christodav

Yeehaaa! Pretty much got my ride all working now. Still a vibration here and there but I believe it is probably just the cheap Chinese tyres I have fitted. I will just have to start saving now for a decent set of 18 inch tyres. I have got all the parts I need now to do a full tune-up. Denso plugs, TRD thermostat, TRD radiator cap, TRD Air Filter, Greddy top radiator pipe, Mobile 1 oil, TRD oill filter, Toyota timing belt, Toyota drive belt, Toyota coolant and Toyota fuel filter. It's taken me about 6 weeks of saving etc and all I need to do now is get my mechanic to fit it all. I am also planning on get the rear brakes machined and the auto box serviced. I will let you know how I go. Coilovers and exhaust the next projects? Chris

Hey Gab, Was it the machining that fixed the discs or did you need to need to get new ones? You obviously has some sort of issue to get this done. The reason I am asking is that I have dorpped the car back to the place where I bought it and the first thing they did was to get a wheel alignment and balance (again), but they say that my problem was still there. The steering wheel vibrates badly especially 80km/h +. When applying the brakes it also happens. Is this similar to what you experienced? Chris

OK. Taken the car back today to the place where I bought it. See what happens. Chris

UPDATE OK. I have the car back now. Everything is fine except the brakes need some attention I believe. I had the wheels balanced and the alignment done but when I go over around 80km/h I get a bad vibration through the wheel. The thing is that it seems to come and go to some extent. Also I am sure that it gets better or worse after braking. I am thinking maybe a warped Disc or something of that nature. I think the discs need a good machining as well. Again, should have been done I think at complience. To be honest, I am tossing up whether to just go to my local brakes place (I have my other cars done there), and pay the money over, or risk waiting a few days without my car again to get the place I bought it from fix it. Unfortunately, I have lost quite a bit of confidence in them and they are a good hours drive away. I really hate being let down like that. I am not too worried as everthing else on the car is fantastic and the power etc is there no probs. The brakes may not have even been done in Japan. Who knows? I agree with the engine thing; she is really smooth.....and when the turbos spool! The 380 is a nice car, but it is funny that it is brand new and probably almost on a par as far as refinement goes with the Aristo and the Aristo is over 10 years old! Chris

No. The brakes on the Supra are bigger but I have been told that if you cut the plate at the back of the brakes on the Aristo, (help me out with a better name for it someone), then the Supra calipers and discs will fit, provided you also have wheels that are bigger to clear the bigger brakes. Obviously, the next answer to your question is no as well cos the Supra has bigger brakes therefore bigger pads. After saying all that, unless you modify the car dramatically, the brakes on the Aristo are pretty good I think.I would be looking at cross drilled or slotted discs and a better pad before considering the huge cost involved with upgrading to Supra brakes as good as they are. Horses for courses I guess. The suspension is similar on the front with these vehicles as I have heard but very different on the back. You have to order suspension specifically for the car. If you want to upgrade, then the way to go is coilovers. Around AU$1000- for a good second hand set and anywhere from about AU$1300- to over AU$2000-. Again, this depends on how far you want to go. The good thing about coilovers is the ability to lower the car a bit. Just be careful when you buy cos you don't want the ride too hard for street use. I think it would drive you mad. Especially in a car like the Aristo. You want to improve handling without being too harsh I guess. It shouldn't be too hard to get coilovers cos I have seen them for sale on quite a few Aussie sites including this one. Chris

Greetings. OK, yes and no. The engine is the same engine and almost every part made for the Supra, engine bay wise, should fit. There are however some differences even in fact from year to year with the Aristo JZS147 itself. The Aristo uses the a340e auto transmission which is used alot in many Toyota models. The Supra, I believe has a few different transmissions over the years. I don't think anyone will mind if I show the link below as it talks about everything you need to know about the Supra. You can even download sections of workshop manuals etc which I have found helpful so far. http://www.mkiv.com/ Guess what car had the 2JZ-GTE in it first? It was not the Supra! I hope this helps. I guess the thing to watch is, electronically and electrically speaking, there can be some fairly major differences between the 2 cars. Just be careful in ordering parts made for for the Supra in this respect. Things like spark plugs, turbo chargers, belts and pullys etc will mostly be universal with the engine. Chris.

OK, I'm a very disappointed boy at the moment! The car, believe it or not was complied and registered etc with a faulty front strut. Now I knew that it needed to be relpaced and last week when it was time to pick the car up, the guys had failed to get a replacement strut from their supplier. I took the car home on Saturday anyway however, cos I couldn't wait and I said that I would drop it back once they had the strut and for them to replace it. Anyway, I dropped the car back to them on Tuesday and they still didn't have the strut . They then got it on Thursday only to find that they received the wrong thing! So now I am still waiting! I am hoping that I will have my car back on Wednesday or Thursday this week. They are still also going to give her a final detail etc and fix a few little things before the final delivery. Now I only really got a bit of a drive and of course over 60km/h the shaking was almost unbearable! However, she was fast! And the engine etc was smooth. I can't believe that the Vic Roads guys checked the car over properly cos there is no way that it was roadworthy with the strut the way it was. I also dropped into a friend of mine who runs a tyre place and he checked her out. Perfect. Confirmed that it was just the strut and no other issues. So that's where I am at. BTW, the Mitsubishi 380 Platinum is a great car for the money and a pleasure to drive. I have now done 1050km in it and she is now run in I guess. I test drove an Aurion and I must admit I think I prefer it but the 380 had more for the same price. Bluetooth phone, sunroof, sports suspension, body kit etc etc etc Yes and I have the HPI mag, I bought it on Friday. Chris

Gab, Thanks for the info. I am going to pick the car up on Saturday morning. I can't wait. The really cool thing is that I am picking up my brand new Mitsubishi 380 Platinum from work tomorrow (Thursday). I guess that will help the wait! I know which car I will be driving on the weekend though! I am so lucky! 2 new cars in the same week! I have bought all the gear for my first service and I will make sure all the stuff you mentioned gets checked out. I'll probably get the transmission serviced as well. Hmm, haven't thought of the radio to be honest. I guess I will find out on Saturday and I will let you know. I can recall a brief chat about it and I must admitt that I did listen to the radio before I purchased the car but I didn't check out more than one station. I have found this guy on the internet and he lives about 15mins away from me! http://www.catronics.com.au/index.html I'll have a chat with him and I'll let you know. As far as audio goes I played in a band full time for two years and done sound engineering professionally. After working with huge sound systems car audio does not scare me at all. Although it can be a really big pain in the butt - confined places and all - yoga positions! Anyway I will post again on Saturday and let you all know how I go. Chris

Yes, LSD was an option. Look under the bonnet, on the info placard. As stated above by Spyder; if it says A01B then it has a torsen LSD. If it does not end with 'B' and instead ends with an 'A' then your diff is an open type. FYI: I believe the first letter refers to the ring gear diameter, the next two digits refer to the diff gear ratio and the last letter is LSD/non-LSD. I am lucky enough to have an LSD! Chris

I would be surprised if they even get close to fitting. The two cars were designed by 2 different places. I don't think they share much at all except the name and the engine. Chris

Hey mate! I live in Victoria, but if you are after aftermarket stuff or anything for yout dashboard etc, try Troy at the Toy Shop www.japimports.com.au These guys are always importing Aristo half cuts (engine bay and Dash) for engine transplants. I just got a couple of front air vents from him for my Aristo. He was fantastic and knew his stuff! As far as new parts go, call Castle Hill Toyota, as Gab said. I have had good experience so far, just waiting for the gear to arrive as it is Monday and I ordered it on Friday. I hope this helps. Maybe we could get some group buys happening in the future with some stuff blokes?!?! BTW, I am talking 1st Gen 'Grey Import' JZS147 Aristo. Castle Hill Toyota should be able to still help I guess if you are refering to the 2nd Gen Aussie Delivery car. Chris

Hello Gab, Nice to meet you! I am still waiting for mine to get complience. I spoke to them on Thurday and they have done all the work but after more than 2 weeks still have not got the plates yet. Obviously they can't do anything as far as registration and delivery goes until they get the plates. Very frustrating! Dam DOT! Anyway, the best thing to do is get yourself the last few issues of High Performance Imports magazine. The current one, #76 actually gives you 2 free mags, #63 and #64 in a plastic pack. No. 76 has Pt4 of their Aristo project car and how to install a merchanical boost guage. I think I'll look for a 2nd hand boost guage and go ahead with that one cos it seems pretty simple to do. Next issue I believe they will be adding a computer, front mount intercooler and exhaust. I have not got # 73, 74 or 75 yet so I am not sure what they did in those editions yet. In #63 they actuallt introduce the car briefly on one of the pages. I am glad you found the problem with the timing belt B4 it caused damage. I actually contacted Castle Hill Toyota and ordered some TRD stuff and some OEM stuff the other day. All done via email and I will let you know when I get it. Amongst the order, I requested a Genuine Toyota timing belt and a set of Denso plugs. Go to their website and check them out. You may even be close to them being in NSW! No problems so far and seem like they know what they are doing. I just filled out the form they had on thier site with my body number and a few other details and it was as easy as that. I thought I would try some expensive TRD filters etc. I don't know if they are kind of a waste of money up against the genuine Toyota parts but but I guess they will be a talking point to show off to my mates and I could put a TRD sticker on the car and saythat I have the parts to match! I have merchanic here close to home that had worked on all my other cars. He does alot of engine transplants. He put a new 7M engine in my Cressida after the harmonic balancer cam off my car in Tassie at 100km/h. Ripped the key off the crank. Luckly, I was able to get a tow onto the boat and we hired a trailer from Port Melbourne home. Anyway, he has been my merchanic ever since. I will get him to check the car out once I get it and I might get him to do a full check over the car and even if the complience guys have done the fluids etc I am thinking I will do it again to make sure. A couple of hundred bucks I figure can't hurt if it may mean lots of dollars later! I am a bit of a tinkler. I usually do my own oil changes etc to save a few dollars, but I think its best to get the pros to check it out at least every 2nd time. I can do audio and I have a turbo timer on order as well and I think I may give that a go since I also got a harness which is meant to plug straight up to the car. We'll see. Talk soon, Chris

G'day, Just bought myself a Silver JZS147 Aristo, 1996 model. Can't wait to get it on the road! It will be around 2 weeks before it get conplience and registration. I will post some more pics as soon as I take take delivery of her. It has leather, premium sound system, 18 inch wheels (aftermarket), sunroof, LSD, passenger and drivers airbag and the best thing; the famous 2JZ-GTE engine. How many others here with JZS147's? Any from Victoria? Cheers Chris