Mk1 MR2 vs Everything else.....

[jrleech]

Lightweight vs Power.....

Lightweight is good, no doubt, but there's a limit to what you can do. I want a luxurious car at the end of this, so I'm not prepared to strip out sound proofing and creature comforts.

I'm getting a CF bonnet & CF spoiler. I want the SC engine lid on it (more to keep water off my clean engine than anything). Door skins could be replaced with CF, as could front wings and boot lid, but I can't see it saving much really (front wings weigh sod all anyway). Not saying I'm not interested if anyone is making CF parts

By the time I've added leather, speakers, amps and gauges etc.., I'll be happy if I can keep the weight close to stock. I suppose the AP brakes will save a bit...

Power..... I would hope that a professionally built, stroked engine, built with race spec components (that are designed to operate up to 10,000rpm) would last quite a long time if it was cam'd up to operate in the 3500-8500rpm power band. I can't ignore the fact that a quad throttle bodied, ported and polished, cam'd, race spec engine, with a lightweight flywheel and a custom header/exhaust will sound like the dogs danglies...

Hell, I WANT a 200bhp NA Mk1 MR2, so that's what I'm going to build. If I can loose some weight (and reduce the weight of the car ) then all the better.

Colour...

I was very tempted to go for a nice pearlescent orange, but I know that at some point, I'd go off the idea and end up with a scary car.

I really like light blue on the Mk1, but obviously I can't respray it stock colour, so I'm going for a Ferrari Pearl Sky Blue (Assurro California) that they made some of the 360's in. Interior will be various shades of blue leather, with some new carpets, trimmed sports seats, and skimmed leather covering the vinyl..

Nothing wrong with Yellow btw... I was going to go for a Yellow / Scooby Blue half and half paint job Also considered Blue and Orange... a la Irn Bru

Cheers,
Jon

[James_Ward]

Bonnet, wings, door skins (inner and outer - hell you got 20 large to burn, get the whole freakin' door made of the stuff....), T-bar panels/sunroof, dash, seats, trim panels (inside and outside), boot lid, headlamps, spoilers, bumpers, side skirts. I'd stop short of the engine lid tho 'cos CF don't like hot things.

That's gotta save a shedload of wieght... MK1 MR2 CRS sounds good!

[vashy]

hey! You can't go and build a nuts 200bhp mk1 MR2 and then paint it stock-ish light blue!!

pearlescent orange... mmmmm, yes!! I wouldn't worry about going off it, how do you know you won't go off light blue?

Just my comments - paint it what you like!

as for yellow, come to think of it, I do remember a certain yellow mk1... a stripey one... (; and I remember no other MR2 or car or anything looks quite like it... (:

[jrleech]

hey! You can't go and build a nuts 200bhp mk1 MR2 and then paint it stock-ish light blue!!

pearlescent orange... mmmmm, yes!! I wouldn't worry about going off it, how do you know you won't go off light blue?

I do like the light blue, and every time I look out of my window at my car, I think... 'it looks damn good in that colour'. It's subtle, though the carbon bits might alter that somewhat.

Found a couple of pics of a Vein's kitted Mk1 in Orange, complete with a black bonnet... looks very smart...





Looks to be a UK car.... anyone know who's it is?

Cheers,
Jon

[tonigmr2]

It was in one of the mags very recently...fast car or Redline I think.

Chap is in there can't remember his name, but I do have the mag somewhere...
T

[vashy]

Now that's what I'm talking about!

I like that.

damn, I *want* a CF bonnet now! I think they look good on cars with pop-up lights. I know it's not going to be cheap tho', probably hard to justify on a purely £/kg saving basis!

[jrleech]

I like that too... but it's been done. Even worse if it's been in a magazine, someone might say: "Cool car, didn't I see that in Redline Magazine", to which I'd have to reply: "No, I've just copies his paint job"

Suppose I could do lime green

Hold on... maybe I should. Ultra Fast'n'Furious style. Hell why not. Might sleep on the idea first. Interior to match bright green? Maybe black and green? I'm off to search for some pictures of cars in lime green

My CF bonnet cost me £460, inc postage... if it ever turns up....

Cheers,
Jon

[James_Ward]

Found a couple of pics of a Vein's kitted Mk1 in Orange, complete with a black bonnet... looks very smart...

Looks great until you see the back.... Ugh! Bloody DIY mesh vents look gash and totally spoil the look IMO.... what are they there to cool - the exhaust silencer??

Also that back end does not match the front at all. Why hasn't someone done a TVR style rear end on a MK1 yet with motorbike silencers and a aero diffuser. That would look sweet (possible idea for your project?)

[jrleech]

Found a couple of pics of a Vein's kitted Mk1 in Orange, complete with a black bonnet... looks very smart...

Looks great until you see the back.... Ugh! Bloody DIY mesh vents look gash and totally spoil the look IMO.... what are they there to cool - the exhaust silencer??

Also that back end does not match the front at all. Why hasn't someone done a TVR style rear end on a MK1 yet with motorbike silencers and a aero diffuser. That would look sweet (possible idea for your project?)

I agree, don't like the cutouts. That rear bumper fits on top of the old one, so you paint the old one black behind the cutouts, and bolt it on. mmm. Not sure how you clean behind there either.

I've ordered a different bodykit, which has a stonkingly good rear bumper, see this thread:
http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1613

I'm thinking of the Veins front nosecone from the Orange one, plus the side skirts and rear bumper from the white car.

Twin pipe (one either side) is a given requirement, tempted to go for the TVR Tuscan carbon end cans that I had on my 91 Turbo (MRD exhaust).

Cheers,
Jon

[MegatronUK]

Hmm... carbon bike cans...

Any idea if a couple of Fireblade, 916, or VTR/TL kind of size cans would be ok on a turbo?

Would the internals have to be removed or opened up?

[James_Ward]

I'm thinking of the Veins front nosecone from the Orange one, plus the side skirts and rear bumper from the white car.

Twin pipe (one either side) is a given requirement, tempted to go for the TVR Tuscan carbon end cans that I had on my 91 Turbo (MRD exhaust).

That back end's much better.

If it were my car I would ditch the black bit and get an aero diffuser made up out of GRP (or CRP if I was feeling rich) with a motorbike silencer either side of the diffuser.

Example of diffuser on an XJ220:-

[Lauren]

I'm thinking of the Veins front nosecone from the Orange one, plus the side skirts and rear bumper from the white car.

Twin pipe (one either side) is a given requirement, tempted to go for the TVR Tuscan carbon end cans that I had on my 91 Turbo (MRD exhaust).

That back end's much better.

If it were my car I would ditch the black bit and get an aero diffuser made up out of GRP (or CRP if I was feeling rich) with a motorbike silencer either side of the diffuser.

copying the diffuser from an Elise/Exige would be a lot easier though. What you could do is flat bottom the car with ally sheet and then get the diffuser made to suit the rear end.

[James_Ward]

copying the diffuser from an Elise/Exige would be a lot easier though. What you could do is flat bottom the car with ally sheet and then get the diffuser made to suit the rear end.

That would be cool if you wanted a functional diffuser but IIRC from my distant college lessons, ground effect aero only works properly on cars that are really low to the ground (or have skirts that are really low to the ground) so you get a good amount of pressure drop under the car to get downforce, ok for a racecar but not so good for a roadcar that has to go over speed bumps and stuff.

On a road car it would just be for the look so it could be made on anything, and if it's just for looks there's no need for a flat bottom

Perhaps you could buy a Lotus rear end and adapt it to a MK1, but that sounds expensive to me.... (I remember and EVO mag where the long term owner of a 340R pranged the front spoiler on a trackday, had to replace the front half of the body, total cost around 8K ).

[Lauren]

On a road car it would just be for the look so it could be made on anything, and if it's just for looks there's no need for a flat bottom

Perhaps you could buy a Lotus rear end and adapt it to a MK1, but that sounds expensive to me.... (I remember and EVO mag where the long term owner of a 340R pranged the front spoiler on a trackday, had to replace the front half of the body, total cost around 8K ).

Actually a 340R body is one piece so 8K would have been for the entire GRP body.

The diffusers on an elise are made out of ally, so i don't see why it would be difficult to fab something up in all honesty. I think the merits of a flat bottom or anything aero would be very limited on any road car. All elises have flat bottoms and an undertray that goes right under the engine and connects to a rear diffuser. Elises typically run 110mm of ground clearance, i think considering the relatively short wheelbase (and this is true of a MK1 too) that grounding out isn't really a problem. It hasn't been in any elises i've driven on the road.

I guess my point was if you were going for fabbing a difuser you may as well flat bottom the car in ally. It really ought not to affect the ground clearance at all as far as i can see.

[jrleech]

I agree that diffusers look cool, and if done right can create a 'jet ski' type of water spray out of the back of your car in the wet Not sure that it's favoured by the person behind you though!

As Lauren said, I'd be suprised if there's any benefit other than looks on a road car.

My concern, if doing it properly with the flat plate underside etc.., is that the MR2 needs the air from underneath the car to cool the engine and gearbox. Unless you're careful, you could end up screwing with the designed airflow cooling design, and do more harm than good.

[Lauren]

I agree that diffusers look cool, and if done right can create a 'jet ski' type of water spray out of the back of your car in the wet Not sure that it's favoured by the person behind you though!

As Lauren said, I'd be suprised if there's any benefit other than looks on a road car.

My concern, if doing it properly with the flat plate underside etc.., is that the MR2 needs the air from underneath the car to cool the engine and gearbox. Unless you're careful, you could end up screwing with the designed airflow cooling design, and do more harm than good.

I think something to consider is that if you do flat bottom the car is that you can direct air up into the engine bay pretty efficiently by having venturis in the underside. The elise uses NACA ducts fixed to the ally sheet under the engine to give good airflow up into the engine bay. Also the MR2 has panels that go under the engine bay anyway, so i don't think it would be a major issue tbh.

With a reasonable amount of thought, i reckon it would be pretty straightforward to do. I very nearly did this to my SC, but basically didn't get round to it.

[jrleech]

One of those jobs that's huge if you've only got a set of axle stands... A much easier job if you've got a full hydraulic lift and all the required metalworking gear.... I will, of course, look into it

[Lauren]

One of those jobs that's huge if you've only got a set of axle stands... A much easier job if you've got a full hydraulic lift and all the required metalworking gear.... I will, of course, look into it

I know what you mean. Back in the summer when i had access to full garage facilities i was messing with my geo every other week, but lying underneath a car makes it ten times harder.

Maybe now is a good time to invest in some old 4 post lifts? or maybe one of those things you can buy that allows you to put the car on its side?

[jrleech]

Maybe now is a good time to invest in some old 4 post lifts? or maybe one of those things you can buy that allows you to put the car on its side?

Not got the height in my garage for a proper lift Those roll over things... can't see me jumping at that after spending £1800 on a top quality paint job!

[Lauren]

Not got the height in my garage for a proper lift Those roll over things... can't see me jumping at that after spending £1800 on a top quality paint job!

Axle stands it is then