silver-Aurion]

After hearing some suggestions from Andrew, I experimented a little with the idea behind 'cowl induction'. I didn't do this for the purposes of air induction though, I did it to attempt to lower my supercharger temperature. The one thing that the TRD suffers from is heat soak on the S/C. I was wondering if there was a way I could get some airflow over the S/C body to help cool it down a little as I have found that there is a little more power to be had when this is kept cool.

So taking the idea of cowl induction where the high pressure air at the base of the windscreen can then be forced downwards through an inlet underneath/on the bonnet, I drilled a few well positioned holes in the plastic cowl underneath the rear of the bonnet.

After some hard driving, I had noticed that this appears to be helping a little in cooling down the S/C. I don't own any thermometers for this purpose, but the fact that I could actually sit my hand on the S/C after some driving around where I previously couldn't definitely shows me that there is a difference. I plan to get a thermometer wired up later so I can see what difference it makes etc.

Only thing I've noticed is that even though the total surface area of plastic removed equals about 15-20cm2 or so, the amount of extra noise that can be heard inside the cabin with the windows up is quite significant. The plastic cowl sits about 5cm away from the S/C and with only that small amount of plastic removed, you can now hear the rattling sound of the S/C when the engine is revving. It's funny how such a thin piece of plastic can actually block quite a bit of sound.

Just add water to the supercharger.

[DJKOR]

Today I tried to improve my number plate illumination. Instead I lit up the rear of the car. Ooops.

Before:

After:

[Andrew357]

^ think of it as another way to cool it down...!

As a result of Daryl's post, I got off my **** and went to a wrecker and bought a windscreeen cowl (+ the plastic door sills + strut mount nuts + air con vents) for a cool $100. Going to do something in the similar vein as Daryl's, but it won't be as easy because my cowl has less raised parts than the TRD Aurion one.

One question though Daryl; how would the holes affect the cooling of the radiator? Thinking computer case cooling here, but keeping the positive + negative case pressure (in this case, engine bay) closest to zero usually provides the best cooling. Do you mind expanding on that statement?

The door sills will be used in a little project to finally put those proper scuff plates in, fingers crossed it works.

Also washed + waxed the car today. Probably the longest time it's gone without a wash (about a week) since I got the bonnet painted.

[DJKOR]

One question though Daryl; how would the holes affect the cooling of the radiator? Thinking computer case cooling here, but keeping the positive + negative case pressure (in this case, engine bay) closest to zero usually provides the best cooling. Do you mind expanding on that statement?

I did read through some extensive discussion about all the air pressure differences etc and took that into consideration before cutting the holes. I was aware that by having some air able to enter the rear, it would potentially increase the air pressure in the engine bay therefore reducing the cooling effectiveness of the radiator. I tried to minimise the amount of inlet that I created and only cut away what was needed to get some airflow to the S/C body.

So far it doesn't seem to be affecting the radiator effectiveness but until I get my hands on a proper thermometer, I can't really say if my judgement is true.

The Aurion does seem to be pretty well designed in terms of how the engine bay trim etc is designed so I wouldn't expect it to loose that much cooling efficiency with the introduction of some higher pressure air at the rear. I guess time will tell. I will probably pick up a good thermocouple on the weekend.

[Silver-Aurion]

Inside of the car was a ripe mess. Stepping in and out of the car while ****** down rain for the last week and also the cars been running around like a taxi so it was fairly dirty inside(well below my standards anyway, most other people are like what mess? lol).

So I gave the inside a nice 1 hour detail then vacuum. I didn't clean the exterior because the weather is horrible and raining on off :)

[kylewitheridge]

downloaded iboost tubocharger for my iphone mounted it on my dash went for a spin. good laugh works well lol

[tcsport45]

I only worry for dints from, people who are useless at opening doors at the carpark at work. Havent got any yet cause I watch my car like a ninja

Edited August 4, 2010 by tcsport45