Project MRX350

[MartG]

i think £25k is insane for anyone to consider, even to get a car like this.

Not if you look upon it as essentially a new car - and there's no way a new car with that performance would cost as little as £25K !

[Lauren]

i think £25k is insane for anyone to consider, even to get a car like this.

Not if you look upon it as essentially a new car - and there's no way a new car with that performance would cost as little as £25K !

To be fair though, Mart, as brilliant and lovely as it is, it's not a new car.

£25K is insane, but, I know someone who has spent more.

[PW@Woodsport]

I suppose that's it, one person might see that as an acceptable amount of money to achieve what they want, i'd be stunned if anyone asked me to reproduce the car at that sort of price level though. I'm very real in that you never get your money back on modified cars, you build them for satisfaction and personal use, not to make a profit.

I'm pretty sure it's a sub £10k car if i ever came to sell in years to come, for all of its parts/engine/bodywork it's still just a Mk1 underneath there.

I've noticed something odd conducting my survey <-lol , 95% of everyone online has told me to keep it, 95% of everyone in the real world has told me to sell it...... wtf's going on there!

[Lee H]

I had put about £25k into modifying my car mentioned earlier over the 12 years and that was a pretty much new car but in the end I only got £7k for it. That's the Vauxhall scene though unfortunately.

[SuperRedMR2]

I suppose that's it, one person might see that as an acceptable amount of money to achieve what they want, i'd be stunned if anyone asked me to reproduce the car at that sort of price level though. I'm very real in that you never get your money back on modified cars, you build them for satisfaction and personal use, not to make a profit.

I'm pretty sure it's a sub £10k car if i ever came to sell in years to come, for all of its parts/engine/bodywork it's still just a Mk1 underneath there.

I've noticed something odd conducting my survey <-lol , 95% of everyone online has told me to keep it, 95% of everyone in the real world has told me to sell it...... wtf's going on there!

We know you have put your heart into it and you are a true mk1 nut!

[Lauren]

Of course, Paul. You build a car to the spec that you want, not because it's going to be worth what you've put into it, but for the enjoyment of it. Nothing wrong with that.

I know I've spent getting on for £12K on my AE86, add labour costs for all the engine swops and rebuilds and it would be a fair bit more. The car is never going to be worth that of course.

That said, I admit if I was offered the right money I'd sell it!

Never mind that I've spent about £34K on the GT86.

But all said and done, as long as you're enjoying it it doesn't matter and after all, cars and nice cars especially cost money. That's the point of hobbies.

[Neil_turbo]

If it helps at all...

I have regretted selling my TRD since the day it went. That was for a similar amount of money, for what is at the end of the day, an mr2.

however, it doesn't mean it wasn't the right decision, as it allowed me to own an E46 M3

[PW@Woodsport]

Cheers folks, you've all helped me come to that decision, be it right or wrong i'm sticking to it.

In fact to banish any thought of selling i have just cranked this thing up a notch, today i secured the purchase of this....





That is the Harrop HTV1320 unit as fitted to the Evora S, this one is brand spanking new, zero miles, and comes with the inlet plenum so that it bolts directly onto my engine. I find the only way to rid thoughts of selling for £16k is to blow another £2.5k on the car

This will be going on sometime this winter, i need to make an idler pulley system to guide the belt around the Mr2 engine mount, an injector upgrade and a piggyback will also be on the cards.

I'm currently running more power than the Evora SC in NA form just down to my intake and exhaust manifolds (Lotus really are running their 2gr-fe's terribly restricted for some reason), so i have no idea what this will take power output to. Certainly over 400bhp i would have thought, but more importantly around 350lbs.ft of torque.... we shall see.

I have also bought a 6 speed gearbox which is going to be the next big Woodsport product, i will be test fitting it to my Mk1 once the bugs are ironed out, this new gearbox will handle the power from the Supercharged 2gr, and give it some very nice gear ratios.

New 1st:4% taller than S54
New 2nd:13% taller than S54
New 3rd:17% taller than S54
New 4th:21% taller than S54
New 5th:22% taller than S54
6th:54% taller than S54 5th

These ratios will give a "theoretical" top speed of 222mph, which is obviously impossible in any Mr2 for any number of reasons, but the maths suggests with areodynamics taken out of the equation that would be possible..... fr1g that! However it will give me a very nice 1800rpm cruising speed of 80mph.

More details on that when i complete the necessary parts.

Body wise i'm converting the car to tintop, fed up with the T-bag leaks, and sorting the brakes/suspension.

Thankyou for the offer, but no ta

[SySanguinary]

You Sir are a grade A nutcase.

Top work.

[Lauren]

Okay, you've convinced me you're keeping it!

Brilliant!

[kaiowas]

Lotus really are running their 2gr-fe's terribly restricted for some reason

Boring things that you don't need to be concerned about like emissions, economy and warranty mostly

[PW@Woodsport]

You Sir are a grade A nutcase.

Top work.

Thanks

Lauren the timing of this supercharger just came along at the right or wrong time (depending how you look at it) so it was a case of sell now or commit to the car for years to come.... it made the decision to keep much easier, downside is it's even more money i'll potentially never get back, c'est la vie.

What is the status with your AE86 now?

Boring things that you don't need to be concerned about like emissions, economy and warranty mostly

Such a shame, they really are strangling an awesome engine with that crap, i've never seen such big gains from an NA just by sorting the breathing out.

[Lauren]

I think, just enjoy it, Paul.

My AE86. Well Tom rebuilt the engine in February, I haven't touched it tbh. We need to put the engine and box back in the car, basically just bolting everything together. Thing is now, the season is over so we will aim to get it back on the road for next spring, so plenty of time.

I like the car, it's coolness factor is perhaps the most fun, but to actually drive it's not that good. Needs lots of money spending on the suspension to make it handle and then I guess the ride quality will be ruined. It's good fun drifting roundabouts but it's not particularly good at anything else.

I will do some upgrades like change the wheels for 15's as I think that will massively help it and try and get coilovers in time, though it's hardly a priority.

I'm really keeping it as an asset as the value won't go down. It may pay off the remaining finance on the GT in a couple of years time. Problem is for me the new car is just infinitely better and I know I'll hardly drive the AE86, though Mark is going to hopefully run it as a daily during the warmer months.

[craig]

Just spent the last 15mins getting up to speed on the developments of this car.



Paul, she looks stunning! £16K is a hell of an offer, but then this it's a hell of a car. Glad you're keeping it though!

Of course, Paul. You build a car to the spec that you want, not because it's going to be worth what you've put into it, but for the enjoyment of it. Nothing wrong with that.

The above quote, is absolutely bang on! Projects aint built with a view to what you're going to sell it for at the end.

Love your reasoning though, do I sell it for £16k? Nah f**k it, I'll supercharge it instead.

Great build mate

[PW@Woodsport]

Love your reasoning though, do I sell it for £16k? Nah f**k it, I'll supercharge it instead.

Thanks Craig, that was pretty much it, sometimes you just have to grab the donkey by the dick.

[craig]

I guess so

[PW@Woodsport]

One of the many reasons i'm not exchanging this car for large amounts of cash.... excuse the poor audio and shaky camera, it was my first try with my new car mounted track camera, needs a stiffer mount (oeeerr!) , footage from this morning going to about 5000rpm, things get small very quickly in the rear view mirror.

I'll get better footage/audio when i've tinkered with this camera a bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBbC9rf5YSQ

[pistol pete]

Makes a great noise
Need to get a decent camera for my car too now

[PW@Woodsport]

I had a quick play with the Supercharger on a 2gr engine, the big issue with using this in an Mr2 with Marcs amazing mounting brackets/Mk2 mount, is that there is literally no path for the belt to run from charger to crank.... at all.

I have come up with a system of idler pulleys that will guide the belt through a narrow channel on the engine, it will clear the mount bracket this way.



You can see the first two idler pulleys i have added to the left of the crank.



The left had one needs swapping for a 7 rib pulley as the belt grooves will run on it, so this smooth one is just for mock up for now.

Below is the new belt routing, the tensioner is not in place or the alternator....



I need to add a third idler pulley beside the SC, to kick the belt away from the rear cam cover....



The belt routing with the new pulley in red...



From above, the vvti oil feed line will need re-routing (red circles), the belt wants to run in this area, the belt will run from yellow line to yellow line via the new upper idler to clear the corner that is in the way.



The front belt routing path is unobstructed, it's tight but it will work.... there isn't really any other option apart from a complete redesign of the drivers side mount, which just isn't happening.



So it can definitely fit like this and retaining Marcs mount, just need to bombproof those pulley mount brackets and it's good to go.

[MartG]

Is there going to be enough belt-to-crank pulley contact to transmit enough power to drive the SC ? ( experience of slipping belts on 4A-GZE ;( )