TRH's AW11 MR2

[the_random_hero]

Hey guys, I've had this for a little while now but haven't yet posted up pictures.

1988 AW11 MR2, 240k kms on the clock and in pretty good nick. Suspension is a little old, but engine is in the prime time of it's life. It's in the process of becoming a road-registered track car, which I'm guessing will take me a couple of years to do (engine build is going to be fairly expensive, but that's coming last). I'm doing as much of the work as I can myself, all the machining is going to be done by a mate then I'm going to put the engine together myself, along with doing all of the fab stuff at work. I would love to get it registered in my name right now and road ready, but it won't be back on the road for a little while yet so it's under covers in the driveway for now.

So far I have:

*stripped under-bonnet and boot trims

*removed 1/2 AC system, still have hard lines underneath car and compressor to go

*Kelsport shifter bushing kit

*TRD shift knob (for the +5kw)

*removed all non-essentials from cabin (trims still to come out)

*rocker covers modified for -10 fittings

*catch can is in progress of being made

*heaps of crinkle coating of bits in engine bay

*complete Superpro bushing kit ready to be fitted

*adjustable end links in mail

*DBA rotors + Bendix pads on rear (temporary).

*TRD rear sway bar + bushings should be organised by end of week.

Still to be done in the near future (apart from engine) is:

*sort out front rust

*continue stripping trims

*engine back together

*new radiator + hoses

*tuned length headers, high flow cat + Magnaflow mufflers

I'll be updating this as things get done.

You are a spider, not a bolt. Get out of there. You don't even have threads!

Rust where blower motor sits

Crinkle-coated throttle bracket.

Crinkle-coated cam valley cover

Kelsport bits and pieces.

Oohers.

Edited December 7, 2009 by the_random_hero

[DJKOR]

Should be interesting to see this one as it comes along.

Take care when pulling stuff apart eh. I haven't seen a Redback in ages actually.

[the_random_hero]

Should be interesting to see this one as it comes along.

Take care when pulling stuff apart eh. I haven't seen a Redback in ages actually.

That's because they're living in my car :P I've found five of them so far, I think there might be some more still left.

[J e r e M y]

Should be interesting to see this one as it comes along.

Take care when pulling stuff apart eh. I haven't seen a Redback in ages actually.

That's because they're living in my car :P I've found five of them so far, I think there might be some more still left.

:P daymns! found 5? better becareful ey!!!

maybe spray insecticide and air the car after.. just to be safe..

[cruzer]

Should be interesting to see this one as it comes along.

Take care when pulling stuff apart eh. I haven't seen a Redback in ages actually.

That's because they're living in my car :P I've found five of them so far, I think there might be some more still left.

:P daymns! found 5? better becareful ey!!!

maybe spray insecticide and air the car after.. just to be safe..

yeh i agree my car was like this as well i just sprayed cans of bugspray all in it and aired the car and no no more spiders plus i did take all the interior out that helps a bit so u can look around but yeh good luck with the build

[HI ROLLA]

Nice MR2 you got there..... My mates got one just like it, just had it fully resprayed and new body kit as well not too long ago. Attatched pics below (Soz they kind of dodgey, taken with my old crappy camera, looks heaps better in person!):

[the_random_hero]

Nice MR2 you got there..... My mates got one just like it, just had it fully resprayed and new body kit as well not too long ago. Attatched pics below (Soz they kind of dodgey, taken with my old crappy camera, looks heaps better in person!):

Good old black bonnets :P I'm first doing the vented bonnet mod and painting the lights black, if that doesn't work out I'll just get a CF bonnet and paint it black.

Gotta be road legal, at least, LOOK road legal :D

[the_random_hero]

Ok guys, updates! I've been pretty busy/slack lately with the old AW11, but finally got around to doing some things.

*TRD rear sway bar and adjustable alloy end links are freshly fitted

*Catch can is FINALLY finished

*Intake manifold is ready for HPC coating.

*Rocker covers are done BUT I just chipped them test fitting them. Looks like a good excuse to have them HPC coated.

*Old intake piping ditched, new intake is being made (have to get crazy with lobster-back welding)

Some new pictures.

Ooh pretty. All -10 ANJ fittings, baffled AND filtered. Getting coated matte black.

So I herd u liek intaek pipingz?

So pretty, devastated I chipped them after the photo :(

You can see the adjustable end links tucked away up there. They are just as tight as they can go, all suspension tuning is going to be done at one go @ Accurate Suspensions.

Edited June 27, 2009 by the_random_hero

[the_random_hero]

Did some more exploring today, realised two things:

*not gonna be able to fit all these SuperPro bits at home. I need at least a rattle gun or a MASSIVE breaker bar to get some of the nuts off.

*I have a bent rear tie rod, which explains the wobbley rear right wheel.

So, alloy radiator is off the books for now, have just ordered 4 new ball joints and new stainless rear tie rods.

[1stKill]

Found these... :)

[the_random_hero]

Do not want MRS, like that Adub though. I didn't know that engine bay vent was on the other side in LHD vehicles!

Somehow managed to get the control arms off (thought I was going to snap the ratchet, so very pleased with my Kincrome stuff - 4ft breaker bar on the end and it survived!), will have another crack at the strut bars tomorrow when I load up with some 3/4" drive bits from work.

[the_random_hero]

Aaaaalrightey. Lower control arms have been bushed, ball-jointed and torqued back up. Still having some epic, epic problems getting the front nut off the strut bars, but I'll work it out eventually. Bushings are done on the rear, ran out of time before I could do the ball joints though at work. Still needing to make something up to remove tie rod ball ends, anybody have the proper tool to do it I can borrow?

I'm hoping to have all the bushings and basic suspension bits (apart from tie rods which are still in the mail and coilovers which are yet to come) done by the weekend. I just need to weld a speedflow fitting to the intake and then it's all ready to be HPC coated - will have to chase down Rowans intake to be done at the same time :P

[spillige]

nice little ride, will be fun to watch the development on this car, looks like you have a big job on your hands.

good luck mate

[the_random_hero]

Baby update - found out the strut rods mounts can be taken off, although it's taking all my strength to undo the bolts. Good thing is I can take it all in one piece to work, hook it up in a vice and crack at it with a rattle gun.

[MR22ZZ]

lol, I was just about to comment on the strut rod mounts, I had to take mine off when reinstalling after doing the bushes myself.

the best way is to crack the nuts that connect the strut rod to the lower control arm, then loosen the nuts on the end of the strut rod (remember to mark the position to make it easier to find the correct castor after you reinstall everything), undo the strut rod mount so you can get it out the way, that gives you heaps of room to wiggle and leaverage the castor rod out of the LCA holes.

[the_random_hero]

Cheers for the advice, I'll know if I ever (hopefully not :P) have to do one of these again. Just putting strut rods back in now, all came off nice and easily with a rattle gun. Cleaned the threads down, lined them with teflon spray and copper anti-stick so they shouldn't bind up again.

Rear ball joints are now in, having issues finding somebody who stocks tie rod ball joints but I guess I'll keep looking.

[the_random_hero]

Whole rear of the car is finally back together :) I'm removing the whole of my exhaust, going to jig it up and make it piece by piece at work.

[the_random_hero]

Some AWESOME news. I discovered a bit of a rust stain that had dripped onto my front bar from somewhere underneath it and got a little bit worried. I removed basically the whole front section of the car (including what was left of aircon gear) and found this.

You might wonder why it's awesome news something is rusty? All I have to do is fix it is get another one from a shell, and it's fixed. No rust in the chassis (apart from two small spots of surface rust), all front panels are in great condition (ready to be blasted and put into primer), indicators are absolutely mint, etc.

All I need at the moment is a bit more money to come in, tax return should put me a LOT closer to having this finished :)

[Metalcoremarc]

car looks rad

cant wait to see it when finished

[the_random_hero]

Progression for the day - factory oil cooler is out (going to make a replacement pipe tomorrow), sandwich plate is ALMOST out, intake manifold is back on, gave everything a good clean with petrol/carby cleaner (so much caked on crap), started hooking vacuum lines up, EGR is completely gone and TRD short shifter is on. In the past week or so I've stripped all the useless bits (speakers, antenna, all AC gear, etc) so the car is slowly getting there, main limiter is money :( This is all my pretty stuff I got back from HPC, so very impressed with the quality of their work.

[spillige]

nice progress, can you explain the catch tank to me, what end is the oil drain line coming off

[the_random_hero]

nice progress, can you explain the catch tank to me, what end is the oil drain line coming off

In the normal PCV system, pressure will build up in the rocker covers due to blowby (as rings will be worn). The top of the rocker covers is hooked up just in front of my throttlebody, so when throttle is open the air flowing past it sucks all the crap out of them (and provides slight vacuum, which is good for performance). Problem with my car (and a lot of other smaller Toyota's as a fact) is that going around HARD corners, oil will surge into the head and can be sucked right into the throttlebody, so the car will blow an epic amount of smoke and everything will get dirty, which is bad for performance.

What I've done is removed the original fittings and added -10 fittings to the tops of both rocker covers. These are going to be T pieced and run to the middle (in the photo the catch can is upside down) fittings. From there, the fitting just above it will be hooked back into the intake piping (as you can see on the piece of piping). As the air/oil crap comes out of the rocker covers, it has to flow through a baffle and a 'scrubber' (literal in this sense, I used stainless scrubbing pads) so all the oil vapour is removed and flows to the bottom of the catch can. The air going back into the intake piping is now free of oil, so will burn better, reduce chance of detonation, etc.

The fitting by itself at the bottom of the catch can can either be blocked off and then drained occasionally, or hooked directly back into the sump. I have the option to do both at the moment (have a spare tapped fitting where the factor cooler was), still undecided what I'm going to do.

[spillige]

nice one, you used a metel srubber for the baffling...thats what i did.. :D if i was you id use the bottom thread as a direct line to the block, might as well...

[the_random_hero]

Alright, progress but I've come across some hassles. I now have rear tie rods, I would have preferred them to be black instead of anodized gold but I'll put up with them I guess :P

I started the tedious (and expensive) process of replacing every bolt in the car with internal-hex headed stainless bolts and stainless nuts. It's not a necessary mod, but at least I know they won't be source of any rust. Speaking of which, I've removed the vent behind the drivers door and checked the rust out, it looks pretty damn easy to fix. I just need to cut a small piece of panel out and replace it, and it's all fixed. Looked through as much of the now-exposed chassis for rust and it hasn't spread from the little problem area's I already knew of.

Now, my main issue at the moment is with my remote filter and cooler setup. Because of the mounting surface on the block being angled to the tapped section for the union bolt, I will have to have a spacer machined up and then work out a mounting system which is going to be a huge pain in the *****. I still really have no idea how I'm going to do it, but I guess I'll work something out.

Got more coated goodies back from HPC, I will start putting the engine bay back together tomorrow in preparation for getting the car towed into work hopefully this week.

[the_random_hero]

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee, bits are back on the engine and she's ready to be towed tomorrow morning. Sorted out remote filter/cooler setup, turns out I'm just an idiot. Still have to drain the sump as soon as it stops raining, don't think the towie will appreciate 3L of Castrols finest all over his tray...

Some pics - keep in mind I'm yet to put everything back together, really happy with how things have worked out so far though.