1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

[craig]

Don't you need reverse lights for the MOT?

No mate.

Seems you're right, surely they are good idea though.

Not too fussed to be honest. I very rarely drive my car in the dark. Plus the stock reverse lights aren't terribly brilliant on the MR2. I won't miss them.

[craig]

Few more updates. I've been searching high and low for a twin exit exhaust, with no luck. I've therefore purchased a Japspeed exhaust. Not the best exhaust out there, but it'll do the job.

Also, bit of an update from the paintshop. My rear lights have been masked up, and the black borders painted gloss black. This includes the US red side marker lenses.

Masking then removed, and the light clusters and side triangles lacquered. They look rather smart. Especially as there's no orange, as the indicator sections have been replaced with Wolfie308 lenses:




Rev 3 rear spoiler has also been painted.

[JD]

Having driven for a time without working reversing lights - I can report that it made no great difference - folks on the whole probably don't pay much attention anyway lol. Although having said that, I prefer having them because I feel they are pretty helpful - especially as someone that wants to reverse into a driveway quite often.

[craig]

More parts arrived today:

[JAAASH]

Rear lights look awesome mate. Think I'll be asking Dave to do the same to mine, along with a couple other little projects I've got for him

[craig]

Rear lights look awesome mate. Think I'll be asking Dave to do the same to mine, along with a couple other little projects I've got for him

Cheers mate, DA have done a great job on them. Plus the added bonus of the lenses, is that they will always stay shiny now they're lacquered.

Looking forward to seeing the little projects you've got lined up. I've one more project for Dave then I'm done.

[JAAASH]

Exactly. Fed up of having to spend ages polishing them every year!

My little projects are nothing groundbreaking so dont get too excited, haha. Just gonna help tidy things up a little and tie in my colour schemes a bit more.


What's in the boxes??

[craig]

The boxes contain an exhaust and rear diffuser

[JLW]

Fair bit of work to the rear end pal, looking forward to seeing what that
Diffuser looks like fitted, be nice carbon dipped like the Tbar pannels !

[craig]

Fair bit of work to the rear end pal

Well, when I'm not happy with something....

looking forward to seeing what that
Diffuser looks like fitted, be nice carbon dipped like the Tbar pannels !

You and me both mate. The diffuser is being painted satin black, as a nice contrast to the bumper.

[JAAASH]

Sweet. Looking forward to the results. Agree with JLW though. Carbon dipped would look cool imo.

[craig]

Little bit of a progress update.

I noticed that the exhaust heatshield under the boot floor had seen better days!

When the exhaust was removed for fitting the twin exit, the heat shield was removed, and prepped and painted silver:



Much better!

This was then refitted to the car with new stainless steel bolts. The twin exit exhaust was then fitted with new gaskets. Looking much better under there:



In addition to this, my smooth oem panel has been painted and lacquered by DA.

I'm holding off on pics of the center panel/exhaust fitted, until the car is completely finished, along with the diffuser and center panel, so watch this space. More to come.

[craig]

Just to keep the thread up to date....

New rev3 spoiler gaskets have arrived. They were on back order, but arrived early, they are now fitted to my freshly painted rev3 spoiler.

Next up, the diffuser has been modified to fit with the Border spats and Japspeed exhaust.

The 2 curved sides of the diffuser have been removed (the bits that wrap around the tailpipes) because:

a) the 4.5" tailpipes are too big to fit.
b) They would have not looked right with the Border spats

The diffuser was then trimmed for a perfect fit in-between the Border spats, somewhat modelled on the Bomex 3 piece spats/rear skirt kit.

Once painted, the diffuser will be bonded to the bumper, and secured in the middle with 2 black self tapper screws (hidden away behind the number plate)

As the diffuser hooks underneath the car, it has been supported with 3 out of sight brackets fastened to the exhaust heat shield under the car.

Finally, as the diffuser was ready for DA to work their magic, Pete handed it to Dave, who got it in primer by close of play today:



Full pics of the rear of the car will be revealed when it's completely finished, along with a detailed write up and pics of the interesting Rev6 headlights journey.

[craig]

Right, Revision 6 headlights fully fitted!

First off, the headlights were dismantled. This revealed some bodgery!

The lense fittings were damaged, and rather than pay for a new fitting kit, the previous owner of these lights had bodged springs in there to mimic the original Hella fittings, as shown here:





With the dodgy springs removed, a full new fitting kit was purchased:





Much better!

The headlight housings were rubbed back of any surface rust and painted with POR-15:



Bought some brand new Osram H7 bulbs for the lenses:



With the headlights overhauled with a new fitting kit, painted housings and new bulbs, the headlights were assembled:



Now it was time to start looking at the wiring. Now, the stock Rev6 headlights have either dipped beam, or main. The dipped beams do not stay on(the outer lenses) when the main beams are on (inner lenses).

I wanted the dipped beam to stay on, while the main beam is in use.

Therefore, with the above in mind, Pete produced this wiring diagram, which is now how my headlights are wired:



This circuit uses relays and the factory car wiring to create the desired effect. I've retained the existing headlight fuses and utilise 3 new relays.

A new 4 pin weather pack plug was used for the 2 earth and 2 live wires going to the lights:



The relays mounted, looking rather oem next to the frunk fuse box:



And fully reassembled, and adjusted at the MOT station:



In summary:

- Factory wiring retained
- Factory fuses retained
- Quad light effect produced
- Main beam indicator maintained

Pretty happy with how they've turned out.

[C35Rob]

I've never been a fan of alternative headlights tbh mate, but those work really well on your car is that it for cosmetic changes now or is there anything else in the pipeline?

[craig]

I've never been a fan of alternative headlights tbh mate, but those work really well on your car is that it for cosmetic changes now or is there anything else in the pipeline?

Thanks mate

If I'm brutally honest, I'm sick of spending money on this car, so once I pick the car up (tomorrow), I just want to drive/enjoy it.

Currently no further mods planned, cosmetic or performance related.

[craig]

Reet, car now finished and back in my garage.

Drove down to Pete's this morning in dismal looking weather, that got clearer and sunnier as we got nearer Barnsley.

Got to Sbits about 11am, had a look round the car and a chat.

Took some photos of the car on the industrial estate at Sbits in the sunshine:











Also, I wanted a new tyre for my Advan SA3 spare wheel, as the Toyo that was on there was 10 years old

As it's only a spare, I wasn't fussed about it being a top quality tyre, so fired up camskill, filtered on price and bought a new 205/45/16 Accelera tyre for £37 posted

Advan SA3 spare wrapped in new rubber:



Also, took a pic of my car and the other half's 2015 BMW M135i together:



The 2 cars, a collective 626bhp

Happy with how the car has turned out. Much prefer it with a spoiler and twin exit exhaust. I think the Border spats and rear diffuser work really well together, and tone the looks of the Japspeed exhaust right down.

Just need to stop spending money on it now.

Thanks for looking

[DAN_REV1_TURBO]

Lovely stuff! Looks brilliant with a twin exit.

[craig]

Lovely stuff! Looks brilliant with a twin exit.

Cheers buddy. Your car was certainly looking rather nice and shiny when I picked mine up.

[androo007]

That's a badass looking 2 - good job