to stop the auto pruning getting to it and as I'm only using the other forum now when using google cache. I thought id move my project thread to here as I can direct friends to it. This and my blog will be the only places im updating now. Apologises for the 3 updates in one go 
So I thought I should start a thread here instead.
Its going to be a long project with updates spaced quite far apart.OverviewTo strip a donor MR2 to be built on to a tubular chassis kit car, the parts required;
* Suspension system* braking system* Engine & gearbox* Steering system inc PAS* electronicsthis is obviously very generalised
so I bought a donor vehicle which is a 1992 turbo model with some minor mods, to date I have been stripping parts off to sell and secondly to make it easier to work on the car.
As I go ill be having parts reconditioned and every bush I can replaced.Strip 1; front suspensionSo i came to strip the car of its front suspension and it become clear quite soon something was a miss.
This car had a rev1 suspension setup one side and a rev2+ the other side. thats one way to confuse a person to a new car (as well as 3 yellow blistein shocks and a black toyota one!!). :facepalm: So once that was cleared up I confirmed I needed a rev1 threaded rod type suspension. So I removed it and first of all worked on making sure the whole thread was free of rust and then secondly burnt out the current bush, its now ready to be shot blasted and powder coated. As well as this the anti sway bar was removed, drop links
(if required) will be new. I also removed both hubs. This is an ABS car, so the first abs sensor came out so thought nothing of it. 2nd...snap... :ranting1: Ill judge whether the car will have ABS as I go, more research I've done says to ditch it as it was poor. Id previously had race logic traction control so I probably would find it poor.Both front hubs have now gone off to have the bearings removed and will then also go off for shot blasting and powder coating
(lower ball joints will be replaced). Pics will follow in this area as I get the bits back.Strip 2; brakesBeing a kit car, I want to make sure as much as possible I can stop and avoid incidents.
A kitcar is not a car to have a crash in. I researched options on this and have decided to perform an upgrade and use 200sx 4 pot calipers with uk Supra TT discs for the front and rx8 discs with mr2 brakes. This should give me an upgraded stopping power on a car close to half the weight.Both sets of calipers have gone off to be fully refurbished and powder coated at Big Redd.
Looking forward to getting these back, they will then be mounted with Gaz's adapters.Strip 1; Steering systemSo the first was to drop the rack out and also drop a load of the PAS fluid on to myself
Once I had come up for air, again I made sure all the threads on the rack were no longer rust ridden, best way I found of doing this was to use a nut and just work it back and forth down the thread, slowly cutting it back out. This is what the rack looked like when taken out.
One of my areas regarding this project is getting everything looking clean again and refurbished.
Rust is something I want to sto pand see, so used a product called rust convertor. You first of all wire brush the surface and remove lumps and bumps and then paint 2 coats on of this paint. It acts like a primer as well if you so require. I then had to make a choice, do I go for a nice shiny silver or a galvanised silver, which wont shine like OEM but will give me a longer hopefully cleaner car. Below is the outcome (you can see bottom right I didnt get enough of the rust off...was pretty angry with myself over this)
as well as this;
Powersteering pump
- out and refurbishedReservoir
- out and refurbishedPipe work
- all out and refurbishedElectronics
- still in the carI now have all the mecanical bits
/ hardware to the PAS packaged up and being stored. Next was the steering column. So first I had to drop the lower dash and remove the swivel joint off the other end of the column so I could remove the whole steering column included tilt etc..., this is what it looked like.
This was a tricky one for it, I used a paint brush to remove fluff but I didnt want to remove too much of the grease, so I cleaned it up as previously and below is the outcome.
The part I left was greased up for movement, but because of the light surface rust I will probably take apart and remove the rust and paint it further.
The eagle eyed will of spotted a 1 on the wiring.
Quite simply I am using a numbering system on all wiring. If its on the loom it may have 'ignition 1' and on the ignition just a 1...well its attached to the ignition :clapping: No number is used twice.
This is for the wiring at the end, my weakest point of all. I do hate wiring but after removing a supra dash to change a heater matrix and that included many many connectors ill cope.Current statusFirstly the biggest advantage with this taking a long time is keeping an eye out for bargains.
So far they've included wheel bearings and a bush kit at very low prices. bad part is not having the space to have a donor car and the new tubular chassis at the same time. I suppose the advantage to this is that once all of it is off the car and clean. the new build should be Mclaren style in a nice clean garage...hmmm maybe :blink:I've started to remove the rear hubs and components to the rear suspension, however I will need to find a car dolly now to move the car around first without one of them I will grind to a halt soon.
Once the suspension is off, the cooling system will be removed, prior to the engine.
