[Mk2] [Turbo] My new toy! UPDATE: Steering wheel mod!

[Tubster]

Hi all,

So I've recently bought a very-good-nick MR2 Turbo from MR2 Turbo Boy (thanks again!).

It's currently in the garage having a few adjustments/fixes done:

- Rear ride height raised 20mm to aid the ability to get over speed bumps
- Small hole in the exhaust (due in part to the above) welded up
- Power steering leak fixed
- Driver side seat bolt (was at some point bodged, being properly sorted)
- Small oil leak being investigated and fixed
- Cracked bleed nipple on the radiator being welded and fixed
- Fixing a very annoying buzzing sound on the radio system

Nothing major, just little things I've spotted and that needed done.

On my list of things that I want:

- Reupholstered seats
- New steering wheel (it's a little bit bruised due to its age, going with a replacement Momo probably)
- Upgraded speakers

With regards to the above, I was wondering, has anyone had any dealings with MR2 Interiors? (http://www.mr2interiors.moonfruit.com/)

Also I've had a brief look but is there a guide on removing interior trim in order to replace speakers?

Thanks!

And a quick plug - I work for a vehicle wrapping company in Cardiff, so at some point expect the car to be randomly chrome or something...!

[Tubster]

[craig]

Welcome to IMOC mate, nice motor.

Seats/door cards retrim is around the £500-£600 mark. Alternatively, look at fitting some seats from another marque?

Enjoy the car, only thing I'd do would be to remove the Tom's scoop, but that's just my preference.

[Ryan S]

Alternatively, look at fitting some seats from another marque?

as above, the newer shape celicas have lovely looking seats that require minimal modification to go right in, there's loads available in great condition on ebay too

[Tubster]

I quite like the Tom's scoop in terms of appearance but obviously I can imagine it's detrimental to the airflow into the air intake, unless of course I install a sealed airbox of some kind (even then not sure I'm actually gaining anything). I'm far more concerned about getting her reliable and cosmetically perfect than doing anything performance-wise.

She has had a respray though, I've been trying to determine the paint code as it doesn't look like the 202 Black, although I might be wrong.

[ads]

Looking good there ! welcome to IMOC

( Are they Skyline wheels ? )

steering wheel yes go for Momo or Nardi personal ( love mine )

Although I've no direct experience of this, if you're thinking of replacing rear speakers, don't bother just disconnect them - apparently they mess up the sound imaging; just add a slim active powered sub under or behind passenger seat. from what I've researched this will compliment a good quality pair of front speakers well. I'm no expert some of the audio gurus on here will contribute I'm sure.

+ 1 for removal of Toms scoop

[Tubster]

Looking good there ! welcome to IMOC

( Are they Skyline wheels ? )

steering wheel yes go for Momo or Nardi personal ( love mine )

Although I've no direct experience of this, if you're thinking of replacing rear speakers, don't bother just disconnect them - apparently they mess up the sound imaging; just add a slim active powered sub under or behind passenger seat. from what I've researched this will compliment a good quality pair of front speakers well. I'm no expert some of the audio gurus on here will contribute I'm sure.

+ 1 for removal of Toms scoop

Lenso Project D alloys

I'm going to pick up a Momo when I can; an oft underrated component is the steering wheel and how it feels in your hands, but considering your hands are on it 99% of the time it should feel perfect IMHO.

[ads]

Looking good there ! welcome to IMOC

( Are they Skyline wheels ? )

steering wheel yes go for Momo or Nardi personal ( love mine )

Although I've no direct experience of this, if you're thinking of replacing rear speakers, don't bother just disconnect them - apparently they mess up the sound imaging; just add a slim active powered sub under or behind passenger seat. from what I've researched this will compliment a good quality pair of front speakers well. I'm no expert some of the audio gurus on here will contribute I'm sure.

+ 1 for removal of Toms scoop

Lenso Project D alloys

I'm going to pick up a Momo when I can; an oft underrated component is the steering wheel and how it feels in your hands, but considering your hands are on it 99% of the time it should feel perfect IMHO.

Yes can't go far wrong with a Momo , the right wheel does make all the difference . enjoy your new year

[Ryan S]

Looking good there ! welcome to IMOC

( Are they Skyline wheels ? )

steering wheel yes go for Momo or Nardi personal ( love mine )

Although I've no direct experience of this, if you're thinking of replacing rear speakers, don't bother just disconnect them - apparently they mess up the sound imaging; just add a slim active powered sub under or behind passenger seat. from what I've researched this will compliment a good quality pair of front speakers well. I'm no expert some of the audio gurus on here will contribute I'm sure.

+ 1 for removal of Toms scoop

Lenso Project D alloys

I'm going to pick up a Momo when I can; an oft underrated component is the steering wheel and how it feels in your hands, but considering your hands are on it 99% of the time it should feel perfect IMHO.

have a look on here for carbenfibre full carbon steering wheel if you're after something different, i think it's a copy of a momo millenium, however, it's 1 piece made entirely of carbon!!!

[Ryan S]

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 08#1541408


here you go.

[Tubster]

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 08#1541408


here you go.

As lush as that is, I'm going to use up £150 worth of Demon Tweeks vouchers to get this: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorspor ... ring-wheel

Without buttons

The joys of being sponsored by Demon Tweeks!

[Ryan S]

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic. ... 08#1541408


here you go.

As lush as that is, I'm going to use up £150 worth of Demon Tweeks vouchers to get this: http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/motorspor ... ring-wheel

Without buttons

The joys of being sponsored by Demon Tweeks!

Image Replaced With URL For Quote https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/ ... 9302_n.jpg

niiiiice!!! i know that feeling, i have endorsements for all my drumming equiptment, right down to what i wear on stage



quite a bit more than i'd ever spend on a car though (including the car itself)

[Tubster]

My Superkart is probably worth 5 times what my MR2 is worth! So I hear ya.

[Ryan S]

My Superkart is probably worth 5 times what my MR2 is worth! So I hear ya.

hahaha, my cymbals alone are worth 5 times what my mr2 is

[Ryan S]

start a new topic for your superkart, looks awesome man!!!

[Tubster]

My new wheel arrived yesterday! Yay!

So, I set about fitting it today (I was at the Autosport show on Friday and Saturday). Here was my old wheel:



And here is what I bought:



So the first problem which you may or may not have spotted... NO HORN!

Second problem was that the original wheel was on a different part of the boss to the new one. As it turned out when I took the original off, it was simply a case of relocating the holes one click around, so that problem solved itself. I also got some tasty new countersunk screws

Next job was to wire in a horn. I bought a stainless steel button (15mm diameter) with a 3mm bezel. I decided to locate this at the base of the wheel rather than in the middle, in order to retain the momo logo, so I set about drilling a hole as big as I could (12mm!) and then filing the rest away to make room. Bit of loctite on the nut and the horn was in place:



Then I needed to get the horn wire from the centre of the boss to connect to the button, which of course is outside of the centre of the boss. I could have taken off the boss and fed it through the slot on the boss itself, but I didn't fancy having lots of wire outside of the centre of the boss, so I filed a couple of small slots in the boss for the wires to locate:



At this point I also made an earth wire and screwed it into the button:



I earthed the button to the boss itself by trapping the wire in a half-slot (half the diameter of the wire!) and screwed the wheel back on, and voila! Only a little modification that took me no more than an hour or so, but for me the wheel, pedals and seat are the most important factors for me to enjoy a car. The wheel in particular - the wrong shape, size, position, and it frustrates me every time I get in my car. Hence the change!

Completed photos:

[Tubster]

OK so a few mods down the line:

- Complete engine rebuild. The bottom end went kaputt because of a recurring problem with the turbo oil feed pipe cracking. This time it went and dumped all the oil out at once, resulting in a fun seize on the motorway with about 3 seconds of warning (smoke and oil pressure light). Total cost £1500.

ENGINE REBUILD DETAILS:

The oil feed pipe was cracking due to the exhaust manifold being split in two. We figured that it was blowing but I wasn't expecting it to be this bad! It was an aftermarket part so I bought an OEM manifold and had this installed. Also installed a braided aftermarket oil feed pipe that has some flex in to finally prevent this issue. The build required a new crank (or refurbed, can't remember), new big end bearings, basically a full rebuild. Thankfully the seize was in the bottom end but we replaced the pistons to be sure. Running it in for 1000 miles is not fun but I kept it below 3k revs and didn't use the turbo in this time. Thankfully the turbo was also absolutely fine, I was off boost and cruising at 70 when it went.

I've also had some more work done:

- New tyres all round (the rears were cracking!). Also had the camber and toe sorted so now have 1 degree of neg camber on the fronts. Rather than the neutral it was before to try to sort the outside of the tyres wearing.

- Upgraded speaker system with MR2-spec subwoofer box for behind passenger seat, and all the OEM speakers replaced.

- Crystal clear sidelights (not to everyone's taste but I prefer them).

- Refurbed alloys and yellow pinstripe added.

- Numberplate delete on the front (probably going to relocate to the windscreen as I'm planning on a yellow windscreen strip; this will house the numberplate in the form of a sticker.)

- Car lowered slightly front and rear


Here's how she looks now:

[Tubster]

Planned mods:

- Windscreen strip - probably matte yellow
- Custom seat covers - been quoted £200 to fix the worn bolsters on the driver's side, and £500 to fully cover both seats, so I'll do the latter when I have the cash. Probably re-cover them in full black leather with yellow stitching. Nothing wrong with the seats themselves I should add!
- Desperately looking for an Autopista rear wing. I think they are a massive improvement on the looks of the rev 1/2 wing without looking aftermarket.
- The front splitter is looking a bit tired; may try to find a fibreglass alternative and spray it to match the bodywork. I want to keep an OEM look and so I don't fancy a silly bodykit.
- I do fancy the 10th anniversary sills.
- Clear side indicators (the orange sticks out a bit now).

[Driftlimits Performance]

Looking good! I believe I spoke to your dad on the phone a few times. £1500 all in is a good price! Certainly cheaper than I could do. Any goodies added at the time?

I do quite strongly disagree with the running in process. Hearing 'take it easy for 1000m' worries me. Often that's how long your warranty lasts! It's no good for the engine.

You really,really need to give it some xxxx. Feel free to call me if you want to chat about it.

[Tubster]

Looking good! I believe I spoke to your dad on the phone a few times. £1500 all in is a good price! Certainly cheaper than I could do. Any goodies added at the time?

I do quite strongly disagree with the running in process. Hearing 'take it easy for 1000m' worries me. Often that's how long your warranty lasts! It's no good for the engine.

You really,really need to give it some xxxx. Feel free to call me if you want to chat about it.

I should add that obviously that's plus VAT and is just engine! There was a few bits and pieces to add on to that (exhaust manifold was cracked so needed replacing, downpipe was welded, they did my tyres and camber/toe and one or two other things) so the total bill was nearer £2500, but I was just counting the engine rebuild!

I've seen lots of people give lots of different advice so if you think more beans is required then more beans is what I'll give it! I've got about 300 miles left on that 1000 mile target so...

I should say that you didn't lose out on the work due to quality or even price, it was purely distance and time; my father's local garage could turn it round faster so.