Project Domes shonky autos - Car that lived by the sea in Scotland in rust shocker*

[gm]

"After work tonight a viewing has been arranged"

 

looking forward to hearing all about your new purchase

[320touring]

I'll get the kettle on;)

[dome]

Viewing achieved, car worse than expected, may still buy it anyway.

 

Am I doing this right?

[The Moog]

Only if car > invcar

[CreepingJesus]

  On 02/11/2017 at 21:43, dome said:

Viewing achieved, car worse than expected, may still buy it anyway.

 

Am I doing this right?

Is it better than the Cougar? As in, better nick, more appropriate to the intended task.

If yes -> cash machine.

If no -> go home.

[dome]

It's fucked

 

My mate picks it up today for us while I'm at work.

[dome]

My partner in crime is about to leave on the collection mission. There will be no updates until tomorrow though

 

Did I mention it's fucked? I've sent him some music for his journey...

 

[CreepingJesus]

Strut tops or big ends?

[dome]

So, my intrepid friend and I headed North last night into deepest Perthshire to view our latest contendor. Advertised as spares or repairs I was told the issues were an EML light on and a tatty roof. I was also told it drove fine.

 

We arrived and at first glance it seems OK, but a tad manky. Some holes in the roof but no leaks. It fired up OK and seemed quiet, after a short while though a rattle became evident from the engine.

 

"Oh yeah, I stopped driving it after it started doing that."

 

But you never thought to mention that did you? A brief test drive confirmed it drove OK, I didn't push it though.

 

We left it last night and came home to lick our wounds. Google fu revealed a few potential causes of the rattle, we were already well aware of some of the known issues with these engines-oval bores, pre cats breaking up and going BACK into the engine destroying it.

 

Our grand* plan was to get a season out of it and get it sorted and then drop in the 190bhp engine out of a Corolla/Celica-this is a realy popular mod and makes these wee things fly.

 

So we messaged the seller and a deal was arranged-the price was so good that it would be rude not to.

 

Potential causes of the rattle

 

Timing chain tensioner

Water Pump.

Conrod bearings

 

All of these things are a cheap fix-the rod bearings are £20 on ebay and can be accessed by dropping the sump. Worst comes to the worst then the engine is out and a 190bhp 8200rpm screamer goes in. 

 

My mate got a lift up today and is currently broken down on his way down the road with it. 

 

A photo outside the sellers house. No pez station shot, there isn't one between his house and where we are and it has half a tank in it.

 

 

 

 

More to follow, assuming he makes it home...

[Supernaut]

Oooh!

 

Is it bad I knew exactly what it was as soon as you mentioned the problem with the pre-cat breaking up and going back into the engine?

[CreepingJesus]

Was wondering if those had hit shitedom yet. They have now...

[320touring]

The wonders never cease.

 

dome manages to buy an unreliable Japanese car:)

[dome]

We'll, it made it back home in one piece, off for food and fireworks (and not just because my better half found out) and then I'll go and visit my mate where it resides

[hairnet]

looks ok as long as its not too engine borked - (least it drove haim)

[dome]

That's handy, there's a spare engine in the boot.

 

Battery on to charge, it didn't want to start after my mate got it home. Started fine with a bump so maybe something left switched on or possibly an alarm problem-the guy said he left it unlocked and had charged the battery for us coming. Its started fine since then

 

Engine noise wise it's difficult to pinpoint, it's a rattle that comes and goes ones the engine has a bit of heat in it. Nothing there straight from cold.

 

It's just had a new aux belt and as the water pump and belt tensioner are prime candidates for causing a noise first job is take the belt off and run it to see if the noise is still there.

 

It really needs a clean, will get onto that at some point.

 

 

 

It's fine, we have duct tape.

 

 

3 Toyo t1rs and 2 newish budgets on the rear. Could be interesting.

 

First impressions of driving? I'm not pushing the engine for obvious reasons. Chucked it into a few corners and you definitely know where the weight is. Will take a bit of getting used to...

[gm]

I'll be very interested in how this works out - there have been a couple up at Knockhill and they seem to go well. that engine looks like a bugger to work on though, I hope it doesn't need much doing. well bought, my good man !

[Sir Snipes]

Best check the rear subframe for rot and try to ascertain if the engine has a ferocious thirst for oil before throwing money at it.

[andy18s]

Guy over on the blue has 1 of these that's receiving Volvo T5 running gear,and RS200 replica body panels that just bolt on (allegedly)......

[Split_Pin]

Presume there's no room to get an extension bar pressed against the block to have a listen? That pinpointed the small end rattle on my Corsa in less than a minute after about a year of headscratching.

[rainagain]

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32706476246.html

[cort16]

Oh I do like these they're like a mini Japanese boxster but with less boot space. Is the 190 Celica swap straight forward? I.e. is it the same physical size.

[dome]

Managed to get a bit of a start on this today in between being away most of the day.

 

Gave it a quick wash this morning, looks a lot better now.

 

 

 

Took the charger off this morning, battery seemed OK 6 hours later when I got back home after leaving it locked with the alarm on so that's not a major concern just now.

 

Time to try and find this engine knock.

 

When started from cold it's not there, it only appears once the engine gets up to temperature. Most noticeable on the way up/down the rev range, not when held at constant revs. I should've got a video but was too busy with what little light there was remaining.

 

I worked through a few possible causes from some Google-Fu

 

Cat heat shields:

 

I removed the undertray and whilst these are a bit tatty they're not rattling.

 

Aux Belt tensioner/Pulley:

 

I removed the aux belt completely and fired it up for a few seconds to rule this lot out-no change.

 

Timing chain tensioner:

 

Similar idea to IainL and rainagains posts, I used a bike handlebar to listen to various parts of the engine whilst my mate revved it to make it make the noise. We then swapped positions without me revealing my thoughts and both agreed that the noise is coming from the timing chain end. 

 

I removed the tensioner and it's definitely original. It's difficult to tell if this is the issue but a new tensioner is cheap enough (around £30) and easy to swap. May also pop off the rocker cover and see if I can check the guides.

 

So, we'll replace the timing chain tensioner and take it from there.

[dome]

  On 04/11/2017 at 08:45, cort16 said:

Oh I do like these they're like a mini Japanese boxster but with less boot space. Is the 190 Celica swap straight forward? I.e. is it the same physical size.

 

It's physically the same size but needs exhaust fabricated amongst other things, also ideally the 6 speed box which later MR2s had and other parts. It's well documented tho. Some JDM engines have an 8600rpm red line 

 

  On 04/11/2017 at 06:12, Rusty Sills said:

Best check the rear subframe for rot and try to ascertain if the engine has a ferocious thirst for oil before throwing money at it.

 

Yes, on the subframe, no on the engine. See above

 

  On 04/11/2017 at 03:35, gm said:

I'll be very interested in how this works out - there have been a couple up at Knockhill and they seem to go well. that engine looks like a bugger to work on though, I hope it doesn't need much doing. well bought, my good man !

 

It's going to be a steep learning curve but should be fun!

 

Compared to a Clio 182 and my S4 the engine bay is positively cavernous!

[Sir Snipes]

I was surprised when I found out the MR2 never got the 190 engine in the uk. Even Celicas aren’t exactly common with it- seems most of them went into T-Sport Corollas.

 

A mad I knew had a 190 Corolla and he said it was gutless. He wasn’t the sort to rev an engine....

[Split_Pin]

The small end rattle on my Corsa happened at idle and when held at constant revs (and I replaced the chain and tensioner and it didnt go away) so Im with you on the chain tensioner on yours.

[Asimo]

I had one from about 45000 miles for a few years and although I never had any issues with the engine I thought it always sounded a bit rough and rattly. But my ears were only about 10 inches from the top of the engine.

 

Do check that rear subframe - they turn to bran flakes from the inside.

 

Mine needed new front dampers - one failed completely with no leaks.

 

The suspension travel is very limited, and when it runs out on bumpy roads the grip is gone.

 

Handbrake - oh gods......

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Looks like a great project - good choice. We've had ours for around two and a half years now, and it's been a cracking little car. Every time I toy with selling, I drive it and instantly change my mind. You'll find you trust the grip and handing more if you give it a staggered facelift wheel setup, with 15" front and 16" rear. Ours is dropped 35mm as well, and it really helps.

Have you done much work with engine swaps previously? As you say, the 190 conversion is well documented. My impression was that despite the fact it drops in, it's a ballache to get everything else set up properly in the MR2 shell? Interested to see where you go with yours - I missed out on a £400 190 Celica a couple of weeks back, which I still regret!

[overrun]

If the current donkey is fucked, get a 3S-GTE in there. You'll never look back.

The forged one in my mk2 turbo came from a converted mk3 Roadster.

[nacho man]

I had one a few years back, was cracking, there a great drive. Even the standard engine is enough for a good giggle. I had the precats cut out of mine, mine used plenty of oil mind.

 

They got some good praise when then came out, was funny I was just watching a vid this morning, one with a Honda k20 in.

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IFZ5-3VQ31I

[dome]

Might take the mr2 to work tomorrow. It'd be terrible* if I blew the engine and we had to do the 2zz conversion sooner...