Previous Updates to Planet Soarer

I'd like to thank you all for making Planet Soarer such a success. It's been a blast the past 5 years and I'll never forget it. To celebrate, the entire backup of the Planet Soarer website is now available on CD. Run the entire Planet Soarer website from your CD drive. Includes bonus movies and stickers!

A rigorous scientific experiment to determine the appeal of a simple Diehard motorsport shirt.

A jet boat is the perfect place for a 1UZ-FE supercharged V8.

Denis is back again with his Red turbo Soarer and this time he has won the Russian drag championship.

Neil Griffiths from Rushimports.com.au has fitted a R154 to a supercharged 1UZ-FE V8.

Lextreme now has available RHD Celsior screens available as well as instructions for changing them.

Nine popular 235/45R17 tyres tested by Wheels Magazine. The expensive Toyos and cheap Linglongs were both outperformed by Federal and Maxxis tyres. BUT comfort, noise, wear, tramlining, performance when half worn - were not measured.

Joel is fabricating a Supercharger for Gary Nimmo's Soarer. You may remember Joel fitting a twin intercooled Jaguar M112 Eaton to his 1UZ-FE V8 ski boat.

At the SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) World Congress held in Detroit last month, the Scuderi Group introduced its "split-cycle" engine technology. The technology "splits the strokes of the Otto cycle over a pair of dedicated compression and power cylinders."

2 years I ago I regassed using needles. This time I wanted a solution that could be regassed without removing the shocks from the car.

The built in electric motor pushes out the old fluid. Well worth while.

When I need parts Neil Griffiths is my first choice. He's the Soarer guru. He is #1 in the Aussie Mechanic Guide.

I bought one of these for around $15 (ebay) delivered - use it all the time now - it's my first choice for a torch. I love how it's always pointing where I'm looking and it can click thru' different angles when on the ground. With some quality batteries it just lasts and lasts - bloody marvelous..

Soarer needs a jumper inserted, Celsior needs a jumper snipped to enjoy cruise control over 108 km/hr

High pressure nitrogen forces fluid from the bleed nipple from UZZ32 shocks - I looked at fluid volume expelled and flowrate to estimate good and bad nitrogen accumulators.

Finally got rid of my big brakes for some stock V8 brakes, saved heaps of cash and now I can fit decent rims.

Planetsoarer project car - Active V8 #196

A mini update: the leather bits are in, the strut rebuild parts are here, rear brake pads changed and engine is looking and running sweet.

Damien Smiths V8 Soarer Site. MAP-ECU, Suspension, diffs and mass reduction. Major project underway right now is the removal of the standard intake and installation of Individual Throttle Bodies (ITB's)

Peter Watson's V8 Supra site has information and pictures on his Toyota Supra MA70 with a Lexus 1UZ-FE 4L V8 engine conversion. V8 Supra has 150rwkw. The power goes through a lightened flywheel, OS Giken twin plate clutch, Supra Turbo R154 5 speed gearbox, standard supra LSD, and finally the Volk Racing rims put it to the ground. Stopping is with upgraded front brakes with slotted disks and EBC Green stuff pads. The standard computer was ditched for a GM Delco, with a custom module to control the 1UZ-FE.

Fumio Ohashi, Tokyo Japan, has owned his Active UZZ32 (#279) for 14 years!!! He still loves the handling. And once you've owned an Active where do you go next? And welcome to Tim Edwards who has just bought a fabulous UZZ32 from Japan (#806)

One of the first things to change/replace on the Soarer. Famous for being black and full of bugs.

My balljoints were stuffed and making the steering wheel shake. The Pedder's drive on shock test confirmed that my front shocks are worn as well.

Professionally made using a photo-quality 150-linescreen process printed on premium-grade white vinyl stock for added strength and durability. Then they are printed using light-fast inks with a UV-resistant varnish to protect the stickers from fading. Support planetsoarer by buying a pair.

New leather for your steering wheel by OEM professionals. Pictures of a light grey trim now added.

A few pics taken when I removed my gear for leather recovering.

I bought myself an Active project car and it's nearly done.

Comparisons of the available leather colours and sample re-trims.

English writing on the EMV screen, Pal TV tuner, Aussie FM tuner modification, CD stacker repairs and Blue (or any colour you want) LEDs for the interior. Mark Paddick can do it all.

New leather for your steering wheel by OEM professionals.

Aftermarket items, $110 ex Melbourne

The UZZ32 has an hydraulic fluid activated suspension. Fluid is forced around the system and to the four shock absorbers by a pump. At the back of the Active pump is another pump bolted to it, this is the Power Steering pump, it is totally different to any of the other pumps on the 6 cylinder and V8's. by Steve Smith

Evaluating my old exhaust cams, a new range of billet cams available and addressing that annoying tapping noise from the 1UZ-FE v8.

Lexus LS400 and Toyota Celsior tutorials. Many of the tutorials apply to the Soarer as well. http://www.lexls.com/sitemap/

Japanese and English workshop manuals, wiring diagrams, spare parts CDs, 1JZ / 2JZ engine repair manuals - all the factory stuff. Gold!.

At Morpowa Gary Morris cracked 256 rwkW (343rwhp) with stock ceramic twin turbos and Peter Scott broke 180 rwkW (241rwhp) with a 1UZ-FE V8 Soarer.

Andrew Vlamos has now completed all the bushes to make our fabulous UZZ32 like new. These bushes are easily damaged by leaking oil from the struts.

Western Australia Perth Soarers at the Oct 15 2005 dyno day now included.

Soarer exhaust sounds, stock, hot, 10 Soarer driveby - Turbo and V8's. 2001 page! updated with fixed links. Hottest page in 2001 and 2002.

Pics and stories from the second Soarer meet in Adelaide Australia

Pics and stories from the first Soarer meet in Adelaide Australia

Active Soarers have piston accumulators that leak nitrogen and cause the dreaded suspension bounce. Here's one cut open with the faulty o-ring exposed before being re-built.

The Celsior is now complied and registered. Changes include seat belts, intrusion bars, side mirror and fuel filler restrictor. Allow $1200. Some States don't need belt change now!

The newest UZZ32 Flagship Soarer we know of now belongs to Colin Kirkpatrick! January 1996. It cost a fortune! Congratulations on a top find mate. And now Rob Hayden has three of them - sheesh!

A Golden Oldie for the newbies. Every Soarer dash gets the blinks -  it's cheap to fix,   get rid of the reversing and door chimes too.

Wheels without spigot rings can spell disaster. More pics and some different wheel nut torques

WD-40, some towels, compressed air and silicon spray and impress your friends!

I got mine from ebay.com.au for $45.

Andrew Vlamos has made a limited number of these bushes for the Active UZZ32 Soarer. We will all need them so get yours now.

Always fancied one, the 15 year old import rule meant they were better value then ever. Time to go shopping.

The car arrived in Adelaide and fresh off the ship it's a beauty!

The built in electric motor pushes out the old fluid. Well worth while.

When I need parts Neil Griffiths is my first choice. He's the Soarer guru. He is #1 in the Aussie Mechanic Guide.

I bought one of these for around $15 (ebay) delivered - use it all the time now - it's my first choice for a torch. I love how it's always pointing where I'm looking and it can click thru' different angles when on the ground. With some quality batteries it just lasts and lasts - bloody marvelous..

Soarer needs a jumper inserted, Celsior needs a jumper snipped to enjoy cruise control over 108 km/hr

High pressure nitrogen forces fluid from the bleed nipple from UZZ32 shocks - I looked at fluid volume expelled and flowrate to estimate good and bad nitrogen accumulators. (moive links fixed)

My new 15 inch rims

Finally got rid of my big brakes for some stock V8 brakes, saved heaps of cash and now I can fit decent rims.

Planetsoarer project car - Active V8 #196

A mini update: the leather bits are in, the strut rebuild parts are here, rear brake pads changed and engine is looking and running sweet.

Damien Smiths V8 Soarer Site. MAP-ECU, Suspension, diffs and mass reduction. Major project underway right now is the removal of the standard intake and installation of Individual Throttle Bodies (ITB's)

Peter Watson's V8 Supra site has information and pictures on his Toyota Supra MA70 with a Lexus 1UZ-FE 4L V8 engine conversion. V8 Supra has 150rwkw. The power goes through a lightened flywheel, OS Giken twin plate clutch, Supra Turbo R154 5 speed gearbox, standard supra LSD, and finally the Volk Racing rims put it to the ground. Stopping is with upgraded front brakes with slotted disks and EBC Green stuff pads. The standard computer was ditched for a GM Delco, with a custom module to control the 1UZ-FE.

Fumio Ohashi, Tokyo Japan, has owned his Active UZZ32 (#279) for 14 years!!! He still loves the handling. And once you've owned an Active where do you go next? And welcome to Tim Edwards who has just bought a fabulous UZZ32 from Japan (#806)

One of the first things to change/replace on the Soarer. Famous for being black and full of bugs.

My balljoints were stuffed and making the steering wheel shake. The Pedder's drive on shock test confirmed that my front shocks are worn as well.

Professionally made using a photo-quality 150-linescreen process printed on premium-grade white vinyl stock for added strength and durability. Then they are printed using light-fast inks with a UV-resistant varnish to protect the stickers from fading. Support planetsoarer by buying a pair.

New leather for your steering wheel by OEM professionals. Pictures of a light grey trim now added.

A few pics taken when I removed my gear for leather recovering.

I bought myself an Active project car and it's nearly done.

Comparisons of the available leather colours and sample re-trims.

English writing on the EMV screen, Pal TV tuner, Aussie FM tuner modification, CD stacker repairs and Blue (or any colour you want) LEDs for the interior. Mark Paddick can do it all.

Aftermarket items, $110 ex Melbourne

The UZZ32 has an hydraulic fluid activated suspension. Fluid is forced around the system and to the four shock absorbers by a pump. At the back of the Active pump is another pump bolted to it, this is the Power Steering pump, it is totally different to any of the other pumps on the 6 cylinder and V8's. by Steve Smith

Evaluating my old exhaust cams, a new range of billet cams available and addressing that annoying tapping noise from the 1UZ-FE v8.

Lexus LS400 and Toyota Celsior tutorials

Japanese and English workshop manuals, wiring diagrams, spare parts CDs, 1JZ / 2JZ engine repair manuals - all the factory stuff. Gold!.

At Morpowa Gary Morris cracked 256 rwkW (343rwhp) with stock ceramic twin turbos and Peter Scott broke 180 rwkW (241rwhp) with a 1UZ-FE V8 Soarer.

Andrew Vlamos has now completed all the bushes to make our fabulous UZZ32 like new. These bushes are easily damaged by leaking oil from the struts.

Western Australia Perth Soarers at the Oct 15 2005 dyno day now included.

Soarer exhaust sounds, stock, hot, 10 Soarer driveby - Turbo and V8's. 2001 page! updated with fixed links. Hottest page in 2001 and 2002.

Pics and stories from the second Soarer meet in Adelaide Australia

Pics and stories from the first Soarer meet in Adelaide.

Active Soarers have piston accumulators that leak nitrogen and cause the dreaded suspension bounce. Here's one cut open with the faulty o-ring exposed before being re-built.

The Celsior is now complied and registered. Changes include seat belts, intrusion bars, side mirror and fuel filler restrictor.

The newest UZZ32 Flagship Soarer we know of now belongs to Colin Kirkpatrick! January 1996. It cost a fortune! Congratulations on a top find mate. And now Rob Hayden has three of them - sheesh!

A Golden Oldie for the newbies. Every Soarer dash gets the blinks -  it's cheap to fix,   get rid of the reversing and door chimes too.

Wheels without spigot rings can spell disaster. More pics and some different wheel nut torques

WD-40, some towels, compressed air and silicon spray and impress your friends!

I got mine from ebay.com.au for $45.

Andrew Vlamos has made a limited number of these bushes for the Active UZZ32 Soarer. We will all need them so get yours now.

Always fancied one, the 15 year old import rule meant they were better value then ever. Time to go shopping.

The car arrived in Adelaide and fresh off the ship it's a beauty!

120 dyno results sorted by event - plot your upgrade path!

When a V8 spoils your Twin Turbo day   - it's time to spend some cash and seek revenge!!!

Want to get out of the Lounge Room and see other Soarer owners in Australia? Keep an eye on the ALSC News and Events page for stuff happening near you.

DIY Twin intercooled Eaton M112 supercharged V8 running 10 psi !

Gary got himself an ADR compliant steering wheel.

This salt lake is just up the road from me - I want to fit a roll  cage and join in - I reckon it would be great. Maybe next year? Lot's of interesting reading here.

Congratulations to John Brougham - 1st 6cylinder to 200 mph and a heap of records. Whenever I lose motivation to work on my car, I read John's site and get recharged. This guy worked so hard, makes anything I do look like peanuts - read the "Construction" heading for example.

The Flea is a TE27 Corolla with a 1UZ-FE V8 !. Check out the fibreglass bonnet - hmmm there's an idea.....

David Hart put me on to this one. Lots of great information on wheels, tyres, oil etc - worth a read.

Andrew Miers website, www.thesoarer.com, describes an upgrade path to 250 rwkW for the twin turbo Soarer.

How are the bushes holding up after 2 1/2 years and 60 000 kays? No worries mate....

Pics of my steering rack bush install. The results were excellent. New car feel and "tightness" has returned..

At last! Dyno and road tuning of timing and fuel available for the V8! The best upgrade I've done. And it works for Twin Turbos too (more on that later).

We all have to have it done sooner or later. I had a crack at changing it myself. My UZZ32 is a bit different to regular V8's but most of it is the same.

The budget Pirelli PZero? The low cost Michelin Pilot Preceda? Not as much grip - much much higher treadwear coefficient - quiet and steer very well. My new 16" rims needed some tyres and Kumho ASX tyres fit the bill.

My new 16" rims needed some tyres and Kumho ASX tyres fit the bill.

I bought a Van from Japan, and stuffed it with Celsior rims and Supra rims with tyres before shipping. Good price but took months to arrive.

Things to consider buying some rims for your Soarer (or any car for that matter) thanks to Ronal Wheels. Rob Hayden posted a  wheel weight table for every rim, that's included here as well.

Offset explained with diagrams, a look at bad spacers and wheels fitted incorrectly to break studs

My preferred wheel alignment settings for 16", 17" and 18" wheels for the Soarer and a couple of common problems

Including the Bond, James Bond movie clip (no I wasn't saying it! - Juzza just made it look like I was!). Another classic Justin Hughes music video clip. This is only the first third :(  - we'll see if we can get the whole thing up later. Also incar Soarer footage racing and spinning.

The classic Justin Hughes Phillip Island Video. See the Australians let loose on one of the World's great race tracks. 110 mb wmv file. My all time favourite. Excellent editing, top music (starts with Batman) - Juzza is a pro.

Japanese and English workshop manuals, wiring diagrams, spare parts CDs, 1JZ / 2JZ engine repair manuals - all the factory stuff. Gold!. The latest adobe pdf file from Jeff.

Find out everything there is to know with just a click of a button - don't forget to "unclick" the search by date function.

If you have one of the rare V8's with 4ws and active oil suspension then these Error Codes can help diagnose problems. Thanks to Jeff Harper. It's an Adobe file so you'll need the Adobe reader download.

I forgot to post a link to this page over a year ago! -doh! It's a Japanese translation of bleeding the master cylinder on a Traction contol equipped Soarer.

Humourous piece from the NSX guys. Includes short bonus video depicting the top level.

This is the 2nd earliest version of my website I could find. It wasn't called planetsoarer back then , it was called "Soarer Tech Stuff" - then it became "Pete's Soarer Tech Stuff" and then "Soarer Diehard" and now "planetsoarer".

I tried the hard way to remove the supercharger pulley and all I got was a nasty rash. So I got this terrific puller from the States - it's a beauty. A Pulleyboys modular pulley system was my choice for the pulley.

The best Soarer I have ever driven.

Denis is back with a new paint job and new engine/driveline combo for season 2004.