Back Again!
Exhaust Stuff!
So I got some O2 Sensor studs from GT4 Play.
Went to go install them and I'm fairly sure its a shared fault between the new midpipe and me.
Basically there was some weld spatter in one of the threaded holes, and I ended up shearing the new stud.
So welder out, get it back out and my plan was to just use a bolt I had lying around, then cut off the head.
It worked, so I went to bolt down the sensor.
For some reason the bolt ended up shredding the threads of the remaining
stud, and so I was forced to use bolts in place of both studs.
I'm fairly certain it shouldn't be an issue.
Both nuts were damaged too, so random nuts were used.
Went on pretty tight and had a new gasket, so no problems.
Hopefully.
Yes, that mess in the background is the brand new stud now in disarray, as well as the nuts I tried to weld to the stuck bit!
And yes! I wrapped the new midpipe.
The old heat shielding was tack welded together in some places, and most bolts had degraded into rivets.
I did not feel like dealing with this, and hey, I save a bit of weight! Hopefully this is good enough to keep heat in.
It's far from perfect, but was still proud of it none the less! That is some nasty stuff though!
And so at this point, I had gotten the old midpipe out by dropping the subframe, and I could begin putting in the new one.
It all went way smoother than it had so far, with the new manifold stud going in like a dream!
The subframe hanger was a disaster, as I fought to get it on, only to find out I had put it on the wrong way around! I only realised this once I had tried to fit the muffler! Getting it off was infinitely harder than putting it on!
It was done nevertheless, and I simply had to see what it would sound like without a muffler!
Here is a short clip of that debauchery!
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/71boglEuad0
I perhaps should have reassembled more of the car before I did this, but you only live once I guess!
Once I had gotten that out of my system, I went on to fitting the muffler! Not the old one!
I had no interest in fitting the old catalytic converter or muffler, as someone had done a very shoddy repair.
I'll stop myself.
It was a perfectly functional repair, I just wanted a new exhaust!
And so here it is.
The chavbox 3000! A Japspeed Decat exhaust is exactly what the doctor ordered!
I couldn't fit it yet! There was a problem! My heatshielding above where it should go was ATROCIOUS! Brand new shiny part next to old rusty part? NOT HAPPENING!
So I made the old rusty part into an old sometimes shiny part!
You can see how poor it's condition was, as I only had to undo all but one bolt for it to come free!
I will eventually replace it, likely with a custom aluminium one if I ever care enough, but for now this is what is going back on lol.
Sick of rolling around on the cold hard concrete and hitting my head on the underneath of the cat
/ other general contortionism I had to do to fit this, I just cracked on and here it is!
Suits the car better than I expected, and I was curious to hear how it sounded on the road!
Here is a short clip on my instagram!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGMbjMUK_Ic/
Long story short, my neighbors all love me to no end.
I went for a good 2 hour drive, got lost, found myself on some very dark roads that were twisty in all the ways it could be.
Not a lamppost in sight! I'd surely have been doomed if it wasn't for a mod I did just in the nick of time!
Headlight Stuff!
My old bulbs were actually dangerous.
I have no idea if that is how all of them are, but my corolla has 20 something year old bulbs in and its way better than my MR2 was.
That combined with the fact that the adjustment was way too high made it a simple neccesity to replace them with something better.
I really wanted to go with a different technology to halogen as it is flat out outdated and can't compete with modern lights blasting you in the face.
Problem was, all the solutions were super expensive and quite honestly ruined the look with the headlights up.
I hated all the bug-eyed LED units.
I needed something I could put INSIDE the H4 housing.
That's when I saw a little video of a guy testing out a chinese LED projector in a Clio!
Thats right, a whole LED projector with cutoff that is small enough to fit INSIDE A H4 HOUSING! How this hasn't made waves in the MR2 community I had no idea.
So I ordered them.
£40 a pair.
I was fairly certain I would go to fit them and they wouldn't work in the pop-up housing, and this would be why nobody talks about them.
Nope.
They went straight in with absolutely no issues.
Here is what the units look like!
As you can see, there is a little LED converter that you have to tuck away somewhere.
I just pushed mine between the housing and black steel
"shield" behind it.
Seems to stay in place well enough going up and down.
Whilst I was here, I lowered my headlights adjustment too.
Just an arbitrary amount that I now know was too much, but I at least used the garage door to ensure they were even.
Here is a side-by-side comparison with the original halogen.
Of course, you can hardly see a difference other than colour, but you'll have to take my word that they project light at least three times as far, and the high beams even moreso.
Supposedly, these are completely legal as they do in fact have a cutoff.
I'd suggest they are possibly a
"grey area" loophole, but plenty of people say that they pass MOT!
I would absolutely reccomend these to anyone looking for a serious legal upgrade to their halogens that doesn't ruin the original look.
I envy those in the future that will read this and scoff at our pathetic 2025 light emitting technology.
That or they envy our combustion vehicles.
Theirs will probably run on solar panels or hampsters in wheels or something.
Obligatory Glamour shot, as I'm feeling good about the car right now!
Feeling on top of things right now, excited to meet the gang at japfest in mid April
'25, but unfortunately I won't be showing as I was too late to the party.
Of course they sell out for the first time ever once I buy a car!
Will still be driving it there, just as a guest.
Have a lot of BS to chat with the MR2 guys when I'm there, and I wouldn't miss it for the world!
Will be at MR2 Nationals 2025 and hopefully Yakushi show 2025 too!
"Don't judge my nut & bolt management. I know exactly where they all go, and they will stay there until they are back in the car! "
https://www.instagram.com/phantom_sw20/
