1989 Toyota Supra Turbo - The Silver Bullet - 2013 IMSCC Competitor

We are pleased to announce that Kevin Shannahan will be a competitor in our Import Meet Street Car Competition. The IMSCC is an event that will compare ten import cars in multiple categories (drag racing, autocross, dyno, car show, etc.) in August 2013.

The next competitor will be announced next week. For notifications, join the Facebook event.

Inspiration to build a car a particular way can come from a variety of places. For Kevin Shannahan, it took one ride in his friend’s 500 horsepower Mitsubishi Evolution for him to know that he needed a fast car for himself. The problem was that his friend kept increasing the power level in his car, changing Kevin’s definition of “fast”. This never-ending quest for more power determined the direction for most of his two MKIII Supra builds.

Photos by Kalder Morgan, Top End Tuner (Erick Lara), and Matt Haugness. Video by Ryan Kam (RK Films).

Watch 1989 Toyota Supra Turbo – The Silver Bullet – 2013 IMSCC Competitor on YouTube

Believe it or not, this isn’t Kevin’s first Supra chassis. Much of the build started on a 1987 Toyota Supra with the nickname “Demon”. The name could have developed from all of the issues Kevin had with the upgraded 450hp 7M-GTE engine that the car came with but it actually came from the VIN number which contained the numbers 666. Shortly after upgrading some parts, the stock engine failed because of a bad tune. This forced Kevin to pick another route for the car and led to him swapping in a 2JZ-GTE from a USDM MKIV Supra.While his first chassis was being swapped, Kevin picked up a single owner 1989 Toyota Supra with only 80,000 miles. His only intention with the new Supra was to keep it as his daily driver. He nicknamed the car “The Silver Bullet” even though it wasn’t fast yet. It was reliable for some time until the stock 7M engine decided to fail in this car as well. After losing the second engine, Kevin decided that he was done with 7M engines altogether. He swapped the 2JZ-GTE from his old Supra into the new one. He pulled the remaining parts he wanted to use and parted out the rest. The new cleaner chassis was his project from this point forward.The Silver Bullet has come a long way in the two years that Kevin has owned it. The 2JZ engine has been built with JE pistons, Eagle rods, and ARP hardware. The stock twins were replaced with a Precision 7175 turbocharger attached to a Driftmotion exhaust manifold.

For the transmission, Kevin decided to go with an Asin R-154 5 speed with a 1JZ bellhousing. To transfer the power to the rear differential he went with an Ogura Racing twin disk clutch and a Titan Motorsports carbon fiber driveshaft.

Since E85 is common in Idaho, the fuel system was upgraded with Injector Dynamics 2000cc injectors and an Aermotive Eliminator fuel pump. Kevin’s friend Jacob Smith fabricated a custom sump for the fuel tank to keep the pump working well under hard cornering.“This is one of the only built 2JZ-GTE swapped MKIII Supras in Idaho and I’d venture to say it’s one of the most tastefully modded and built MKIII Supras around,” Kevin says. A big contributor to the clean build is the custom ChaseBays.com engine harness. He also had them add a battery relocation and cutoff switch to the one-off harness. The engine is controlled via an AEM V1 engine management system.

Stance GR+ coilovers were used to replace the old stock suspension. The brakes were upgraded to Lexus LS400 calipers and stainless lines all around.

If Kevin was to use one word to describe the car it would be art. “I can’t tell you how many times I have powder coated parts or changed the bolts on this car going for the look I want. Every aspect of this vehicle has been thought over. If it hasn’t been changed or redone yet it’s only because of lack of funds. It has progressed as I have personally progressed. I still have a long way to go before the car is “finished” in my eyes,” Kevin explains.Much of Kevin’s actual racing with this particular car has been bench racing. “No joke. It’s taken me 4 years to get where I am. There has been lots of building and talking with not that much racing. I’ve competed in Autox multiple times, I’ve been drag racing for a few years, and I do mountain runs as frequently as possible. I also go to my local indoor cart track and race almost every weekend,” Kevin says.

He plans on taking the car down this winter to continue building and restoring it. He fully intends on keeping it a daily/show/race car.

In the past five years Kevin has gone from knowing absolutely nothing about cars to getting his degree in auto mechanics from CWI last year. There isn’t an aspect of building cars that he doesn’t do nowadays. “A few months ago I decided to start my dream of owning a performance shop. Keep a look out for True Performance and all of our builds in the future.”

When asked why he thinks he will do well in the IMSCC, Kevin responded with:

“Considering the competition, I truly think that I will give them hell and make them work for it. Will I win? I doubt it. It’s an old MKIII Supra that I bought for $3,000. Any day that I have two cars that I’ve designed/worked on competing in a competition like this is a damn good day in my book.”

Kevin would like to thank:

His family: If it wasn’t for them he wouldn’t be building cars.
His stepfather: For teaching him the basics.
His father: For supporting his life decisions and career.
His mentor Brand Jackson: For all of his advice over the years.
His best friends Stefan, Russel, Casey Goodwin, Jacob Smith, Mark Makiya, and Victor Rocha (along with many more) who stood by his side over the years.
To his great friends at ChaseBays.com for all they have done and items they have given him.

“The guys at Chase Bays really helped take this build to the next level.”

Click here to see the rest of the IMSCC competitors

Modifications:

Exterior/Wheels/Tires:
Greddy front bumper
Carbon fiber windshield cowl
Carbon fiber B pillars
19×9.5 Volk Racing TE37 w/ 245/30R19 Pirelli PZero tires (Front)
19×10.5″ Volk Racing TE37 w/ 305/25R19 Pirelli PZero tires (Rear)

Interior:
Sparco steering wheel
NRG V2 quick release
NRG hub
Titan Motorsports harness bar
Takata 4 point harness
Custom Blackout instrument cluster
Custom chassis harness tuck by Kevin Shannahan at True Performance
MTX speakers

Engine/Transmission/Differential:
USDM 2JZ-GTE
JE pistons
Eagle rods
ARP headstuds
ARP rod bolts
ARP main bolts
HKS headgasket
Polished intake manifold
Powder coated valve covers
7175 .81AR Precision turbocharger
Driftmotion exhaust manifold modified by Jacob Smith (True Performance)
TiAL 44mm wastegate
Custom 3″ downpipe built by Jacob Smith (True Performance) and ceramic coated by Moda Metals
Custom 4″ mid pipe built by Kevin Shanahan (True Performance)
ETS 4″ exhaust
R-154 Asin transmission
1JZ bellhousing
Ogura Racing twin disk clutch
Titan Motorsports carbon fiber driveshaft
4″ intercooler
3″ intercooler piping built by Jacob Smith (True Performance)
TiAL 50mm blow-off valve
Custom oil catch can built by Jacob Smith (True Performance)
Koyo aluminum race radiator
Modified and powder coated upper water neck
16 Earls AN fittings/braided nylon coolant lines
Chase Bays power steering reservoir with braided nylon lines
Aeromotive Eliminator fuel pump
Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator
Titan Motorsports dual feed fuel rail
2000cc Injector Dynamics injectors
Custom sumped fuel tank by Jacob Smith (True Performance)
Braided stainless Earls fuel lines -10 an
Braided stainless return line – 6 an
AEM EMS v.1
Zetronix datalogger (A/F, wideband, boost/fuel pressure)
Chasebays.com Cm-1 2JZ-GTE engine harness
Greddy turbo timer
Aeromotive voltage regulator
Wiring done throughout the car is Mil-spec/tefzel wrapped in raychem Dr-25 or loom