[Mk2] [Turbo] Advice on work to safely run this setup...

[ashley]

Hey

New member, and new to the world of MR2's. I was tempted into buying this, and should have the keys come July :

http://www.jm-imports.co.uk/cardetails/ ... 8/mr1.html

My concern is that it has been bulit up with stock internals, and hence I am concerned about the life expectancy. I want to do this properly, but am totally new to the world of MR2's (I have experience modifying other makes though, so not complete gimp ).

I am thinking that a bottom end rebuild with uprated pistons, new bearings and a full balance is in order. The current setup has potential for more power in the long run, so this would all pay dividends in the long run I'm sure.

Who would you guys advise I talk to to get advice on the work I should be doing, or even who can you recommend to do this work? I am nervous about self building such a high spec engine in my own workshop (not the cleanest environment I've been in).

Any advice/ suggestions would be very much appreciated...

I am keen to do this right first time, although I am not proposing looking for silly big power straight away.

Cheers

Ash

[mattcambs]

Someone posted about this car before saying what a great car it looks. I have to agree. It looks an absolute beauty.

Welcome to IMOC by the way. You're in good hands here. Where are you based as their are several great specialists dotted the land who could give you plenty of advice

Also, there are loads of extremely helpful and knowledgeable guys on here who will no doubt add comment.

If you buy that car I will be jealous. I used to have a Steel Mist Grey tubby and it's a lovely, quite rare colour.

The mods on it are awesome. If it's on standard internals you could probably have it mapped over here (on 99RON) for around 350 - 400bhp safely. A forged rebuild should see it capable of 500+ what with those 1000cc injectors!

Matt

[b8ucks]

Looks like a good choice mate. Did you just buy it? As the same car was on ebay and the ad says that someone has left a deposit on it and it's no longer for sale.

As for tuning there are loads of people on here that you can speak to; Rogue, 2bar tuning etc etc. Just use the search function and have a look around.

On a sidenote, does anyone know what exhaust is fitted to the car mentioned? It looks like a HKS Hyper but I can't spy a silencer box.

Nik

[ashley]

Cheers buddy- and I have already bought it, just waiting to take delivery!

I'm based in Gloucestershire- I will update my profile once I've got some decent pics of my new baby.

No idea on exhaust- I will update as soon as I know more...

Good to be a member, I have totally enjoyed being a member of other clubs in the past, but this is my venture with Jap sports cars and I am sure I am going to love it

Cheers

Ash

[RANDOMr2]

Looks flipping lurverly bud! That engine is something of a conversation piece. I'm not at all jealous

j

[mattcambs]

Just been discussing this car with my tubby owning buddy and we both wonder why the engine hasn't already been built considering the surrounding mods. 1000cc injectors suggests power outputs waaay in excess of what standard pistons can take.

By the way, Ash, have you driven a tubby before?

[ashley]

Hey Matt

Yeh- to be honest you know as much as I do, the guy in Japan I spoke to said that he was 'too busy' to see if any internals work had been done, and now that he's sold it he doesn't want to know cos the price would have been too low.

I took that to mean that it has not had any internal work done...

Agreed on the spec for standard internals though, although it looks like it aint running anywhere near its potential power limits......yet. I can only assume the prior owner had bigger plans, and hence the injectors that are on there....ie he was paving the way for bigger things.

Never driven an MR2 before, but I'm not a newbie to powerful cars.

I am currently contacting any tuning co's I can find to seek advice on internal mods to be performed.

Contacted the following so far:

yvs performance
thor racing
toyota GT (3 S's i believe)

Any others anyone want to recommend?

I will probably set up a projects post to keep all the planned work and progress up to date in...I really want to make this car worthy of the bits she's wearing!

Dumb question for you guys- what rev would this model be?

Cheers

[Moo]

Nice car

It's a rev 3

Rogue are affiliates on here, definitely worth talking to them.

[ashley]

Cheers mate, will do

[Slarty]

The good thing is that a lot of the mods are all ready in place, so even if you do go for a forged bottom end, you will have to spend very little more to make a pretty powerful beastie!

[ashley]

Yeh- that pretty much seems to be the result of all the research I've done so far

I think we are definately looking at a forged bottom end on this one, just a case of deciding how far to take it, my feeling at the moment is to over spec it at this stage with a view to upping the power significantly at a later date without having to rebuild.

[mattcambs]

I use Rogue. They aren't cheap, but then neither would I be if I was offering the quality of service they do. They have a great team there. You won't be disappointed.

I very good friend of mine works for another affiliate - Kent Car Craft - I can highly recommend them for re-building your engine, but they maybe a bit too far away for you.

The MR2's handling will keep you on your toes - never a dull drive, and launched right, you'll see off pretty much everything else on the road.....and that's with a standard car.

Cliche, but be careful with the power delivery out of corners, especially in the wet. I lost my Steel mist tubby whilst being a little too enthusiastic on a greasy road.

I'm really interested to know what you're paying for the car? I haven't seen such a well specced, mint condition, low miler for a while.

[ashley]

Cheers- I'm going to talk to Rogue & ToyotaGT on friday, see what materialises after that...

Appreciate the head's up on handing, I had been warned about sudden snap over steer...I foresee a good few track days to learn her handling properly- can't wait! In the mean time I'll try to control my right foot

Can't see any point in keeping price quiet as I'm sure you can find out from other sources if you try hard enough- paid £6,250 (but that was 100% upfront payment on a car I wont see till beginning of July). He wanted £6.5k if I only paid 70% up front...

Maybe a bit expensive looking at other turbos on the UK market, but I'm confident the parts she's wearing make it a worthwhile investment (as long as the engine doesn't blow up on me on the drive home)

Was a bit nervous paying up front, and not actually seeing the car in the flesh, but I've only heard great things about the cars Jurgen imports, and....well- you've seen the pics, my arm was easily twisted

Just sitting on me hands waiting for it to arrive now, and setting everything in motion to get it on the road in a fit state asap.


On another note, do people tend to uprate the transmission- not sure how strong the standard box is, or what the ratios are like?

[mattcambs]

IMO that's a great price. Really great price.

Say for example it does have a forged engine:

A mint, low mileage rev3 would cost £4500ish. To do all the mods yours has (wheels, suspension, bespoke IC, Turbo, ECU, engine re-build, etc, etc) would cost £7k in parts easily. Probably more. Fitting all that? Maybe another £2 - £3k?

Jealous, mate. Jealous

[mattcambs]

On another note, do people tend to uprate the transmission- not sure how strong the standard box is, or what the ratios are like?

Gearbox is very strong. Not many bother to uprate it. A re-build might be worth it at some stage, but at 400 - 500bhp you're fine. The ratios are great. They don't feel that close with a stock engine, but are ideal for a bit more power. 5th gear is good for 168mph. My friend's tubby has hit this and he only has about 280bhp.

My last tubby had a close ratio box. 1st and 5th were standard. The gap between 4th and 5th was huge. It was very fast (for stock boost) up until 90mph, then you had to change to 5th gear - dropping back down to 4000rpm! Pointless IMO.

Does yours have an uprated clutch? It must do, I suppose as everything else has been done!

[ashley]

Glad you agree on price, although I'm pretty sure I'm gonna find out is has been running on stock internals if I'm honest- but still a good price even if that is true, and I've got cash left in me pocket to rectify that (I was shopping for a supra... )


It's got a twin plate clutch, so should be cool. Was wondering whether it was a good idea to switch straight cut gears, but will probably leave that for another day...they are well expensive after all and I'm not planning on going for huge torque straight away.

[mattcambs]

A freshly re-built standard box will be fine.

To be honest, I don't think the SW20 chassis is suited to much more than 350 - 400bhp if it's going to be an enjoyable road. It'll just be too laggy.

You might even find that the 272 cams are too agressive. Replacing these for standard cams will make the motor much more tractable.

No point chasing power figures, IMO. An engine with great midrange torque will be much more fun to drive

[Martin F]

welcome to the club ash...

car looks awesome, great mods and tbh i'd put my money on the internals having already being uprated....

anyone have an idea on being able to check without having to open her up, i.e. the noise or maybe sump removal and checking from underneath...

as matt says, also well jealous...

[ashley]

Cheers for the welcome- very much appreciated! Feels like a friendly and helpful place to be- thanks to you all


Interesting point on checking internals without cracking her, and something I've been racking my brain about! Not sure there is any alternative than to simply bite the bullet and pull the engine apart for a full inspection, tbh even if work has been done I would like to inspect the bores/ bearings/ etc before sticking her on the track.

I think I will almost certainly take her along to one of the tuning co's for some work simply to safeguard the future of the engine...it would seem rude not to...

[ashley]

Booked it in with Rogue on the 14th of July for a full engine strip down to see what's what, and then take it from there...

Matthew at Rogue seems really helpful, looking forwards to working with them...I am expecting gooood things