My Sable 2005 MR2 - shnazzle

[tricky1138]

New rear tyres fitted, AD08R as usual.
Lost locking wheel nut key. Luckily mobile tyre fitter dude had a very handy brass tool that had them off in seconds.

New pipes fitted for catch can to PCV. Much better.

Proves just how useless locking wheel nuts are these days!

[shnazzle]

New rear tyres fitted, AD08R as usual.
Lost locking wheel nut key. Luckily mobile tyre fitter dude had a very handy brass tool that had them off in seconds.

New pipes fitted for catch can to PCV. Much better.

Proves just how useless locking wheel nuts are these days!

Utterly. Seriously, it took 3 whacks of his hammer with this tool and they screwed right off undamaged.

[Petrus]

New rear tyres fitted, AD08R as usual.

Getting some heat into them once scrubbed will make you SMÍLE 

[shnazzle]

New rear tyres fitted, AD08R as usual.

Getting some heat into them once scrubbed will make you SMÍLE 

Absolutely. Too bad it's absolutely pouring

[Petrus]

Absolutely. Too bad it's absolutely pouring

My fault, forgot about that 

[shnazzle]

Ding Day was an absolute hit for me.

Some new bits put on and to put on:
- fresh keyhole covers to replace my worn ones
- StuC kick panels
- front and rear motor mounts with extra rigidity thanks to Carolyn and a tube of Tiger Seal, to stop my engine sitting 2cm lower than usual and swaying back and forth.
- aaanndd... My valve clearances adjusted at DD2019 making my engine quiet as a mouse and drives sweet as a nut. So pleased.

[StuC]

And that's what a Ding Day should feel like.

I am impressed that you got the valves sorted. Was a speedy turnaround too.
It felt like I saw you undoing the rocker cover, then in next to no time you were putting back a can and then you were tidying up tools!!

[shnazzle]

And that's what a Ding Day should feel like.

I am impressed that you got the valves sorted. Was a speedy turnaround too.
It felt like I saw you undoing the rocker cover, then in next to no time you were putting back a can and then you were tidying up tools!!

To be fair, I had spent about 1.5hrs on my drive measuring the clearances first, to save time at DD.
But yes it was quite quick indeed. 80% of the time is spent measuring!

[shnazzle]

Catch can back out as well...

Not related to this car but got some very sad news today.

My first MR2, dubbed Snuggles by Vicky, has reached the end of his life   Its still exactly how it left my drive back in 2014. So sad to see it in a breakers yard.
It did well. I sold it with 113k miles and it trucked on. Just shows how much enjoyment these cars can bring and for how long.

RIP Snuggles. Thank you for bringing me to the MR2 world.

[shnazzle]

MOT pass this year. No advisories. 93k miles.
Original brakes, handbrake cables, suspension arms, steering UJ.... Not bad.

[Carolyn]

MOT pass this year. No advisories. 93k miles.
Original brakes, handbrake cables, suspension arms, steering UK.... Not bad.

Excellent!

[shnazzle]

De-modification has started. 
Emanage blue is out. 

Next is the Hurricane intake once a missing part arrives. It's great for noise, throttle response and horsepower chasing but at the cost of low and mid torque. 
Once stock box is back in, I may reconsider the emanage as I don't have the airflow aspect to worry about. 

Then comes a compression check to see how far off rebuild time I am. 

Depending on that, the 200 cell replaced with a cats2u special. I'd rather not remove it as its actually one of the things that offers genuine gains. 

Then the big one, coilovers are going the distance. 
Haven't decided yet on what's next but so far options are 
1) stock struts, new top mounts, H&R springs and Koni strut inserts.
2) BC coilovers rebuilt with better valves 

Now, wheels... Problem. 
I think the only feasible option I have is to get spacers on the rear to even up the width so that the front isn't wider than the rear.

After a that is sorted. Alignment.

[shnazzle]

Stock intake back in
Stock rear cross brace back in
And nice little cover from Bernie in

Most mods I've done in one go for a while!
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[shnazzle]

First drive out with stock intake back in.
Quiet. So quiet. As it turns out even on closed throttle the car is so much louder with a cone. Cruising is so much more pleasant. Yes the roar is gone, and it is sorely missed, but overall as a daily commuter this is much nicer.

Fueling. Spot on. 
Must have some inconsistencies in my injectors as my bank 1, after a 20 min drive, has a LTFT of 0. That's impressive.
Bank 2 on the other hand goes between 0.8 and 4.7. WELL within tolerance but still odd that only one bank is trimming.

Important to note here is that the only change is the intake, from Hurricane cone with EliseParts MAF adapter to stock.
Total fuel trims on Hurricane (same MAF, not cleaned in between) was 25% from LTFT and up to 8-9% from STFT. So a total of almost 35% fueling was being added. That's how much difference the MAF readings make, for those who doubted.

When I ran the eManage, I got much closer to "proper" readings, as I was adjusting the MAF signal. But it was guesswork and without a dyno or comparison to the stock MAF, I was never going to get it right. Hence it went the distance.

I'm leaving it stock, but getting a panel filter and perhaps copy the TRD trumpet. The stock box is king.

[thetyrant]

Lot to be said for the R&D toyota put in    will you refit the emanage now stock intake is back on to try and tweak it some more ?

[shnazzle]

Lot to be said for the R&D toyota put in   will you refit the emanage now stock intake is back on to try and tweak it some more ?

Nope. What would I have to tweak?

If my exhaust mods are allowing the engine to pull more air through (scavenging etc) then the MAF will read the increased airflow and adjust accordingly based on the fuel tables, instead of o2 sensor correction.

The only benefit of the emanage would be to shift the torque curve and advance timing to increase throttle response. But that comes at a cost. Very very little gain for a drop in reliability.
Until you go standalone to really re-focus the car towards power output instead of efficiency as well as power, then you're wasting time

[thetyrant]

Indeed and thats my thinking also   but i know you like to tinker so wondered if you you were going to play around with it again, agree its pointless but doesnt stop people having a go

I would be supervised if even a good standalone ecu would unleash any noticable gains without further internal mods to the engine like cams etc, even then where you gain in one area you loose in another so not much point.

[shnazzle]

Indeed and thats my thinking also   but i know you like to tinker so wondered if you you were going to play around with it again, agree its pointless but doesnt stop people having a go

I would be supervised if even a good standalone ecu would unleash any noticable gains without further internal mods to the engine like cams etc, even then where you gain in one area you loose in another so not much point.

It's always a compromise. I'm sure a standalone could free up some power at the cost of longevity and reliability. But cost/benefit on this is stupid.

Standalone doesn't become viable, in my opinion, until you've done full exhaust, intake and valvetrain. Then basically you've reconfigured the car, so it needs to be mapped from scratch.

I do like to tinker And that tinkering has, hopefully, informed the forum.
The logic now is that I know that the MAF positioning and reading is key. So I have to design a new intake that is performant but doesn't change the MAF calibration... I can't help but think I'd end up designing the OEM intake Or more likely a less effective version of it. So, best leave that one and bow down to Toyota for that one.
They had to win somehwere as they made a total boob of themselves with that manifold, the head and the pistons. 

[shnazzle]

Out with the old, in with the new.
Matt's TTE brace making way for Carolyn's much much stiffer brace.
The TTE will be cleaned up, treated and repainted and find a new home under Helen's car.

Also some might be glad to hear the disgusting black center console will now be replaced by a nice stock specimen.
Hell,might even wash and hoover the car before Ding Day.
Maybe
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[Topdownman]

It comes to something when the underside of your car is cleaner than the inside!

[shnazzle]

This is what an 18 quid sump plug looks like hahaha.
Isolation having a negative effect on sanity.

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[Carolyn]

This is what an 18 quid sump plug looks like hahaha.
Isolation having a negative effect on sanity.

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Or, you can pop as mall magnet on top of the standard plug....  Money eating holes in your brain eh??

[SV-3]

This is what an 18 quid sump plug looks like hahaha.
Isolation having a negative effect on sanity.

You cannot view this attachment.

Or, you can pop as mall magnet on top of the standard plug....  Money eating holes in your brain eh??

Looks "attractive".

[shnazzle]

This is what an 18 quid sump plug looks like hahaha.
Isolation having a negative effect on sanity.

You cannot view this attachment.

Or, you can pop as mall magnet on top of the standard plug....  Money eating holes in your brain eh??

It was so pretty. And it came up first on my search. And it's Mishimoto. Because race car innit

[househead]

This is what an 18 quid sump plug looks like hahaha.
Isolation having a negative effect on sanity.

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very nice! I want

What spec is it? M12 x 1.25 or M12 x 1.5?