Pistols Red Edition MR2 Mk3

[pistolpete12]

got an message from patrick saying the new gearbox had arrived and was stripped. so i ran my box down there, that is now back together and ready for pick up this afternoon!





so itll start going back in this evening!

[pistolpete12]

Update time...

I got the gearbox in on that Friday evening. Finished off very early Saturday morning.
Whilst there i finished off a few other odd jobs i hadn't been happy with. none of which I can remember
Where i had removed that huge restriction on the intake pipe I used to brake ducting to make a new pipe



Took the car for a quick drive out.. hugely different with this gearbox.. So much better on pick up. A lot better out of lift too as it isn't so long geared. Looking forward to trying it on track now!

This was an important day the Saturday.. It was time to say good bye to the Racecat, Ben had come to collect and put it in his lockup..
Quick picture together



It has been an awesome bit of kit, and look forward to loosing to it over the next season

We had stripped all its decals as they were mine and Ben's. He has started a fresh and I assisted in fitting his new decals.. This is just the Base, he will be adding more to these


I went off on a lovely holiday for the following week.. nice week in Norfolk.. it was cold but sunny!!


Few more jobs I wanted done. First up.. Decals!!
Same decal kit as Ben, but different colours and due to size of the car, different placement.. also added the Zombie response.. (yes this is not to a lot of peoples tastes a lot will hate it,, but RACECAR!!! And all my race cars have it.. Its my Livery now)
]If you want to see where the zombie decals started from see here
https://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1766...





Next up I got an OMP steering wheel for my birthday, as well as a really nice race-bag that I can now fit my helmet, Hans race-suit etc in neatly which is a huge help.
Ordered the Boss from Fensport while on holiday and got it fitted up as soon as we were back.


Ben gave me some money for my birthday, and for the racecat, which i did not expect and very kind of him. This I was told by him was to purchase a new race-seat, get rid of the puke smelling Sparco..

Road trip to corbeau who are about an hour from me.
I looked at the club sport, but this is just a road seat and not as strong as i would want, but was the price i wanted to spend.
Next was the Sprint which we have in the RX. standard was slightly to tight (im a 30-32inch waist) I fit fine but was cramped and the next size the EXCEL was far too loose
the happy medium was the next seat up in the series the pro-series X
https://www.corbeau-seats.com/product/pro-series-x...

This was slightly larger than the sprint standard. but was obviously a lot of monies, over double where I had started
So homebound, spoke with the wife, safety etc.. phoned Corbeau and order placed.
They phoned the next day to say it was ready, as i was on lates i had time in the morning to jump in the little Kia drive down and get it,


The next day was a lot of faffing. trying to get the seat to fit correctly. First position was too high. Managed to get it in a location that was as low as it would go but i still sat too high
After a quick hone call to Corbeau again they did a seat base with a lot less padding.. perfect.
Run down there again for a straight swap (3rd day in a row!!!)
While I was there I picked up a set of their side mounts, as my mounts were for 8mm bolts, but the seat used 10mm.. i did not fancy opening up the current holes

There side mounts holes were a little different in location too which meant I could actually sit the car a little lower.
Again lots of faffing, then full race suit hans etc on to get the harness set just right, glad I done this as found the with harness tight i was leaned too far back, adjustment and all sorted.. Its the little jobs that take time..
It has taken me longer to fit and set up the seat where i am happy with it that it did to removed and replace the gearbox!
Now it is in i am very happy, also managed whilst all out to wash any remnants of stains off the harnesses as well



so it all smells lovely

Got the car loaded on the trailer before work ready for alignment again nice and early tomorrow



there i think that's everything

Hopefully next up date will be a positive one after Snetterton on the 16th of November with a video too. We shall see all fingers a crossed!!

Edited by pistolpete12 on Friday 8th November 17:37

[pistolpete12]

Well.. little over due an update isn't it

Before I could go to snet I had to sort some kind of door cards..
Before


after


Snetterton... as expected it was very damp all day. Very greasy and slippery

I found (again later on as well). the Avons do not like to cold or damp at all so I feel I lost a lot of time to them and will be changing them out for sprinting, keep the avons just for trackdays as they really needed heat to work

Arriving for its first sprint event


letting a friend share the garage also running a 2zz (yes i beat him but quite a lot)


next to racecat (which yes beat me as expected)


It was a great day, the car ran brilliantly all day, was very pleased. I just struggled getting any heat into the Avons..
here is a clip from the day. inc some sideways actions at the end

https://youtu.be/R3nfBtsTIak

The car go its first trophy.. woohoo
\/ \/



Also got this for the year in the racecat


Super pleased to receive this.. it really meant something to me, made my year it really did


We got home and promptly booked a track day at Silverstone full GP low numbers day

At this time the Shogun was my daily and costing me a fortune in fuel. I still wanted to tow so shogun went up for sale and sold pretty quickly. Sad day but it was time..
Unfortunately it went 2 days before silverstone
but i was lucky enough to borrow a van for the weekend



Again I struggled with grip at on track in the damp.. it was just sideways every single corner... It did do some fantastic drifts though I had a lot of fun. was not fast though..
The afternoon dried up and the tyres soon starting working.. when they did the car was fantastic. they will make great track day tyres for next year

Silverstone was a low numbers day on the full GP curcuit , there were a few mad Ferrari's going round total of only 30 cars so i could get many laps in without seeing a single person. it was great to really get to feel with the car.
Ended the day running with the MR2 turbo the we were sharing a garage with. It was a brilliant 6 laps, was pleasantly surprised how well it done against a Turbo.


In silverstone garage

Managed to get a picture of racecat popping some flames (top work Ben)


My go pro decided to stop working. so no videos except one where Ben is following in the RX8. the yokos handle the damp sooo much better than the avons.

https://youtu.be/as5P-dqtAJU

My lines in the vid a awful, simply trying to find somewhere where the car might get some grip! afternoon sessions were soo much better, i was not happy at all in the morning

anyway

Back home first off was to find a more economical replacement for the shogun (it done 20mpg daily.)
I started looking at estates. but i am very much one for wanting the weights to be right, also i really want to put a tyre rack on the trailer at somepoint so nose weigh can become an issue

After much hunting and looking around at different things. i decided on a freelander 2. they have a pretty good rep, loads of toys on them, and they can take 250kg nose weight if you have the right tow bar (i don't need that much)

I then became picky. i wanted Heated seats, leather, cruise control, front rear parking sensors, Auto (as the manual clutches are made from chocolate) and most importantly working nights in winter, a heated front windscreen
I had to have either a HSE or an SE, i was not fussed about colour.

After a couple weeks one came up with a full land rover history. if it needed work (or they told the lady it needed something) it got it. They lived south london and money did not seem to be an issue.

So here it is


I do like the interior


Unfortunately it did not come with a tow bar, after looking around i decided to buy and fit one myself.
These cars are made to tow, they have the plug in the back for the lights. and everything ready on the chassis just to bolt to, so it was easy plug and play
I went for a trust tow bar, with a nose weight of 150kg. that'll be plenty



I have not had a chance to test tow yet, but it has the same power and a bit more torque the the shogun did so i am sure it will be fine, looking forward to trying it

Like said I am a stickler when it comes to tow weights etc and being safe. I weighed the landy just to see



That'll be plenty!

The only issue I have had is a noisy front wheel bearing which I changed last week, other than that its been a joy to drive and easy return over 30mpg. which has made a huge difference



Also got a new phone, so managed to get a good pic of the JCW I get to drive often (its a brilliant little car)



Back to the MR2.
It sat under its cover after Silverstone until a couple of weeks ago. One of the jobs I wanted to tackle before going back on track was the alignment and bushes. We really struggled to get the rear tow to adjust to where I wanted, so used it as an excuse to poly bush everything.

Only issue is it can be fairly expensive. I also like to make things myself. so after a friend mentioned it, I decided to make my own bushes and bought some polyurethane rod

I wanted to changed the engine mounts too but it worked out cheaper to buy the mounts done also the front rear wishbone bushes as they have a large diameter

I got the Sub frame and all the arms out
the front wishbone front bolts were seized in the bush ended up having to cut them out (which was not fun)
also could not release the rear toe bolts so ended up removing the whole sub frame again!





Took into the workshop and lots of heat later and some pressing, the bolts did not give way.. instead it split the sub frame


bugger!

I still needed the arm, by this time some work colleagues were interested and decided to assist

bye bye subframe


next up was pressing out all the old bushes
they were not a good state



some time later a pile appeared




I then washed all the arms in the solvent pressure cleaner and sprayed them all black.

New engine mounts arrived


Then we set about making these into my poly bushes



Here is a friend starting make up the centre bar of the bushes




Our first time turning Polyurethane



Pretty pleased how it all turned out





If it helps anyone here are the measurements if you want to make your own

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N2CKZ21ClV...

The full kit is about £277, I paid £35 for the rod.. so some price difference

I used the diagram as reference



Have since cut out the last bush from the hub as did not want to remove the hub from the car and made the last bush tonight, also my brand new sub frame has arrived, soon will get getting it back together.

Whilst I have been doing that I have started some more weight saving.
Removing the rear crash bar, the a little bumper modification (yes the exhaust will get altered at some point)
But I am pleased with the new rear end look





More will be coming soon, a few jobs on the list!

Also the little Silver MR2. has spun a bearing so it will be getting the this cars old engine, which means it will have its roof, seats and engine.
Job for this weekend!!!

Edited by pistolpete12 on Thursday 13th February 03:00

[mrtwisty]

Busy as ever then Pete!

She looks a handful on those Avons in the wet

Some amazing skills there with the bushes. Dont suppose you'd mind making me a set? ;-)

When you buy the set from Poly, do they have the inserts in there already, or do you have to.butcher up your old ones?

[pistolpete12]

Hi ya
Thanks!!
They come with the insets..
Same way I done mine. In two halves which you put in and then slide in the sleeve

Hardest part is getting the old bushing out. Lots of fire press and cutting. But well worth it when done

Yeah Avon's were a handful. I'll be sprinting on r888r's I thinks

[pistolpete12]

Update time!

We sold the mini

Due to lack of time ,and even when up and running the wife cannot drive it. Was time to let go, gone to a friend so we can keep and eye on what happens with it

The first sprint of the year was to be 8th may (or similar) with the Toyota sprint series within the Japanese sprint.
Due to lack of interest the Japanese sprint series was cancelled. Toyota sprint has then been moved to Javelin spring series.
This means all my sprint dates for the year have changed. Now redone all my holiday dates to suit and first sprint is the 10th April.. There is a test day at Blyton on 22nd march.. I could be interested in doing that. but we shall see

Decided I had better get on with getting the car race ready and back together. It has been outside with all the suspension off as the Silver one is still in the garage for engine swap. This has meant that not much has happened because I did not want to get soaked..

Then i find out the guy who does my suspension set up (and I do not pay a lot for) is leaving where he works to become a ford master tech, and he leaves Wednesday.
Due to the price he charges me to do it, and his boss isn't around i have to go in on a Saturday.
So on eve last week i went out and started getting the new sub frame ready
genuine Toyota part


with the new brace too


Out then out in the storm Saturday morning first thing with a ground sheet to get it all fitted up.
No pictures unfortunately.. It was went cold and horrible, I just wanted to get it done

New consisted on
2nd rear camber bolts so i could get the rear camber i wanted,
New Toyota sub frame
All new poly bushing
New poly bush engine mounts
Rear strut brace
Front tie bars
new rear cam toe bolts

Typically when i finished the sun came out. A quick phone call to Paul and he said bring it up
It was time for the new tow car, the Landy





Towed the hilliest way i could to make sure it was a good test, inc some motorway, I can officially say the Landy makes a fantastic tow car

Paul said would be about and hours before he could get me in, this gave me time to adjust ride height, it had always sat a little too high, Already lowered when doing the refit of suspension, but was now a little uneven.
So sat in the sun i got the ride height just where i wanted it.
also managed to get some good pictures too





Then in for alignment


I really like its new rear-end

Random under pics





Everything adjusted easily, i now have all the settings i wanted and no movement in anything. Cannot wait to get it out now!

This gave me a complete new love for it, and want to get out on track.
So spent the evening with a friend replicating the car as close as possible on Forza.. No Toyota, so have to go with a Lotus added all of the weight and got the power/weight around the same. Then even put my alignment setting on it

[pistolpete12]

A small Mk3 update.
with the engine swaps in mk3's they suffer badly with getting rain in the plug wells.
even with a cover over the engine vents when sat mine still got a load of water on them
so made a cover out of stainless to start with (all i could find at work)


Then i found some ally and remade it..




all fitted up


was ready fro trackday sunday at blyton

But even at the moment it is still on. but the wife being high risk and its 5 hours from home. not exactly essential travel i cannot see me going..

Gives me plenty time to play with the £100 MK2 though..

[pistolpete12]

This has not been updated for some time.. there is a bit to update.. but mainly just pictures... so enjoy.

I hope you have all been keeping well in these strange times.
The white was far to rotten and got broken to help many other MR2's live on..

WithoOur sprints cancelled and me stuck at home I decided to do some more work on the 2zz mr2..

First I cleaned the road going MR, with full clay bar etc.. it came up well



Then I ordered some things!!



That's right.. some GENUINE rotas.....

I was pretty excited..





A cheeky test fit


I then had some R888r's fitted to these. and test fitted again , just because I wanted to know how they look without extending the arches




Next out came the Dremel, this soon swapped to the grinder



on when the arches


Rinse and repeat for the other 4 arches,
I then used some black silicon to fill any gaps..



I was very please with how it looked.. I could not really see anywhere where it would rub..
But i wanted to test it.. I managed to book a Brands hatch evening as lockdown was starting to ease..

But I still had plenty of time to "play".
So took a big chunk out of the rear bumper, and made some speed holes, as no longer had any arch liner so that area was like a parachute



I also "white Penned" the tyres.. because why not


Then I used a heat gun and some sheet plastic to make some supporting brackets for the rear bumper




I also noticed I was missing one of the front "speed flaps" so made one of them too





Pretty pleased with how the car was looking!!




You can see i fitted a sunstrip as before I was struggling with low sun, the seat is low so could fit a large sunstrip

Then made a decal for it at work..

1. Teamspeed

Next post delivery came..
New front strut brace fitted


I had removed the rear crash bar.. Ordered and made a nice bit of ally to tie the rear together


Next cheapo mod..
Had a go at flocking the dash.
It didn't come out great due to being a cheap ebay kit with a rubbish applicator. but it actually works for purpose so I am happy



Got the road MR2 MOT'd and aligned for first time since fitting the new engine


By this time it was brands!!



got to catch up with Ben at long last








Love this pic


The evening went well
I really got some great laps in.. Car felt fantastic after all the changes
So much better than it did..
Only issue I had was some Rubbing on the rear..
I did use a very large hammer on the track which made it a bit better, but once home adjustment was going to be needed

Some videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-93IAbyuimo&t
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLQVKU08TOM&t

Adjustments were made

More metal was cut out and arches were raised.. still very pleased with the way it looks and should be clear of any more rubbing

Next up was a full day at Abingdon.
No more rubbing issues.. happily pushed around a R32 GTR that would not get out of my way~!!






Love an airfield track soo much fun

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60kL8Ng2B7g&t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPxSrLTuyTg&t

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTbfOkjf_Y0&t

With the car running well. I decided not to touch it before the First round of 2020 sprint series

This was this weekend (1/8/2020) at Three Sisters Raceway
The mr2s first proper competitive event..
It went really well, after a couple of offs..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gU-cPw7Js9s

I ended up 2nd in the Toyota sprint series, and lost out to class win in the javelin series to a well sorted MX5. but only just!
I did a lot of learning. I had a great hatred for my brakes by the end of the weekend and I know I should have been faster, but I am very much still learning the car..
It was still mega

On the Sunday I came 11th overall out of 80+ cars.. very pleased beating a lot of very high powered cars..


Ben in the RX8 did amazing was sitting in second overall for a long time.. He finished 4th which is an amazing achievement.. WELL DONE!!!
That circuit really suits that car. I though it would suit the MR but i was out of lift a lot of the time.. so in future an ECU to lower lift will be coming..

Some pics and videos for you




My first Trophy in this car. I was very pleased with my 2nd place


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bbQ9fA5pnA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JybCVLAVAoY

A bit sideways on this one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfHZBrDkclo

Had a good time playing with suspension settings tyre pressures etc learning..
Here are the results of sunday


Looking forward to croft in september!!

I have also ordered new fluid and Carbotech XP8 brake pads.. as the yellow stuff just don't seem to be cutting it on this car..

Thanks for all who are reading. Hope you are enjoying.. Many more ideas in my head about what to do next!!

[pistolpete12]

I thought the thread was well overdue an update!

I had a run out at Brands to bed in the new carbotechs, is did not want to be doing it in while doing a sprint!
Was a good sunny day and all went well
IMG_20200902_140200 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Except the last run of the day, it decided it would not go into lift.

Got it home but knowing croft was coming up it had to be fixed. Found that in the "lift" oil system there is a very small filter in the side of the head, this gets blocked. Took this out and cleaned. Had to tax and insure the car so I could test it before taking it all the way to croft, a long way!
It was all fixed though, bonus...

Off I travelled to Croft with Ben, we had managed to get on the reserve list of the track day, so we were now there Sat and Sunday
A nice sunny day when we got there
IMG_20200918_181008 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Racedog and Racecat parked up next to each other
IMG_20200919_171830 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The track day was epic. was my first time doing a track day at croft, only ever done sprints there, so it was good to get some laps in, car was faultless all day, good to get a decent amount of seat time in the car.

https://youtu.be/PcJikVmSu88

Next day was the sprint..
Le mans was on, so Tablet set up to keep up to date
IMG_20200920_124110 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Here is the MR with the Fensport GT86! beast
IMG_20200920_133555 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20200920_133606 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

This did not go as planned. First off the car would not idle when cold.. Just wouldn't run, so i had to sit there for ten mins holding on the throttle till it warmed up, but it was now running a bit lumpy on idle... seemed to run well on track during sighting run and 1st run.
Then there was an issue with the timing gear and we ended up not doing the second run until after lunch.. By this time the tyres had got very cold.. i went into the first corner a little too hard,, and well i overcooked it and hit the wall .... oops completely my fault... but that's why we do these things on track and not the road!

https://youtu.be/RrZbfLE-Ge0

After a check over by the brilliant marshals, Medics and some entertaining comments from Darren the photographer( As i had aimed straight at him so there are some entertaining photos floating around), me and car were cleared back to the bits. So glad i had a Hans device.
Here are some pics for you

the fatefull corner
IMG_20200920_105451 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG-20200920-WA0008 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Ben Helping me straightening the front and clearing the ten ton of shingle in every point of the car (this is after we had already spent time bashing panels

IMG_20200920_145707 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20200920_145710 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

But got back out after missing only one run and managed to win the class, so not a complete loss of a day
IMG_20200920_165014 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20200920_165027 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Went up to following week and saw my mates bunk where he has a few cool cars.. here is two of them
IMG_20201004_125722 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

As the car after the accident looked okay, i checked everything and gave it a paint touch up i have left it as is with its battel scars

The MR still would not idle properly, so a bit of looking into found the coil packs to look like this
IMG_20201007_170916 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

So nice new ones were ordered and fitted
IMG_20201007_171337 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Still did not want to idle smoothly. but the definitely needed doing.
Before i could look at it any more it was time for Cadwell.. Same again, warm the car up then it would idle and be ok for the rest of the day..

the day started very very wet! so the standard wheels and rainsports went on.. it was an interesting look
IMG_20201010_084607 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201010_084621 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Ben was struggling to see out of his car
IMG_20201010_091318 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

the day was wet but went very well
I got second in class, no video, I probably have one someone where on my go-pro but think i formatted it by accident..
That was the last time out on track, so desperately want to get back out!

IMG_20201010_171054 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201010_171102 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

so i have started on some other little jobs.
The power steering lines have leaked since i got the car,
IMG_20201029_135448 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

these have now been replaced with new.. no pics though. i seem to be lacking, I will try harder

Found a BGW on facebook market place a couple miles up the road so had some head scratching fitting that how I wanted as the original mounts lined up with the engine lid vent holes..
after some tinkering

IMG_20201030_150056_1 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201115_130043 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

I was then contacted through facebook by someone building a car very similar spec to mine, and was after advice, they did not want to run wide arches,. they were buying some wheels the next day. I advised the rears wouldn't fit without going wide as they were the same as my offset.

Sure enough.. they didn't fit, but he still got the tyres and fronts so only had to buy new rear wheels. which suited me as I purchased the rears off him, then in a black friday deal I managed to pick up some front wheels for £100 each which I though was a bargain
my new/not used but 2nd hand rears
IMG_20201106_162152 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

I have some new tyres that I am picking up for these tomorrow, I am getting some yokohama A052s, we ran these on the RX they are mega!
Also will look at putting a set of normal road tyres on one so i can start using the car on road a bit, just so it gets some use!! and i love driving it

On dry days I have managed to get it out on the R888s
I think the car looks mega
IMG_20201122_133209 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

also engine lid clips fitted
IMG_20201122_133325 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201122_133332 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201122_133338 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201122_133353 by Pete Mason, on Flickr


Now onto looking at the idling issue, I am going with the idle control valve.. Took all the intake ff, which includes removing the battery too as its all a bit tight for space around there..
Got the throttle off and took the idle control valve apart, gave it all a good clean, see if this fixes it, if not ill get a new/used one. but the three screws holding it onto the throttle body did round off so ended up having to drill them off.. grrrr
IMG_20201228_102255 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
Its a nightmare location now in the mr2
Idle control valve
IMG_20201228_130703 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

While doing this job I remembered what a bodge the intake was.. the 2zz engine apparently requires a 3 inch intake.. Due to the way i had no money and with bits I had, I only had a 2 1/4 intake.. so though while its all apart ill sort that and move the battery..

This is where I am at now
I ordered a selection of pipework, Maf plate and a new filter

IMG_20201230_093722 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201230_142443 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210104_200820 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Made a Binky Bracket to hold the air filter. I made it out of CAD first... I will actually remake about a inch longer to move it further from the strut tower
IMG_20210104_203128 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210104_204859 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

this is what i have ended up with, Kind of restricted in what i can do as while still on original ECU i have to keep the MAF happy, I know longer have the air straighteneding vanes, i have to keep 6 inch in front of the MAF straight and 4 inch behind.. but its much tidier than i had

the old hacked up assembly
IMG_20201231_125508 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201231_125548 by Pete Mason, on Flickr


Next up was looking how to do the battery

This is the new battery location
IMG_20210104_200913 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
handy being an Elec engineer with all the tools at work
IMG_20210104_200143 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

New gearbox to chassis rail negative cable
IMG_20210104_200315 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210104_200435 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

this had been bolts straight into the chassis rail where the old airbox bolted in
IMG-20210104-WA0024 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

I have a FIA battery cut off switch on its way as well as a battery junction box .
i have started running the new cable in front to back .
IMG-20210104-WA0015 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG-20210104-WA0017 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

For the first time since having the cage done I have taken the roof off as a I have a couple of jobs to do easier with the roof off.
It looks mega
IMG_20201228_135423 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20201228_135432 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Pics will follow as i do it..
Stay safe everyone

[BEAMS 162]

Good read ,I'm sure i saw your old yellow Zombie one at BHP show at Lydden,few years back now.....

[pistolpete12]

Ahh yes. . my first proper track car.. great one that too. Completely stock just took loads of weight out of it.. drove hard on track for a year. Faultless..interior back in sold to s friend who then dailied it..

I have thought of going to a different graphics. But it seems it's known to be me now, quiet a few people ask me about my old ones..so I'm not gonna change it

[mrtwisty]

Another great update P, keep at it!

How does the front end feel at speed with the wing on?

[pistolpete12]

I don't know yet, not really had a chance to get on track to try , i am hoping to make a front splitter for it though

[pistolpete12]

Morning everyone, Time for an update I think.

Part way through fitting up moving the battery to the front. I wasn't happy with it, as the battery was to big for me to fit it anywhere happily and was not my end goal. So I put it back as was originally.
Then to be honest. the lockdown blues kicked in. I had enough of the car sitting there. I actually wrote out a for sale ad twice. then I looked at putting it back to just a road car.

The wife then kick me about a bit and sorted me out, all the sprints went up, so she booked them all.
That's given me a push to get back onto doing stuff.

First was sorting a couple of bits on the trailer. When it went for a service end of last year it already needed new brake cables. This I found out was due to a design flaw of the trailer, the cables rest on the cross beam, meaning as it bounces down the road it rubs through then rusts the cable. So a little mod to stop this happening again

IMG_20210227_151733 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Also ever since I have had the trailer there has been an issue with one of the ramps when stored
IMG_20210227_154640 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

After reshaping the cut out slightly it sat in a lot better
IMG_20210227_162623 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The last piece for the trailer, now I have an extra set of wheels, so 1 track day set, 1 wet set and 1 competition set, I did not want to have to have two sets of wheels in the car, so with the help of the guys at work i have a nice tyre rack being made for the trailer
IMG_20210319_110632 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

To try and solve the fast idle I purchased a new throttle body.. I found it to be wrong. But managed to get another. spot the problem. Unfortunately does not make a difference. when all the current work is done I am going to check inlet manifold gasket for leaks
IMG_20210227_091503 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210227_091545 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Ben has been chasing me that we wants a passenger ride, Also Daisy turns 14 this year means she can come out on MSVT trackdays with me, So keeping an eye out i managed to get a in date FIA passenger seat
IMG_20210227_130810 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Sat in the car, but not yet bolted in, I have rogue seat base to fit it
IMG_20210227_154226 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Next up was the Decals and the dented wing.
The green on the graphics has faded badly so I have a new design I have made, this is going to be fitted to the car by Boost designs soon. but I had to prep the car first

Old graphics off
IMG_20210220_142348 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Daisy "helping" un-package the new wing
IMG_20210306_142111 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Wing change
IMG_20210306_151625 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210306_151633 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210306_153251 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210306_173559 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
Also notice that the dent in the bumper has almost gone, I took a heat gun to it

IMG_20210306_173606 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

I have left off the skirt for now to help with the vinyl fitting
IMG_20210306_173624 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Next up was MOT time. so on a sunny day managed to get a date in
IMG_20210309_102706 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Has a nice drive out. It is such a mega car

Now due to covid and working through out, My work has given everyone a little bonus which was nice, which has given me enough to book the car in for EMU black ECU I have wanted for a while. Its booked in for the 15th April for fitting and mapping
With that coming I want to get rid of the MAF and fit the intake how I wanted it. Which meant fitting the battery up front and now a cut-off switch.

So new battery ordered and worked out its new location
IMG_20210325_143721 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

There wasn't anywhere on the interior to fit the cut off switch so i have made a panel up, starting with some Ally
IMG_20210312_171543 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210312_171556 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Bracket for remote cutoff cable
IMG_20210312_193340 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Also a plate made up for holding the engine bay battery positive link
IMG_20210317_094925 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210317_162727 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Fitted up the panel
IMG_20210317_173851 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Battery cable started to run through to the cut off. Running the cable in protective sheaf
IMG_20210325_150516 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

remote cutoff mounted
IMG_20210325_170122 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

with a rubber bung to stop water coming in
IMG_20210325_164754 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210325_170134 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

That was today.
Tomorrow will see the battery cable fitted to cut off then to battery, fitting the ignition cut off too, and mounting the battery..

Here is what the car has booked this year so far

10th April Lydden Track Afternoon
15th-16th April ECU+Mapping
8th May Croft Track day
9th May Croft TSS sprint Round 1
11th May Blyton charity track day
7th June Castle Combe Track day
13th June Blyton TSS sprint Round 2
1st July Blyton charity track day
3rd July Anglesey TSS round 3
4th July Anglesey TSS round 4
23rd September Blyton charity track day
10th October Cadwell TSS round 7

should be fun!

[pistolpete12]

cheers buddy. it took a lot to get me motivated, now i am on it again i cannot stop

Due to Anglesey selling our sprint day to someone else a few dates have changed

10th April Lydden Track Afternoon
8th May Croft Track day
9th May Croft TSS sprint Round 1
11th May Blyton charity track day
7th June Castle Combe Track day
13th June Blyton TSS sprint Round 2
1st July Blyton charity track day
7th August Three Sisters TSS round 3
8th August Three Sisters TSS round 4
23rd September Blyton charity track day
10th October Cadwell TSS round 6

May add is Anglesey on 17th track day and 18th sprint in September, but we shall see

[DuncanM]

Great thread! Dog pictures make it that bit more special

[pistolpete12]

thanks.. Dogs always love to help

When i was sat on the floor doing the battery cable, they come running out, one sat on my lap.. which of course was helpful

[DuncanM]

pistolpete12 said:

thanks.. Dogs always love to help

When i was sat on the floor doing the battery cable, they come running out, one sat on my lap.. which of course was helpful

Brilliant

[pistolpete12]

Well.. Time for another update.. strap in here it comes...

Finished off the wiring for the cut off switch
IMG_20210327_121858 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

resistor down to earth for when shutting down while engine still running in emergency
IMG_20210327_121904 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

It off in this pic with the key able to come out normal running the switch it 180 deg
IMG_20210327_170853 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

the lithium battery. (which on the Rolling road performed brilliant)
IMG_20210327_170915 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

With the upcoming ECU fitting there were a few things to prep. One was the intake. I wanted rid of the MAF sensor, and a larger intake pipe. The only thing the mapper wanted was a Air intake sensor on the intake pipe.
So I found out what thread it was, got a boss ordered and then ally welded at work into the pipe. The pipe I played around with for ages to find exactly where the best place for the filter would be

IMG_20210329_173158 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

A Pic of wet dog on the beach.. cos why not.. This is Bess
IMG_20210407_153339 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Got a seat mount kit for a mk3 from Rogue, fitted perfectly as always
IMG_20210408_180144 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210408_182931 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Also fitted up an extinguisher. I want to get a plumbed in one soon, this was the best place I could fit to fit it up
IMG_20210408_182216 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210408_182909 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Next up, Ben had got a tyre rack made up on his trailer.... I was Jealous.. So had a chat with drawing office at work to draw something up for the welders at work.. Had a word with the welders and one of my best smiles.
Week later I had this
IMG_20210409_141147 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210409_141200 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Very pleased with it and now i have much more space in the car, and I don't have to drag everything out to get the tyres out
IMG_20210410_111834 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The above pic was taken when prepping to go to Lydden, just to see how the car was running before the ECU went in. Cheap afternoon local with a local club.

Prepped with all the tyres on
IMG_20210410_111840 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210410_123849 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210410_123857 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The track afternoon was terrible.. Personally done Lydden a few times. I definitely do not like the "overtake any side" no waiting to see if the person will let you through etc. but this is my personal view of course. The guys that were on track were fine as it was a small group of one club, not sure I would want to do an open day like this though.
It didn't help I was all stressed out before going, not been on track for ages, lots done to the car etc..
Then it rained. A lot!!

IMG_20210410_135642 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

This little Jazz made me smile though, he was having a lot of fun
IMG_20210410_144031 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

One of my mates I was there with had a small incident with the barrier
IMG_20210410_163134 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Here is it loaded up ready to go home, notice the wet tyres were on
IMG_20210410_174118 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The car ran like s**t, It still didn't want to idle, it had a massive cough before going into lift. I just wasn't happy. I ended up leaving it in 3rd the whole way round the track just to get a bit more wet experience with the car. I really hoping the mappers car sort or tell me what the issues are. It was hugely over fueling so suspect the lambda had gone bad.

Between then and going to mapping, I did manage to see Ben. This very cool car was outside his house (not his though)
IMG_20210411_132825 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

A bit more prep work.
Removed the carbon canister
IMG_20210414_143517 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Blocked the vac to it from the engine which would later be used on the ECU Map sensor

changed up the spark plugs, as it had been running so rich, also changed the coolant and the oil
IMG_20210414_143521 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210414_143526 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

While the car was out of the garage gave it its yearly sweep up and clean to get rid of all the "ends of cable ties" and loose bolts etc

IMG_20210414_175444 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210414_175452 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210414_175504 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210414_175609 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Early  Thursday morning I headed up the Road Tally Race  Engineering in Cambridgeshire

IMG_20210415_085919 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

This lovely brute was there having an ECU
IMG_20210415_093833 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Got my car in and the guys started work n it straight away
They were really pleased with the prep work I had put into the car, with the intake etc, They thought it had been all built well. They liked the exhaust, the location of the Lambda that was being removed for the Wideband meant we could run the new 4.9 Wideband

New ECu installed and it fire right up.
The idle still wasn't right. After playing around the idle control valve was not responding to commands.. That's fine I brought a spare.. Nope that one didn't work either. Checked all the wiring was correct, and it was all fine.
The meant he could not map in the idle control, but could map the rest. It just idled at 1600RPM

Mapping went well. Started to get a misfire at high RPM which after checking Earths it was put down to the alternator breaking down and not charging at high RPM (bouncing the brushes as bearings had gone). It cleared enough to get the mapping completed though
Lift is around the 6500 and Rev limit up to 8500, He played around with Lift location as to where the cross over point is as set it there

That night I left the car there dove home and sorted the other two spare idle control valves, back up again early in the morning. The good one I had didn't work, but the worst looking one did. Whoop, with the cold start checked and idle control mapped, He said to go take it for a drive.

Wow Main thing now is the noise!! what a thing, Its much easier to keep it in lift now, before I was having to bounce of the limiter.. I Love it!! It is a lot quicker off lift now too

Here are a few pics from the day
IMG_20210415_115029 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210415_123941 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

The dash I really want! was fitted on a FD2 racecar k20Turbo
IMG_20210415_171820 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210416_153458 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

And got a data logger too
IMG_20210416_165251 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Can you tell when it comes on lift
RR session 2zz MK3 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Hub Dyno Vid
https://youtu.be/x64cCxM3I6o

Back home nice and safe
IMG_20210416_165307 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Had to go get the Handbrake cables for the silver mk3 I am using daily, while there I picked up the next big puzzle piece (main reason for the ECU)
IMG_20210417_152515 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

But that's a later thing..


I have taken a few people out, just want to drive it..
IMG_20210417_164527 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

I knew I had to sort this alternator issue out so next up was take that out
Removing it meant taking out the ?Drivers side engine mount, which I have never been 100% happy with since the build
IMG_20210421_092246 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Engine mount and alternator out
IMG_20210421_112401 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Also took out and bunged up the last Lambda sensor not in use
IMG_20210421_094816 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

IMG_20210421_112406 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Pretty sure the holes were plasma cut out, they also didn't line up 100%. So I took it into work and redrilled the holes for a nicer finish, cleaned it up and painted

IMG_20210421_154838 by Pete Mason, on Flickr
IMG_20210421_171717 by Pete Mason, on Flickr

Now I am just waiting for the new alternator to arrive, I do have a spare but thought I should fit a nice new one.

This weekend will see the fresh new decals go on. Can't wait... Almost race day

[mrtwisty]

Another excellent and very detailed update Pete, thanks for persevering for all of us MR2 geeks!

Why the high lift transfer point? Stock is 6200rpm, you seem to be at 6500 now. Surely 5k or so would be better?

I'm sure you have covered this already, but what have you done to improve front end grip? I've done quite a bit of restoration work on my standard 2005 daily (KYB shocks, full set of SuperPro bushes, drop links, ball joints, Yoko AD08RS boots etc.) but it still understeers more than I'd like. Additional camber and a brace needed?

Where's that manifold from? I'm looking at modifying my 2ZZ Celica manifold to fit along with a custom exhaust, as I've heard that's the best solution for power?

Do keep updating your 2021 track visit list - I want to come see and hear it in action if I can!