Project #26 MR2MAN

[Motheye99]

I applaud you for trying out new cars that are fun and cheap just like the E30 was.

I used to think boxster's where the poor mans lotus Elise, totally overlooked this car, cant wait to see where this goes.

[2mAn]

Big Update !


Made my big inaugural drive of 50+ miles each way to pick up my coilovers.





after that long (and flawless ) drive, I really didn’t want that noisy muffler anymore. Founda stock, uncut bumper with 3/10 paint, but at least the correct silver. Wasn’t far from my house so I said screw it, let’s haul it home haha





and a final ‘Before’ pic







S3 Coilovers with 6kg / 9kg Swift Springs




Height comparison of front






And rear




another bad pic, but here’s the ‘After’ shot




with that done, I headed over to Cheworks to have Robert and corner balance the car.


on the way there the car crossed a milestone






Final numbers of the car without me




Car felt great on the drive home. Excited for what’s ahead.

[roguetoaster]

Well, this is either the beginning or the end. You never know when Im building a car LOL

Stay tuned...

Maybe it's the middle...

[2mAn]

Early model convertible with a k swap on your list for the next car?

I actually rode in a K20 swapped MR2-Spyder and it ruined me. I actually bought a K-swap Innovative rear mount and a Mitchs Auto Parts K-swap bridge piece so if this car gets flagged to go to the BAR it will either get sold or go down a BAR legal K-swap... If Im going to create a headache, I might as well go ballsdeep

[rzerob]

Early model convertible with a k swap on your list for the next car?

[2mAn]

Well, this is either the beginning or the end. You never know when Im building a car LOL

Stay tuned...

[Northern]

I can't believe how quick this was. looking forward to the coils

[2mAn]

Well, Friday was a longer test run filled with various stop-and-go, variable loads and speeds. Eventually after about 15 miles with no drama I ended up at a self-service car wash. Having never washed the car since I’ve owned it and it sitting on a dusty insurance lot it’s needless to say the car was filthy. However with a top that has a few tears in it I had to be conscious of the angles I was pointing the water. Also the previous owner must’ve been the type to have a dog riding shotgun at all times judging by all the dog hair I vacuumed out... not perfect yet but on its way.





After the bath, I made my way to the freeway to finally give it the beans and you know what, hot damn!.. Not skyrocketing temps and just smiles and lift. Took it home and felt pretty good





Still had a few things to deal with and noticed some tranny oil on the bottom of the tranny, but can’t really determine from where. Might be from the axles as I saw a little on them as well.


Pretty sure I got the axles in all the way, but is there anyway to confirm?


With that on my mind I still had plans to go get my coilovers but they aren’t quite ready yet. However, I still wanted to put some miles on it so what better way than to take a drive on the PCH. Notched another 60 miles or so before the CEL came on... code P0171. Still smiling. The power under 6000 rpms is still good, I am quite happy with the car right now.





Cleared the code we’ll see if it comes back, but really want to get the suspension installed and the alignment done as I’m itching to start having fun with the car. It was really difficult to not turn off the PCH and head into the many canyon roads I’m familiar with... soon hopefully

[mike.bmw]

Awesome! This came together quickly!

[2mAn]

Hope to have the inaugural drive this weekend once that intake arrives... stay tuned...

My MWR Intake arrived on Friday, so I thought I was all ready for an inaugural drive but NOPE!.. Seems the Ishihara/ Johnson Crank Scraper was still interfering so I pulled the oil pan, removed the crank scraper and put the OEM tiny tray back in. After that it was all smiles so I took a quick drive yesterday. Was supposed to be a small trip around the block but I ended up going on a longer drive. I HAD to feel lift and oh boy did I!

Good news: No CEL, car pulls strong.
Bad news: Temps were rising at the stoplights but did settle down with the heater on and moving. Likely some air still in the system. My suspension is TIRED! Luckily the solution is waiting for me, I just need to get down to Orange County and Im determined to drive this car there. Hopefully this next weekend I will have all of that ironed out with suspension installed.

Summary of the drive:
bout whats to be expected on a first drive. Some issues that need attention, some items that previously werent a problem, but with a fresh motor and tranny its obvious that the suspension and probably brakes need to be done ASAP, especially with the way I drive...

All in all, its crazy how with ALMOST 200bhp this car feels so quick. A testament to lightweight goodness. Once the supporting package is ironed out this should be a hoot in the canyons, though I need to learn how to drive a mid-engine car so I dont make a mistake at the wrong time.

Hopefully the next post will be after suspension is installed so you can see what a dramatic change this car gets when lowered, even on stock wheels...

[luckybk]

yeehaw simon, sounds like an eventful few days.

[2mAn]

Time to get caught up!


Saturday I had to make 2 trips to Toyota for coolant. Car swallowed the 1st gallon and nearly all of the second one. Once the reservoir was sitting steady I moved on to the intake. Long story short, my combo of Celica, MR2, and Elise intake boots weren’t the right combo for my car but I couldn’t figure out why. Turns out my motor is from a Matrix, not a Celica... explains some of my random surprises I’ve had.

Wanting to feel somewhat accomplished, I hooked up the battery and figured I’d give it a shot and see what happens. Door gong ringing as soon as I opened the door was a nice surprise and with the turn of the key I heard the fuel pump turn on so I figured let’s give it a go and she was turning over..., and....an overwhelming fuel smell so I shut it down. The fuel line didn’t seat properly and promptly coated the garage floor in gasoline. That was when I called it a day haha

It was a hot day and quite frustating overall, so when I settled on the couch at night, I decided I had two options. Buy an intake setup piece by piece or just buy MonkeyWrenches setup. After pricing all the pieces I wasn’t really saving any money so I just ordered the MWR intake. That should finally arrive on Friday.

If you haven’t noticed I was still trying to decide on exhausts. Not having the grand for the titanium exhaust my heart desires, I shopped my other options. I like the Elise style and found one on Amazon (of all places) for just $175. DNA Motoring. Couldn’t find any reviews of it on the forums so I will be making a detailed one separately. The Amazon reviews weren’t good, but my $100 Amazon gift card, and some cash in my PayPal acct meant my out-of-pocket costs were going to be quite low. Being Amazon, I had my exhaust in hand on Monday. The reviews didn’t lie. To be fair, the welds looked good and the piping was mandrel bent. There was also the weight difference, another 10lbs dropped and this was from all the way in the tail... Here’s some pics.


The Good:









Shiny exhaust haha







The Bad:







Basically it just didn’t fit right with the hangers as delivered. It pulled the exhaust too far away from the downpipe, so the driverside one needed to be flipped and the angle of the pass side one needed to be changed because it was leaning the piping against the body and the muffler outlet was crooked... You get what you pay for!


So tonight I was back at it and knew the hangers were going to need to be cut and welded. I’m not that good at welding, but that’s no excuse not to use it, especially for this exhaust haha


Driverside mount before and then cut and flipped. Ready for my welding skills










Admire that welding lol... it’s strong and that’s all I cared about










and here is what my plan was for the pass side mount. Before and after










After welding this one the hanger still tilted down so I still didn’t fix the problem on the pass side. Almost there though, and more Importantly I wanted to fix the fuel line so I could give it another shot. Fuel line was easy so I figured let’s give it another shot, and sure enough SHE FIRED RIGHTUP!... however with no intake the CEL was on and idled kinda high so I shut it down. Figured I could basically putthe car back together which also meant making room in the bumper for the exhaust tips. That was fun and I just kept plugging away...




Ended the night with the car back on the ground.








Hope to have the inaugural drive this weekend once that intake arrives... stay tuned...

[2mAn]

Well, I’ve pretty much crossed everything off my list. Added oil to the motor after putting a new oil filter on, dropped the nose on the ground and prepped the radiator for ventilating the air in the system.


Here’s a basic look of where it’s at. Also discovered another unexpected bonus of the CA-legal Magnaflow cat pipe: it’s about 10lbs lighter than the OEM one. Couldn’t get an exact weight but it’s about 8lbs versus 18. Cool. Can’t wait to replace the OEM muffler with anything else, that thing is massive...






Tomorrow I need to get proper Toyota coolant, add that and also fill the transmission with oil. After that just need to slap the intake and muffler on... and then I’ve run out of distractions and will need to say a prayer and see what happens when I turn the key.

[2mAn]

Got a little time tonight to evaluate how I wanted it installed and was actually able to mount it in quite solid, though eventually I was actually able to get all 4 of the mounting points bolted down.


A few pics of the process for those following along.


Here’s the pocket I wanted to tuck it into





I wanted to use one of the several existing threaded holes, so I played around and mocked up this






I pulled one of the rubber plugs and it lined up perfectly with the other existing hole in the mount. This way one is setup for the threaded hole and I was able to get a nut inside the hole.





Found some allenhead bolts that fit almost perfect





Aaannnndddd basically all done. Obviously I didn’t want to bolt both cables on, the ground needed to be slightly modified and I wanted to make sure it reached the post





It tucks nicely Behind the heat shield, though I have some thermotec stuff I’ll add just to add an extra layer of protection




It’s been a minute but I think these are all the correct heatshields

[2mAn]

Been slowly plugging away over the weekend. Got slowed down because the subframe bolts weren’t threading in and I didn’t want to strip anything so I went and borrowed a tap&die set. Cleaned out a lot of crud... Got that all installed now along with a lot of other stuff and the checklist is much smaller but still got work to do.


Didn’t bother with taking pics with any of that but I did want to take pics of this. Kind of a snowball effect of the Innovative Mounts was that the stock battery mount wouldn’t work, but I also like shaving weight soooo.... Odyessey PC680 Battery and a light mount I got on LotusTalk. I love buying their lightweight goodies... so without further adieu


Stock stuff: ~38#





My stuff: ~15#



So about 23# savings and the battery will be mounted lower, on the subframe.


Anyone else done this before?