1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

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craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Prior to taking on this project, I owned a 1994 Revision 3 GTS Turbo tin top:

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This car was used as a donor for the T bar project. In hind sight, I wished I'd not bothered, but hey ho! :lol:

Having said that, you can't beat a T bar when its 25-30 degrees outside! 8)

History of the T bar

The car was imported in 2004, as a 1994 Revision 3 GT Turbo. In 2011 it was broken for spares and left in Pete's compound for dead for 2 years as a breaker:

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Last edited by craig on Thu Jul 05, 2018 5:07 pm, edited 13 times in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

The shell was in pretty good shape, given the fact it was sat in a compound for 2 years untouched.

The rear exhaust grill was cut off high up, before the rear bumper was refitted. The section the rear grill was cut off from was given the waxoyle protection treatment.

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Welding to the drivers side sill was required, as it had a hole in it:

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:shock:

The paint was rubbed down to bare metal to make sure all the affected metal was removed. The affected section was cut out, and a new piece cut to suit:

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Then welded in:

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In addition, a brand new radiator support bracket was fitted:

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The passenger sill required no work, as it was perfect. With both sills solid, the car was transported on a trailer to the body shop for a full respray in non standard jet black paint. One tired looking '94 turbo in its original 202 paint on its way to the bodyshop:

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The respray is a full bare shell respray. No glass or trim was left on the shell when it was painted. The result - zero lacquer lines.

Once the shell had been resprayed, it was loaded back onto the trailer and on its way back to Sbits:

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Back at sbits, the T bar and my donor tin top side by side, ready to start swapping everything over and rebuilding the T bar:

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The sills, rear grill area and inner arches have been protected with waxoyle, and the outer sills rubber coated for maximum protection against the elements:

Rear grill removed and waxoyled:

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Arches waxoyled:

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Sills rubber coated:

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As the windscreen was transferred from the tin top, a new windscreen seal was ordered from Toyota and fitted:

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With all the rest of the body panels from the tin top painted, it was time to look at what could be done to the engine whilst it was out of the car.

The following work was carried out on the engine:

-Cam cover painted silver. Inlet manifold also painted silver, along with new sticker from Toyota:

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-Throttle body painted silver:

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-Custom wrapped exhaust heat shield in NimbusII:

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-New head gasket
-New cambelt
-New water pump
-Freshly refurbished CT26 hybrid turbo
-Goodridge fuel line:

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-Block casing painted black
-New hose from hell
-New oil cooler
-HKS SSQV separated and painted gloss black with new bolts and printed HKS decal:

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-Gear box steam cleaned
-Fuel rail cleaned:

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-Walbro 255l/h fuel pump:

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-Excedy uprated clutch:

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Firewall heat shield painted silver:

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The chargecooler was previously connected to a Celica GT4 ST205 stock pump. This was removed and replaced with a new Bosch pump as fitted to the Audi TT.:

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Anything else that could be degreased and cleaned, was done. All brackets visible from the top side of the engine were prepped and painted black. Coolant junction pipework was painted silver.

A pic of the engine about ready to go back into the car:

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Engine refitted:

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In addition to the above, the car's aircon system has been fully overhauled:

-New OEM dryer
-New OEM aircon radiator
-Refurbished air con compressor with 2 year warranty
-Pressure tested
-Gassed up

One of the few MK2s with an aircon system as good as the day it rolled out of the Toyota factory in 1994! :D

I also purchased a Speedhut rhd twin 52mm A pillar pod and 2 Stack gauges:

-Oil Temp
-Clock

Reason for the clock, is that I have the Blitz boost controller fitted in the stock clock housing, for a snug fit in the dash:

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A fully plumbed in Lifeline 2000 fire extinguisher has been fitted:

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This is connected to 4 nozzle jets positioned in all 4 corners of the engine bay. This is controlled via a 2 stage process.

Other additional bits that have been fitted:

Gentex auto dimming electronic rear view mirror:

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TPMS (Tyre pressure monitoring system):

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Auto dimming dome light control module
Full rev 1 black roof lining, lights and sunvisor conversion:

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In addition to the black headlining, a brand new set of T bar seals were ordered from the US, and fitted, along with new rod guides:

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Stainless steel cancer bars
Stebel Nautilus horn
Honda S2000 start button in factory cig lighter location
Additional auxiliary port in place of coin trays
Goodridge braided brake lines
Goodridge braided clutch hose
Carbotech Panther Plus brake pads with Motul RBF600 brake fluid

With the engine refitted to the car, and the car built back up, it looked like this:

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Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 11:17 am, edited 23 times in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

However, it was not all plain sailing, as the car suffered a cracked block:

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whilst on the Le Mans (the long way!) road trip in 2014.

I did, however, manage to limp it home. I missed out on the mountains, stayed off boost and used motorways.

Once home, the search for a new block started. Not long after searching, I came by somebody breaking their car, a rev 3 turbo.

The block is fitted with 86.5mm Wossner forged pistons, done about 8000 miles since it was built, and is mapped on an Apexi FC ecu by Ryan at 2bartuning. I bought the block and ecu.

Pic of purchased block:

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He was running a stock rev 3 head/turbo (same as me), so my cracked block was simply swapped out for the new block with forged pistons.

While I was at it, I had a freshly refurbished CT20b turbo fitted (steel wheel, shaft and 360 degree thrust washer):

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Prior to building up the engine, the block casing was painted red:

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Engine built back up, and about to be fitted to the car:

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Fitted:

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and a power graph of the engine:

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Engine mods are as follows:

Apexi Power FC ecu
Wossner 86.5mm forged pistons
Aftermarket top mounted charge cooler, Radtech pre-rad and Audi TT bosch pump.
Berk decat
Mongoose exhaust
HKS SSQV
Noble M12 baffled catch can
1.2 bar via Blitz DSBC
KO racing induction kit with K&N filter

At about the same time, I came across a Blitz MR2 dash pod. This is a 3 x 60mm pod. I bought 3 x 52mm gauge reducer rings and went for the following:

-AEM wideband (I've had the berk decat modified by ExhaustsUK to accept the wideband sensor)
-Stack voltmeter
-Stack Oil pressure

The pod is bolted to the dash from underneath, along with a hole for the wiring. A mini loom was created to keep it all neat and tidy.

There are no fittings/wiring on show:

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In addition, the car saw some wheel and body mods. The rev 5 spoiler was replaced with a TRD. The 18" BK wheels were replaced with Enkei RP01:

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I prepped and painted these black with rattle cans. Specs of wheels:

17x9 rear ET38
17x8 front ET38

This is how the car looked on this years Le Mans trip:

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Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:28 pm, edited 8 times in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

On returning from this year's Le Mans trip, I took a massive chunk out of my fibreglass Bomex bumper on the Cherbourg to Portsmouth ferry.

Needless to say, I was rather pi$$ed off and a few expletives were said! :lol:

I quickly saw the silver lining though, and at the same time, Ashley on here had some one drop out of the group buy for Aeroware lips, and money was exchanged. I had an old rev 3 turbo front bumper from a car I broke back in 2013, so that was going to be the other half of the replacement bumper.
New UK side strips were ordered to go with it.

Now, here's where I went a bit mental.....

I bought the following:

New carbon fibre boot lid
New carbon fibre Border bonnet and aerocatch locking pins
Sard side intake ducts
Carbon fibre hydro dipped T bar glass, with satin black gutters
HKS Super drager exhaust back box from an Evo 5
Noble M12 red leather seats
New Toyota radiator with manual fans override switch
2 x meaty SPAL radiator fans for optimum cooling
Red rev 5 dials
Ganador mirrors
Enkei RP01 refurbishment in Volk TE37 style bronze.
Wolfie308 tinted rear indicator sections
Ohlins adjustable suspension struts
Rare OEM moulded boot tray

This rev 3 bumper was red, and off an MR2 I broke in 2013. As I didn't want fog lights, Dave removed the urethane fog light mounting points from the bumper and smoothed them.
This was then painted by Deepcar Autobodies, who have done a fantastic job!

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In addition to this, the bumper has been fully meshed to protect the radiator, and aluminium rings painted satin black by DA fitted in place of the fog lights:

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As per the above pic, the Toyota badge was also painted satin black. Rings fitted to the mesh, and Toyota badge fitted with new clips:

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The Aeroware lip was then fitted with new mounts from Toyota, and looked like this:

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The Enkei RP-01 wheels freshly refurbished in TE37 style bronze. These have had black Enkei decals applied in the correct places as per factory Enkei RP-01:

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Regarding the uprated fans fitted to the radiator, here is a comparison of the SPAL fans currently fitted vs the cheap fans off ebay:

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the SPAL fans pull over 3 times as much air through them in comparison to the ebay ones:

Ebay fans - 400 cfm
SPAL fans - 1400 cfm

:shock:

As stated above, an override switch has been installed to allow me to control the operation of the fans, rather than the car.

In addition, as I have a chargcooler and not an intercooler fan, the red 'fan warning light' indication was no longer required.

This has been reused as an indication to remind me the fans are in manual control, like this:

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Revision 5 red dials with EMS red boost gauge:

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Noble M12 leather fixed back bucket seats:

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HKS Super drager exhaust. As above, this was originally fitted to a Mitsubishi Evo 5. The mild steel pipework from the can was removed, and replaced with stainless steel. This pipework was fabricated to mate up to my existing Mongoose b pipe. All work carried out by Exhausts UK who've done a fantastic job! Exhaust sounds great. Not too loud, just right:

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Ohlins struts then had my Apex springs fitted. These were then fitted to the car. They feel fantastic!

Current suspension set up:

Ohlins adjustable struts
Apex lowering springs
TRD rear ARB
Full prothane polybush kit fitted

The car feels so planted through the corners! :thumleft:

And finally, here's how she currently stands:

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More to come :D
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:46 pm, edited 16 times in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Further modifications in the pipeline:

Revison 6 quad headlights. A complete set of of these turned up for sale, and I bought them:

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They'll utilise relays and a custom loom to create quad dip and main beams. The lights will be cleaned up and the metal work rubbed down and painted black prior to fitting.

And finally, I've had enough of the spoilerless look, and fitting an OEM rev 3 rear spoiler to my carbon boot lid.
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Matsumoto
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:31 pm

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by Matsumoto »

Wow looks lovely! You've been doing good work! And keep it up...it's never going to end. I have seriously bad t Bar leak and coil over swap to deal with now #-o
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Matsumoto wrote:Wow looks lovely! You've been doing good work! And keep it up...it's never going to end. I have seriously bad t Bar leak and coil over swap to deal with now #-o


Thanks mate, comments appreciated!

My old rev 2 had T bar leaks in all 4 corners. It wasn't a nice place to be when it was chucking it down!

Regarding the car, the battery is knackered. It won't charge, and when I try to start the car, clicking from the starter motor is all I get.

Ordered myself one of these bad boys:

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It should arrive Mon/Tues next week, then I can get that fitted and get the car back on maintenance charge.

I think I've had the car out about twice in the last 12 weeks! I hate winter [-(
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Matsumoto
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:31 pm

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by Matsumoto »

Yea I've just spent the day with a silicon gun on my T Bar (just a quick fix) and then changing the battery on my mates Rev 3 turbo....as well as getting his running after extensive painting of lots and lots of parts, his has been stood for like 7 months but fired before his key even returned to its normal "start position" :)

I absolutely love your dipped glass! It looks so good. I'm gutted I didn't think of that first Lolol
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Matsumoto wrote:Yea I've just spent the day with a silicon gun on my T Bar (just a quick fix) and then changing the battery on my mates Rev 3 turbo....as well as getting his running after extensive painting of lots and lots of parts, his has been stood for like 7 months but fired before his key even returned to its normal "start position" :)

I absolutely love your dipped glass! It looks so good. I'm gutted I didn't think of that first Lolol


Regarding the leaks, also (if you haven't already) trying some rubber rejuvenator on the rubber seals to 'plump' them up to make a better seal.

Glad you like the glass, at the time I was wondering what to do with it, as it looked tired and the rain gutter trims were all faded/ scratched.

The glass panels were dismantled, glass prepped and hydro dipped in carbon fibre. The rain gutters were then prepped and painted in satin black to match the rest of the gutter trims. :thumleft:
Matsumoto
Posts: 56
Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2015 7:31 pm

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by Matsumoto »

Ahh ok, was it expensive to get it done?
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Matsumoto wrote:Ahh ok, was it expensive to get it done?


The cost was £350 all in for both glass panels hydro dipped and the rain gutters painted satin black mate.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Battery received today, so, out with the flat bar steward!

After removing the old battery, I found and removed a bunch of broken frunk trim clips, a grommet and about 5 random nuts and bolts. :lol:

Put my new dust buster to good use, and hoovered the tray (anal I know! :mrgreen:)

Nice, clean tray for the new battery to sit in:

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New Bosch battery fitted:

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Clamps secured, car started, first turn of the key. Car is now back on maintenance charge.
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 12:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Time for an update. First up, there was room for improvement for the alignment of the carbon boot lid and bonnet.

After much faffing around with hinges and bolts, both the bonnet and boot lid alignment are now much improved.

Next up, as mentioned in an earlier post, I've had enough of the spoilerless look, and was going to fit an oem rev 3 spoiler....

Firstly, the boot lid was masked up for transferring the measurements for the rev 3 spoiler. It was then double checked by being measured again, perfect. Holes were then drilled. Spoiler was then test fitted.

Spoiler fitment is as per oem. It is getting handed to the bodyshop along with the rear light clusters (black borders done gloss black and clusters lacquered), and flush rev 3 center panel on Monday next week for paintwork.

More to come....
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

New thermostat gasket from Toyota arrived today, which then allowed the fitting of my brand new TRD low temp thermostat. Another job off the list. :thumleft:
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Not much of an update, but an update nonetheless.

I had a spare revision 3 center panel to make a smooth one out of with no reverse light or lock holes.

This has now had the reverse light and lock holes fiberglass smoothed over.

The edges of the reverse light holes have a bevelled edge/chamfer has been created for the fiberglass to sit on.

Basically engineered so that you'll never get crack lines in the paint where the reverse light holes were.

It's now ready to hand over to Dave at DA for painting.

No updates on the other bits and pieces yet, as they're all with the painter.
Last edited by craig on Fri Jul 07, 2017 1:06 pm, edited 4 times in total.
gnzyza
Posts: 1300
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2007 11:39 am
Location: Gloucester

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by gnzyza »

Just read the thread. Nice motor :thumleft: Now you know exactly what you got, no nasties hiding away.

Where will you reverse light go?
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

gnzyza wrote:Just read the thread. Nice motor :thumleft: Now you know exactly what you got, no nasties hiding away.

Where will you reverse light go?


Cheers buddy, yeah no nasty, rusty surprises hiding away on this car! :mrgreen:

Reverse lights - not going anywhere, getting rid of them completely. :thumleft:
Draven
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Contact:

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by Draven »

Don't you need reverse lights for the MOT?
craig
Posts: 43936
Joined: Sat Dec 18, 2004 3:44 am

Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by craig »

Draven wrote:Don't you need reverse lights for the MOT?


No mate.
Draven
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Joined: Fri Feb 10, 2006 8:34 am
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Re: 1994 MR2 GT turbo T-bar

Post by Draven »

craig wrote:
Draven wrote:Don't you need reverse lights for the MOT?


No mate.


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