Markstevieandmads Budget Turbo project : PART ONE

[markstevieandmads]

Edited & Trimmed 26.8.17

Im an old member returning!

I started with Toyotas when i was about 20yrs old with a Mk1 blue mr2 which just didnt suit me so swapped this for a Renault 5 GT Turbo,Rs Turbos and most 90s hot hatches. I then had a family and progressed through various Mondeos and Vectras until I was a bit more finacially secure and had a Rev 1 NA, Rev1 Turbo and in September 2013 I decided i needed another MR2, this time another Turbo A MK2 MR2 Rev2 GT Turbo!





In good nick.Nice and tight clutch, gearbox very short (possible short kit on it) and is basically standard with a boost gauge and manual boost controller running about 0.8bar.
Standard wheels sprayed black with new rubber all around - and all for a great price.
Now I know it wont be used much as I have 3 kids but its my new toy.(well I have had it since Sep 2013).

Ive done quite a lot to it already but my reason for starting this thread is to keep a document of everything done on it as it doesn't have much history. If anyone recognises it let me know!

Now it seems like its lowered as it sits quite low. Ive had a look and the struts seem standard so im guessing its just sat on lowered springs.

I will try and keep up to date with the updates. I will list below what I have done so far with the pics I have. Unfortuantely, my memory card decided to give up the ghost (cheap rubbish!) so ive lost a lot of pics.

[markstevieandmads]

Sep 2013 (sorry some pics missing as memory card corrupt):

First thing I did was upgrade the stereo. It had a pretty decent pioneer in it but it was single din. Ive always had double din screens in my cars so I managed to get a good deal (which I thought at the time) on ebay for a pioneer double din touch screen. When it arrived, it turns out the sd card socket is all chewed and useless and the menu is in bloody Russian or something! Ive tried a factory reset and going through the menus but I cant put it back to English! One day I will get round to sorting it but in the meantime I know how to run dvds so I have music!



I also installed a spare sub I had with an amp but found the sub box too big and found it too boomy so I stripped that out and installed 6x9s in boxes in the rear behind the seats and a sony component setup for the front doors that I had spare from the rover. These all run from the head unit with no amp at the moment. This may change but its a nice good sound for now.

Also in Sep I managed to get hold of a missing door trim for the drivers side so installed this and found some roof blinds (its a t bar) in grey so sprayed these black only to find after that I had grey headlining! DOH! .....see later....

I carried out an oil change using Mobil 1 0w 50 oil (I did get oil free at the time from work) and a generic oil filter. After doing this I noticed a oil leak from underneath. Looks like its coming from the sump plug as I didn't renew the washer. Maybe also coming from the cam cover too.....see later.....

I also managed to install an ebay short shifter kit and replaced my worn rev 2 gear knob with a nice sexier knob

Lastly for sep 2013 - I managed to get hold of a set of rev 3 rear lights. I installed these with no problems and found that my car must of had them before as the boot trim had been pushing in to allow the lights to fit properly already. I tried trimming the centre panel in carbon fibre film but messed it up so it got a coat of astral black 202 in a rattle can for now. I may carbon fibre it if I find one somewhere.

From this:


To this:





Oct 2013:

Driving the car one day, I was on my way home and with less than 1/4 of a mile to get home the car just died. After numerous posts on here and the oc site I found my rev 2 ecu had blown capacitors.



A kind person on oc replaced the caps and repaired the damage but I still had a problem with it starting. Thanks to Peter @ SBits on here, we traced the problem to a faulty AFM. I managed to get a replacement second hand one local for £25 and the beast was back! An additional bonus to the fault finding was the fact that I managed to find that I had no CEL light and the bulb was missing so the clocks was stripped out and this was replaced with a new holder and bulb from Toyota.

In oct, I also managed to get another bargain on ebay. I picked up a set of full leather seats quite local for approx £10. As my half leathers were completely worn I asked the local trimmers how much to get my full leathers refurbed. I was quoted about £500! Sod that!
So back on ebay I acquired some leather paint, got my mum to sew up the hole and did a budget refurb myself.
Im afraid I haven't got no finished pics at the mo but here is a before shot (will edit later):



My side trims were looking a bit worse for wear so ,again, back on ebay I got a good deal on a set and also purchased some new decals off there so these were fitted.
I had some spare mesh in the garage and so as the trim was off I fitted these at the same time. Im still not too sure about it so the mess might be removed at a later date.



Being back on IMOC, I just had to have the new IMOC tax disc holder!


Nov 2013:

I decided as the car was coming off the road for the winter I would just use it then get all the niggly things done before using it in the spring/summer.

However before it was taken off the road and sorned I fitted a new front bumper with a jap style number plate holder as the previous owner had decided to use a sticker number plate in the UK style which just didn't look good at all. Pics to follow for this:

[markstevieandmads]

March 2013:

Car was due its dreaded MOT.....and luckily only needed a ball joint to pass! So now its got 12 months MOT on it.

I know the car is going to be put back on the road in April and as Japfest is only down the road for me, ive decided to get the car ready now I know its roadworthy!

Ive become a full premium member on IMOC.

Ive also acquired (again cheaply on ebay - it is a budget build!) , black headlining and a black carpet to match my now sprayed black t bar blinds so these are to be fitted before Japfest along with the bargain mats that someone on IMOC led me to on the net. The carpet needs replacing anyway as its very worn on the passenger side under the Dandism mats.

Ive also decided to do another oil fresh ready for the summer so ive "acquired" (again from work!) some new 5w 40 Shell Helix oil. Ive also bought a genuine new Toyota oil filter (and sump washer) again acquired from ebay at a much cheaper price than my local Toyota dealer! The oil was left draining overnight.

Ive also bought a new cam cover gasket and inner gasket with some RTV sealant to stop the oil leak in this area too. The engine bay is a dirty area in my car so decided as I got to strip it all down to give it a good clean and a coat of paint.

This is how I started:




Yesterday I started stripping down the cam cover.....what a balls ache!

Turbo hotpipe came off and throttle body came off. I found the TB to be quite dirty so this will be cleaned up nicely.



The last cam cover screw/bolt would not come out. The screw head was knackered. I tried a screw removal tool from Draper but my drill bits were rubbish so I ended up using my angle grinder with a thin blade and made my own screw head and used my big screwdriver to remove! Result!





All off and ready to paint along with the hot pipe,bracket and cross brace that's in a horrible worn yellow. Im also going to paint the heat shield but decided I can do this on the car. I know ideally I should remove it but im using smooth hammerite and its pretty much hidden anyway so its only to tart it up a bit. Im not going for concours standard!



Im using smooth hammerite to paint these bits as used it before and its held up well. Not going to show you the colour until its done

Ive also got some new stainless bolts and nice new washers for the cam cover from MR2Ben to fit along with it. The old washers were like plastic they were so hard.

[gerbil1028]

What was reg if old red rover 220 turbo

[markstevieandmads]

What was reg if old red rover 220 turbo

L465CRH. Its been scrapped now. Sills and arches were rusted to hell and I took the decision to spend the money on the MR2 rather than fix up the rover.
In fact, like most old cars, I made triple what I would of done selling it whole.

[craig]

Nice car fella, preferred it with the rev2 rear lights, but that's just me. Enjoy!

[gerbil1028]

As local to each other wondered if my old one lol.

[markstevieandmads]

Now the paint is dry, ive managed to finish the gasket renewal and put it all back together again.

So a before shot:



During:



And finished!



New gasket (inner & outer), sealant in the correct places, throttle body cleaned up inside (quite a thick scum of oil in it) and put back together again with a quick coat of gold hammerite to tidy her up a bit.

Ive also drained the oil. I had previously used mobil 0w 40 and it has only done about 1200 miles if that. However it seems quite dirty.



Ive got a genuine Toyota oil filter to go on (gotta get the bro in law to get my old one off as it wont budge!) and ive installed the new sump plug washer.

As ive started stripping down the headlining for its replacement , I took some pics of my seats I refurbed on a budget.

[Russellg86]

I popped a screw driver throw my old filter to get it Off worked a treat

[markstevieandmads]

I popped a screw driver throw my old filter to get it Off worked a treat

not sure how you managed that due to the angle and lack of space in a rev 2.
might just get myself a claw oil filter removal tool as my chain one don'tseem to fit.

[Russellg86]

Was my rev 2 tubby had the same problem. May of took some parts off to get into it

[markstevieandmads]

UPDATE:

Tried getting the oil filter off and it wouldn't budge so stripped off the hotpipe etc and managed to get a screwdriver through the oil filter. Eventually it came off so replaced for new genuine one.

Replaced a few jubilee clips for the boost pipes as wasn't tightening properly.
Checked coolant and topped up a little and then refilled the oil with new Shell Helix 5w 40.

I always leave a trickle charger on the car when not in use so disconnected that and with the turn of a key, the car fired into life straight away! Not bad considering its been sat for 3 months without being started at all!

Let it idle and moved it up and down the drive (its still sorn) and ran it up to temp. All seems well with no leaks.

If the weather is ok this weekend then I may finish the interior swap to black.

I also want to get the gearbox oil freshed (I have 3l of brand new mtf90 in the garage) and then install the stainless cancer bars ive ordered from Ollie at PW when they arrive.

Then a good polish & wax and a quick refurb of the alloys and we should be ready for Japfest!

oh...and the dreaded tax which may wait till May now so I can get everything sorted.

[gerbil1028]

[markstevieandmads]

ANOTHER UPDATE:

With it being a nice sunny day today, I cracked on with the car.
I forgot to put the trickle charger on and after 3 days it didn't have enough power to start
It does have a temporary battery on it which is a lot smaller than is required so it went back on the charger and could be started 30mins later.
Once I got some spare cash, I will be ordering one of the big heavy duty ones someone posted on here from ebay.

Anyway, managed to strip off the old grey headlining (after losing a tbar guide - see my items wanted post)



and got the new black one installed.(not the best pic)



Ive given the grey plastics (clock surround and plastic sun visor clips) a quick key,plastic primer and a shot of gloss black and laquer so should be ready to fit tomorrow if I have time.



To save money, im going to have a go at dyeing my grey sunvisors. If it doesn't work, I will shell out for new black ones.



I also stripped out the passenger seat and other bits needed to fit the new carpet I acquired for a bargain price on ebay. Luckily, the drivers side was also black and not worn so only one side needed stripping, replacing and everything put back in.

Before:



After:



I noticed I had a few missing plastic clips to hold things in so will get these replaced to stop any abnormal rattles.
I also fitted my new "value" mats I had ordered that was on a post on the mroc. They fit really well, though ive heard they don't last too long.





As the car was outside (a rarity at the mo) I installed the new stainless cancer bars I bought from Ollie at Paciifc Works. They were a nice easy fit and install was a breeze.



I had also noticed I still had a small leak. While I was under there fitting the stainless bars, I noticed a leak was coming from the sump plug. I had only just fitted a new washer when I replaced the oil. I managed to tighten it a bit more but I think it is still seeping. Maybe I need a new plug or maybe even a sump? It will have to do for now.

Next up, will be to fit the newly sprayed plastics for the headlining and refurb the wheels as best I can.
Then a good detail to bring it back to its former glory.

[markstevieandmads]

SMALL UPDATE:

Had a go at dyeing the old grey sun visors using some leather colour dye I had left over from my seat refurb.

First coat:



Second coat:



Touch up coat:



And all installed with the clips and lamp covering:



Looks grey with the flash on my phone but looks a lot darker in the flesh.
The visors feel a bit "cardboard" after the paint but they are used very little so im not worried. The interior looks a lot better.

Still got a small weep from the sump plug and I want to get the gearbox oil done before Japfest.

Im having a good think about the colour of my standard wheels. They are currently black but they need a quick budget refurb so may go for a different colour.....

[markstevieandmads]

Ordered some "uprated" tbar guides from MR2Ben and they arrived promptly.
Havent fitted them yet.

Also got a Bosch S4 Battery on order from ECP. These are 60ah 540cca so have a bit more "beef" than the battery I have in there temporarily. Cheapest I found for these were £56.49 from carparts4less on ebay. However , I managed to get one locally on order from ECP for £62.10 with a 25% discount code I found online. Ive ordered this as its only an extra fiver and I then have the piece of mind I can return it myself to the store if there are any problems (they come with 4yr warranty).

Ive also put aside the money for the tax so this will be done at the beginning of the month (may) ready for Japfest.

[markstevieandmads]

And just ordered a new sump plug and copper washer from camskill.
No matter how tight I do the current sump plug and fibre washer up, it still leaks so hopefully a new sump plug and copper washer will sort.

[slipping clutch]

And just ordered a new sump plug and copper washer from camskill.
No matter how tight I do the current sump plug and fibre washer up, it still leaks so hopefully a new sump plug and copper washer will sort.

I think that may be your problem - when you overtighten a fiber washer it ripples up between the sump face and bolt head instead of staying flat and forming a seal.

[markstevieandmads]

I know not to overtighten it and never did at first but it leaked. So I gradually tightened and tightened it which has helped but its still doing it so hopefully a new plug and washer might help.

[Peter Gidden]

Ordered some "uprated" tbar guides.

Not heard of those before... So are they faster than ordinary or eccentric guides?