Steven

I'll be there. I wonder how long this thread would be if we didn't always post our attendance in advance?

Don't blame BHSS. Blame all you Westerners who believe in fair pay. *runs off to an Asian country for labour cost reductions* I've found the caliper kits for about $8 each. Now I'm assuming it would take an expert at this about 15 to 20 minutes to rebuild a caliper using a kit they probably get for the same price if not cheaper. I'm currently on around $25 an hour, which I believe it fair pay. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I should be on $200 an hour

bloody hell, BHSS just quoted me $137.50 to get a single caliper rebuilt! Kits themselves are around $60 each from Toyota but I'm certain I've seen them cheaper. God damn sh it cu nts

Rotors already purchased so the decision has been made. Also budget is stretched already so it would be over a month before i could go the jza80 discs - besides there is hardly much diff between the rx330 and jza80 to justify a doubling in price. As for pads, i need to get a quote on getting the calipers rebuilt before i make any decisions and also what's available

I've purchased the RX330 rotors (320mm x 28mm) in the RDA slotted, for under $200 delivered. This frees my budget to allow for even better pads and to have the calipers professionally rebuilt.

I'm tempted however I don't have a helmet (unless DJKOR wants to run my car down the strip). I'm more interested in the time it can get with the few mods I've done than anything else, although the tyres are likely to let it down some on the launch.

I forgot to mention the 3rd option, which is to use Lexus RX330 discs instead which can be had in RDA slotted for less than $200 a pair. These discs are only 320mm x28mm, so they wouldn't absorb heat as well as the supra ones but would still be better than stock. Supra rotors - approx 21% more metal than stock ($300 to $400 in hand) RX330 - approx 15% more metal ($>200 in hand) Like mentioned I'm not hoping for world changing improvements (or much at all actually) around town, mostly I'm just trying to get better brakes for the spirited driving. As it stands my tyres are the weakest point in my current braking system for normal stops but brake fade easily outdoes this on even slightly spirited driving.

That's not a bad price for slotted RDAs, however I'm currently awaiting on a quote from an American supplier which currently sits around $160 per rotor (slotted) inc delivery, however if they combine postage for price for a pair could fall under $300. The down side of course is the delivery time taken for them to arrive which could see me without the brakes by the time the annual rolls around but I am working off a budget. I hadn't given much thought (or inclusion in the budget) at this time for getting the calipers rebuilt. Is it an expensive exercise? I had planned on just buying a kit from Repco and doing it myself.

It's decision time. My options now are as follow: 1) Go RDA slotted with decent pads in my current brake combo (297mm x 28mm) OR 2) Get standard DBAs in the Supra rotor (324mm x 30mm) using the Gen3 twin piston calipers and decent pads. The Supra combo should win out however the rotors won't be slotted (can't afford the huge excess they want for them as you need to move up to DBA 4000s). Would this result in the Supra combo being less effective than the standard, RDA slotted combo? Mostly I'm just trying to reduce brake fad when on mountain runs.

... Wtf?

Got a better shot of the front grill this morning

TS01. Actually everything about that front end looks sweet

Where and When and How

The unit I'm using is the older version of this unit. Only difference is a slightly different exterior and mine only has the single TV tuner. Yeah he allows pickups, actually he prefers it that way

Redid my upper front grill today, which involved fully dismantling it, sanding it back, respraying it and then remaking the mesh sections. I was entirely happy with the previous mesh as it was composed of 2 grills that I had butchered off another car at the wreckers, and as such it always looked a little bit off. Since then I've remade it from scratch out of MDF to match the lower grill. Pic doesn't do it justice, and as per all other grill alterations previously made it isn't too obvious. Also swapped the GPS antenna from my DVD player to a quality aftermarket version. Where the supplied antenna is pretty basic, I found a much better antenna and fitted it this afternoon. I'm now getting a much stronger signal, gone up from 3-4 satellites to around 9-10 almost instantly! Very wise investment for anyone with these units I suggest.

Patience young padawan, most people on here have probably been at work since the time you asked this morning and haven't even read this thread yet. I haven't dealt with them myself, but it has been mentioned previously they can be hard to get a hold of sometimes especially if you ask in English. I find that price quoted on Ebay inc postage to be very good for one of these grills and I would suggest you go through there as Ebay is a tried and proven method. I know there is a seller here in Brisbane who sells that grill, but they're around the $150 mark before postage is included so I would jump at that ebay auction if I were you.

A fair chunk of that probably has to do with changing the spark plugs. Considering Toyota prices for the plugs alone are around $250 (not to mention how much of a pain they are to change) I think doing them yourself would reduce the service cost considerably.

I've been with DJKOR around Nebo -> I don't scare that easily... get sick on the other hand... Fog comes with the season

Pics

Just adding to the above, I may have miscalculated the actual usefulness of the pistons. Considering that the pistons are really just the metal on their circumference (think of a hollow 0 rather than a flat, solid 0) then perhaps it may be more relevant to compare the total circumference's of the pistons of the calipers. Rough figures below Single piston - 191.54mm Twin piston - 226.08mm (15.3% larger) So which is better? Total area inside piston, or actual metal making contact with the pad?

Thanks to Andrew357 I was able to locate some Gen3 twin piston calipers, to use a set up similar to STYLSH. First some interesting comparisons. The single piston caliper has a total piston area of 3017mm^2, where the twin piston actually falls lower at 2034mm^2, that's 32% smaller! However the pad sizes on the single piston are roughly 5850mm^2, where the twin pistons come out slightly more at 6240mm^2 (only about 6.25% bigger). Currently I'm at a lost as to how this will affect real world performance, as the pads are larger but the pistons are considerably smaller. Now granted the twin pistons are meant to be used with a 323mm rotor (8.4% larger than stock), or possibly another rotor I've found which is 334mm (11.4% larger), so that question remains will the twin piston actually be any benefit? granted the larger rotors (thicker too) which increase cooling and thus reduce brake fade. The other option I'm thinking of is using the factory single piston with the larger 334mm rotor. It won't fit on the 323mm but at 334 it will just fit under the 17s". Opinions people? I reckon these figures pose a few questions regarding the gen3 twin piston upgrade.

Doesn't have to be a Toyota to promote the club. If anything those stickers are likely to double the value of your car!

If you can find one at a wrecker I'd certainly recommend it! Considering you've actually been down the 1/4 it would be nice to see what gains you make after.

Considered gen3 but theyre damn hard to find

A rough idea of overall cost came to around $700 to $800, which I was happy to spend if it resulted in a good quality 4 piston set of front brakes. At the same time though I have uncovered the following issues - A rotor of at least 318mm diameter is required. The caliper is designed though for a 280mm caliper. Allowing for the free play in the caliper itself, I found a range of only 316mm to 324mm in which the rotor must be sized for the brake pads to come in full contact with the rotor. This limits my rotor selection somewhat - The caliper extends outwards from the rotor much more so than the factory caliper to about 60mm from the rotor. This fouls on the factory sportivo 17" wheel. As wheel spacers are illegal/dangerous, and different wheels out of my budget, this means the rotor used must be a greater "height" to the factory one. The factory is roughly 49.3mm high, to obtain the needed clearance the rotor must be at least 55mm high. However as this means it would extend further into the wheel well, it would foul on the the hub assembly if it's anymore than 57mm high. This further limits my rotor selection. - The rotor must be only 28 to 30mm thick. A 32mm could be used but there would be only 1mm between it and the inner parts of the caliper, which could create rubbing if any flex was present in the system. From all this I found the only rotor that fit the criteria was the DBA2650, a somewhat rare rotor found on late model Subaru's. To fit the centre bore was need to be machined larger, and the PCB redrilled to match the 114.3 Toyota stud pattern. Whilst this would create a functional system, the clearance in several places would be around the 1mm mark and at such close tolerances I believe it's just asking for trouble to happen. Last thing I want is my rim catching on my caliper during a hard corner. In a way it looks like the brakes are designed with a similar mindset to the TRD supercharger - well packaged but damn hard to fiddle with.