i originally had no plans whatsoever to do this, so here's how it all came to be...
a few months ago, i hit standing water on the highway and spun into the suspended cable guard rail. i slid under the cables. they destroyed most of the exterior body work and of course ripped my mirrors and spoiler off. for some reason insurance didn't total it, so they're paying for the body and paint work. all in all, there's probably about $15k-16k in parts, materials, and labor. initially i couldn't believe it, but then i checked my car's blue book value and realized it was worth much more than the repairs themselves would cost...so i guess i'm not all that surprised anymore that insurance is going to fix my car.
at any rate, i've decided to change the color from OE Renaissance Red to OE Anthracite. i pulled the motor myself, as well as everything in the rear hatch area so that those areas will get painted too. so while the entire car is not getting painted inside and out, it will appear as though it was. believe me, if i had the time i would...but i'm borrowing my dad's car (and carpooling with him) for the time being, and the project is already a few weeks behind schedule. the good thing is that you'd never be able to tell unless you pulled back the carpet or the roof liner in the cabin. so whether you're in the car or outside it, you will never be able to tell that she was originally red (short of knowing your Toyota VIN #'s). i should also note that i'll be adding some sort of pearlescent on top of the base coat. it'll probably be either a bronze pearl or a graphite pearl, but i haven't quite decided yet. i figured since i'm getting her repainted, i might as well make it a one-off custom paint job. and i figure the best way to do that and still maintain the OE Anthracite color is to use a pearlescent.
now i had originally planned on starting this thread just after the wreck to document the body and paint progress, as well as the arrival of new/replacement parts. but there's never enough time to do everything the way i want to do it. as such, the car is already at the body shop, and pretty much all my aftermarket and OE replacement parts have arrived. this being the case, i'd still like to post progress in bits and pieces to give the project an "on-going" feeling...besides, she won't be done for another month or so anyways...

...this is what she looked like before the accident:




...and here's what happens when you fly into a cable guard rail at ~60mph:

i've also purchased the following parts to change up the "stock body" look a bit:

1) Seibon TS front lip for the stock front bumper (it is a knock-off of the MVP/RMM front lip, only it is made of carbon fiber instead of urethane).
2) Seibon TSII carbon fiber hood & Aerocatch hood latches
3) RMM rear wing w/ carbon fiber centerpiece
4) V-speed (Ridox replica) side skirts
5) APR GT3 carbon fiber mirrors
6) APR carbon fiber radiator cooling plate
7) Mint Speed titanium front strut bar
8) Euro glass headlamps
9) matte black Axis Super Penta wheels w/ silver rivets...i don't know the specific widths or offsets off the top of my head. they're not my first choice in wheels, but b/c they are literally being given to me, i'll sport them until i can afford the wheels i want...

here are some pics of the parts that will be going on the car...not everything is here yet, so i'll post as they arrive...

Seibon TS front lip for the stock front bumper (it is a knock-off of the MVP/RMM front lip, only it is made of carbon fiber instead of urethane):

Seibon TSII carbon fiber hood...everything is going to get painted except for the louvers:

RMM rear wing w/ CF centerpiece:







V-speed (Ridox replica) side skirts:





more to come soon...

here are the APR GT3 CF mirrors:








here's what they'll look like assembled...i'm having the bases painted to match the body:


...and here are the AeroCatch hood latches...i was going to order these in the carbon fiber look, but i was afraid they might not match the true CF pattern of the hood, so i just got the black ones. i'm also painting these to match the body:






again, more to come soon...

here she is at Paul's place with some of the replacement panels in place. the roof behind the targa top just got approved today by insurance to get replaced (instead of just repaired). so that panel is on order but hasn't arrived yet.




new targa top:


you can see the new front clip just behind the bumper:




hopefully he'll have the new roof panel welded in and the car primed by the beginning of next week so i can take more pics...

i went to see the progress on the Supra after work today. the body work is essentially done, save for fitment of the side skirts and cutting the hood for latches and the strut bar. this isn't a full mach up, as parts have already been taken back off the car...





rear right fender rolled, side marker shaved, and antenna shaved:


rear roof panel and rear right fender welded:


rear roof panel and rear left fender welded:


rear left fender rolled and side marker shaved:


a closer look at the rear left fender rolled...probably picked up an inch of clearance:


some dents and dings touched up:








front plate mounting holes filled:


front side markers shaved:



she'll be getting sanded and primed tomorrow, and hopefully sealed on Wednesday, at which point i'll return to the shop to finalize fitment of the hood latches and side skirts...

so here is the APR carbon fiber radiator cooling plate i recently acquired:







...and here are some pictures of the Mint Speed titanium front strut bar i have on order and in production:






...for those who don't know, it is an exact replica of the TRD strut bar, only it is made entirely of titanium and weighs only 3-lbs (that's 8-lbs lighter than the stainless steel TRD unit). so i get all the rigidity of the strongest strut bar available for the Supra at a fraction of the weight penalty. oh, and the next best thing about it is the exclusivity - i'm getting production #003 of 150. note that these are not pictures of my individual strut bar - the above prototype #000 i believe belongs to Curtis Chen (MyKarIsVicious), owner of the 2007 Super Lap Battle street RWD class winning Supra, and the man responsible for bringing this awesome product to the Supra community. he is also the owner of Modellista Designs, a company known for its design of carbon fiber parts. production on my strut bar began a bit over a month ago, and the first batch of 15 should ship mid to late March...the wait is killing me!

here are a few pics of the bar installed in Curtis' time attack Supra:



...the slight coloration you see on the end i believe was added after production. in other words, Mint Speed is not coloring the titanium - the owners will be free to do that however they please. personally, i'd be afraid to take a torch to it for fear of warping it. but i understand that you can also add color to titanium by submerging it in certain kinds of fluids and applying various electric currents...so maybe i'll try adding some color to my strut bar if i feel adventerous...

i'm also most likely going to have to modify the hood to work with this strut bar. so the wait for the arrival of the strut bar is probably what's going to hold up the project next, as the body work will probably be done and the car primed before the bar gets here. at that point, we'll begin fitting and cutting the hood as necessary, and then spray the entire car at once.

stay tuned. i should have some more body and paint progress pics soon...

so i'll be going with the Euro glass headlamps this time around:







...and my wheels will be Axis Super Penta's. they're not exactly what i was looking for with respect to wheel width/diameter/offset combination (or even make and model), but they are literally being given to me. its a deal i can't refuse, so i'll sport these until i have the money to buy the wheels i truly love. i haven't gotten the wheels yet, as they're currently on another Supra. but i should have them in the next few weeks. the wheels are brand new (only a few hundred miles on them), and have brand new tires on them as well. i don't recall the exact widths, but i'm pretty certain off the top of my head that they are not as wide as i would like them to be. they are 19" in diameter, and are matte black with silver rivets. they will look like this, minus the yellow time attack stripe:





...spoke to Paul yesterday afternoon, and he said that he'll be picking up the last piece (the roof panel behind the targa top and in front of the hatch) from Toyota and should have it welded into place by thursday. i'll most likely be going to see the latest progress Friday after work. this will be the last time i see the car before primer and paint . so expect more pictures of body work some time this weekend...

some prior work cleaned up a bit before primer:



rear wiper and washer nozzle shaved:



other parts primed and ready for sanding:









the rolled fenders cleaned up:

hood and front fenders fitted:





cutting the hood and installing the AeroCatch locking hood latches:











well i said i wasn't going to post pics of the color samples b/c the camera doesn't do them justice, but here they are the original 3 (OE 1A1 Anthracite, 1A1 w/ 1 coat of graphite pearl, and 1A1 w/ 2 coats of bronze pearl) in case anyone was wondering. i didn't get pictures of the other 4 samples he made (1A1 w/ 1 Bronze pearl coat; 1A1, then 1 Bronze pearl coat, then 1 Graphite pearl coat; 1A1, then 1 Graphite pearl coat, then 1 Bronze pearl coat; 1A1, then 1 coat of a 50/50 mix of the Bronze pearl and Graphite pearl). i have until tomorrow to make my decision:







...if you can't tell the differences between them, i wouldn't be surprised...they were just too subtle for the camera to pick up. if i had to describe them, i would say that the graphite pearl had ALOT of blue flake in it. and when i wasn't moving the sample around in the sunlight, it blended w/ the 1A1 to make a gorgeous charcoal gray. when i moved the sample around in the sunlight, the graphite pearl shifted more than the bronze pearl did, resulting in a blue-gray sparkle than ran across the curves. the sample w/ 2 coats of bronze pearl was gorgeous too, but i'm not sure if its meant for the Supra. it turned the 1A1 very reddish-purple. the sample w/ 1 coat of bronze (not pictured above) was better, but i'm still uncertain about it. the various blends of both pearls all turned out quite similar (with very subtle differences), but all blends gave the 1A1 a distinct blue-lavender hue that shifted only about as much as the bronze pearl by itself did. the blends actually looked strikingly similar to a Lamborghini paint known as Grigio Iris, though a shade or two darker. once again, they looked stunning, but they left me feeling uncertain.

i know i originally said i wanted to add a pearl to make the car unique with a one-off custom paint job, but i think all of the samples with pearls on them are too much of a departure from the original color. unfortunately these particular pearls have a far stronger effect than many other pearls out there. that being said, i don't think i'm willing to sacrifice the color of my dreams for a color that i don't like as much - even if it makes me unique. i've craved an OE Anthracite respray for a LONG time, and i know it looks stunning on a Supra...so while i have until tomorrow to decide, i'm pretty sure its just going to be the OE 1A1 Anthracite.

so it finally arrived...my strut bar, #003 of 150 :













...at first glance its nothing special, and it looks identical to the TRD stainless steel strut bar...but this bad boy is 100% titanium, and at 3-lbs and almost 4-ft long, it hardly weighed more than the packaging it came in. i'll get more pics of this piece early next week when we install it and test fit it with the hood...