1999 Revision 5 MR2
Discussion
SonicShadow said:
andyc11 said:
Lovely car, had a Rev 2 many moons ago and always liked these. I often find myself looking for a cheap Rev 5 with the aim of using it just as a track car, but know I've got a soft spot for them and couldn't do it.
Thanks 
There's a BEAMS powered Rev5 Coupe on MR2OC for sale at the moment. It's not bargain basement, but it is a tin top so it's the lightest / stiffest combo, and the BEAMS engine has another 25bhp or so over mine, and an extra ~1000RPM at the top. Would be great fun on the track. Not sure if PH rules allows me to link to a sale on another forum, but if you go to mr2oc.co.uk, it's in the classifieds section.
I'll just link it:
http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/ads/ad/mr2-mk2-cars-for-sal...
No membership required for those pages.
http://www.mr2oc.co.uk/ads/ad/mr2-mk2-cars-for-sal...
No membership required for those pages.
That's a great price...MR2's look so right in red! 
Slight change in look, found some staggered 17inch Advans for a bargain price:
Other than that, it's just been general maintenance. We reset the suspension geo as it wasn't right. Coilover height was not correct, and the pre-load wasn't quite right - reset the pre-load to BC's recommended specs, raised the rear by ~7mm, lowered the front by ~6mm. Sits a lot better now (image above was before this).
When we went to sort the alignment, it was clear that the last two 'professional' businesses bodged the alignment. The locking nut for the front track rod end one one side was seized, and from the state of the threads it clearly hadn't been touched in years. Certainly not within the last 8 months when it was last aligned! Not what you want to find on a Sunday when you're half way through a job. Luckily, my friends who were helping me with all this (fellow MR2 owners) had some spare track rods etc, so we replaced them with serviceable used items.
Next problem was now that the alignment was sorted, and the the front toe was set *properly* with equal thread showing on each track rod, the steering wheel was ~25degrees on the wonk. No problem, it's aftermarket - easy to remove and reset. Nope - one of the places who did the alignment last must have adjusted the toe one one side, and then corrected the steering wheel angle by moving the wheel around a couple of splines. In doing so, they rounded one of the allen bolts that hold the wheel to the boss, so I had to drill that out. All sorted now though.
Next up, cambelt / tensioners / water pump change! For those unfamiliar with an MR2 engine bay, it's a difficult job due to access:
This is from an earlier model, similar layout though. All the timing stuff, water pump etc lives on the right hand side of the engine, tucked up behind an engine mount and the strut tower. Fun!
Other than that, it's just been general maintenance. We reset the suspension geo as it wasn't right. Coilover height was not correct, and the pre-load wasn't quite right - reset the pre-load to BC's recommended specs, raised the rear by ~7mm, lowered the front by ~6mm. Sits a lot better now (image above was before this).
When we went to sort the alignment, it was clear that the last two 'professional' businesses bodged the alignment. The locking nut for the front track rod end one one side was seized, and from the state of the threads it clearly hadn't been touched in years. Certainly not within the last 8 months when it was last aligned! Not what you want to find on a Sunday when you're half way through a job. Luckily, my friends who were helping me with all this (fellow MR2 owners) had some spare track rods etc, so we replaced them with serviceable used items.
Next problem was now that the alignment was sorted, and the the front toe was set *properly* with equal thread showing on each track rod, the steering wheel was ~25degrees on the wonk. No problem, it's aftermarket - easy to remove and reset. Nope - one of the places who did the alignment last must have adjusted the toe one one side, and then corrected the steering wheel angle by moving the wheel around a couple of splines. In doing so, they rounded one of the allen bolts that hold the wheel to the boss, so I had to drill that out. All sorted now though.
Next up, cambelt / tensioners / water pump change! For those unfamiliar with an MR2 engine bay, it's a difficult job due to access:
This is from an earlier model, similar layout though. All the timing stuff, water pump etc lives on the right hand side of the engine, tucked up behind an engine mount and the strut tower. Fun!
So, what's new? Not a huge amount. Did a track day at Snetterton in December which was fun, but the alternator overheated in my first afternoon session. It was so hot I actually burned my finger when I touched it! It was functional after cooling down, but it's now noisy, so I think that may have killed the bearings. An alternator change on an MR2 is an absolutely horrible job due to it's location. I've got a new belt to try first on the off chance, but I think it will need an alternator replacement soon.
Clutch wasn't a huge fan of the track day either, so the current plan is to just drop the engine, do the cambelt, water pump and clutch at the same time. Should be doable over a weekend. There's still some life left in the clutch, but it's not great. It's probably original though.
So, turns out that track days cost more than just the fuel and the entry price! Good fun though, I'd definitely do another one. On the subject of fuel, I worked out my MPG for the morning session - ~14MPG!
Anyway, here's some track day photos:
And a short clip of a little slide on the exit of Agostini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiWmCuiSESQ
Oh, and the last one - Christmas tree shopping:
Clutch wasn't a huge fan of the track day either, so the current plan is to just drop the engine, do the cambelt, water pump and clutch at the same time. Should be doable over a weekend. There's still some life left in the clutch, but it's not great. It's probably original though.
So, turns out that track days cost more than just the fuel and the entry price! Good fun though, I'd definitely do another one. On the subject of fuel, I worked out my MPG for the morning session - ~14MPG!
Anyway, here's some track day photos:
And a short clip of a little slide on the exit of Agostini:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiWmCuiSESQ
Oh, and the last one - Christmas tree shopping:
Edited by SonicShadow on Tuesday 5th January 10:59
So, this weekend is / was clutch and timing weekend. Big job!
Not a lot of photos of this, more time was spent cracking on and getting it done.
Saturday morning was spent getting the engine out of the car. In about 3hrs, we had this:
Not bad going! A few bolts took a bit of doing to get off, nothing too unexpected for an old car.
First job was timing side. None of us have done this before. We also replaced the crankshaft seal, hardest bit was getting the old one out without damaging the block, it's a tight fit! Got that sorted though, good thing too as the existing one had started to leak.
We installed brand new tensioner pulleys and water pump. To be honest the old water pump was fine - it was completely clean on the inside. Bearing was a little noisy, but would probably have been fine for a long while yet.
Took a couple of attempts to get the belt on in the correct position, but we got there in the end. Barred the engine over a few times to double check, and it was lining up with where it was before.
Few tidying up jobs etc and preparation for clutch tomorrow (starter motor out etc), and that was Saturday done. Big thank you to Stu and Dom for all the hard work :th:
Onto Sunday - clutch change. Just me and Stu today. Again, neither of us had done this before so the learning curve was steep. We've done our research though, and had copies of the BGB and engine manuals to hand.
Took a bit of doing to get the gearbox off the block. Some persuasion with a rubber mallet and giving it a good wiggle around to free it off the dowels and it was off.
The old release bearing was noisy and felt pretty loose. Definitely didn't have much life in it! The inside of the housing was absolutely filthy (old friction material?):
Cleaned up the components, applied grease where required, and installed the new release bearing. Also installed two new driveshaft seals as this is the perfect time to do it.
Onto the clutch itself. No drama here really, removed the old one, which was pretty much dead. worn down to within a fraction of a mm to the rivets:
It was definitely on borrowed time!
We also replaced the crankshaft oil seal on this side. Takes a bit more doing than the timing side as the thing sits in a housing, and being an oil seal, it's a very snug fit. Pain in the arse to do, but it leaking in 6 months time all over the clutch would be even more of a pain in the arse!
Replaced the clutch with a standard Exedy OE replacement clutch. No need for anything fancy on an NA.
Managed to get it pretty much bang on centred first time, which was nice!
Gearbox is now back on the engine, ready to go back in the car.
Rest of today was spent getting things ready to go back in the car. Replacing the ARB bushes as the existing ones were a mess (thanks to Dom for the bushes). Got a poly engine mount to go in as well.
And that's where we are.
Next update on Tuesday!
Not a lot of photos of this, more time was spent cracking on and getting it done.
Saturday morning was spent getting the engine out of the car. In about 3hrs, we had this:
Not bad going! A few bolts took a bit of doing to get off, nothing too unexpected for an old car.
First job was timing side. None of us have done this before. We also replaced the crankshaft seal, hardest bit was getting the old one out without damaging the block, it's a tight fit! Got that sorted though, good thing too as the existing one had started to leak.
We installed brand new tensioner pulleys and water pump. To be honest the old water pump was fine - it was completely clean on the inside. Bearing was a little noisy, but would probably have been fine for a long while yet.
Took a couple of attempts to get the belt on in the correct position, but we got there in the end. Barred the engine over a few times to double check, and it was lining up with where it was before.
Few tidying up jobs etc and preparation for clutch tomorrow (starter motor out etc), and that was Saturday done. Big thank you to Stu and Dom for all the hard work :th:
Onto Sunday - clutch change. Just me and Stu today. Again, neither of us had done this before so the learning curve was steep. We've done our research though, and had copies of the BGB and engine manuals to hand.
Took a bit of doing to get the gearbox off the block. Some persuasion with a rubber mallet and giving it a good wiggle around to free it off the dowels and it was off.
The old release bearing was noisy and felt pretty loose. Definitely didn't have much life in it! The inside of the housing was absolutely filthy (old friction material?):
Cleaned up the components, applied grease where required, and installed the new release bearing. Also installed two new driveshaft seals as this is the perfect time to do it.
Onto the clutch itself. No drama here really, removed the old one, which was pretty much dead. worn down to within a fraction of a mm to the rivets:
It was definitely on borrowed time!
We also replaced the crankshaft oil seal on this side. Takes a bit more doing than the timing side as the thing sits in a housing, and being an oil seal, it's a very snug fit. Pain in the arse to do, but it leaking in 6 months time all over the clutch would be even more of a pain in the arse!
Replaced the clutch with a standard Exedy OE replacement clutch. No need for anything fancy on an NA.
Managed to get it pretty much bang on centred first time, which was nice!
Gearbox is now back on the engine, ready to go back in the car.
Rest of today was spent getting things ready to go back in the car. Replacing the ARB bushes as the existing ones were a mess (thanks to Dom for the bushes). Got a poly engine mount to go in as well.
And that's where we are.
Next update on Tuesday!
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