Paul's Rev2 turbo

[thomp1983]

It is a useful bit of kit, you can measure all the readings from the diag port if you know what your doing but it's alot easier having them on a nice display.

I used to have it wired in permanently and if you use the graph display it can allow you to quickly spot when a readings

[Matsumoto]

Looks lovely! And good effort on putting her back together.

I love the way black polishes up

[Pauln]

Cheers.

Yes there's something about well polish black MR2. But unfortunately the snag with living on the coast is that the local seagulls also seem to be very partial to black cars and like to leave their calling card

Paul

[Matsumoto]

lol yea I have that problems with pidgeons! She lives in a multi storey Car park

[DB Mr2]

Good updates, last time I looked it was in body shop so pleased to see you driving it again. Interesting to hear about the tacho misreading idle speed and the engine bay looks great! Come along really well congrats.
I'm curious about this dongle? Do you have a link to a description or where it can be purchased from? Is it just a fault reader?

[Pauln]

This featured in a group buy post in the forums earlier this year Thread link

There are two bits, the dongle OBD1READ and an app for your phone or tablet TOYOBD1.

The dongle comes with four wires that you "plug" into your diagnostics port and connects to your phone/tablet via bluetooth and allows for the display or recording of sensor info on your device.

Having selected your vehicle from those listed in the app, there are various ways you can display the info, This is a snapshot from a replay of the text style I used to check my idle when the engine was warm.



You can also display the info in a graph which is more use if you want to see how things are changing over time.

The bottom row will obviously register changes as you open the throttle and or pull off.

I'll be keeping my eye out for any future group buys as its a great little gadget.

Paul

[DB Mr2]

Cheers having a read now looks like a great bit of kit

[thomp1983]

You don't need to wait on a group buy jean francois will do them individually someone on twobrutal ordered a couple earlier in the year

[Pauln]

As I wanted to change some of the leds in the speedo cluster any way, I bit the bullet this evening and took the cluster apart and adjusted the position of the tach needle on the spindle to try to get it to read closer to the revs as reported by TOYOBD1.



It's not perfect at idle, but at 2000rpm it's pretty much spot on. I didn't try it at higher revs as I've no wish to fall out with the neighbours, but it does seem to have sorted out the issue with the tach.

Whilst I had the cluster out I tried to improve the balance between the blue glow of the speedhut dials and the illumination of the needles by trying various different types of led. I had originally fitted 4 x SMD types but found these produced too much spill onto the dials themselves.

A combination of 2 of the smaller led types in the fuel and temp gauges, and 2 of the more powerfull SMD types in the speedo and tach seems to have reduced the worst of the spill and produced a more even result.



It's still not the best of photos, but at least this one is a bit sharper than the original one posted here. Unfortunately the stock boost gauge, which I swapped for a voltmeter, doesn't have it's own led and shares the speedo and tach smds via a "light pipe", so there's no easy way to reduce the spill on the voltmeter.

Never the less, all in all I'm pleased with the results this evening.

Paul

[Pauln]

It's been a while since my last update and whilst I've not made any major changes to the car, I have found time to get a few more bits and pieces sorted out.

I was never totally happy with the finish of the "sub amp board" I fitted in the frunk, so I've reworked this and finished it off with black car carpet. It now looks a bit tidier and the thickness of the carpet helps to wedge the panel in place better than before, without the risk of damage to the plastic trim.



The car has also had a fresh coat of under-seal applied. This was allowed to partially go off before a top coat of Waxoil was applied. The inside of both door sills have also been given a generous coat of Waxoil.

Whilst I liked the Sparco seat was originally in my NA, it always felt a bit tight for me and didn't blend in that well with the stock leather passenger seat. I therefore took the plunge and changed this for a Mirco RTS bucket seat. This has a much wider seat and therefore much more comfortable for my bulk. Being covered in vinyl, it is also a bit of a better match with the leather passenger seat.

I'm pretty sure this is the widest seat you can fit in an MR2 cabin as a trial fitting resulted in the seat rubbing against the hand brake trim and the top mounting point for the stock three point seat belt. I was also disappointed to find that I couldn't fit the front side mount bolt at the same height as the rear one, so the seat ended up tilted back a bit more than I wanted, and the resulting seat height was a bit higher than I'd hoped for. The width of the seat also made it difficult to reach down to the stock MR2 seat belt buckle to clip in.



I subsequently took the seat out and made a few changes to the setup to try resolve these issues. I've replaced the stock seat belt buckle with one taken from Celica. This has the same part number stamped on it, but the mounting bracket is slightly longer which makes all the difference with the Mirco seat.

I've also lengthened the slots in the base of the Sparco side mount brackets slightly, and as a result was able to drop the front fixing point one hole to level the seat out and lower the seating position. The plastic trim around the hand brake has been removed, leaving the mechanism just covered by the floor carpet for the moment. This has created enough clearance to stop the seat rubbing on that side. I've also made a few adjustments to the stock top seat belt mounting point which now allows it to move freely when the driver is actually seated. It's still a bit tight when the seat is empty, but that's not so much of an issue.



It's been a bit of a fiddle getting the seat right, but well worth it as I personally find it a much more comfortable seat. It also looks good and blends in much better with the stock leather passenger seat.

I've also fitted led panels in the roof light and replaced the dark brown interior light cover with a black one.



As black sun visors in good condition seem very hard to find, I've fitted leather covers to the existing ones for now. The interior mirror was also looking a bit shabby, so this has also been replaced. Unfortunately the leather visor covers aren't the best fit, but overall these small changes have smartened up the interior a bit.



I've also changed the colour of the interior clock to a blue tint by fitting blue filer kindly supplied by JLW, behind a piece of clear plastic cut from a cd case.

At some point I want to change the door speakers, fit chrome interior door handles, folding mirrors, anniversary sills, and replace the front fogs. I have most of the bits I need, but what I don't have is a garage, so with the bad weather approaching I suspect that will have to wait for Spring.

Paul

[Gullzter]

Car is looking great Paul

You got a link to the cluster bulbs you bought?
I've got Lockwood dials which are white and I'm not sure I like them but your dials look great!
Also does the data logging app run off Internet or can it be used with say an old phone with no internet access?

[Pauln]

Thanks. Still got a few bits waiting to be fitted including "new" front fogs, folding mirrors, chrome door handles and Anniversary sills, but I'm getting there.

I bought the following leds to fit, and then it was a case of playing around to find which worked best in which location:

4-SMD-LED-XENON-WHITE-QUAD-501-T10

4-LED-XENON-WHITE-QUAD-501-T10-W5W

1-LED-XENON-WHITE-501-T10-W5W

I think I though the first type were a bit too bright, and I ended up with the second type on the speedo and tach, and the single led type on the fuel and water temp. But it was a while ago, so I'm not sure if that's correct. The fuel and water certainly needed a smaller lamp to help balance things out. But it still left the top, in my case voltmeter, a bit bright, but as that just comes from the speedo and tach, you'd have to play around with the "light pipe" to try to reduce that, and I didn't fancy the hassle.

If you mean:

TOYOBD1.

It's simply an app you download onto your mobile and that then connects to the odb1 reader via blue tooth. So the only internet access required is to initially download the app.

Paul

[Gullzter]

Awesome dude, I've got a spare smartphone and I'm funny about selling stuff on like that with loads on personal data that has been used so could make use of that..
Suppose I just need the obd1 reader

[Pauln]

Yep that's all you need. If you can't find a s/h reader for sale locally, you can order one from jean-francois Breton:

http://jfbreton.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/TOYOBD1

He even does a version with a plug on the end now.

Paul

[Gullzter]

Looks good to me, thanks

Looking forward to seeing more updates from you soon

[Pauln]

It's been a while since I posted an update, largely due to issues on the domestic front leaving little free time to work on the car this year. Never the less I've managed to make a little bit of progress.

The reflectors on the front steering fogs were already starting to rust when I purchased the car, but it took me a while to find another pair in good condition. Eventually a pair came up on ebay that even had the fixing holes largely intact, so I purchased these from MR MR2 in double quick time, and have now fitted these to the car. I've never been too happy with the output of the stock headlights, so I decided to purchase a pair of eBay crystal headlights and a couple of Osram Nightbreaker H4 lamps to go in them. Much to my surprise the screws holding the old headlamps in place actually came off without any fuss, and this has to have been one of the quickest and easiest upgrades I've made so far. The light output is certainly much better than with the old units. The only trouble is the fog and side lights now look a bit yellow by comparison.



I also took the opportunity to add a bit of bling to the frunk by fitting an IMOC brushed aluminium fuse box cover purchased earlier this year. Whilst I was at it, I also fitted a new slightly smaller 330mm x 165mm front number plate using double sided tape, rather than the ugly large bolts that held the previous one on. The frunk now benefits from a gas ram kit purchased from IMOC member Chris_9011. I did find it quite hard to compress the gas rams sufficiently to install them, and in the end enlisted the help of a ratchet luggage strap. Once installed they look great and work really well.



The engine bay has also been fitted with a gas ram kit and IMOC brushed aluminium fuse box cover.



I've also swapped the stock ECU for a Blitz Access ECU purchased from IMOC member jonnybegoode. This was an upgrade rather than a replacement as there were no problems with the stock ECU, which I intend hanging onto as Rev 2 Turbo ECUs are becoming quite hard to find.



I also know that fitting an Access ECU can be something of a lottery as you can never be certain how its been setup, or the mods it's been setup for. But all I can say is that subjectively the engine now feels less restrictive, more responsive and boost appears to be smoother and more progressive hitting around 0.8 bar without any effort at all on the local dual carriageway, which wasn't always the case with the stock ECU. The car currently has an Apexi air filter, uprated side mounted intercooler and Spal fan, Super Dragger exhaust and I was told a CT20 turbo. But unfortunately I have no idea whether the head gasket was upgraded at the same time. I've not really had a chance to push the new setup that hard yet, but so far I'm well pleased.

A new number plate was fitted to the rear of the car when it was in the body shop last year, but it was a bit off centre and pushed right up against the number plate lamps. So this has now been replaced with a new plate that matches the front plate and is correctly position using the JDM bottom brackets.



And finally, I fitted a budget Auto-vox A118-c B40 Dashcam and GPS module behind the rear view mirror and hard wired this into a fused ignition supply. The A118 records at 1080p resolution and is no match for the more expensive HD cameras available, but the image quality is OK for number plate recognition.

I did however find night time performance disappointing. On the plus side it is small enough to fit behind the rear view mirror and is therefore quite discrete, but hard to photograph.





So nothing spectacular, just a few minor niggles sorted out.

[JLW]

Hi Mate

Glad I could help out with the Clock mod, cars looking great.
I also have a similar issue with the seat belt bracket as I'm running
Corbeau Pro Series ( also in Leather ) They have a similar high side
bolster and its a difficult but not impossible task to get the belt in.

What model of Celica did you take the seat belt bracket with buckle or whatever its called from. Being longer is ideally what it needs !

Thanks.

J.

[Pauln]

Hi Jordan

Thanks.

The seat belt anchor/buckle I used came from a Celica Mk6 I managed to find on eBay. Straight fit other than changing the plug over if you want to retain seat belt warning light. From memory I think the Celica clip had more wires than the MR2 clip, so you need to use a meter to work out which wires you need.

The increased length makes it just about the right height, just below the bolster.

Unfortunately the seats I've fitted are very wide, so the narrow gap between the bolster and the central tunnel means it's still a bit fiddly, but at least I find it usable now, unlike with the stock clip.

The MOT examiner wasn't too happy with it though, and whilst he didn't fail the car, he did suggest I fit an extender. So before the next MOT I'm going to have to buy one of those cheap eBay extenders just for the MOT.

I'm not personally convinced how safe those are as they look cheap and flimsy. But hopefully it will keep the tester happy next year, and then I can just chuck it in the glove box 'till next time

Paul

[JLW]

Ah cool , ill try to get one or go to the local scrapyard and see if I
can find one. With my seats there is about a 3 inch gap, and theres a trick
to getting the belt in that I have learnt, but this will help.

Where have you fastened the buckle bracket to ?
I am using the bolts that sit on the transmission tunnel
but am not sure that they are safe or sufficient enough ?

[Pauln]

I don't think using the bolt on the tunnel is a good idea as that's just been designed to hold the seat belt runner/bracket thingy, rather than the full force put on the actual lap belt fixing point during an accident.

I've actually fitted the Mirco bucket seat onto Sparco runners because I wanted to retain easy for and aft adjustment, so the seat frame already has a seat belt bracket welded to it which I used for the stock three point harness.

Are you using any sort of seat frame? If you are I'd be inclined to try to find a way of welding a suitable bracket welded on to that.

For the lap belt of the Scroth harness I fitted an eye bolt in the floor adjacent to the bolt on the tunnel.



That area of the floor is much thicker and with a spreader plate underneath I thought that's likely to be a much safer option that the small tunnel bolt.

It might be possible to use adapt an eye bolt to attach the stock buckle to the floor, or fabricate some sort of bracket. But you would need to be careful to align it so the force was being taken in the correct direction when in use.

Paul