Mr Poo the MunteR2

Started by AdamR28, August 23, 2020, 11:02

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AdamR28

Cheers - to be honest I love it in the wet, though trying to escape black flags is usually the main concern!

Forgot to ipdate on the front end... I stuck some bonnet pins in. They were a bit short so I had to muller the bonnet a bit. The whole front end is out of line so I wasn't too precious about it. The pins / clips are really nice though, brilliant for the money. I'll grab a photo sometime.

AdamR28

#51
Here's the front end now. Need to get rid of the gaffer residue! Also moved the plate up, why on earth it was blocking about a third of the grille I have no idea.

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Had an hour to play at lunch, so swapped the aux belt pulley and did some pondering about scuttle shake.

Concluded that 1) the reasons we experience difficulties are that there is no stiffness up high in the car, its basically a flat sheet with two sticky uppy bits at either end rather than a box - explains why a hardtop and the door bushings both help a lot and 2) the whole front end at suspension and steering rack level was little more than a trapezium, which may go some way towards explaining why the top (scuttle) does a little dance relative to the bottom (wishbone area).

So Mr Chop Saw, Mr Drill and Mr Welder were put to work, picking up the steering rack and lower front wishbone mounting points to tie everything into an X. Would have liked to go wider at the top, but the brake reservoir / lines and fuse box are very much in the way (have about 1/4" clearance).

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May do nothing, may do something, we shall see!

Still going to make some sort of mid brace as again I think that's an area of 'weakness'. With it being right in the middle of the car between the two main chassis loading points (suspension pickups), and being the weakest point thanks to the doors, it is under the highest torsional loading. Again explains why that particular brace seems to be well regarded as the 'go to'. Need to find some way of giving it a bit of depth if possible, to resist twisting. Don't mind losing a bit of ground clearance as I'll not be lowering the car, so even if that gives me an extra inch to play with (ooh matron), it'll help.


Edit: after a little spin tonight, I can't be sure if the X brace helps or not. Car feels noticeably less wibbly wobbly but not sure if that was because the roof was up! It's been down for the last 3 days, so I need to wait for another dry day and try again... the roof is also getting really quite bad now so I need to sort my life out and get booked in for a new one! Using quite a lot of gaffer tape 'repairing' it every time the roof goes back up!

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AdamR28

#52
Managed to commute with the roof down on know roads this morning, fairly sure the brace makes a significant difference. There appears to be less 'noise' through the steering wheel and less shimmy. The true test will be when I take it off again for full closure!

Started investigating door bushes, as some support higher up from the floor pan seems like a quick and easy way to add some torsional stiffness.

Measured top and bottom door gaps while flat on the floor... drew a line so could repeat measurements at the same point.

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Then jacked the front right up 3"

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Before and after door gaps below.

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For anyone who can't read my scrawl (everyone?), the drivers door gap closed by 0.2mm at the top and opened up by 0.2mm at the bottom. Passenger side opened at the top and closed at the bottom, both by 0.1mm. All as you would expect having twisted the chassis in this plane.

Not a huge change but over the length of the car and with more of a 'whack' or some hard cornering loads, I can see why firming up the doors makes a difference. Perhaps a lump of blutak / plasticine stuck to the door jamb will reveal the true extent of flex following a spirited drive.

shnazzle

I'm liking your ways sir
...neutiquam erro.

AdamR28

#54
Thanks!

No further progress on the door bushings, as I decided smacking my elbow on the centre console every time I shifted into 4th was more important.

Fitted the gear shift extender but it felt awful. Sloppy and way too much throw. So I ripped it all apart and sent everything for an appointment with Mr Grinder and Mr Welder.

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Then had a massive brain fart...  :))

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Then sorted that out, chopped bits out of the plastic turret to make it all fit, raised it up a touch, and fitted the extender.

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Much better height now. Also cocked it over closer to the wheel.

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Shift throw length is pretty much the same as OE now, just obviously a lot higher up and smoother thanks to lashings if fresh grease on all the moving parts.

Also picked up a wind deflector (for some reason the car came without one!) locally for £12. So total spend now £413.

Booked in at Jack Smith's for a roof at the end of November, but did a shady repair for now using some cheapo vinyl the seller gave me with the car. That HH-66 glue is fantastic stuff, stuck absolutely solid!

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The random upside down extra strip was in case the glue didn't like the fuzzy texture underneath. Turns out I needn't have worried, but at least it should last a few months.

Topdownman

"Racing" tax disc holder (binned), Poundland air freshener, (ran out), Annoying cylinder deficiency,  (sorted),
Winner of the Numb bum award 2017
Readers Ride

06 not V6 readers ride

AdamR28

#56
Quote from: AdamR28 on September  2, 2020, 15:07You cannot view this attachment.


Haha. It's like the guy who did the previous alignment did my roof too!

As I said a pretty poor job, but better than this was the only aim, just need it watertight until November!

DanRS4x

QuoteBrilliant little set of tools from Teng, recommend everyone has one for fiddly jobs. Made removal of the centre console a breeze (without removing seats).
@AdamR28 Can you give a bit more info on the Teng set?
Oscar (the Grouch) named for the grumbly exhaust note
2005 silver HT/AC, Stainless Creations twin exhaust, Tein lowering springs, Ultra Racing front strut brace, Dev's door bushings (more mods to come)

AdamR28

Erm, not much more than it's very useful and worth having in your tool set!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1346345019?iid=133325699166

DanRS4x

Thanks, I forgot the pics would zoom out :doh
Oscar (the Grouch) named for the grumbly exhaust note
2005 silver HT/AC, Stainless Creations twin exhaust, Tein lowering springs, Ultra Racing front strut brace, Dev's door bushings (more mods to come)

iffyT

Quote from: AdamR28 on September  9, 2020, 09:08Erm, not much more than it's very useful and worth having in your tool set!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1346345019?iid=133325699166

They're nice, a lot better than trying to use a bit in a ratcheting spanner.
Great work on the car so far btw. Wish I had welding skills!

All the best

AdamR28

#61
Thanks @iffyT , I count myself very fortunate to have the kit to allow me to play around with this stuff!

In related news... decided the front needed some bracing.

When fabbing stuff like this I always try to think in triangles, and about load paths, ensuring there is at least one member in tension and another in compression from all directions. This is obviously a quick and dirty version, especially as it was nice weather so i decided to weld outside and it was a but breezy, and its just blasted with a bit of ZG90 to 'finish', but it seems to make a difference; so I'm happy for the cost (nowt) and that it allowed me to spend a few hours tinkering with my dad.

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We also bled the brakes through with the car running, got quite a lot of air out of the NSR line but they still feel pretty mushy. Anyone got any tips?


Also heres my version of door bushings. Some simple lathe-turned lumps of nylon, one 15.0mm and the other 15.7mm, screwed into a rivnut. They are situated around twice as far up from the sill than the 'normal' ones, I figure this gives the best chance of stiffening the shell up.

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The doors are much tighter now, but still close with a solid thump under their own weight.

The main things I noticed so far are that the suspension now seems to be doing more work, and the dash rattles / squeaks more than before. Not sure if thats because everything else is now quieter or I've made something worse!  ;D Front end and steering wheel shimmy appears to be reduced. Again, I'll run them for a bit and then take them off again for a proper comparison.

Have booked onto a track evening at Three Sisters, Wigan for 30th September. @JB21 is booked on too, so it'll be good to have a nosey at a much better / nicer example of a '2 than mine!

AdamR28

Spend now £454 - bought some Apec brake pads all round, as the ones on the car are mismatched and unknown brand.

I know many will turn their noses up at the Apec 'budget' brand, but they are surprisingly good. I raced MX5s on them for years, both sprint and endurance, they hold up surprisingly well on track and have decent feel. For comparison, I found them to both last better and work better than EBC Yellows, especially from cold.

JB21

Quote from: AdamR28 on September 11, 2020, 11:02Spend now £454 - bought some Apec brake pads all round, as the ones on the car are mismatched and unknown brand.

I know many will turn their noses up at the Apec 'budget' brand, but they are surprisingly good. I raced MX5s on them for years, both sprint and endurance, they hold up surprisingly well on track and have decent feel. For comparison, I found them to both last better and work better than EBC Yellows, especially from cold.

Interestingly this. I've got yellows and find them pretty poor. Blues aren't bad at £70 for the front.

AdamR28

I think it's a case of all pads having a temperature level where they aren't comfortable any more, and from this point they increase in wear massively. This is often the leading edge of the pad too, so you end up with taper wear, sticky pistons, sticky sliders, and horrible brakes.

With the extra power in your car and stickier tyres, I wouldn't expect something like EBC Yellows to last very well, good to know the Blues are decent though if I need something more, thanks!

Do you find that fronts or rears wear out fastest?


JB21

Quote from: AdamR28 on September 11, 2020, 11:27I think it's a case of all pads having a temperature level where they aren't comfortable any more, and from this point they increase in wear massively. This is often the leading edge of the pad too, so you end up with taper wear, sticky pistons, sticky sliders, and horrible brakes.

With the extra power in your car and stickier tyres, I wouldn't expect something like EBC Yellows to last very well, good to know the Blues are decent though if I need something more, thanks!

Do you find that fronts or rears wear out fastest?



They wear fairly even front to back TBF. Blues front/Yellows rear lasted 8 track days and still had meat on them.

AdamR28

Awesome, thanks for the info, that is good news!

Quite different to a standard MX5 then where you'll get 2 or 3 days from a set of front pads (unless you spend well North of £100) and do 3 fronts to 1 rear...

Roj

I love seeing these home-brew 'built not bought' projectd and the ingenuity in some of the mods, great stuff. Can't wait until I get the space and kit to join the fun.

bigfootisblurry

Quote from: Roj on September 11, 2020, 18:27I love seeing these home-brew 'built not bought' projectd and the ingenuity in some of the mods, great stuff. Can't wait until I get the space and kit to join the fun.

Agreed, the ability to DIY improve the MR2 is what is drawing me to one. That's what I loved about my two MX5, but that was ten years ago before everyone decided to skid them and drop them on eBay coilovers.

AdamR28

#69
Thanks guys, glad to know my posts aren't going to waste :) I completely agree that older cars like this lend themselves perfectly to home tinkering.

In related news - oil consumption. I've been keeping an eye on it ever since I bought the car. It's been driven very hard at points and seems to have used the equivalent of approx 1l per 1000 miles, which is what Toyota claim is 'ok'. Not really sure I'm happy with that, given that every engine I've ever built (including race engines) uses absolutely zero oil. Mind you they get looked after properly and haven't done 130k!

Anyway, a quick peek inside the cylinders revealed it was pretty likely the oil control rings were in bad shape...

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So I bought a couple of bottles of Redex (spend now £459), pulled the plugs out, poured 30ml in each cylinder, turned the engine over a few times using the crank bolt to give the valves a bath too, wiggled the engine back and forth a bit to try and free up the oil control rings a little, then sucked a sample of the Redex back out to see what was happening.

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Something, definitely!

After the first 30ml shots had drained down into the sump, the process was repeated. Then, following a good check that all of the Redex had gone, the plugs etc. were put back in and the car fired up. A bit of stinky white smoke poured from the exhaust for a minute, but settled down just fine after that. Let it idle for 20 mins then dumped the oil in preparation for fresh fully synthetic 5w-40 and a new filter.

Its since been filled up with fuel, I dumped another half bottle of Redex in the tank, and thrashed the pants off it this morning.

Let's see how the oil consumption gets on now!

thetyrant

Ooo those pistons look nasty, the redex will clean crap off the top and might help a little with oil rings but will need to keep at it i think to have any real impact,  having cleaned 2 sets of these now (out the engine) it gets pretty nasty and hard to remove even with scraper so too just to disolve it will take some time!, also coming at it from the top its got to get past compression rings which if in good shape wont let a huge amount past into oil rings below, good effort though and hopefully it makes a noticeable difference :)

Ex-2005 roadster  owner, i will be back :D

Joesson

Whether Redex works or not has been the subject of some discussion, I have been aware of it since the mid 50's when I remember my Father asking for a 1d shot to each  gallon of petrol when filling up. I used it in my early cars, a Redex tune up by trickling Redex into the carburettor/ s while running the engine at a fast idle was certainly quite spectacular. Bore soaking as @AdamR28 mentions above was also advocated although I have never tried it, but did consider it when SORN ing my 2, but never got around to it.
I stopped using it when I started driving company cars and have not returned to it since I retired, but for a product to have been around for so long, the company since 1920, there is likely something in the claims.

AdamR28

#72
Quote from: thetyrant on September 13, 2020, 15:29hopefully it makes a noticeable difference :)

Cheers Ian, I hope it helps too! It took around an hour for 60ml (per cylinder) to drain through the combustion chambers, so I figure that's an hour the oil control rings were soaking in Redex - plus a bit of mechanical agitation. Given that the comparison photo above was taken around 10 mins into the first soaking, and that was just the Redex sitting on top of the piston, it must have done 'something'. We'll see soon enough I guess!

May also try some 50:50 Acetone:ATF mix in there at some point too, but I'll give this at least 500 miles first.

Carolyn

Over the years, I've tried all sorts to un-stick these rings.  The only method that has ever worked is to take the pistons out.
Perry Byrnes Memorial Award 2016, 2018.  Love this club. 
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63866.0

Joesson

Quote from: Carolyn on September 13, 2020, 17:21Over the years, I've tried all sorts to un-stick these rings.  The only method that has ever worked is to take the pistons out.
And soak them in Redex 😉

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