Project Domes shonky autos - ***Manta Porn Klaxon***

[dome]

Pez shot from around half 6 just outside Inverness.

 

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[dome]

Made it to Armadale for about half 9, I stopped in Perth for some food though.

 

Report to follow in the morning but basically: it's bloody tidy and although I feel a wee bit bad about breaking it it's not half the car a Type R or a Clio 1*2 is.

 

The engines going somewhere far more suited to it

 

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[Dick Cheeseburger]

I couldn't get over just how low-geared mine was. Intrigued to see the evolution of your Roadster.

[320touring]

Made it to Armadale for about half 9, I stopped in Perth for some food though.

 

Report to follow in the morning but basically: it's bloody tidy and although I feel a wee bit bad about breaking it it's not half the car a Type R or a Clio 1*2 is.

 

The engines going somewhere far more suited to it

 

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I'm hoping for a proper perusal at this shortly, it does seem an interesting* thing

[davehedgehog31]

Did you find your fault code in the end?

[dome]

So, that was a fairly uneventful collection bar one minor* issue.

 

Chap picked me up at the station and drve me to his house where the chariot was waiting. A 2003 Toyota Corolla T Sport VVTL-i

 

For those that don't know, and lets face it that must be nearly everyone, this is Toyotas competitor in the hot hatch category from the early 90s.

 

The guys in the engine department brought their A game-it's a 1.8 4 cylinder developed with Yamaha with variable valve timing and lift giving 190bhp at 8250rpm or thereabouts. This is the engine used in Lotus Elise/Exige amongst other things. 

 

The styling/chassis guys phoned it in quite frankly. It's not as sporty looking as a Civic Type R/Renault Clio Sport and to drive it's pretty uninspiring. I pushed it a wee bit on familiar roads near the house and the steering is lowly geared, the driving position makes you feel like you're on the car and not in it and the chassis is pretty unresponsive, possibly because of electronic stability gubbins which i left on to be fair.

 

Anyway, all that is moot as it's purpose it to donate it's engine and gearbox to the MR2.

 

It has been in the same family from new, passing from father to daughter about 8 years ago and has done 96k miles with a full history. 

 

It's pretty bloody tidy and a quick look under the bonnet revealed fluids in the right places but the oil pretty dirty and overdue a change. It started and ran fine and a quick run around the block revealed no issues apart from dragging brakes from it sitting, no lights on the dash and no untoward noises.

 

Cash changed hands, documents were signed and I left Beauly outside Inverness around 6.20 heading south. As I pulled out to pass a car I gave it a bit of stick to be rewarded with the EML, TCS and VSC lights. Baws. Anyway, I carried on in relative comfort although the A/C didn't work so it was pretty warm. I was cutting it fine to make last orders at Scotoshite so stopped in Perth for a munch and carried on down to join the guys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you find your fault code in the end?

 

 

Aye, Cort16 had a code reader in his car which gave me a P1693 code. This relates to the lift mechanism  in these engines. It could be as simple as cleaning a mesh screen which can get gunked up, it could be the (im)famous 2zz lift bolts which I'm not entirely sure what they do but when they break they stop lift(the second cam profile for maximum GLFery) engaging. They are cheap and were going to get replaced anyway.

 

Plan for the meantime is stick it in for an MOT and probably give it an oil change and smoke around in it for a wee while. If it's taxed and MOT'd it makes storage easier. Being a Corolla it's probably easier for my Dad to get in and out of than the Audi too. 

 

Conversion is planned for over the winter giving us a chance to gather up the other parts we need. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

^ Shame you didn’t buy this a couple of weeks back - I had a Celica 190 ECU and key for sale, to suit this conversion. Made good money on it, too.

Not helping, am I?!

[dome]

^ Shame you didn’t buy this a couple of weeks back - I had a Celica 190 ECU and key for sale, to suit this conversion. Made good money on it, too.

Not helping, am I?!

 

Been offered a JDM ECU for £250, not sure if that's good or not?

[dome]

MOT booked for tomorrow, I'm reasonably confident* it'll pass.

 

If it need anything major I'll just take it to bits sooner than planned.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Been offered a JDM ECU for £250, not sure if that's good or not?

I think I saw that one on the MR2 facearse page.

I sold my UK one for £125 delivered. The JDM one offers more revs though iirc.

[dome]

I think I saw that one on the MR2 facearse page.

I sold my UK one for £125 delivered. The JDM one offers more revs though iirc.

 

I am aware that I can't use the Corolla one but don't know why, do you know?

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I am aware that I can't use the Corolla one but don't know why, do you know?

It doesn't work with the instrument panel apparently.

[Sir Snipes]

Corolla and Celica looms are by different manufacturers (maybe Denso for the Celica but can't quite recall).

[dome]

As the MOT on the Corolla ran out yesterday and we don't plan on ripping its heart out til the winter I stuck in for an MOT today. 

 

Having limited storage a road legal car is easier to store, it'll also let me make sure the engine is OK before removing it

 

Preparation involved making sure the lights worked and, er, that's it.

 

Results are in

 

 

Yas!   

 

 

 

 

 

[dome]

Also last night had a very pleasant drive in the S4 over to Garelochead to pick up this piece of ironmongery. Some hoonage occured. The S4 was noticeably quicker on the way back when it was 10 degrees cooler outside-a mere 19 degrees!

 

 

It's a chassis brace for the MR2. Brand new, never fitted and half the RRP. It goes under the centre of the car and is apparently pretty effective at stiffening things. A front one is what I really wanted but this'll do for starters. 

 

 

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Good news on the MoT - bonus.... 

I looked at these for various previous motors I wanted to track. Even the LS400! 

 

Couldn't you measure up and put together your own version? Tickman and co in the region are magicians of sparkly stick conjuring aren't they? It's your typical seamless tubing with the mounting points mounted. I looked at using the bush ends of Spit or GT6 arms you can buy seperately and seamless tubing between...... never got round to making it but it will happen for the SAAB once Noobtune is sorted.

[dome]

Good news on the MoT - bonus.... 

I looked at these for various previous motors I wanted to track. Even the LS400! 

 

Couldn't you measure up and put together your own version? Tickman and co in the region are magicians of sparkly stick conjuring aren't they? It's your typical seamless tubing with the mounting points mounted. I looked at using the bush ends of Spit or GT6 arms you can buy seperately and seamless tubing between...... never got round to making it but it will happen for the SAAB once Noobtune is sorted.

 

 

I'd certainly consider it-I hope to do that with the engine mount I need to make for the 2zz conversion as plans are available online. 

 

If I found plans for the front brace I'd do that. The mid one was cheap enough to make it hardly worth the effort though

[dome]

OK, I thought I'd try the easy stuff first to try and restore lift and cure the EML

 

There's a solenoid that opens at 6200rpm engaging the aggressive cam profile. This has a screen filter which can clog up causing the EML.

 

Air box off and unplugged to get access, the lift solenoid is on the side of the head.

 

 

Pictured here, you can see two earths attached to it, the solenoid is behind them.

 

 

The filter pops out and with a combination GT85 and a toothbrush it was soon cleared out. No before pics but it was solid with carbon, now you can see through it

 

 

Back together and I gave the plastic cover a quick wash

 

 

So, a quick test drive ensued and...

 

It goes like fuck!

 

Lift now kicks in at 6200rpm and it pulls like a train to 8200rpm. It feels about as strong as the Type R when on lift but a bit more gutless until that kicks in. To give you an idea, in 2nd gear lift doesn't kick in until 5000rpm and the red line is 67ish mph.

 

This'll be fun in the MR2

[dome]

And in case anyone wonders what Toyotas Civic Type R and Clio 172/182 competitor looks like, here it is.

 

 

Yup, that's a 190bhp 8200rpm hot hatch. 

 

Exciting isn't it?

[Sir Snipes]

Even more exciting was the semi-factory supercharger that no one ever heard of. I've always fancied a T-Sport Celica (or st202 2.0 GT) but they're getting on a bit now.

[320touring]

Glad filter clean has restored lift:)

[davehedgehog31]

Glad it was a nice easy fix!

[SiC]

Don't you feel a bit guilty to tear it's beating heart out when the body is in pretty good shape? Especially as there is not many of these left now!

[320touring]

Don't you feel a bit guilty to tear it's beating heart out when the body is in pretty good shape? Especially as there is not many of these left now!

Away man. The pensioners would shit themselves with the power, whereas the hairdressers will love the 2500w hairdryer;)

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Even more exciting was the semi-factory supercharger that no one ever heard of. I've always fancied a T-Sport Celica (or st202 2.0 GT) but they're getting on a bit now.

The T Sport Compressor is only around 220bhp iirc, so not a huge step up from the 190 this VVTLi pumps out.

 

I think I’ll need to stop reading this thread, as each step makes me go green that I sold my 2zz Corolla and ECU setup I’d specifically bought for my MR2.

#muststopgoingonaboutit

 

Big congrats on the clean MOT pass. Gotta love older Jap motors.

[cort16]

You might learn to love it you never know.

[dome]

Don't you feel a bit guilty to tear it's beating heart out when the body is in pretty good shape? Especially as there is not many of these left now!

 

I do a bit but I've saved enough cars from the scrappy over the years to be allowed one little* slip of the halo

 

Also, the MR2 with this engine will be a fucking hoot!

 

I did toy with selling it to make some profit but then we'd be back at square one looking for a good 2zz engine.

[Scruffy Bodger]

My mate's just bought a T Sport Compressor. I didn't even know they ever built one! I went out in it the other day for the first time and it does make a great noise, especially up the top end.

 

I expect yours goes well enough with 190. Should be an absolute hoot in an MR2 

[dome]

You might learn to love it you never know.

 

Nah. The engine is almost on a par with a Type R and better than a Clio but everything else is average.

 

The MR2 is a brilliant handling wee car that deserves a decent engine. Blame Toyota for not building it in the first place!

[cort16]

It does seem like an odd car. That metallic beige colour does it no favours either . I guess they thought they had the engine and the car and thought it would be reasonably low cost to put together . I wonder what it cost new against the type r?