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Domes shonky autos - Manta progress!


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Well we're at 200 gentle* miles now and all is well so far. Apart from this

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That's the centre section of the corolla box which is now our silencer. A victim of me working out how to hang the exhaust (answer: better than it is currently). To be fair it was pretty rotten at that point.

I chopped the end off and welded on a new section I fashioned off an old part of S4 exhaust. It's back on and has a better but still temporary hanger arrangement. I also refitted the MR2 heat shield which has made a big difference to the temps

It'll need to come off again to seal up some pinhole leaks and clean up my welding, I've got a powerflex mount here to fit too and will get a new manifold gasket as ours is a bit shonky.

Just arrived at Scotoshite in it. It's fecking sketchy out-hit lift and it lights up the tyres. That may be more amusing when it's not rush hour traffic.

The alignment desperately needs sorted too, it's twitchy at the front end. Getting there though.

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Cheers Will! Good to see you!

Full report to follow but in summary

 

1. Went to Knockhill

2. Went line fuck(to the best of our ability)

3. Minor things fell off(who needs an exhaust anyway?)

4. After a discussion with the officials GLFery continued, minus back box 

Between 50 and 60 laps completed, wee car didn't miss a beat. 

Well chuffed.

Been in the pub for the rest of the day celebrating. Hic.

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So, I'll get to MR2zz shennagins later. The Exploder was requiring some attention.

It still had a bent caliper carrier and I had a new set of pads for it. I also had bought a pair of timing chain tensioners for it and the idle was a bit high.

Last Monday, this was the site at dome mansionsIMG_20190527_111047834.thumb.jpg.f1da1a3ea65c2acb03e4f7562c2540a2.jpg

Brakes went well, the new caliper carrier was fitted and the old pads. Well, this picture tells a story

IMG_20190527_121748907.thumb.jpg.6f76b83b2e0a3fc5e4ee9c0d064f15e4.jpg

 

Onto the tensioners and there's 2. One is on the back of the right hand head  and is easily accessed by removing a wheel and going in through the removable arch liner.

The other one, not so easy.

It's on the front of the LHS head and handily* has the thermostat in the way.

I watched a few redneck YouTube videos and learned that

The thermostat is in the way of the tensioner

The inlet manifold is in the way of the thermostat

Fuxake

Ah well, here goes nothing...

IMG_20190527_171541896.thumb.jpg.7612b1a39b9afe28a11a0c10ae7c7b03.jpg

 

Further in, EGR had to be removed from the inlet to get access 

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Tensioner is just visible below that cable, a 27mm socket takes it off

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The new tensioner in place, you can see the extended body on this one, it's an upgraded part.

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Both tensioners have to be primed by sticking them in oil and compressing them til they firm up. Oo err. Both old ones were tested and were fucked so this was a worthwhile enterprise.

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The Exploder got left til yesterday as smoll red cars were taking priority but I got it stuck back together. It ran shite at first as the EGR valve had a leak, i fixed this and took it a spin. Whilst fixing it I noticed that the EGR valve had been blanked off, this probably explains why the inlet was pretty clean

Brakes are a lot better, engine is quieter and the idle is better. Win!

 

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do you have any videos of the mr2 on track ? I bet it sounded great, especially with the missing backbox. those tyres look like you've had your moneys worth out of them, I presume they were part worns before you started ?

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1 hour ago, gm said:

do you have any videos of the mr2 on track ? I bet it sounded great, especially with the missing backbox. those tyres look like you've had your moneys worth out of them, I presume they were part worns before you started ?

Here's a vid that Duncan's mate shouldn't have been filming (hence the black flag at the end). It sounds better with the back box on to be honest. Duncan driving here.

The tyres were very cheap from a mate so yes, have seen better days. I don't think we troubled them much so we might get another track day out of them. They felt good though so were a good investment.

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14 minutes ago, dome said:

Here's a vid that Duncan's mate shouldn't have been filming (hence the black flag at the end). It sounds better with the back box on to be honest. Duncan driving here.

The tyres were very cheap from a mate so yes, have seen better days. I don't think we troubled them much so we might get another track day out of them. They felt good though so were a good investment.

a black flag for hand held camera ? oopsie :) sounds great though, that engine just wants to be thrashed  

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Went home via Duncan's to check over the MR2 tonight after Saturdays shenanigans.

Oil level ok, coolant too. Brakes ok and not too worn, proof we're not trying hard enough. 

Here's the exhaust after getting launched across the track at 70 odd mphIMG_20190603_175926668.thumb.jpg.95f237e1c1c94cf08971d309bbbf3ff1.jpgIMG_20190603_175922969.thumb.jpg.e5081f0eefb5859645a4c6d14ea38f53.jpg

oops.

still, my weld on the tailpipe held up...

I put it back on just now with a coke can cut up to help space things out-its just a bit too loose where it sleeves into the system.

IMG_20190603_184119191.thumb.jpg.78fd036192b1cbc6d5b096e5b4d32ed1.jpg

And back on road wheels. I actually prefer the gold now...

IMG_20190603_191604227.thumb.jpg.cbb16c73fb499a555fb3e80b26c4d38e.jpg

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When the exhaust came off it damaged the bumper mount which was flapping about and got us black flagged.  I got a screw in it but Fraz went a bit nuts with the tape. Still, it showed we had made an effort to fix it...

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45 minutes ago, Fabergé Greggs said:

Great video- reminds me of what a tricky undulating track Knockhill is- especially in something short wheel base and mid-engined. I've nearly lost the X1/9 on about 50% of those corners ?

cough *saint *whistles

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53 minutes ago, dome said:

When the exhaust came off it damaged the bumper mount which was flapping about and got us black flagged.  I got a screw in it but Fraz went a bit nuts with the tape. Still, it showed we had made an effort to fix it...

“ went nuts” AKA over engineering. 

 

Youre welcome 

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  • 1 month later...

So, not a lot to report here on the existing fleet.  I've enjoyed some time off from fixing cars which is nice. The MR2 has been intermittently losing lift and throwing up a code, I'm in the process of investigating this. Other than that not a lot has happened. Well, until yesterday...

So I'd casually mentioned to my mate that I was thinking of finding a little project to make some cash on as funds were tight. The plan was to fix up the Exploder and maybe move it on and also get the Locost back together and advertised first so I wasn't thinking straight away.

I then got a message on Saturday night saying "want a free car?" You can guess my response. The info was sparse. Toyota Starlet auto, owner was giving up driving and wanted it to go to a good home. It hadn't been used for over a year.
I was in the borders MTBing yesterday where the contact was so gave them a call, it turned out the car was in the middle of Edinburgh so we met up and followed them over. 

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. How fucked was it? Had it been touch parked for the last 26 years or was it rotten? Would it run and drive? Let's find out...

First surprise-It was sitting parked at the side of the road. A quick search of the reg showed it was MOT'd. It also had air in it's tires and whilst it looked a bit neglected it showed potential. 

Here she is as found 

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Introductions were made, the owner was 91 years old and had given up driving due to poor eyesight. she was still pretty sharp though :)  
She'd bought it new when she passed her test in her 60s but hadn't used the car for over a year. She had kept it roadworthy though. Sure enough, it fired up and ran sweet :) The paint is pretty badly oxidised from sitting outside but bodywork was in mostly good shape. My checks didn't really go beyond a cursory glance under the bonnet to make sure everything was there, which it seemed to be.

She had tried We buy any car but the salesman had never heard of a toyota Starlet nor of the "old" reg format. She was pretty switched on to be fair she had some young folk asking about the car and was sure it was because Toyota made a "fast version" (The mental little turbos) and they mistook it for one of those. 

She wanted the car to go to a good home so i was happy to take custody of it. Although I was slightly nervous of it's first journey in my hands being through the middle of Edinburgh on a warm (for Scotland) Sunday. Amazingly the handbrake was free and it drove happily out of it's parking space, straight to the pez station at the end of the road. It had half a tank in it but i thought i'd better put some in to dilute down the probably at least 2 year old petrol that was in it. 

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First problem-the screw in petrol cap was missing. I chucked in a gallon anyway and off we went.

And, do you know what? It drove spot on. The gears shifted fine and the temp gauge sat rock steady for the 20 odd miles home. It's first trip into Fife in it's life, no less! And quite possibly its first time above 40mph...

First thing I did when i got home was dig out the fuel cap I'd kept off the Corolla-someone had messaged me about it when I was breaking it but never came back to me. Well bugger me but didn't it just fit perfectly? Result!

Plans? Clean and tidy it, investigate the timing belt situation and possibly change that for piece of mind and then it'll be getting flogged. It'll do someone very well as a smoll auto for nipping about town but is no use to me as I'd struggle to get my bike in it. Shame, as I do enjoy smoll cars. 

I drove it to work today, will take it home tonight and have an exploratory prod of it. 


 

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Some more smoll car pics for you all. I've not cleaned the interior yet, as you may be able to tell.

Powerhouse. All fluids fresh and levels correct, belts look new too.

IMG_20190708_183119138.thumb.jpg.180ee2802a3be3af87a4350dc4ae421a.jpg

Timing belt changed 8 years and 2000 miles ago...

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I gave it a quick wash and clay in fading light, it's came up ok. Some paint is pretty flat. Shame I'm shit at polishing but I'll give it a crack sometime.

IMG_20190708_203427164.thumb.jpg.d2279efc01170e7fa605e7c60ae54886.jpg

IMG_20190708_203451653.thumb.jpg.059f9b42d10ed870d0ef5a9421e840d6.jpg

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