Optima Battery Sucks

So about two years ago I purchased an Optima Yellow Top battery to replace an old Costco battery that was originally on the vehicle when I bought it about 4 1/2 years ago. When you hear the name Optima you think... Expensive battery... Excellent performance... Reliable... Those are good reasons to purchase them. That's why I got one about 2 years ago. Just a few months ago my car has been starting issues. I already got the starter rebuilt last year. So all fingers point to the battery. I purchased a battery charger last year because the Optima Yellow top was drained when I came back from vacation. So I hooked up the charger and let it charge for a substantial about of time. I started the Supra, and everything sounded good. Three days later the problem came back again. The car was a bit sluggish starting up. I checked the voltage and it was low again.

Today I decided to be done with it. I've researched and went for the Interstate Mega-Tron Plus battery. It has 100 more cold cranking amps and 1000 cranking amps than the Optima. You can't beat the 85 month year warranty! So if this battery decides to go out in two years, I'll be covered! I just hope it lasts compared to the Optima.

Sometimes you don't get what you pay for.

Cars Start But Battery is Weak

Yesterday I drove to my parent's house to figure out what was wrong with my car. If you can recall when I left the house last week I disconnected the negative to make sure that the battery wouldn't be drained. When I got back to the house and tried to connect the negative terminal, the car still wouldn't start. So I decided that I would take the battery to Kragen and see if they can recharge it... I handed over the battery to the employee and he told me that they cannot charge Optima batteries. The Optima batteries will overload the quick charger. He recommended that I purchase a slow charge battery charger. Although it will take longer than normal it will charge the battery. So I purchased the charger since it was fairly inexpensive.

Before I hooked up the battery and I wanted to see if i can fire up the car. So I jump started the Supra with the Echo. It fired up with no problem. I let the car warm for a while since it was sitting for a while. After a few minutes I turned off the car to see if I can start it up again... But it didn't start. So I'm assuming the battery is really low.

I hooked up the battery charger... It'll take about a day to charge half the battery. So hopefully it will work next time I start it up.

Car Won't Start?

Last week I went to Washington for vacation and the Supra was also on vacation. When I was about to head home from my vacation the Supra wouldn't start... I think the battery might have discharged while I was away. My Optima Yellow Top battery is about a year and half old and I can't figure out why it's already dead. It was late in the evening and didn't have time to diagnose the issue, so I had to take the Corolla up with me to Mira Mesa. I hope a jump start will fix it.

Purchased an Airbag Adapter for TRD Steering wheel

Yesterday I purchased an airbag adapter for my TRD steering wheel. The steering wheel is originally for an MR2 Spyder and Celica (7th Gen). To have the steering wheel work with my car I would need this air bag adapter. This adapter has been discontiuned for a while but I was able to find it at L-Tuned Parts.

Valve Covers sent to Chromer

On Monday I was able to send off my valve covers to Cal Tron Plating in Santa Fe Springs. Luckily the shipping wasn't as bad as I thought. I made sure to pack it really well with bubble wrap and foam peanuts.

The following day I was able to get a hold of Carl, the owner of the company. He received the valve covers and questioned me about the polished finish. He mentioned that his guy could've have down a better job at a lower cost. At that time I didn't know how much it would have cost. However, the black nickel plating doesn't show imperfections compared to chrome plating. I just hope it doesn't look too bad.

According to Carl they should have everything down in a few days.

The First Step of Chroming Parts

I've doing some research and the first step to chroming a part is to have it polished. When you take something to chrome shop they usually prep it up making sure its clean to dip in the acid then dip it in the chrome. Polishing is the hardest part of the whole process. Chroming is easiest. To save some money I decided to get it polished here before sending it out. After making several calls I decided to go with Romero's Custom Chrome in El Cajon. I picked up the valve covers and they looked great. You should've seen the the valve covers before. They were really dirty and were begging to be cleaned.

Now I will need to ship the valve covers to Cal-Tron Plating to get black chromed!

I Finally WON a TRD Steering Wheel

After months of scouring Yahoo Auctions Japan I've finally WON a TRD Steering Wheel. I can't wait to get it.

Yahoo Japan TRD Steering Wheel?

It's 4:53 in the morning on a Sunday. It's a bit early in the morning but I have a good reason. I'm keeping and eye on this TRD steering wheel from Japan. I've been eyeing this steering wheel for some time now. The auction ends in about 30 minutes and I'm hoping that I will win it. In Japan its 5 minutes to 9 in the evening. I just hope the person who bidded on this item before me isn't going to snatch it in the last minute. I've been disappointed a couple times already trying to bid on TRD steering wheel. We'll see if I win this bad boy! Wish me luck!

Supra Following?

On occasion I would get a comment regarding my car from different people. I get a couple of saying that the Supra is there dream car. Last night was a rare occurrence. I was driving around Mira Mesa and at a stop light a BMW rolls next to me and just comments me on my car. He liked my car and asked if it were turbo and how much I paid for it. They were really cool.

Then I was at the Jack N Box drive thru the guy working there also commented my car. He also asked how much I picked it up for and if it were turbo... I think those are the most common questions. It's funny that I had two people commented about the car one after another...

Although my car isn't the fastest Supra out there its just cool knowing that I own a Supra :)

Hot days are upon us.

My air conditioning works great now! Thank goodness it wasn't as bad. They had to replace the expansion valve and refill the freon. Today was hot and the air condition came in really handy!

A/C Service Time

I just dropped off the Supra to get the air conditioning checked out at Miramar H&A. I've been running with no air conditioning since August or September of last year. There were some days that I wished that I had air conditioning. My friend who is a Toyota mechanic told me that my freon is completely empty. So since summer is almost upon us I think it would be a good time to service it. I just hope it's something minor.

New Greddy Pulley Set

I bought a used set of Greddy Pulley's from a Supraforum's member last month and was disappointed by the shape it was in. It had a couple nicks that bugged me. Since I'm somewhat picky about a few things I decided to sale it on ebay Usually that's the risk when purchasing used parts from people. I ordered a new set of Greddy pulleys from Pann. Now I don't have to worry about any nicks or cosmetic things.

Bumper Repainted Complete

I stopped by last Friday to check the progress of my front bumper at SDCS. They had removed my bumper off the car. Everything was already painted and was drying up in the booth. Jacie, owner of SDCS told me that everything should be good to go on Monday. He also recommended a guy to fix the dent on the passenger fender. I've had that dent for the longest time. It was there when I bought the car over four years ago.

I decided to get that dent fixed as well. I originally was scheduled to pick the car up on Monday but the guy who was suppose to fix my dent informed me that a special tool is required. He didn't have that tool at the time and will have everything done on Tuesday. I didn't mind as long as I'm satisfied. On Tuesday I pick up the car and everything looks great. They did a few touch ups to the bumper and I was good. SDCS did an incredible job. It looks way better than the previous job they did last year. And as for the dent. It's completely gone!

I'm one satisfied customer!

Repainting Front Bumper Again

About a year and four months ago I got my repainted my front bumper and passenger fender at SDCS. At that time I messed up fender backing out of a parking garage and hit the pillar in the convention center parking lot. I got the fender replaced and repainted it. At the same time I decided to get my bumper repainted as well. It had the license plate holes and a few little dents. Everything looked great when I picked it up... About 5 months later I noticed that the paint on the bumper was bubbling. Weeks later the bubble burst leaving an ugly gash. I think it was due to the exposure UV light from the sun.

Last week I showed Jacie, the owner of SDCS the bubble area. He said he will take care of it. Since the paint is covered by warranty I wouldn't have to pay anything... Today I'll be dropping the car off at SDCS in National City. I really hope everything looks better than before.

JDM Steering Wheel Resold.

After a few failed attempts trying to sell my JDM Supra Steering Wheel on Supraforums, socalsupras, and even on craigslist. I had one guy who was totally sold on it. And when I informed him that the steering wheel had no airbag or cruise control he backed out. He didn't respond back to my email or my phone call after that. LAME. My last resort was posting it up on eBay. I was able to make some of my money back on the wheel but wasn't able to gain any profit. I was really hoping to sell it for more than I got it since it's a JDM steering wheel. I suppose the item wasn't as hot as I originally thought.

Clutch Master Cylinder and Cylinder Slave Replaced

With the amount of mileage my car has its only necessary to replace a lot of things. I was informed when I got my starter rebuilt that my cylinder slave was leaking. I purchased all the parts before hand from my roommate and had Mike (Toyota Tech) replace them. I also installed a stainless steel clutch line to replace the old rubber line. It took about 2 or so hours to get everything installed. Everything feels really good now. I'm good for another 100k. Hopefully that won't be anytime soon.

Good bye NA Front Brakes

I finally sold my NA front brakes to Robert from 935 Motorsports. He wanted to mount them onto his SC300. Originally i thought the SC300 brakes were the same as the NA Supra but in actuality the NA Supra brakes are slight larger... I wouldn't say it's a big difference but he got a good deal on them :) Now I can finally free up room in the garage. Now I have to sell those rear brakes.

ati super damper arrived!

The ati super damper that ordered from summit racing arrived! It's a nice little upgrade for my motor swap. Since I'm planning some decent horsepower this crank pulley damper will add that extra level of safety. I'm slowly making progress on my project. I just hope to finish up sometime this year.

Ticket Signed Off

I was able to get my fix-a-ticket signed off without taking off my tint and the license plate. ;) So I go to the court house to take care of this issue and low and behold after waiting in a long line that the ticket has been inputted in the system. The lady told I would need to wait for a letter to come in the mail... So pretty much I wasted my time. I wanted to get this taken care of right away so I won't have to worry about it. But I guess I have to wait.

Tint Illegal?

I was running errands in Kearny Mesa the other day following the rules of the road. I noticed a police car pass by me at the incoming lane while I waited for my light to turn green... I didn't really thing nothing of it. I didn't break any laws or anything... All of a sudden I noticed a police car in my rear view mirror. I wasn't sure if it was the same car that passed by or just another random one. So I made my left turn and all of a sudden he his lights go on. In my mind I was thinking I didn't do anything wrong. I wasn't speeding or doing anything crazy. The police offer walks up to me and tells me that he noticed my tint on my windows. I told him that my windows were rolled down but for some reason he saw it? He asked me to roll it up and tells me that its illegal to have them. He then asks for my license, registration and proof of insurance. His partner was complimenting me about the car and asking all these questions...

The police offer complimented me on my Recaro Red Seats. He wanted to know how much I got them for. Then he goes about asking whether my rear spoiler is factory. And who does my work on my car. The funny thing is that he was asking if I tricked out my car by adding headers and other performance mods. I had a suspicion that he was trying to integrate me to the point where he might have to pop open my hood. I told him my car is stock and I didn't mod anything. And he then tells this one story about his girlfriend in high school had a supra... BLAH BLAH BLAH.

After that weird conversation was all done they handed me a ticket for the tint and not having my front license plate. Bummer!