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[monkeyra]

Current modification list:

Mechanical:

HKS Silent Hi-Power Exhaust
Apexi Induction Kit
Magnecor Ignition Leads
Koni Adjustable Suspension
RPS Clutch
Fidanza Flywheel
16" Lightweight Enkei Wheels
Kaaz 2-way Limited Slip Diff
XS Power Intercooler
Goodridge Brake Lines and 5.1 fluid
TRD ARB's with chassis plates + TRD Bushes
Fully Polubushed
Rev5 Calipers (overhauled Feb 09) with Carbotech Pads


Electrical

Greddy Profec Spec B Electronic Boost Controller
Racelogic Traction Control + Launch Control
Odyssey Lightweight Racing Battery
Greddy Fuel Cut

Interior

Bride Kevlar Drivers Bucket Seat with 6-point Schroth Harness.

Exterior

Exige Style Engine Cover
Smoked Front Indicators
Raybrigs
Fibreglass wings

Performance

238bhp when rr'ed in 2006


Car History:

The car was imported from Japan in 2003 by the previous owner.

[monkeyra]

After realising how i've neglected my MR2 this year, I've started spending more money on it :}

First up is a new fan for the intercooler, along with fitting my Mikalor clips which i've had for about a year...

Also got some new toys coming in the week which i'm very excited about :)

[monkeyra]

Another part to fit. I've had the sump modified to fit an oil temp sender, and also oil pressure. Smoked gauges are also standing by, ready to fit, as soon as I get some time.

[monkeyra]

Currently overhauling some Rev5 brakes which will be fitted in due course.

But this was my Christmas gift to myself! :)

Racelogic Traction Control with Launch Control :woot:

Blurb about traction control:

Quote

Once you have driven a powerful car with Racelogic Traction Control, you will never want to be without it. Acceleration out of junctions becomes rapid and repeatable, just bury the throttle and the system does the rest, constantly adjusting the power of the engine every thousandth of a second, searching for maximum grip. In a rear wheel drive car you can use full throttle around a corner with full confidence that the rear end isn't going to suddenly break away.

Launch control is a function within the Traction Control system designed to automate standing starts to maximise the initial acceleration. It is activated by pressing a button on the dashboard when the car is stationary. This will bring in a secondary rev-limit (for example 4000 rpm). The throttle can be fully depressed without over-revving the engine. The car is put into gear, the throttle floored, and then the clutch is engaged, whilst the launch control system controls the wheelspin and revs for the perfect start. On a turbo car, if the launch control is active, and full throttle is given for two to three seconds, the boost pressure will build up before the clutch is released, resulting in stunning off-the-line performance.

Blurb about Launch Control:

Quote

Launch control is a function within the Traction Control system designed to automate standing starts to maximise the initial acceleration.

It is activated by pressing a button on the dashboard when the car is stationary. This will bring in a secondary rev-limit (for example 4000 rpm).



The throttle can be fully depressed without over-revving the engine. The car is put into gear, the throttle floored, and then the clutch is engaged, whilst the launch control system controls the wheelspin and revs for the perfect start.

On a turbo car, if the launch control is active, and full throttle is given for two to three seconds, the boost pressure will build up before the clutch is released, resulting in stunning off-the-line performance.

The launch control rev limit can be programmed via a laptop computer or by a combination of presses on the launch control button. This is done by pressing it once, and then once again but this time holding it in and raising the revs to the desired level, then the button is released, setting the new rev limit to this level. This makes it very easy to re-program the launching revs just before a start if conditions suddenly change.


There are various parameters you can tune if you want to get the last little bit of acceleration out of the system. You can have two switchable levels for wet and dry, the level of wheelspin at which the system swaps from Launch Control to traction Control can be adjusted, and on the professional system you can even switch to a lower limit once the car starts to move.

Once i've got the brakes and handling all sorted (got some underbraces and ARB's to fit as well), it's going to be new turbo time :)
400bhp (or 500/600 if wanted) is easily acheivable with a new turbo, injectors and ecu. The 3SGTE engine in MR2 Turbos are detuned Yamaha race engines, hence large power is acheiveable with bolt-ons.

[monkeyra]

Today I started fitting my genuine uprated TRD Antiroll bars. Got these in a groupbuy from the states when the exchange rate was good :)




Spent a good four hours in the garage just working on the rear ARB. :annoyed:

The design makes things a little difficult. To remove the rear ARB, you have to drop the rear subframe. But before you do that, you have to jack the car up. And then put it on axle stands, and because my car is so low, it won't go on axle stands in the regular spot. So after much arsing about, it's finally safely in the air.
You then have to remove the droplinks, which wasn't as bad as it could be, normally they have to be cut off with an angle grinder :eyesup:
I then sheared off two bolts which clamps the existing ARB in place, so need to drill them out and find a suitable replacement.
And thats that, enough for today :}

[monkeyra]

Finally got the fecker fitted today. Was a pig of a job in the end, but at least it's done :)

Went to start the car to turn it around so I can access the front ARB, and the battery is flat :}

Charging it up tonight, and then you can guess what tomorrows job will be :whistling:

[monkeyra]

Fitted my new Odyssey lightweight racing battery today :) Very small! I'll post comparison photos when I can find the lead for my phone...

Took the car for a drive today now it's got the ARB's fitted. Handles much tighter in the corners.

Only problem was, my front left brake caliper was sticking, which I didn't realise until I was on the M4 and I saw smoke pouring from my wheelarch :}

Pulled over, waited for it to cool, and limped home :(

Not too bothered tbh, as i've a set of Rev 5 calipers to fit, which are larger than the ones on my Rev 1. I'm currently overhauling them with new seals, so they'll be like new when finished. Fitted along with new discs and Carbotech brakepads, it'll be pretty awesome :)

[monkeyra]

Photos!

As you can see, it needs securing in :}

[monkeyra]

Another job nearly out of the way. Before Christmas I bought some Rev5 calipers, which are larger than the ones on my Rev1 (notoriously known for having cack brakes).
I've slowly been overhauling them as and when I can be bothered, and finally finished them off today.
Removed all the old crap on it, replaced all the seals, polished up the pistons etc etc, and then a lick of paint to make them look half tidy.

Just need to fit them now, along with my new discs and Carbotech pads :woot:

[monkeyra]

Fitted the SAE terminals today, along with the Richbrook quick disconnect kit.
It's actually designed to prevent car theft, but i'm using it more to stop the battery going flat between extended periods of use.

Theres a black screw knob (oo-er missus) that you screw in to allow electrickery to flow, and you remove it to stop the flow, thus rendering your car immobile. There is a small fused wire which can be optionally installed to keep your car alarm active.

[monkeyra]

Another mod to fit over the weekend :)

It's a Greddy Fuel Cut Defencer (FCD):

"The FCD is an electronic device developed to properly raise the factory fuel cut level on factory turbocharged vehicles. As modifications are made to optimize engine performance, the factory fuel cut is often triggered by higher boost levels which activate a fuel delivery cut-off as a failsafe procedure."

[monkeyra]

Fitted the brakes today. Wasn't too bad, although getting the caliper off (the one that was binding) was a bit of an arse, and I broke a spanner twice :}
The new brakes work well though, very pleased I've got them all done and out of the way. The photos below show the state of the pads, thoroughly cooked!

[monkeyra]

Made some good progress with fitting the Racelogic Traction Control this weekend :)

Firstly, I had to find all the relevant wires coming from the ECU (the four injectors, an RPM feed and a switched positive), which did take a while, as it's an import, and involved cross referencing about four different wiring diagrams :kaffeetrinker_2:
Then I fed all the loom from the boot through to the cabin, where the controller will be, and also the ABS module which is located behind the glove box.

Next up was to cut into the existing loom between the injectors and the ECU. The Racelogic unit sits between these, intercepting the signals to control the amount of wheelspin, and then adjusting the injectors to suit.

I had bought some proper multiblok connectors, which I crimped the ends onto, then soldered, and then fixed the connector onto. The reason behind it is in case you need to remove the TC unit for whatever reason, you can just remove it from the loom, and then clip the loom back up, as you can see from the three photos below:


CUTTING INTO THE LOOM AND FIXING AND SOLDERING THE CLIPS ON:





FITTING THE CONNECTOR BLOCKS ON





RACELOGIC UNIT SITTING WITHIN THE LOOM




At this stage I think thought I better check to see if the car still runs :} It fired up and ticked over perfectly :)

Then it was just a case of tidy everything up, which gives us the finished article in the boot:







Next job for tomorrow is to wire up to the ABS ECU, once I've figured out which wire does what :kaffeetrinker_2: (which is this evenings job).

[monkeyra]

Starting to tidy things up now (the car is a mess!)

Fixed the TC dial and the boost gauge into position today:

[stevies_st_tdci]

Well Well You have went to town on this .
Enjoy it mate. Reads like its a full handful.
Bril.
Good luck.
Stevie

[GingerTom]

I will stick with making computers. It's a lot easier! Good luck :L

[monkeyra]

Failed the MOT today on the steering rack :(

I had a suspicion it might, as it's knocking when driving over bumps etc.

So, cars off the road again for a while now!

[GingerTom]

Bad luck :( Keep at it though :L

[monkeyra]

Made some progress on the steering rack. I examined the old one, and the problem was indeed within the actual rack itself, which isn't really user serviceable, as the parts are nigh on impossible to get hold of.
So I sourced a low mileage rack from an MR2 that was being broken. I've replaced the track rods, track rod ends and fitted a new set of boots, which is all you can replace. The old one was pretty shagged actually, loads of play in the rods. So I rebuilt all that on Friday, and have spent this afternoon dropping the old one and fitting the new one.
Need to get some power steering fluid tomorrow, and then connect everything up, and realign the steering.
And then fit the bumper (got a new one with a bigger lip : ), undertrays and lights, and eventually get it re-mot'ed.

[monkeyra]

Anyone else have periods where progess seems to be glacial? It's not that i'm not doing anything, it's just that nothing seems to go right at the moment :} I also get distracted easily, and never finish one job properly before moving onto the next.
Case in point, I've 99% finished the steering rack, it just needs the fluids sorting out, and it should be good to go. But before I started that, I got thinking about my traction control system again. I haven't 100% got it setup yet, mainly because the car failed the MOT and my priorities were changed. I have this problem with the TC unit cutting in at highspeed, which it shouldn't do. So I picked the brains of someone how has the same system fitted to his MR2 Turbo as well. He suggested that the ABS sensors might be faulty, as he had the same problem. Good thinking I thought, and duly went to check the sensors.
So I then proceed on reading up on how to check the ABS sensors. Pretty straight forward, short out two pins in the diagnostics port, and the ABS light will flash the error codes on the dash. Apart from the fact I don't have an ABS light.... which threw me to say the least. First thought was faulty bulb, so I ripped the dash apart to remove the instrument cluster to check the bulb.
Perfect working order.
So then I checked all the cables leading to the sensors. And realised that a few months back, I accidentally removed a cable, which at the time I thought was a defunct aerial cable. But it wasn't, it was the rear ABS sensor cable :}
So now I need to repair that.
But that wasn't the cause of my problem. I looked in the manual again, and they give a troubleshooting guide on what to do if the ABS bulb doesn't illuminate. So I follow that, and still nothing!
By this time I was pulling my hair out with frustration, and was seriously stumped. And that was when I started tracing the wires coming out from the dash plugs. The ABS wire was actually illuminating the low oil level light.
And then it twigged. About two years ago I swapped over the old Jap 110kph dash with a UK spec 160mph dash. Which had some of the warning lights in different places :D
So I've had to buy another dash, which should be here in the next few days, and hopefully with a combination of the two, I should be able to get a properly functioning one.

I've also been trying to change the wiper motor as well. 4 evenings and counting.... what a fucking awkward bastard ballache bitch job that is!

So lots of crappy little progress, but no worthy photos :}