Alex's 2ZZ Swapped MR2 Roadster

[shnazzle]

Fair points and I would be inclined to agree  s:) s:)

[Dudi]

I saw your car at Bonsai (mine was the silver 2zz track car which had the Rogue exhaust setup). Nice setup you've got and I was impressed with the reliability.

[Alex Knight]

Thanks mate  s:) s:)  It's been very good to me, given how hard it's driven on track, so I thought I'd repay the favour. Wasn't cheap though!

I had a good look around your car too, especially the exhaust. Looks very nice indeed. In fact, seeing your exhaust prompted me to go the same way as you (Rogue flange and bends).

[Alex Knight]

I've completed my first trackday since the refresh. It was as at wet and miserable Pembrey circuit on 01/10/17.
The car (as always) was flawless, zero issues (thankfully, given that the work done to the car was pretty extensive), and zero oil consumption (sorry 1ZZers!).

Given that it was a wet day, I didn't get chance to really push the car, but it was lots of fun, and enjoyable.
I'm pleased to say that the addition of an LSD has made a difference. No more spinning up the inside wheel coming out of the slow, 2nd gear hairpin at the end of the main straight.
I could meter the power (and the angle of the resultant slide) nice and accurately. I had total confidence in the car.
I did have a play with the damping during the sessions, and found a really nice, neutral balance. Just a smidgen of turn-in understeer (this is new to this car, must be the LSD), and nicely metered oversteer at corner exit.
I can't wait to try the car in the dry, but I guess I'll have to wait until the spring and more clement weather for that.

I did make a new friend in a blue Honda S2000, who was a first time trackdayer.
I gave him some pointers on racing lines etc, as he self-admittedly didn't really know what to do. I was offered a drive in the S2000 as well - my first time in one of these on track.
The tyres were past their best, but it clung on gamely, and had a nice engine, but the gearing seemed overly long to me, especially third gear.

Here are some pictures of the day:

[1979scotte]

Glad you are enjoying yourself.
Do you think your new friend might let to pop his F20 in your 2?
That would be automotive manna from heaven.

[tpivette]

Brilliant, that wee car is in my top 3 best cars I've ever owned. Try not to dent too many panels though....

[Alex Knight]

Brilliant, that wee car is in my top 3 best cars I've ever owned. Try not to dent too many panels though....

Cheers pal! Perhaps you should get another (but not mine!)?

[tpivette]

I would if I could find the right one, but I think I've been spoiled....

[Alex Knight]

Greetings all,

It's been a while since I've updated this thread.

Not much has happened over the winter. No more trackdays sadly, as the weather has been pretty grim.

I did, however treat the car to another polish and wax (Autoglym HD Wax). It comes up so spiffing every time, I'm really amazed this little car is 16 years old now!

Here it is after applying the wax:





And some after pics (the whole process took about 5 hours):

[justinread72]

Looking good Alex you need to pop up and have a look at m red car.

[Alex Knight]

Quick update:

The air filter on the car was still the same one as installed when we originally did the engine swap (supplied by Monkey Wrench Racing), so I thought it was about time it got changed, despite not having covered that many miles.

I opted for an AEM dryflow (with a 70mm intake neck) as I'd read good things about their filters.

It's ever so slightly bigger than the old one, but fits just fine.

[Alex Knight]

I visited JDM Combe yesterday at the Castle Combe circuit. I was helping my friend on the Spoon Sports stand. As a consequence, I had a few free track passes. I even managed to remember to record one of them (just!) and here it is (sorry about the sound quality - it's the camera mounting):

[Alex Knight]

Had a track morning (open pit) booked at Castle Combe on Monday just passed.

I did some prep work on the weekend, but all that was required was new rear tyres (Yokohama AD08R - 205/50/R15) and some new rear brake pads (EBC Yellowstuff).

Bed the new brakes and tyres in on Saturday night, and was good to go for Monday.

The car - as ever - was mighty. Perfect balance from the chassis in mid to high speed corners. I found with the (relatively) newly fitted LSD, I could just overspeed the rear tyres from apex to exit, allowing for a spot of neutral steer. I would like a little less roll when loaded. Pitch was well contained, so this points to beefier ARBs required, but I'm loath to change anything as the car works so well on the road too.

I had dampers front and rear set to fully stiff all round.

I have lots of footage which I will upload soon, but for now here what I think was my fastest lap of the day. I wasn't timing, but it looks like a 1:24(ish) lap:

[Alex Knight]

As promised, here are the three sessions I recorded:

Session 1: Pretty tame, as it was my GFs first time on track - I was taking it easy.

Session 2: Pushing a little more, but nothing too punchy.

Session 3: Pushing a bit harder, especially towards the end. No passenger and less fuel in the car (started with a full tank) meant the car felt a bit lighter and therefore quicker everywhere.

[Alex Knight]

Hello all. Long time, no update!

Not much has changed really, planning to overhaul the brakes in the next couple of months.

Going for new (Blueprint) discs, new (Yellowstuff) pads, caliper rebuild & paint, and braided hoses (finally).

In the meantime, I popped into work to give the car another polish, and a bit of an interior clean.

Here are the results:

[shnazzle]

Still love the car good to see you back

[s12vea]

Black does clean up well! Very smart

[Alex Knight]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Forgot to say, failed the MOT back in December on worn rear trailing arm bushes.
They were absolutely goosed! If your braked firmly, the whole car would physically jink to one side. Come off the brakes, and it would jink back in the opposite direction! It was quite violent.
These were the only bushes that weren't replaced during the overhaul in 2017. They've been done with Polybushes now.

[Alex Knight]

Hi all,

So after fitting the Top Secret exhaust back in 2016, I'd always felt it might be ever so slightly too loud for my tastes these days.
It sounds fantastic, don't get me wrong. Smooth and deep, with a few pops and bangs on the overrun (even with the stock CAT in place).

But really, however, I'd decided that a TRD exhaust would be absolutely perfect for me. Not too loud, but still free-flowing enough for the 2ZZ.
Sadly, ZZW30 TRD exhausts are rarer than a politically backed Brexit agreement. I'd been scouring the internet for two years for a 'reasonably priced' TRD exhaust. All the ones I saw for sale were between £250 and £300. By the time you had added £150 EMS shipping, it was looking like £400-£450 for a second (or perhaps third or fourth!) hand exhaust - I couldn't justify that.

Then last week, I happened across one on Yahoo Auctions Japan, and the starting bid was very low (1,000JPY), so I decided to take a punt, and put a max bid in of around £100.
Would you believe that I won the auction for 10,600JPY (around £75)! I was very pleased

Cosmetically, it's not in great shape however, but I'm sure after some TLC and polishing it can be brought back to a good condition. Being TRD, I'm sure that mechanically it's going to be sound.

Expect to see a Top-Secret exhaust for sale in a few weeks 

Here's some pictures from the auction:

[shnazzle]

Wow! Amazing purchase! Not jealous at all

[Gaz mr-s]

Then last week, I happened across one on Yahoo Auctions Japan, and the starting bid was very low (1,000JPY), so I decided to take a punt, and put a max bid in of around £100.
Would you believe that I won the auction for 10,600JPY (around £75)! I was very pleased
quote]

Who physically sends it Alex, & what's it going to add with import duty?

Gary

[Call the midlife!]

Wow! Amazing purchase! Not jealous at all

https://youtu.be/PyHr-4SeILI


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[KRAMSNEHPETS]

how much you after for old exhaust?, any pictures please

[Alex Knight]

how much you after for old exhaust?, any pictures please

Not really sure yet. I need to get it off the car first.

Won't be for around a month, as I'm moving house in a couple of weeks.

[KRAMSNEHPETS]

am in no rush but a price would be good, would  make a quick decision, where you located. what manifold you need for exhaust?