Tina's Turbo (1990 Laser RST)

[Tina94]

Is the harmonic balancer new? If old, I would check it. Maybe it started to separate.

Oh that's a good point. It's old, I'll check that too.

 

[1cleangsx]

I’ve had a harmonic balancer begin to separate and it sounded worse than that, when you say the three pulleys don’t line up well, it reminded me I’ve put one of them on backwards before. Not saying that’s what you did but if your standing over your engine looking down all the belts should line up nice, it’s possible you might of put one of the 2 pulleys on backwards, just a thought, no judgement I’ve done it

One of the 2 pulleys on the water pump that is.

 

[Tina94]

I’ve had a harmonic balancer begin to separate and it sounded worse than that, when you say the three pulleys don’t line up well, it reminded me I’ve put one of them on backwards before. Not saying that’s what you did but if your standing over your engine looking down all the belts should line up nice, it’s possible you might of put one of the 2 pulleys on backwards, just a thought, no judgement I’ve done it

One of the 2 pulleys on the water pump that is.

That was my first thought too but it’s just off by a tiny bit. I think it’d be farther than it is if a pulley was backwards. But I will definitely check it again tomorrow. Just glad nobody has said it sounds like a rod. I can deal with anything else .

 

[1cleangsx]

On my original motor, I would’ve bet my life savings I had spun a bearing, at idle that’s what it sounded like, tore the motor down and no spun bearing, crank was fine, I had my block and head at the machine shop still not knowing what the sound was, until I happened to take a look at my oem crank pulley and sure enough it was trashed, rubber separating and the outer section was receded into the inner

 

[DSMPT]

Just glad nobody has said it sounds like a rod. I can deal with anything else .

We can't be 100% sure yet, but usually rod knock sound doesn't appear suddenly. At the beginning you start to hear it only after the oil get warm and at idle (low rpm, moment the oil pressure is lowest) and it disappear when you open the throttle and it's getting louder and more often by time. And it's more low pitch metallic sound. By the video, the sound is more like hard rubber hitting something.

 

[Dericsh]

I think I would take the belts off one at a time, crank it up in between until the noise (hopefully) goes away. Then you’ll know what area to inspect.

 

[wparks]

Tina- Flip the water pump serpentine pulley over. When I put my 90 back together this last summer I put that pulley on the way it looked like it should go, figuring if it was the wrong way it would be obvious. Looked great but the serpentine belt had a squeak even after tightening the belt, and I found a slight misalignment also but only after looking really closely- Flipped mine over and bingo.

So happy to hear about your successful first drive- I am always so nervous after a rebuild that I might have done something wrong somewhere, but when you get on it and it takes off happy it's such a relief and a pure joy.

As to the knock- The hydraulic valve lash adjusters are very well known to have a bad knock, that may go away to some degree as bubbles work their way out, but this does sound a lot worse than that, and I agree- sort of a "skiffing" sound like rubbing on plastic- Is the sound louder when you take the upper timing cover off? May have to pull the lower cover and look for scrapes- they always warp quite a bit.

 

[Tina94]

Well, the knock ended up being the cam gear bolts working themselves loose. And yeah, I put the pulley on backwards cause that’s the way it looked like it was supposed to go. Both things that people told me to look out for. But it’s back together and running perfectly now. Pics to come soon!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Well, the knock ended up being the cam gear bolts working themselves loose. And yeah, I put the pulley on backwards cause that’s the way it looked like it was supposed to go. Both things that people told me to look out for. But it’s back together and running perfectly now. Pics to come soon!

Phew. That's scary about the cam bolts. That could've ended in a spectacular failure. Good catch!

 

[Tina94]

Phew. That's scary about the cam bolts. That could've ended in a spectacular failure. Good catch!

Yeah, you can say that again. I got all weak in the knees when I saw how loose they were.

 

[Tina94]

So since the last major update, the engine bay has pretty much been buttoned up. The existing turbo exhaust housing had a couple hairline cracks forming, so we bought a freshly rebuilt turbo (big thanks to Spleen8urLSX!!)

I installed the intercooler and fabricated some brackets for it. I went with the CX Racing kit, but I think it was designed for a 1gb instead of a 1ga because the mounting points didn't line up properly. The overall quality of the kit was very high though, with really thick wall pipe and decent silicone boots. I also installed a shiny, new Mishimoto radiator. I decided to take the power steering cooler out because it was in the way of the installation for the intercooler. I was able to find a way to keep the oil cooler by re-bending the lines, coping out some of the sheet metal and tucking it back in it's original location between the FMIC and the radiator.

Cruise control was taken out after deciding it was taking up too much precious space in the engine bay, plus it was in the way of the blowoff valve and I didn't want to re-fabricate the intercooler piping to move it. Plus primitive cruise systems always look ugly.

It drives pretty well and I've taken it out a couple times now since getting it started. I ordered new tires (super excited to reveal those), but realized that I had ordered the wrong size. Initially, I thought I would buy new wheels, but ended up deciding to keep the existing wheels since they're in pretty good shape and could just use some sprucing up. However, I accidentally ordered tires to fit the 17" wheels I had originally planned on buying, so I guess new wheels it is for me! I placed the order today and went with Whistler KR1 in machine finish. I'm really looking forward to seeing how the 17s will look, I think it'll be a nice little visual upgrade. And I love the way they look on the Supra, another boxy popup headlight car so I think they'll be a good fit.

Thrilled with how it runs, so much faster and more responsive than expected even with probably super gross injectors that sat for years. The shifter action feels cheap and shitty though, vaguely plasticy and likes to go halfway into gear instead of all the way sometimes. Will definitely have to play with the cables, but I'm sure some lubrication and use will improve it quite a bit. It's really coming back to life well for how long it sat.

The next project is reassembling the front bumper with all the freshly refinished parts!

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

Everything looks great! That’s a lot of progress in the recent months and I’m glad that turbo is working out well, living a much better life than boxed up on the shelf.

For the cables I’d imagine the rubber bushings where they attach to the levers on the trans are all oblonged and fatigued from age. Torque solutions offers a nice polyurethane bushing kit. I have the Buschur metal bushings in mine and it made a night and day difference but I plan to switch to the polyurethane ones as a few of the well versed transmission guys have come to find they suspect the metal bushings or skateboard bearings in place of the bushings can cause over extension on a hard shift resulting in breaking a shift fork (would make sense on how I managed to do so on the good 90 trans I had).

 

[CrackedDSM]

Everything looks great! That’s a lot of progress in the recent months and I’m glad that turbo is working out well, living a much better life than boxed up on the shelf.

For the cables I’d imagine the rubber bushings where they attach to the levers on the trans are all oblonged and fatigued from age. Torque solutions offers a nice polyurethane bushing kit. I have the Buschur metal bushings in mine and it made a night and day difference but I plan to switch to the polyurethane ones as a few of the well versed transmission guys have come to find they suspect the metal bushings or skateboard bearings in place of the bushings can cause over extension on a hard shift resulting in breaking a shift fork (would make sense on how I managed to do so on the good 90 trans I had).

That's good to know. I planned on going solid/brass shifter bushings on mine, but I'll go torque solutions instead.

What kinda turbo is it? Just a 14B w/ eBay 16G housing or something else? Love the stock housing turbos! Especially on a street car/lightly modded car.

 

[Tina94]

Everything looks great! That’s a lot of progress in the recent months and I’m glad that turbo is working out well, living a much better life than boxed up on the shelf.

For the cables I’d imagine the rubber bushings where they attach to the levers on the trans are all oblonged and fatigued from age. Torque solutions offers a nice polyurethane bushing kit. I have the Buschur metal bushings in mine and it made a night and day difference but I plan to switch to the polyurethane ones as a few of the well versed transmission guys have come to find they suspect the metal bushings or skateboard bearings in place of the bushings can cause over extension on a hard shift resulting in breaking a shift fork (would make sense on how I managed to do so on the good 90 trans I had).

I'll order up some of those poly bushings asap, thanks for the suggestion. I can do that with the braided clutch line once I rehab the fuel system.

That's good to know. I planned on going solid/brass shifter bushings on mine, but I'll go torque solutions instead.

What kinda turbo is it? Just a 14B w/ eBay 16G housing or something else? Love the stock housing turbos! Especially on a street car/lightly modded car.

Its just a stock 14b. I'm shocked at what a great little turbo it is for a stocker!

 

[CrackedDSM]

Its just a stock 14b. I'm shocked at what a great little turbo it is for a stocker!

It's better than just a stock 14B, it's got a 16G turbine housing on it, which means it flows better and wont crack(as easily) as the OEM one will. Also an aftermarket(looks like a holset?) WGA which will hold boost better. You scored a great little turbo there! I bet it rips.

 

[Tina94]

It's better than just a stock 14B, it's got a 16G turbine housing on it, which means it flows better and wont crack(as easily) as the OEM one will. Also an aftermarket(looks like a holset?) WGA which will hold boost better. You scored a great little turbo there! I bet it rips.

Shows how much I know. Figured those were basically negligible gains more “refreshes” than actual upgrades. Once again, thanks to Spleen. Good transaction, fast shipping, super helpful.

 

[Spleen8urLSX]

That's good to know. I planned on going solid/brass shifter bushings on mine, but I'll go torque solutions instead.

What kinda turbo is it? Just a 14B w/ eBay 16G housing or something else? Love the stock housing turbos! Especially on a street car/lightly modded

It is indeed a 14b in a 7cm housing and Holset gate actuator Justin Whitesell built. I was going to use it but the less I’ve messed with my car the more time I’ve had to change my mind numerous times and scrap going back to a j pipe turbo, so instead sent it to a better home for what I had into it for a car it suits perfectly.

And no problem at all for the smooth transaction, I’m just glad to see it perfectly suited for what you’re looking to do!

 

[CrackedDSM]

It is indeed a 14b in a 7cm housing and Holset gate actuator Justin Whitesell built. I was going to use it but the less I’ve messed with my car the more time I’ve had to change my mind numerous times and scrap going back to a j pipe turbo, so instead sent it to a better home for what I had into it for a car it suits perfectly.

And no problem at all for the smooth transaction, I’m just glad to see it perfectly suited for what you’re looking to do!

That’s one of the main reasons I went with a green(among many) was to get rid of a j-pipe setup and hopefully keep both my stock fans.

 

[Tina94]

So I’ve been working a lot more than I’ve been posting. Since I posted last:

-reworked front bumper and reinstalled with new 8.8 zinc hardware and Stainless allen heads where possible to eliminate Phillips screws. Played with the bumper cover and lights to even out gaps and get it better than new.

-diagnosed and fixed an issue where neither front turn signal was working. Each turn signal plug had its own, identical bad connection on the female pins on the connector

-new headlights and turn signal bulbs

-mounted new wheels and tires

-pulled and fixed the nonfunctioning fuel float assembly since nobody makes one for the fwd anymore. The float and the idiot light both work now

-eliminated some heat shielding on the exhaust to eliminate rattles. Whole system will be rebuilt in 3” this summer but wanted the rattles gone now

- powerwashed the whole exterior. Took off all decals and a fair amount of clearcoat. All that will get fixed when I move on from mechanicals to cosmetics. Paint looks pretty good for the most part and I bet I can get it back to 90% with paint correction but a few rock chips turned into little rust spots and the moss/algae took its toll

-reworked the fuel hanger and installed Wally 255 with a tank of fresh 93 while I had the float out.

-Did the STM rewire kit the same day as the pump and float. Mounted the relay under the rear seat so it’s shielded from the elements but is accessible without any tools

-installed the fuelab afpr kit from STM at the same time as the rewire, float, and pump. Kit included everything and it went smoothly. Set base pressure to 38 psi and the car idles like a whole different machine.

-preliminary dial-in of mbc and bov

-chased a whining noise from what I believe is the crank pulley rubbing on the lower timing cover. Will have to devise some kind of shim

-mounted a boost gauge on the center control stack, just to the left of the radio, basically just where your right knee goes. Wanted it somewhere not visible from the exterior, even if it means a less convenient viewing angle. Never planning to add more than bolt on power so as long as it shows 15psi under heavy throttle I don’t plan to watch it much.

To do in the next couple weeks:

-Coilovers go on tomorrow, then alignment

- mock up sideskirts to see how I like them with the new wheels and lower ride height

-come up with some kind of insert or mesh for the foglight holes since 1g foglights seem unobtanium for anything but the most ridiculous prices

- come up with coolant bottle setup since I just have a puke tube right now from deleting the coolant tank for the fmic piping

- figure out my pcv shortcomings since the dipstick is starting to push out when I push the car hard

- finish dialing in the boost controller and blowoff for a perfectly smooth 15psi with no creep or flutter

-start eliminating the little body rust that the powerwasher exposed. Reclear a couple patches and get everything ready to do paint correction in one shot. Redo undercoating in wheel wells

-replace failing plastic pins on the rear hatch interior plastic and the third brakelight cover with more robust hardware

- use the syringe and glue method to fix the few sagging “bubbles” in the headliner

-learn about stereo shit to find speakers that will work with the oem head unit without additional amplification. Figure out if the oem head unit has any provisions for rca in or aux in so I can run a Bluetooth adapter

-fix or replace passenger side window motor

-find new weatherstripping pins for drivers door weatherstripping

-find door panel pins for passenger side panel

-install a new passenger door handle

-powerwash engine bay

-refinish passenger side mirror housing

-refinish faded black door pillars

Which leaves longer term goals of:

-Deep clean interior. Pull seats and shampoo upholstery. Rent an extractor for the carpet

-build a 3” exhaust that follows factory routing with as close to factory muffler as possible

-install the braided stainless clutch line I have sitting around, new clutch fluid

- drain brakes, refinish calipers, upgrade to modern fluid and pads

-buy and install full shifter bushing set

P-reseal front light housings (low priority because this car will never be wet besides washings)

-general rehabbing of small exterior detail stuff

 

[munqc]

love seeing the progress on this build !!! motivates me to work on my 90 laser as well !! sweet ride, hope to keep seeing good progress on it ! good job !

 

[Tina94]

Some shots of the new coilovers and how she sits now:

Thrilled with the way she sits and rides. Body roll is almost nonexistent through moderate corners.

 

[munqc]

wow !!! looks so good with these wheels and coilovers !!! amazing ! what spec of wheels ?

 

[Tina94]

wow !!! looks so good with these wheels and coilovers !!! amazing ! what spec of wheels ?

Whistler kr1, 17x8, they only came in one offfset, believe it was +25 or thereabouts. @Ludachris had a great wheel fitment comment or thread that I referenced and these happened to be the exact specs he said worked best on 1gs. Plus I wanted a 90s looking directional wheel. I have the same exact setup on my Supra and love it so I just copied and pasted onto the laser. I will be lowering the rear more though, I’m at maximum drop in the rear and the car still has too much rake for my taste.

Federal 595 rs/rr. 235/40/17. Super loud but grip like hell and look awesome!

 

[munqc]

Whistler kr1, 17x8, they only came in one offfset, believe it was +25 or thereabouts. @Ludachris had a great wheel fitment comment or thread that I referenced and these happened to be the exact specs he said worked best on 1gs. Plus I wanted a 90s looking directional wheel. I have the same exact setup on my Supra and love it so I just copied and pasted onto the laser. I will be lowering the rear more though, I’m at maximum drop in the rear and the car still has too much rake for my taste.

Federal 595 rs/rr. 235/40/17. Super loud but grip like hell and look awesome!

totally agree, these wheels are perfect, fitment AND style !!!! blade type wheels fit so well on a 1G , i love it. what kind of coilovers are those if you dont mind ? gonna get some eventually...

 

[Tina94]

totally agree, these wheels are perfect, fitment AND style !!!! blade type wheels fit so well on a 1G , i love it. what kind of coilovers are those if you dont mind ? gonna get some eventually...

Godspeed mono ss. The cheapest “quality” coilover available (in my opinion). And they happen to be pink which looks sick and fits my eventual color scheme plans. I highly recommend them for street driven non-track cars if you’re just looking for lowering/stiffness adjustment/handling. $675 shipped from redline360.com