**UPDATED** 1991 Rev 1 (Beastly V6 1MZ-FE VVTI) **UPDATED**

[KarlBristol]

Well today I was due to ensure the bottom of the wings were secured properly as I thought that was the worlds most annoying knocking may be due to that. I quickly found out on inspection today that wasn't the case...

So what's the random knocking coming from then?...

When I took the old suspension apart to replace it, it was over twenty years old. If you cast your minds back you will remember that the old top bezel cups were so badly rusted through that next to none of the metal existed any more. This all got replaced with brand new parts.

The knocking is being caused by something simple but annoyingly time consuming to rectify. I replaced everything like for like on the car with new parts. Unfortunately what I didn't realise is that the front suspension bezel cups are also meant to have a rubber insert to stop any spring movement/cushion noise. Obviously the original one rotted away years ago so I didn't realise that this part even existed. It was only today upon extensive time with the car that I realised that problem was emanating from that area, and did some research which led to the discovery of these little circular rubber sections that fit in the bezel cups. This has taken all day to locate the issue and do the research

I have just got off the phone to my local Toyota branch and purchased x2 of them. They cost me a mere £30.10 and are due to be delivered to the branch overnight for collection first thing tomorrow morning. If that is the case then regardless of the weather tomorrow I will be fitting both the front ones. Such a simple little thing but it results in both sides being completely stripped down and taken to bits before being rebuilt

I'm factoring in a realistic 1.5 - 2 hours per side maximum



There was also a rattling coming from the new exhaust. After inspection this was found to be a loose bush. This has been tightened which got rid of the problem. That's one positive job sorted today!



On a side note I had a wheel cover delivered for my spare wheel in my frunk. This helps the frunk look cleaner and tidier. Ive also sold it to myself that it will help keep the battery a degree or two warmer and more covered which will help on those particularly cold mornings

The creases need to be tucked in so its smooth



I'm also looking at replacing my front wheel bearings at some stage but need to look into the costs related to this

[HighwayStar]

You can get the wheel bearing kits from TCB parts along with the little washer that is also required for the fronts... about £38 each if memory serves

[KarlBristol]

You can get the wheel bearing kits from TCB parts along with the little washer that is also required for the fronts... about £38 each if memory serves

Absolute star thanks for pointing me their way. I've had a gander at the website and a few others and theirs looks like a bit of a bargain price.

Come pay day I will order a set for both fronts

Out of interest I will also ask Toyota tomorrow how much their sets costs

[Peter Gidden]

Toyota part number is 90369-30044.

If you go elsewhere, just make sure you get a branded bearing e.g. Koyo or NSK.

Part number for the grease seal (sometimes included with aftermarket bearings) is 90311-42018.

[KarlBristol]

Toyota part number is 90369-30044.

If you go elsewhere, just make sure you get a branded bearing e.g. Koyo or NSK.

Part number for the grease seal (sometimes included with aftermarket bearings) is 90311-42018.

Cracking thank you - I will take those numbers with me and price it all up tomorrow

TCB also lists this:
Front Wheel Bearing to nut spacer
MR2 Mk2 SW20 N/A & Turbo (1989 - 1999)

Part number: 43524-17010

Is this something which I would need for both sides as well?

[Peter Gidden]

TCB also lists this:
Front Wheel Bearing to nut spacer
MR2 Mk2 SW20 N/A & Turbo (1989 - 1999)

Part number: 43524-17010

Is this something which I would need for both sides as well?

No need to replace. They're just spacers.

[KarlBristol]

I was going to ask about the wheel bearing parts/costs in my local Toyota dealership, but when I got there today the woman was painting her nails and had absolutely no interest in her job. She even finished the hand she was on before coming to the desk and didn't even say hello to me she just stood there

I thought better of asking her questions and have fired an email into Toyota to enquiry about the costs and availability

I was at the Toyota dealership with a purpose this morning. I collected my new spring cup rubbers



How frustrating that such a small part will require an entire suspension removal and strip down. As soon as I got home I had a cuppa and then cracked on. Tbh it was a lot lot quicker than I expected it to be, although that makes sense given that last time I spent so long trying to crack off bolts that hadn't moved in 20 years.

Anyway - with 40 minutes the front was in the air on axel stands, both wheels removed and all the front suspension removed. It's a lot faster when you know what your doing and know the car well



So the suspension was led out, stripped down, the new rubbers fitted, alignment checked on the suspension and then put back together again. All parts got cleaned again during this process and all bolts applied with copperslip again (my favourite substance)



It then got installed again both sides (I won't bore you with loads of photos as you've seen this before on this thread)

Oh and yes I do secure my braided brake hoses with HEL secure metal clips as well as cable ties - better to be overly secure than to flap about



The brakes got bled x5 times all around to ensure that they are working to their optimum and the car got a test drive then. Knocking solved
I total it took only a couple of hours and most of that time was spent cleaning and bleeding the brakes. All in all very chuffed!!

I still want to get the wings secured back properly at some stage soon though. New wheel bearings all around are also high on the agenda.... As is a new spray job on the rear bumper, and sharper brake pads, and TFS rear drop links, and the list goes on as usual!


I still haven't received my altered V5 from the DVLA yet

Also Adrian Flux are being a pita and still haven't issued my agreed value section of my policy yet until they have seen every receipt from the car during my ownership - I sent them a photo of a large box of receipts and x4 full A4 binders of receipts and told them that I wasn't about to scan in every document. Needless to say we aren't seeing eye to eye at the moment which is frustrating especially as I placed such a conservative agreed value on the car (£6500) In short either they agree it or next year I change company (which I'm tempted to do anyway as I got cheaper quotes elsewhere but stayed with them out of a misplaced sense of loyalty).


I don't think I will do anything to the car tomorrow, so I guess the next car instalment will be on Monday then

[ashley]

Good work mate

[KarlBristol]

Good work mate

Cheers bud.... One day I'd love a TRD supercharger unit bolted into my engine bay or a lovely big turbo. In fact someone has one of those for sale at the moment don't they

One day....

[KarlBristol]

So this afternoon the car became my daily driver
I still can't decide if I'm pleased to be driving something so different every day or upset that she's no longer a garage queen. I guess it's about time the old girl stretched her legs properly again and being used so regularly is the perfect excuse to spend more money on her "as my safety during my commute to work depends on a reliable and safe car..." At least that's the party line here at the moment

During the morning I decided that I would tackle a job that I'd been putting off for a while... Sound deadening the doors.

So I took the door panel off of the driver side to start with and was greeted with a rather grotty and old plastic weather panel.



I decided to keep this, and so this got removed so I could fit the Fat Max behind it. It's a bit dirty behind there...





Whilst cleaning the door I decided to clean inside the door, and dug out all the old crap in there (car wash anyone )



Everything got cleaned up to give the best surface for adhesion, and then I cracked on with it... Not the cleanest job in the world but I was very happy with it





The weather plastic then got placed back over, and the door put back in one piece before I started on the passenger side. I was a lot happier with that side as I feel it was an all over neater job:





With the plastics fitted back:



And a close up of one portion finished:





I then took the car to work and was keen to seen if the sound deadening had any effect. Pulled out of the drive went to change into second and was met by a dreaded graunching sound. The entire drive to work the car wouldn't select second. I took it out during my lunch break (first lunch break I've had in about 4 years! ) and the car went into second twice, although on one of those occasions when I accelerated it popped itself back out.

After a quick chat with Peter he is certain that its nothing major and that it is a linkage issue (probably from changing the gear lever etc over). I will be investigating it tomorrow morning with the help of Peter over the phone and hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow ready for another fun afternoon at work.


Couple more purchases for the car in the pipeline come the end of the month

[KarlBristol]

So this morning I had a fiddle with my gearing and adjusted the length of one of my gear linkages by a few mm. Problem solved

Car is now running spotlessly - I'm surprised that only a few mm can make such a big difference. Relieved, pleased and enjoying the car again

[Peter Gidden]

So this morning I had a fiddle with my gearing and adjusted the length of one of my gear linkages by a few mm. Problem solved

Car is now running spotlessly - I'm surprised that only a few mm can make such a big difference. Relieved, pleased and enjoying the car again

Well done. Bet you feel like a real mechanic now!

[ashley]

I'm surprised that only a few mm can make such a big difference.

That's what she said...

[Rory]

Did the sound deadening have any effect?

[Peter Gidden]

Did the sound deadening have any effect?

Yep. Messed up second gear.

[KarlBristol]

I was typing that last entry expecting some innuendos, so you didn't disappoint Ash

Did the sound deadening have any effect?

I do think that it's had a positive effect to general road noise sounds but I would like to attack some of the bulkheads etc with some sound deadening to get the best of out of it. Guess what I will be doing in a couple of months

I read up about two different ways of fitting the sound deadening, the first is to fit in patches and the second is to cover the entire area. I'd be tempted to try the other method for the rest of the sound deadening that I apply, mainly as it would cost an arm and a leg otherwise!

The brake light on my o/s stopped working x2 days ago. I therefore bought a new couple of new bulbs and figured I would also get rid of the omelette stylings of the clear light conversions whilst I had the light clusters off.

New and old



Before:



And replaced both sides; looking a lot sleeker



Unfortunately I replaced my brake light with x4 new bulbs to no avail. Evidently it's a wiring fault which I don't currently have time to look into. There's always something

[MR22]

What a great thread this is - I've read most of it with much interest.
I think you're ever so slightly crazy though Karl - £19000+ !!!!

[MR2 Rich]

Great car Karl.

Is the 2gr the ultimate non turbo V6 to put in an Mr2? If you don't mind me asking how much is this conversion?

[ashley]

how much is this conversion?

If you have to ask, too much




I think you're probably looking at £10k+ for a 2gr conversion

[KarlBristol]

What a great thread this is - I've read most of it with much interest.
I think you're ever so slightly crazy though Karl - £19000+ !!!!

Thanks, I like to put most of my updates on here as a reference/diary of completed work

I'm not slightly mad.... I'm very mad
God knows what I will buy if/when I decide not to use this as a daily any more...

Great car Karl.

Is the 2gr the ultimate non turbo V6 to put in an Mr2? If you don't mind me asking how much is this conversion?

Thank you Rich
The 2gr is the ultimate conversion but you can easily spend £15k on the engine and plumbing, especially if you import a new engine.


My conversion didn't cost as much as a 2gr conversion. I'm not going into the exact figures of my conversion, but this should give you a rough idea as to cost:

http://www.woodsport.org/joomla/index.p ... onversions

Those pricings of Pauls conversions are slightly different to Peters.

Bear in mind that conversion cost above is for the bog standard non VVTi engine. My engine is more expensive to buy (as it's newer and rarer) and the costs to plumb it in is also more as the wiring is more complex. During my conversion I also had a new clutch, newly refurbished rev5 gearbox, Quaiffe viscous LSD, polybushing, etc.... which obviously all adds costs. Simply put it's not pocket change for this engine. As far as I'm aware there are only x5 of these engines in Mr2s currently.

The 3VZ is cheaper to buy and fit if you want a V6.... But the performance figures just don't come anywhere near to the 1MZ-VVTi.