The journey of one man and his Mule(s)

[Magic Beans]

Great work Phil! Exhaust fills the back end out nicely. Much prefer a twin exit on an MR2. Car's coming along nicely.

Ah, someone else who's suggest Greddy skirts.....

....you know what to do!

If a pair come up in good condition and the right colour I might be interested. For curiosity's sake

[Magic Beans]

A better shot of the lady's new bottom and comparison with its predecessor.

Before:


Now:


To my eyes it looks much better IMO Also stops my eye twitching due to the previous symmetry issue. I'll get some audio footage soon, once the sky stops falling..

[pistol pete]

Good work buddy.. still awaiting to see it in the flesh

Must be your turn to come up here this time

Just caught up with this thread. Excellent purchase. Seen this car at Patrick's and on some OC runs. It's a cracker. You should buy some replica greddy side skirts from Patrick. They look awesome with the Aeroware front lip.

Thanks, Andy Really pleased with it, lovely little car.

You're not the first one to suggest the Gracer skirts. If I were to do anything body styling wise to the car that would be it. Although, I'm still torn on the idea, I really love the look currently. Plenty of other things to get through before that though

That is true... when i have the monies to map kels ill be on my way..

[ayresyboy]

If a pair come up in good condition and the right colour I might be interested. For curiosity's sake

Patrick Chambers has good quality replicas and can paint them for you as well. It's a cracking price. Do it

Here's mine...

[Magic Beans]

Does he have a website etc? I'd want the front tabs removing, perfect dirt/grit traps!

I reckon a set of OZ Superleggeras would suit your car nicely..

[pistol pete]

Hi is on here in the affiliates section..

[muckyman]

Hi is on here in the affiliates section..

http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=185010

[Magic Beans]

Nothing like peer pressure, eh We'll see what the future brings

Meanwhile, stuff has been done..

The passenger mat had a burn in it. No drama though as the Rev 2 had a mat that was in good shape. Albeit a little grubby. Nothing the pressure washer couldn't sort





Left to drip dry, before moving instead when the sky started falling (again). It's amazing how much grim they can hold in them!

In other news: The paint has finally been removed from the brace! Took about 10 laps with the chemical remover and more effort than it should. Basically a dog egg of a job, but done now.



Gave the badge a bit of a polish. It has quite a few marks on it, so this is as good as it gets.



After a trip to the paint booth and a bit of rain dodging, we had this.



Last step was to rivet on the badge. Annoyingly it moved just at the last moment on the second rvit, so it's not perfectly level Not really a lot I can do now though, not without drilling it out and damaging the paint. It will have to just be wonky, even though knowing it's there under the car will make my eye tick



Just needs installing now, which given the current weather will probably be Saturday.

[Magic Beans]

Right, brace yourselves (sorry, had to ) it's underbody brace fitting time!

After having done this before on Mule II, when I installed a Toms brace, I was already aware how much of a PITA this job can be! However, that also meant I knew what to expect, the potential pitfalls and solutions. Time to deploy Patrick!



First job is to remove the underbody panels. Previously this was a massive dog egg of a job due to inevitable snappage, but this time it was a doddle thanks to the original fixings already having been swapped out



Now to the awkward bit, time to undo the massive bolts holding the arms in! I knew that these would drop the moment the bolts would remove, which they did.



This time, though, I had a solution to hold them in place when trying to get the bolts back in.



Done and actually really straight forward, considering The front bolts underneath the rad fan area (can't remember the name specifically?!) using four bolts. The Toms out was basically a bar between the two arm mounts. How much difference this makes is questionable though.





Job done and all underbody panels back in place. Time to take it out for a test run. I've not been out in it since the exhaust swap etc, so keen to see what difference there is overall

[pistol pete]

the front brace can make a huge difference on turn in, did on my na but that was between all 4 front arms..

awaiting report on how it sounds..

[Magic Beans]

I'll let you know

[Madabout]

The new exhaust looks good fitted Phil.

It is an interesting one on the greddy side skirts question. On my Rev3 I decided to stay with a total stock look. I had been considering a aeroware or greddy front lip but decided if I did it would need the skirts.

Some cracking work on the car and looks like you are only adding to the good work done before.

[craig]

Well done Phil/Patrick

[Red Devil]

I've yet to do the full ad, but the some of the more special parts include:

* Rogue Revision 6 exhaust (I've never seen another one of those!)

I have. On my very first MR2 (11 years ago) - http://lh5.ggpht.com/_vvl47Ip0YZY/SaHER ... 221459.JPG

I've been reading up on the Sard ECU. Seems it is pretty much the same thing as the other ones out there (Blitz, Mines etc). So it's a stock Rev 3 ECU fitted with Techtom daughterboards, to allow the factory code to be modded. Techtom are a Japanese company who manufacture the boards. Sard buy them, fit them to an ECU, tune them and then stick a Sard sticker on. It does the following:

Removes 180 KPH speed limit
Removes factory fuel cut
Removes factory boost level
Increases rev limit to 8000 RPM minimum
Revised fuel & ignition timing maps so
More friendly with aftermarket parts, such as different turbos etc.

I decided to fit it..

Took it out for a drive... Very little difference really, as you'd expect. The key thing is the car felt happy, drove perfectly, if not a bit sharper on the throttle

If you have been reading up on JDM aftermarket ECUs (Mines/Blitz/Sard etc) I presume you have seen this - http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=102273
The issue is you have no idea what the actual revisions to the fuel and ignition timing maps are. So you're taking a gamble tbh. Personally it's not a risk I would be happy with. YMMV.
Once you start changing turbos etc. etc. it's better by far to fit a stand alone programmable ECU which can be fully mapped to your set up.

Last job for the day was preparing the underbody brace
for installation. Turns out I was wrong about the make, it's not an Ultra Racing piece it's a Tanabe.

Yep. Not many of those around either. I have one on my Rev5. The Tanabe is quite a bit lighter than the Ultra Racing one btw.

Your latest mule is a very well cared for car. Seen it many times when it was owned by Stu. Was sorely tempted to buy it myself.

[Magic Beans]

The new exhaust looks good fitted Phil.

It is an interesting one on the greddy side skirts question. On my Rev3 I decided to stay with a total stock look. I had been considering a aeroware or greddy front lip but decided if I did it would need the skirts.

Some cracking work on the car and looks like you are only adding to the good work done before.

Thanks, James. Really pleased with how things are progressing. The exhaust looks perfect to my eyes and sounds awesome. Probably my favourite exhaust note on an MR2!

The car feels brilliant now. It's elevated what was already a fantastic car to another level. It's a pleasure to drive and work on Exited for the next steps, but that talk is for another day..

Well done Phil/Patrick

Credit where it's due. I'd have terrible driveway rash if it weren't for my padded wingman

[Magic Beans]

I have. On my very first MR2 (11 years ago) - http://lh5.ggpht.com/_vvl47Ip0YZY/SaHER ... 221459.JPG

Yep. Not many of those around either. I have one on my Rev5. The Tanabe is quite a bit lighter than the Ultra Racing one btw.

Awesome! What were your thoughts on them both? I really like the exhaust, a lot. The brace I've yet to try out properly, it was too wet on the test run last night.

If you have been reading up on JDM aftermarket ECUs (Mines/Blitz/Sard etc) I presume you have seen this - http://www.imoc.co.uk/forums/viewtopic.php?t=102273
The issue is you have no idea what the actual revisions to the fuel and ignition timing maps are. So you're taking a gamble tbh. Personally it's not a risk I would be happy with. YMMV.
Once you start changing turbos etc. etc. it's better by far to fit a stand alone programmable ECU which can be fully mapped to your set up.

I did indeed. That and about 20 other small threads on it, scattered across multiple years and forums.

To be honest, I've not really noticed any difference with it fitted. I'll probably source a stock ECU and sell this one on. The price difference can go in the pot towards other things.

Your latest mule is a very well cared for car. Seen it many times when it was owned by Stu. Was sorely tempted to buy it myself.

The care and attention to detail is evident everywhere. I couldn't think of a better car to buy and own, based on my requirements. This is how I'd like a car to be when selling it, so it's great to be on the other end. Especially after some of the things I've found after buying other cars.

[Red Devil]

I have. On my very first MR2 (11 years ago) - http://lh5.ggpht.com/_vvl47Ip0YZY/SaHER ... 221459.JPG

Yep. Not many of those around either. I have one on my Rev5. The Tanabe is quite a bit lighter than the Ultra Racing one btw.

Awesome! What were your thoughts on them both? I really like the exhaust, a lot. The brace I've yet to try out properly, it was too wet on the test run last night.

Exhaust: as it was my first MR2 I had nothing to compare it with. It was quite civilised around town with a nice note when on full chat.
The only thing I wasn't so sure about was the aesthetics. The downward angle to the cans didn't really gel with me but I learned to live with it.
Handy if where you live is infested with 'sleeping policemen' though.

I have a Blitz Nur Spec R on my Rev5 turbo. Sans bung it's great for setting off car alarms.
I also have a HKS Super Drager should I fancy swapping to a twin exit.
The latter generally looks better imo, but I'm sticking with 'The Snake' as I'm addicted to the sound!
Like the Revision6 the HKS purrs around town but sounds great when the taps are opened.
However, the issue with it is that while the cans are stainless steel (SUS304) the piping is aluminised steel.
Which means that part will eventually rot (especally the Y pipe) unless it's given proper anti-rust treatment (preferably from new).
Mine was s/h so I've done the best I could with it. So far, so good.

Underbrace: Makes a big difference imo, especially on a T-bar (which my Rev5 is). Viz this comment from a previous owner:
this car's got the looks, shifts like no tomorrow with a real 'tight feel' still, and is the best handling MR2 I've ever driven.

To be honest, I've not really noticed any difference with it fitted. I'll probably source a stock ECU and sell this one on. The price difference can go in the pot towards other things.

Exactly what I did with the Mines ECU which was fitted to one of the cars I bought (around 7 years ago).

[Magic Beans]

The Super Dragger is one I nearly bought for Mule I and II. However, the one that came up needed too much doing to it and I sold the car before I got around to picking one up. 5 years into this Mule journey and only now do I have the turbo car with a twin exit that I originally wanted!

I saw what you meant about the differing metalwork in the pipe. This one has had a full end to end inspection and all the delicate areas brushed back and treated. It's completely solid thankfully and should remain that way for a long time to come. I'm planning on having it up on ramps every 6 months, for a full inspection, clean up and treatment where required. Plenty of preventative maintenance and a few tweaks along the way. I'll need to do that fairly soon anyway, once I've decided whether or not to fit the Teins I have, or swap for something else. It does feel really sorted as is, considering it's stock shocks with lowering springs. Far better than any similar set-up I've driven previously, in terms of overall feel.

Still in two minds as to whether or not to fit the LSD I have. Probably OTT for my current requirements

[stuMR2lee]

Looking good so far. I never worried about changing the exhaust Chris supplied the car with as it made working on the car easier . I do like a twin exhaust though for symmetry.

Not sure what happened to the Patrick Chambers Greddy Copy skirts I sold with the car. I'd started modifying them as I wasn't happy with the fit round the vent area and wanted to blend in stock vents for the OEM+ look.

[Magic Beans]

Not sure what happened to the Patrick Chambers Greddy Copy skirts I sold with the car. I'd started modifying them as I wasn't happy with the fit round the vent area and wanted to blend in stock vents for the OEM+ look.

I wonder if the buyer still has them, or if they were sold on

Fitment is one of the reasons I'm in no rush to do any body mods. I can foresee hours of time fettling with pieces to get them looking right. The front ears would need to go too, never liked them.