IT'S ALIVE!!

Alright, we'll start with the big news, and the big fun... IT RUNS!

After a couple tries, we got it fire. Turns out you do need to re-connect the plug going the fuel pump control. Weird. But with all the stuff disconnected, our gage pod doesn't work, and the alarm goes off when you first connect the battery. Strangely, disconnecting the gages, starting it, then reconnecting them shuts it off. Luckily we had the horns disconnected so we just had to deal with flashing dash lights. Cross the radiator and starting the engine off the list. Oh, and disconnecting the exhaust BEFORE starting it, was clearly a good idea. Glad we planned it that way. It was nice to hear the engine just through the cats. Guess we'll have to get that exhaust fixed and back in...

Now to less exciting things. We finished cutting the side impact bar out of the driver's door, shedding another 6lbs for a grand total of 31lbs removed from the driver side door. We also got the rear side windows out, one broken, one not. What a pain in the @ss. We're totally breaking out the rear glass.

And we also looked at brakes. The LS400 calipers I ordered from a shop in Missouri showed up Thursday, and we test fitted them. As you can see below, the aluminum LS400 caliper on the right is quite a bit bigger then the cast iron SC400 on the left.

We had to trim the dust shield, but got the caliper mounted on the passenger side to test fit the different wheels we had on hand.

Stock SC400 wheels definitely don't fit.
Nor did the 17" steel rims I had from my Dodge Magnum. Despite have more positive offset, it still couldn't clear the rotor. Guess we better check out the offsets available on Supra wheels and see what we can track down. Luckily with the 2X and our $900 Chrome Lexus wheels, we can use pretty much any wheels we decide we can afford. Too bad we can't afford some sweet Fiske wheels.

Next was a date with the sawzall. Thanks to some uber rusted bolts...

We cut out the exhaust...

so we could have more room to remove the 3rd catalyst and put in an H-pipe with true duals.

We also plan to ditch those HUGE mufflers and save a bit of weight. Just gotta figure how little muffling we can run and stay within the rules. Next week we'll get some exhaust cutting done, start mocking up and tack welding new pieces, and get to work on more of the cage. Thanks to Matt, Soren and Danielle for helping out today.