Project #26 MR2MAN

[DEV0 E30]

What a ride.

[luckybk]

man RIP. what a bummer, i just figured that someone had already documented a 2zz swap in those by now and that's the program you were on. definitely, looked like a great drivers car by the time you got it to be what you wanted. but the more projects the merrier. variety is the something of something and what not. in other news...i think i saw your old weird blue e30 might be on cl for 9k right now? maybe its someone else's but the color felt right.

[2mAn]

Got this emailed to me from the new owner. He wanted to go to Newcombs Ranch and I HIGHLY encouraged him to due so and sent him a route.




He sent the picture and said, " it definitely gave me an appreciation for the cars abilities." Also, as of yesterday he was in Austin TX so were up around 5k miles and going on the swap with no real headaches. I hope he sends me more pics when he gets it home and takes it to Summit Point.

[amcp]

Thanks california.

[Northern]

I'm sad to see this come to an end, I think the hardtop was the tipping point for me liking this car because it at least didn't look like a convertible anymore.
Interested to see what you get next

[McGyver]

Kind of a sad end, but not as bad as my cars seem to end up.

Smog is a massive headache. I know there are ways to do things legally, but it can be so hard to follow the rules correctly and not get tripped up on a stupid technicality. I know your pain here, I had an m30b35 swapped 1989 e30 and there was no way to legally register it since the engine came from a 1986 donor. Had the engine come from a 1990+ donor, things would have been possible (but difficult). The "hot smog" route is possible, but feels like a risky option for a car with a ton of work invested into it.

On the "move out of CA" side of things, that's where I landed on modifications. I have boxes of brand new parts (turbo, manifold, BOV, WG, MegaSquirt, TPS, Wasted Spark Coil Pack, and parts I fabricated [TPS adapter, distributor block-off, coil pack mount, wiring harness adapter, etc.]) just sitting on a shelf in the garage waiting to be used. I also have an engine at the machine shop getting built for the turbo setup. Then again, I also have plans to move to Philly in a year or so. With the green car totaled (it was going to get the turbo), I just don't see a point in buying another car to build something that can never be legal in CA. I plan to buy a 335i 6mt f30 on Friday to use as a commuter, possible put the 2.7i engine into the sedan, and just focus on learning to fix body and paint damage.

It was cool watching you journey with the mr2. If you get another and go for another Smog-Legal build, let us know all the things you have to think about and decisions you need to make to be able to BAR it at some point!

[2mAn]

I enjoyed following the MR2 build. Thanks for continuing to share. All we can do is learn from our mistakes/past and try to improve moving forward. Looking forward to your next project, Simon!

Is the little one turning wrenches yet? :-)

I'll always share my build threads here, regardless of what marque it is. That said its nearly a 50% chance the next car will be another BMW, 25% chance its an E30! Imagine that!..

The little one is just about 3 months now and she seems to want to hold her bottle, but doesnt quite know how to do it yet...

[mike.bmw]

I enjoyed following the MR2 build. Thanks for continuing to share. All we can do is learn from our mistakes/past and try to improve moving forward. Looking forward to your next project, Simon!

Is the little one turning wrenches yet? :-)

[2mAn]

Well... that nearly lasted a year.






Why? 1 word: Smog.




I made some mistakes early on, some I was aware of, some I found out later. The exhaust side of things I was aware of and was ready to remedy recently, but once I realized the headache with the 02 versus 01 ECU it got a little disappointing. The nail in the coffin was the 03+ Air Injection Ports. Yes, I couldve (and did) buy a JDM Celica manifold that had them blocked off, but I had this gut feeling that any Referee would know the differences between the two 2ZZ motors and all the work wouldve been for naught. That slowed the progress and once I got an offer for my full asking price, I hesitantly put it back together with a 49-state magnaflow cat, and the 01 ECU and prepared it for the new owner. He flew in last night from West Virginia and is going to have a nice journey home in his new car.




As for me, whats next? I wish I knew. Ive driven a few cars recently and I purposely took the MR2 to go see them because I love what I built and I didnt want to take a step backwards. Chances I could end up in another ZZW30 MR2? Pretty high believe it or not, and I can learn from my mistakes. That said though, Im pretty traumatized by Smog and would rather own something that I can do whatever I want with and not have to satisfy some bureaucrat in Sacramento. Dont start with that "move out of CA"- BS, I love where I live and Im in a good situation, just have to be a little more deliberate with my next pick.




Stay tuned or something...

[roguetoaster]

(one of these cars is not like the others)

True, one of these cars is a heckin' sweet hatchback, but there's some sort of brick shaped vehicle in the foreground blocking your picture....

[2mAn]

So some steps forward and some steps backwards with the car... without getting into the weeds of whats going on at the moment I will simply say that the car is driving and I snapped this pic of it on the 405 on the way back from picking up my E46 Wagon



bonus pic (one of these cars is not like the others)

[Northern]

reminds me of a PAIR system on a bike with the ports being cast into the head lol

[2mAn]

Air Injection ports... used on 03+ heads/ motors. There’s an OEM manifold that has a solution that just might work so I’m throwing more money at this ...

[roguetoaster]

So, are those air injection, EGR, or just test port holes? It's nuts that they're cast in and not on the manifold, and initially they looked like some type of casting fixture point.

[2mAn]

Sorry guys, manifold is the correct Celica 2ZZ manifold. Here’s another hint. Maybe this pic will help, but it’s not something that y’all have to deal with on M20s or M42s but maybe the OBD2 guys might catch the hint...





Soooo in other news... Step 1. Check.

(it’s a 2ZZ ECU from a 2002 Celica GT-S to replace my 2001 ECU)

I guess...