[Mk2] [NA] PPC £999 challenge MR2 - she flys!!

[Nickp]

Hi guys,
I'm new on here and new to MR2s aswell, so bear with me please. As the title suggests myself and a mate are intending to compete in the PPC £999 challenge next year in an MR2. For those that don't know, this is an annual event where you have to buy and modify a road legal car for less than £1k then compete against others in various speed events (drag / sprint etc). I've done this for the last 2 years with reasonable success in an RX7 TurboII and a BMW 535is, but this years weapon of choice ia a '91 G-Ltd MR2!!

Anyway we've bought a very tidy example off ebay for £250 c/w MOT and a slightly rumbly bottom end. The first job is going to be to whip the sump off to see if the engine can be saved by just fitting new big end shells, if not then we're looking at a 2nd hand motor. Once the motor's sorted it'll be getting fitted with last years NOS kit and a progressive controller for upto an extra 100bhp!! We're not too worried about the brakes as the sprints will only be short 2 lap blasts, so we'll probably just frehen 'em up and hope for the best However where I could do with some advice is in the suspension dept. The shocks on it seem OK and we may be forced to stick with these due to budget limitations but we will be changing the springs to lower / stiffen it up. As the car's only purpose is to perform on a nice smooth track then I wondered if someone could reccomend a particular brand of spring that are firmer than others and more suited to track than road? And don't break the bank either!! My other option I suppose is to convert the struts to coilovers and fit whatever rate 'race' springs I choose? Once I've sorted the springs / shocks I should hopefully be adding some negative camber all round to further improve grip, probably 1.5 - 2.0deg?

Anyway, that's it for now guys and thanks in advance for any advice.

Cheers,
Nick

[Steve Horrocks]

Howdy bud, think I know the car you had (RX7) I did the 999 2 years ago in my Capri with laughing gas! Good fun! Welcome to the club!

[Nickp]

Hi Steve,
Didn't I lend you a file to help fit your NOS on the day? Small world in'it?

[Steve Horrocks]

Sounds familiar does that! It was to try & create some holes in the floor to fit NOS bottle down with! Pikey field fitment FTW!
I see you're going a bit more believable with an NA rather that the Rev3 turbo that was there the year I was! ha.
Very small world though!
As for your Q's though, for what you're going to be needing tem for, stock suspension would be "ok" even with lowered springs. Mine is still running stock shock with lowered springs (albeit moving to coilovers through them wearing out & sounding a bit "knocky" now, but it's my keeper so makes sense to treat it! You can also now get replaceable inserts brand new from Rogue for stock shocks (if you have re-buildable struts fitted, there's 2 types)
Would also be beneficial to check bushes as they can go, polybushes fo replacemet.
Not sure camber is adjustable without some aftermarket stuff on your car, think Mk1's had camber ajusters as standard though.
Suppose everything willdecide on whether you're going to keep car or just use & abuse for the challenge!

[Nickp]

Yes that MR2 Turbo was ever so slightly suspect wasn't it?! Even so I did beat him fair and square on the 1/4mile (14.0s) and 0-60 (5.5s) with my 'genuine' rusty old RX7 I think he had a bit more rear end traction for the damp slalom so pipped me overall
Anyway, just been talking to Peter at SBits in Barnsley. Turns out there's an MR2 specialist 1/4 mile away from my lads school that I pass every day!! He's looking out for bits for me and reckons my best bet would be some secondhand Tein springs as quite a few people remove these as they're considered too harsh for UK roads? Anyone got a spare set - cheap?
Camber-wise, if I'm feeling posh I could get the adjustable top bolts or more likely I'll just elongate the top hole in the bottom strut mount making it adjustable that way. Then once set I can tack weld a washer to keep it all in place

[Peter C]

Any chance you could start and update a progress report, with pics?

I follow the PPC £999 challenge and would like to see what your MR2 can do!

[GTS GAV]

Any chance you could start and update a progress report, with pics?

I follow the PPC £999 challenge and would like to see what your MR2 can do!

^^^^^^^^^ good idea is this, would like to see how you get on buddy,maybe leave some info so some of us can come along for sapport

[Nickp]

Any chance you could start and update a progress report, with pics?

I follow the PPC £999 challenge and would like to see what your MR2 can do!

^^^^^^^^^ good idea is this, would like to see how you get on buddy,maybe leave some info so some of us can come along for sapport

Cheers guys, I'll do what I can but I don't expect to be doing too much until the New Year. You're welcome to come along and support but you might not be so keen when you hear the proposed venue for 2010 - Teeside Aerodrome!! That's as near as dammit Newcastle if you're not familiar with it.

Here's the car 'as bought' with MOT until May. Not bad for £250 eh? And yes it is as tidy in the flesh as it looks in the photos!!

[irietuning]

Any chance you could start and update a progress report, with pics?

I follow the PPC £999 challenge and would like to see what your MR2 can do!

^^^^^^^^^ good idea is this, would like to see how you get on buddy,maybe leave some info so some of us can come along for sapport

Cheers guys, I'll do what I can but I don't expect to be doing too much until the New Year. You're welcome to come along and support but you might not be so keen when you hear the proposed venue for 2010 - Teeside Aerodrome!! That's as near as dammit Newcastle if you're not familiar with it.

Here's the car 'as bought' with MOT until May. Not bad for £250 eh? And yes it is as tidy in the flesh as it looks in the photos!!

Sweet, if you decide to sell the wheels on it, let me know...I dont know how it will work with you £999 budget though as it will be a cash injection

[Nickp]

Funny you should say that 'cos we're allowed to sell upto £250 worth of stuff to put back into the budget. One of the things we had considered selling were the wheels as we've already picked up some std 15" rims with Yoko A032Rs on. What are they worth then? They're 16" with 2 very good Avon ZZ3s (225/45) rears and Barum (205/45) fronts. They could do with a scrub up but should be OK.

[irietuning]

Funny you should say that 'cos we're allowed to sell upto £250 worth of stuff to put back into the budget. One of the things we had considered selling were the wheels as we've already picked up some std 15" rims with Yoko A032Rs on. What are they worth then? They're 16" with 2 very good Avon ZZ3s (225/45) rears and Barum (205/45) fronts. They could do with a scrub up but should be OK.

Can you Pm me some close ups of them please?

[Nickp]

Funny you should say that 'cos we're allowed to sell upto £250 worth of stuff to put back into the budget. One of the things we had considered selling were the wheels as we've already picked up some std 15" rims with Yoko A032Rs on. What are they worth then? They're 16" with 2 very good Avon ZZ3s (225/45) rears and Barum (205/45) fronts. They could do with a scrub up but should be OK.

Can you Pm me some close ups of them please?

Will see what I can do, but it may be a couple of days.

BTW - Is a mint cloth interior worth anything? Because we may consider selling that once stripped to put a single bucket seat in.

[haydon taylor]

hey nickp, if you need cash injection for the mr2 and don't manage to sell the wheels i would be interested, only if the other guy doesn't want them of course. first i have heard of the event you are entering, it sounds ace,

[Nickp]

Ok, so I managed to get the sump off the MR2 today. It'd have been a doddle if Mr Toyota hadn't decided to put a dirty great exhaust in the way!! Anyway after 2 hrs of cursing cutting and grinding the sump was fully exposed for removing. Once inside, no1 big-end was noticeably 'looser' than the others so I started there.

This is what I found when I took the cap off-



I feared the worst for the crank but after a quick 'polish' with some wet and dry it didn't look / feel bad at all-



So the plan is to stick some fresh shells in (£40) and give the engine a good flush out to clear any debris. Fingers crossed!!

After removing the exhaust I realised where some weight could be saved, it landed on me!! It's only a pair of downpipes a cat and a single silencer but it weighs 60lb !!

[Nickp]

Hi guys,

Just a quick update. We're still waiting for big end shells to arrive, but to be honest they're not going in until all this white stuff goes!! We did win a set of very desirable tho' slightly grubby Tein HAs off ebay just before xmas. I spent most of yesterday cleaning and stripping them to check the condition. Unfortunately although 3 seem fine, one of the front ones is showing signs of leaking and doesn't feel quite right when compressed. I've made some enquiries about getting the leaky one rebuilt and it starts from £75 for a basic rebuild, but Patrick at Rogue says it could be anything upto £175 in his experience. We just haven't got the money in the budget for this so we'll have to move this set on. They'll make someone a good set as everything else seems fine including the pillow ball tops.

Cheers,
Nick

[C50]

those wheels look like the other variant of work equips.

not bad, that car for £250 looks in good nick bar the engine.


you can easily add a little neg camber with camber bolts. Could also get some thicker 2nd hand roll bars to help handling.


PS - i think i was watching those Tein HAs (If it was the new set which started at a really low price)

[Nickp]

Thanks for the tips fella. Was there a particular model with thicker roll bars or are you talking aftermarket?
The Teins definately weren't the new ones you're on about. We paid less than £200 for them which would have been an absolute bargain if they'd all been in working order. As I say, they'd still make someone a good value set with the one leaky one sorted. They'll probably go back on ebay if we don't get an offer for them.

[Nickp]

Got a set of ACL race bearings in there and am pleased to report that the engine sounds sweet as a nut now We'll need to get a few miles under it's belt before we can be sure it's OK but the initial signs are good.

We've managed to move on the Teins (that needed one rebuilding) so lost nowt on them. As an added bonus while we were looking into getting the Teins sorted we 'unearthed' a very reasonably priced set of Buddy Club Junior spec coilovers.

Here's one after a quick clean up-



I've also fabb'ed up a decat to connect up to the Powerflow back box which is much lighter than stock. It is seriously fruity when revved though. Can anyone recommend a db killer for it?



We've also collected our track tyres too-



Things are coming along nicely now, and we're still well under budget

[BLZ-8027]

Camber-wise, if I'm feeling posh I could get the adjustable top bolts or more likely I'll just elongate the top hole in the bottom strut mount making it adjustable that way. Then once set I can tack weld a washer to keep it all in place

Just a note for you to consider ,if you want the camber adjustment back just fit some rev1 front tie bars and the fixing brackets

[Nickp]

Camber-wise, if I'm feeling posh I could get the adjustable top bolts or more likely I'll just elongate the top hole in the bottom strut mount making it adjustable that way. Then once set I can tack weld a washer to keep it all in place

Just a note for you to consider ,if you want the camber adjustment back just fit some rev1 front tie bars and the fixing brackets

Won't that be caster adjustment?