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

[Dave_Q]

WD40 and a Wilko's glass scraper worked for me, quick too.

[dome]

So last Sunday we headed to Inverness which was to be the start of our North Coast 500 trip. The weather Gods were truly smiling on us so we got very lucky with the trip. High teens to low 20s and the only rain we got was overnight. It was a tad windy up at the far north but that's to be expected

 

 

There was me and my better half in the S4, Fraz who lurks on here and his girlfriend in his Saab 9-3 (soon to be for sale, hint hint) and another mate in his VW camper van.

 

 

We went anticlockwise heading to Wick on the first night and did it over 4 days, arriving back in Drumnadrochit (just South of Inverness on Thursday night. 500 miles might not sound like a lot over 4 days but the roads are challenging(usually in a good way) and plenty of stops were made. Very often just to say, "Fucking hell, look at the view!" We also detoured slightly to take in the Belach na Ba pass which is pretty amazing. I'd recommend allowing more time if you can, it's the scenery is absolutely stunning.

 

 

The 3 cars performed fine, although the S4 announced the beginnings of a dodgy wheelbearing on the way UP to Inverness. This got progressively worse and meant that it souned like a Lancaster bomber by the end of the trip. i was going to strip it down today but we've had rain and hail showers all day so that can wait...

 

 

 

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[dome]

And some more...

 

 

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[dome]

And again. Apologies for the Saab spoiling some of the pictures...

 

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[dome]

And again...

 

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[Split_Pin]

What a trip! I would love to do that in the Cabby.

[gm]

looks awesome, thats been 'on the list' for a while now but seeing those pics has put it 'ON THE LIST !'

[hairnet]

have done parts of that on the bike

 

are you gonna tune the s4 as the saab seems to be in front quite a lot

[Matty]

That must've been a hard work convoy. S4, Saab and....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

......vw camper van!

[hairnet]

camper = all the torques up the hills

[Fraz]

The Saab is pure rapid aw that mister..

 

Lol

 

T’was a great trip

[dome]

I stripped the Audi on the Sunday after getting back from the North Coast 500, or at least tried to. I managed to shear a caliper carrier bolt-it had seized into the alloy upright. Heat, penetrant and swearing got it out and a new one was purchased from the local VW dealers. 
I tried to get the bearing out without removing the driveshaft but this was a folly that wasted more time. Top links(that I'd had out before) removed and the driveshaft came out, I also noticed a split in the CV boot which was handy* 

The bearing was most likely original and it was a real fight to get it out. I actually broke my hammer in the process. #sadreactsonly

I also took the opportunity to replace the discs and pads as they were well down. Saturday morning and I was up bright and early and soon this was the situation at Dome Towers

Stripped down and ready for reassembly

Shiny parts ready for fitting

 

A big old set of discs on this thing, 345mm

 

 

And a word of caution, make sure you aren't too close to the house when letting the jack down. I jammed the jack handle and had to use another trolley jack under the front to free off this one...

 

This done and I can now hear the exhaust again. I need to attend to an oil leak from the front of the engine so will do the valley gasket and a few other jobs when it's in bits. But not until the MR2 is on the road.

[dome]

So, the exhaust parts arrived while I was up North. Careful* measuring had given us an idea of what we needed.

The exhaust gases will flow like this

Out of the manifold then turn 90 degrees left(as you look at the car from the rear) then across to the LHS and round a 180 degree bend bringing them up and back across the car into the cat. Up to this part the pipes are 3" The Corollas cat reduces the diameter down to 2.5" on exit so the rest of the system is this size.  Through another 180 degrees and back down and across to the left where it flows into the Corollas centre box which will hopefully give us enough silencing. 

 

Still with me? Good, here goes

 

A mixture of tape and offcut silicon was used to try and get the angles right

 

Once I was happy the welder was broke out to tack things in place

Those of a nervous disposition look away now, my welding abilities are still in their infancy. Cough.

More to follow...

 

 

 

[dome]

As you might be able to see the plan is to weld things up as far as the cat and then use clamps from then on. This will a) give us some adjustability and b) let us swap out the back box if need be.

Last night I took out new system into the garage, locked the door and got the welder out. The results may not be pretty but they seem to work Some cleaning up and rewelding may be required though.

 

Bolted back on along with new gasket for the manifold to downpipe and sprung bolts to allow some flex on the system.  There's only a couple of leaks as far as i can see, I'll run it properly and chase all of these. I also need to make some hangers up, I've got a couple of ideas for this. It also needs a tailpipe, I'm thinking side exit, just because i can!

 

Here's how it sounds now.

That's better!

And here's how our list looks now.

 

 

The throttle issue was that whilst it idled OK as soon as you touched the throttle it tried to die. I worked out this was because the 2zz throttle rotates the opposite way to the 1zz so I needed to swap over a couple of wires on the TPS. I did this tonight but it was pissing down when 'd finished so I never fired it up.

[dome]

Got a bit more done tonight. Lambdas from the mr2 swapped into the exhaust and wired in as the connectors from the corolla were different. 

Coolant bled, it's quite a nifty setup involving two pipes up the front that you hang off the opened bonnet to allow them to bleed.

I ran it up to temp with no EML so I'm calling that a win

Throttle issue seems fixed, still to actually drive it though of course.

More importantly, the 6 speed gearknob from the corolla is on and I discovered it has an electric aerial which works!

[The Moog]

Sounds proper winning ! Well done chaps

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I'm really regretting selling my 'Rolla T Sport donor... I'm also queetionning why I've bought a Z4 and dumped the MR2 at the top of the drive for the meantime. I think fate states the MR2 needs a 2ZZ conversion.

I'm intrigued to see what you think of yours once you've driven it in anger. 

[dome]

Exhaust mount fabrication* completed tonight. Not pretty but it'll do.

Don't worry, the bit of silicone hose is temporary. The other hanger in the picture will be getting scrapped.

Also patched up the manifold so it's less blowy. It's sounding better. Still running a wee bit rough, I suspect an air leak somewhere. Which will be fun to find as the inlet manifold is now up against the bulkhead...

[hairnet]

shit welding??

• naw if it dont leak its reet if its under the car

dot the fuck? ^

[nacho man]

I think it will turn out a bit of a weapon when done, I had a standard one a few years back it was still a good steer and had just enough power to be fun.

I know this is k swapped but it flies.

Similar ish power outputs

 

[dome]

1 hour ago, Danterzza said:

I think it will turn out a bit of a weapon when done, I had a standard one a few years back it was still a good steer and had just enough power to be fun.

I know this is k swapped but it flies.

Similar ish power outputs

 

 

I had my Type R at the same time as the black MR2 and I did squint very hard at both cars with a view to doing that.

It is VERY expensive though as you need custom EVERYTHING. Driveshafts, mounts, ECU. The costs were wild especially as it all has to come from the U.S. where it's a more common swap.

The 2zz will be similar performance as standard for less than half the costs. The K20 is much more tuneable though so would be the way to go if you wanted 200bhp+ naturally aspirated.

[dome]

So, as reported on the Grin thread this little beasty passed an MOT on Monday??

I spent Saturday afternoon generally fettling it for its MOT. We fitted the road wheels to it (Not gold. Boo) and at the same time I checked over everything. I was also trying to work out why the ABS light was on. Turns out I'd nicked a sensor wire whilst grinding off a recalcitrant drop link. It wasn't cut right the way through so I nearly missed it. I've connected it together and put heatshrink over it to keep it clean.

I also took the exhaust back off to chase a few holes that became apparent in the manifold once I'd made up the system. It's a lot better, and good enough to pass a test but there's still some wee holes I'd like to fix. I'd also like to  clean up my frankly terrible welding from modifying the manifold especially. 

It was running rough, idling with a slight misfire when cold and missing on initial throttle application. i chased air leaks and then put some fresh fuel in it, this seemed to cure it.

Back together and dropped off on Sunday night after a very brief test drive with no EMLs so I was happy.

After a nervous Monday spent mostly checking the MOT checker online i was eventually greeted with this

 

 

 

That'll do me!

Off to pick it up and here she is.

It's tatty but presentable and doesn't hint at being non standard, just the way I like them!

 

The idle from cold was still an issue but I'd managed to find one potential cause. The MAF housing I'd fitted was a larger diameter than the stock one and this can cause a false reading of how much air is going through it. I had some reducer rings which came with the cone filter so chopped up the smallest one and fitted it, this seems to have cured it.

So, I guess you all want to know if all the hassle was worth it?

FUCK YES!

Imagine your small sports car which had 140bhp at 6000rpm suddenly had an extra 2000rpm and 50bhp to play with? Well that's exactly what we have here.

The 2zz feels a bit more urgent at lower revs than the 1zz, probably down to the exhaust/filter. Put the foot down and it goes well with the lift kicking in around 6krpm with a noticeable shove and change in exhaust/induction noise and pulling strongly all the way to the 8200rpm redline. It's addictive!

The exhaust isn't too loud for normal driving but put the foot down though and it makes a great noise. Then it hits lift and sounds like an old Escort rallycar with a BDA? Having the air filter jammed in the side vent adds to the fun, just open the passenger window for full effect!

Here's a video recorded from the passenger seat. It doesn't do it justice but you get the idea. 

 

It's only done about 40 miles or so between Duncan and I but we're both smitten. Although both have commented that we seem to be arriving at corners a lot quicker than we used to ?

So, next up is tidy up the exhaust and make sure it's well hung. Also I'll need to refit the heatshield as with the cat in the bay it gets fooking hot in there. There's a couple of EML codes now, this being a Toyota at least one of these is for lambda heater wiring. I'd like to bleed the brakes before we go on track, the rear caliper and discs/pads all round were new about 4 years ago before it was laid up but he feel isn't great. I did forget to try and bed the pads in though which might not have helped...

 

 

[The Moog]

Well done chap - that video sounds amazing!

I would love an extra 50 hp.

 

[Tickman]

Glad all the effort has paid off.

[cort16]

Well done that dome

[gm]

oh yes, I'm liking that

 

[Matty]

Red cars look fucking mint. Im of the belief that evrything looks better painted red!

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Great result fella……….. although they do look a lot better black

[dome]

5 hours ago, Exiled_Tat_Gatherer said:

Great result fella……….. although they do look a lot better black

Yeah but red cars are fasterer!

[Matty]

^ ^

Scientifically proven that as well!