I purchased the car from Bromyard, Hertfordshire...totally standard. I kind of knew what i wanted to do to the car even before i brought it, so i began to modify. It included:Hayward
& Scott ExhaustAussie Downpipe
Taipen II Carbon Air Filter
Greddy Intercooler
Paul Port Water Injection Kit
Paul Port FCD
Ogura Clutch and Flywheel
Apexi AVC-R
Unichip
I got the car mapped in the summer of 2003 at Owen Developments.
All this got me to 325BHP / 310LB-FT. The car was a true monster on the road. The car was mapped so well, there was so much power coming in from down low. It was a totally different machine. I enjoyed the car the whole summer. I was loving it.About 8 months later, i was coming back from Yorkshire on a wet rainy day.
When suddenly i saw my temp needle rise. I instantly pulled over. I couldn't really check for any leaks, since it was p1$$ing down. Called out the RAC and luckily the RAC bloke was extremely helpful and competent. He bled the system for me since i had clearly lost a load of water somewhere. I drove home off boost. About a 1/2 a mile from home, i though let me get on boost again. I wound it upto 1.2 bar and low and behold, the temp needle rose again.The following day, i re-bled the system and took it out for a blat.
1.2 bar and no sign of overheating. However as soon as i would it up to 1.3 bar the car was overheating again. I ran a compression check, and a leakdown test and everything was as it should be. After speaking to numerous people, such as Dino, Mark @ Owens, Adrian @ Fensport and Ian Ashton, this could only mean a cracked block. I was planning on rebuilding the engine in winter of 2004 anyway, so it just came premature!I dropped the engine and began stripping it down.
I took off a few bits and bobs and then i had other commitments. I was getting married, i was busy with work and was setting up a few businesses. The engine just literally sat there in my garage, rusting away for a few months. In the meantime i was gathering a load of parts. I then one day managed to get my ass into gear and was in a comfortable position to get the engine rebuilt by a specialist. I simply just didn't have the time. I was recommended by Dino to get it built by Ian Ashton.
Who after months of promises to pick up my bits, he didn't bother. I took days off work since he was promising to come down that afternoon, etc etc. Too late, the day he did manage to come down, it was too late my engine was being shipped elsewhere.I dropped the car and engine off to Steve Hill Motorsport.
However the guy who was building the engine had been sacked and they left me with a bill of £6000. I literally laughed at them since all they done was strip the engine down completely and some machining work and a few other bits and bobs. I eventually paid them £2000 and walked away even after all the initial promises they had made. Steve Hill Motorsport are apperently quite reputable, especially in the Evo and Scooby world, but don't even bother taking an MR2 to them, they looked totally clueless! I hired a van went and picked up all my bits and stripped down engine and had the car couriered back to me.It was around June 2005 now.
I had been without my MR2 for a year and a half or so. At this point i was fairly desperate, i was in a financially stable position and was itching to get the car on the road. One afternoon i rang Fensport. And had a long conversation with Tony. I had told him my dilemma and he said drop all your engine bits off to us and we'll send it down to our engine builder. It was only until Tony checked my address details and said you might aswell drop the engine bits off yourself, since the engine builder is in Daventry and i am in Coventry. So for me it was like 20 minutes drive. I arranged one afternoon to drop off all the bits. And this is when i met a chap called John.The instant i saw his workshop and the cars he was working on, i thought to myself, now this is one guy that is not going to let me down.
I had the engine built to my specification with alot of input from John, through Fensport. The initial plan was just to have the engine built and then drop it off to Rogue Systems to do the rest, but after seeing the quality of work John does, i had no choice, but for John to finish off the project.I soon realised he lived around the corner from me in Coventry.
..LOL. We arranged to pick up my car on a flatbed and delivered to his workshop. We dropped in the engine, wired it up and got on a Spearco intercooler. Put some miles on the engine and then done some road mapping and we began to make some good power. We reckon we are in the region of 430 odd BHP. However, we can't seem to make any more power. The limiting factor being the Spearco intercooler.So the current state of tune is.
..the engine is out and were developing a custom one off chargecooler. While were at it, we are also upgrading the OEM cooling system and making a one off custom wiring harness.Modifications List is as follows:
Gen III thick walled block
Custom built head with upgraded valve train
Pauter
/ CP long rod setup (1.65 rod ratio)TTE crankshaft
(knife edged)TTE Inconel manifold with custom adaptor plate
Garrett GT35R, ported and customised to my spec
Tial 44mm wastegate with custom screamer pipe
Custom downpipe
Hayward
& Scott exhaust built to my specPiper camshafts
Motec ECU
Kaaz 1.5 way LSD
Rebuilt transmission
Fensport triple plate clutch
Custom fueling system
Fensport triple plate clutch
Bits to come:
Custom chargecooler
Custom cooling system
Custom big brake setup
Custom Reiger Suspension
Still a fair bit of work to do, but hopefully it'll be
"complete" "complete" by the end of the year, now that TOTB is a no no for me this year anyway 
So overall, it has been an extremely painstaking process.
Being messed around by two so called specialists. However, my mind is at rest now, knowing the car is with John in Daventry. You just need to see the quality of his work to appreciate it. He delivers on time too and is a straight up guy, at work and away work too. And to top it off he knows a thing or two about engines and race engines in particular. You just need to see the fuel system he developed and installed on an AC Cobra...twin rails, twin swirl pots, quad filters, 4 pumps, all integrated in with a water injection and nitrous setup...its true masterclass.If any of you guys do want your engine building i can highly recommend John, however, you will have to go through Fensport.
Not exactly the cheapest engine builder, but when i say trust me its worth it, its worth it.When i first heard my car fire up with a base map, it sounded nothing like a 3SGTE.
..instead it sounded much smoother...much to do with the long rod ratio of the rods/pistons. When we began to map the car it really began to come to life. It just revved so freely and easily, in almost any gear, but sounded WRC like in the process, especially when coming off the gas, it pops and bangs and makes all sorts of weird and wonderful noises!I can't wait to get it back on the road
Thanks for reading
