Project Scope Creep

Started by moca2cv, October 8, 2020, 09:49

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moca2cv

Quote from: 1979scotte on October 20, 2020, 12:57
Quote from: moca2cv on October 20, 2020, 10:58Oh boy did fixing the rain tray make a big difference to the enjoyment of the car! Took little one to nursery, a rare treat for her to go in the 'race car', and it was great. Much less crashing over bumps. It's still a bit crashy, but that's most likely the BCs being a bit stiff. Need to get those turned down a bit...
Might do a couple more 5 minute jobs today :)

BC are always too stiff IMHO for British roads.
Track is different.
I'm actually starting to think that without adding some serious extra power or weight stock is better.

On the road, I have to agree stock shocks and springs with poly bushed arms was 100% more enjoyable. On the track... I'll let you know in a month!

moca2cv

#26
Fitted my steering wheel and QR today. It looks ridiculous because hub plus QR plus spacer (more on that later) is indeed ridiculous. But fortunately I have short arms and long legs, so it feels right - yet to drive it though.

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I won't go through the process as Spyder Lee covered it perfectly in his video and there are loads of how to's, but one thing I did differently was rather than solder the wire to the horn +ve I simply removed the female terminal from the connector and poked it on. I had to use brute force as I didn't have a pin small enough!

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After that it was all plain sailing. Everything is helpfully marked with 'top' so piecing it all together was a cinch. I had to use a spacer because the horn button and ring wouldn't work without it - and extra few mm wouldn't do any harm though.

Or so I thought. The horn doesn't work 😖 Rather than take it all apart again I have just left it, I'll look at it another time. I hate aftermarket horn buttons... might just do what I had on my Caterham and just have a push button on the dash somewhere...

Excuse the sideways pic, I can't figure out how to rotate it 😂

moca2cv

First impressions of the new steering wheel position are good - it's a really comfortable distance from me. Being 6'3" my seat is all the way back, so this is useful for comfy arms. The smaller wheel makes it ever so slightly heavier to steer too, which to me is a good thing as my daily is an E90 and you need Arnie Arms (TM) to steer that thing so the MR2 always felt silly light!

The gear lever is too far away now, so I'll have to come up with a solution for that, and the stalks... well I'm not adding those bicycle brake lever attachments, so I guess I'll just learn to live with it!

moca2cv

A few more miles, so much happier with the space under the wheel now, I think with a couple of tweaks to the pedals I can create a comfy position for heel and toeing (I'll master it one day!).

To create a bit more room, save some weight, and remove redundant bits from the car, I decided to take out the uprights from the centre console. There's nothing there now, and so they can go. A couple of screws and a couple of nuts holding them on, and off they came. Relocating the earths was a pain as I had to enlarge the connectors - ended up just replacing them. Anyway, good weight saving and a nice clean tunnel now!
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I had parked sideways on a slope to do this, and noticed a run of oil - must have been collecting on the undertray. Looks like the chain tensioner seal, I have all the bits to sort that so a job for tomorrow!

moca2cv

Tackled the chain tensioner for lunch. Fairly straight forward, but didn't hear the clock when rotating the crank. Would off the nuts a couple turns and the tensioner wanted to come out, so it looked ok... fired it up, and it was! Yay.

Swapped the idler pulley and tensioner pulley as well, bit of a faff... putting the belt on is like practicing gynaecology while pushing a car! Got it on eventually. I was hoping it would cure the squeaking I get on start up (it subsided after a little while). Alas, it did not. The alternator spins freely (Of course that doesn't mean it's not the culprit!) but stupidly I did not check the water pump. I've had my eye on a 2zz pump and alloy pulley (for mega gainzzz) so maybe I'll do that when I change the coolant...

Next up, evap canister removal. Because it's not really essential to the running of a track car :)

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Carolyn

If you slackened the tensioner enough for it to move - you need to take it out and start again, I'm afraid.  It will have clicked on the ratchet and will be too tight. One tooth is enough to cause chain stretch.

Btw - the 2zz pump does not fit a 1ZZ.

Happy to send you a better O ring (FOC).  The Toyota ones are pants.
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https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63866.0

moca2cv

#31
Quote from: Carolyn on October 22, 2020, 15:55If you slackened the tensioner enough for it to move - you need to take it out and start again, I'm afraid.  It will have clicked on the ratchet and will be too tight. One tooth is enough to cause chain stretch.

Btw - the 2zz pump does not fit a 1ZZ.

Happy to send you a better O ring (FOC).  The Toyota ones are pants.

You sent me one a while back, thanks!
Good thinking on the tensioner - I don't think it came out enough to click but I'll do it again. Been for a drive so hopefully no damage done... 😬

2ZZ pump seems to be a popular upgrade across the pond for the ability to put a lighter larger pulley on, only difference as far as I can tell is the pulley?

moca2cv

Popped out and redid the chain tensioner. Hopefully no damage done...

Also removed the charcoal canister or whatever it is and did the bike tank breather thing. Lots of useful weight saving but more importantly loads of real estate freed up. Will get the oil cooler in there at some point!
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moca2cv

3.3ohm resistors arrived today so can get that airbag light sorted. The one that comes with the Momo boss doesn't seem to work, so I'll see if this changes anything.
The squeak on cold start is super irritating - I'll have whip the belt off again to try find the cause of it.

But first I need to sort the belt on the daily (BMW E90 330i) - I drove through a puddle and it slipped off! That's a Sunday morning I wasn't hoping for. Fingers crossed nothing has seized...

moca2cv

Didn't get round to fixing the E90. Went karting instead 😁 spent the whole afternoon getting used to spinning off, hopefully I got that out of my system before Brands next month!
Bought a strut brace, I figured I could be waiting a while for a second hand one, but if Carolyn makes them again I'll upgrade 👌🏻
The squeak is getting worse. I'm hoping it's as simple as the belt, but I'll have a fiddle tomorrow.
No adverse effects as far as I can tell from removing the charcoal canister. Diets are good!
Bought a set of RSRs too. Still the best value semi slick, and plenty good enough for me! Was happy with them on the MX5 so I'm sure they'll be adequate on this with 80bhp less.

moca2cv

Glad I didn't bother trying to fix the E90, the tensioner pulley bolt has sheared in the block. They are hoping it's nothing more serious than the water causing it to jump and break, but I am preparing myself for a seized alternator or similar disaster 😭

On the subject of idler pulleys, I had a little look in the engine bay today and the brand spanking new idler pulley is wobbling like a weeble. It must be what's causing the squeak. Still waiting for my new belt to arrive but picked up another pulley from SC, and will return the goosed one. All the fun, hopefully this will do the trick!

moca2cv

While I wait for my belt, amongst other things, I decided to become an auto electrician and fix my central locking. Now my car is pretty special in the central locking department - the key fob locks, but does not unlock, and, using the key, the drivers door unlocks but does not lock, and the passenger door neither locks nor unlocks. So to get in is a bit of a procedure, especially if you have a passenger!

Anyway, lots of talk online about swapping locks, barrels, ECUs etc meant that it was fixable, but there had to be a simpler way. Dismantling the key gave you three parts:
- the key
- the remote fob
- the transponder
Looking at the wiring diagram for the car, while the immobiliser was connected to the engine ECU, the central locking appeared to be completely separate, using only the body ECU. So my theory was, after a bit of back and forth with Rhys, that if I 'Frankensteined' the key, keeping the key and transponder for the car and using the remote fob from my spare car, swapped the receiver over from the spare car, I should have a key that locks and unlocks, and still starts the car without activating the immobiliser, all without having to swap anything majorly complicated. So I assembled a new master key:

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Thanks to a tip off on Facebook with regards to the receiver, I unplugged the alarm siren (just in case) and set about removing the dials (three screws), the lower dash plastic (two screws) and the receiver (hand through the dash to unplug, and one nut to release).

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Moment of truth time before putting all the plastics back... and it works! Whoop. All back together again in a matter of minutes, and I now have a car that locks AND unlocks at the touch of a button, all without having to do anything complicated or even a pedal dance. Happy days.

It took me longer to get in and out of the footwell than everything else put together! Can thoroughly recommend a quick release steering wheel, one less thing to hit my head on.

moca2cv

I bought a little compressor to pump up tyres, but it uses a cigarette lighter socket and I don't have one any more! Had to do something about that :)

I thought I had one in the garage, but it turned out to be a USB socket so, since the centre console bits that came with the car weren't in great nick I had no concerns about pulling that apart to gain me a socket. Now where to put it? Didn't want it to be anywhere too obvious as if I wanted to put things back to standard it wouldn't be ideal. So I chose the bottom of the lower dash plastic. I popped that off, unclipped the OBD port, and set about making a hole just the right size:

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I didn't have a stepper bit big enough so had to do it by eye! Made a little notch for the socket to sit flush, and reassembled the socket:

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Extended the wires with a bit of crimping, heat shrink and loom tape to keep it secure and tidy:

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And all done - nice and discreet:

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Tested using the compressor, and tidied up. I found a dash wipe in the box of bits so gave it all a good clean, and packed up :)

I also found some other goodies... which may make it on to the car at some point!

moca2cv

Fitted the hardtop from the spare car today after checking the vinyl roof underneath was good enough to keep the weather out while it sits awaiting its fate.
Bit fiddly to swap all the bits over as it was my first time, but it was all fairly straightforward. Hardest bit was getting the de-mister cable out of one car and in to the other :)
It's a much more civilised place to be with a hardtop on, noticeably quieter and it stiffens everything up a treat. Couple of creaks from the sides so I need to make some adjustments, but otherwise very happy!You cannot view this attachment.

moca2cv

Fixed the squeak. New Gates belt and (another) new idler pulley did the trick. Phew. No more birdsong from the engine bay means I can hear other things though 😬 having the engine right behind you probably amplifies things somewhat!
Fun things to do this weekend include polishing headlights and fitting a brace. Whoop.

Carolyn

Quote from: moca2cv on November  5, 2020, 10:22Fixed the squeak. New Gates belt and (another) new idler pulley did the trick. Phew. No more birdsong from the engine bay means I can hear other things though 😬 having the engine right behind you probably amplifies things somewhat!
Fun things to do this weekend include polishing headlights and fitting a brace. Whoop.
There's a point at which you just have to stop listening. I'm terrible for listening for stuff. 
Perry Byrnes Memorial Award 2016, 2018.  Love this club. 
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63866.0

moca2cv

Quote from: Carolyn on November  5, 2020, 11:47
Quote from: moca2cv on November  5, 2020, 10:22Fixed the squeak. New Gates belt and (another) new idler pulley did the trick. Phew. No more birdsong from the engine bay means I can hear other things though 😬 having the engine right behind you probably amplifies things somewhat!
Fun things to do this weekend include polishing headlights and fitting a brace. Whoop.
There's a point at which you just have to stop listening. I'm terrible for listening for stuff. 
When you don't have a radio it's a problem 😂 Still, making progress and hopefully I'll be happy with it soon enough!

moca2cv

No updates to make as SWMBO contracted the dreaded Covid-19 and we've been stuck indoors. She's isolating within the house so I have solo-parenting duties, and a 4yo is not the easiest to entertain while spannering. On the plus side, myself and little one tested negative. Not sure how, statistically improbable, but there you go.

A helpful thread on here has pointed me in the right direction to fit the door cards, just a bit of Dremeling, drilling and rivnutting to do for a nice pro(ish) install. Debating whether to just use button head bolts or the countersunk washers... probably the former, they're lighter! Door pull straps arrived so I can crack on with that soon. Once it's all test fitted I'll be wrapping them in something to keep it looking tidy.

Also purchased a strut brace, as second hand ones seem to be hens teeth (not like the MX5 world for parts, is it!), and am talking to some people about producing some tasty parts that I can't get. I have too much time to think, lucky me :)

Petrus

Quote from: moca2cv on November 12, 2020, 20:42No updates to make as SWMBO contracted the dreaded Covid-19

Uff.
Best wishes!

1979scotte

Quote from: moca2cv on November 12, 2020, 20:42No updates to make as SWMBO contracted the dreaded Covid-19 and we've been stuck indoors. She's isolating within the house so I have solo-parenting duties, and a 4yo is not the easiest to entertain while spannering. On the plus side, myself and little one tested negative. Not sure how, statistically improbable, but there you go.

A helpful thread on here has pointed me in the right direction to fit the door cards, just a bit of Dremeling, drilling and rivnutting to do for a nice pro(ish) install. Debating whether to just use button head bolts or the countersunk washers... probably the former, they're lighter! Door pull straps arrived so I can crack on with that soon. Once it's all test fitted I'll be wrapping them in something to keep it looking tidy.

Also purchased a strut brace, as second hand ones seem to be hens teeth (not like the mx-engineinwrongplace  world for parts, is it!), and am talking to some people about producing some tasty parts that I can't get. I have too much time to think, lucky me :)

Sorry to hear that you've been touched by the dreaded lurgy hope your family will be fine as mine were. My dad had it 64 diabetic and high blood pressure. Didn't even go to hospital.

Parts are as rare as rocking horse poo. What tasty parts are you considering?
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Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Free Ukraine 🇺🇦

moca2cv

Thanks both! We are surviving just fine. The hardest bit has been the constant check in calls from the NHS! :D They always seem to call when I'm in the middle of something...

Quote from: 1979scotte on November 12, 2020, 21:21Sorry to hear that you've been touched by the dreaded lurgy hope your family will be fine as mine were. My dad had it 64 diabetic and high blood pressure. Didn't even go to hospital.

Parts are as rare as rocking horse poo. What tasty parts are you considering?

I've got a few things in mind, but to whet your appetite, I'd quite like lightweight pulleys, but don't want underdrive ones. I'm a big fan of adding lightness and, while I'm well aware that I am likely to spend as much as a 2ZZ swap on my setup, I don't want a 2ZZ :)

moca2cv

Got a few bits done today...:
- New thermostat in and coolant topped up.
- Sump was leaking, so replaced that with a good spare.
- Oil and filter (was doing that anyway!).
- Gearbox oil.
- BRD red F/R engine mounts in.
- O2 spacer in.
- Kode (o-ring-less) oil cap replaced with OE spare.

Will do a bit more of a write up when I'm more awake :)

Wanted to do brakes but pads still haven't arrived :( but there's plenty to do in the meantime! Plus, some new wheels have arrived...

moca2cv

Slightly more detailed update on the above. No pics though, as I was fairly absorbed in the task at hand and forgot to take any!

The cold weather had really exacerbated the problem with long warm up times - it wasn't ever getting warm except in standstill traffic, so something was definitely amiss. The needle never went over half way, so it wasn't overheating, which is a good start, and also means the temp sender is probably fine. So prime suspect was the thermostat! Having no AC makes this job alot easier, and once you've got the knack of squeezing the housing past the alternator it's not a big deal at all! The stat that came out was definitely the culprit - broken seals meant that water would pass it easily, resulting in an effectively open system. New one in, housing nipped up, all good.

While I was under there, I also dropped the drain plugs for the engine and gearbox, and swapped the oil filter. Engine oil was well past its best, but the gearbox oil wasn't too bad.

I also noticed the sump was leaking oil - but not from the flange! It was corroded close to the point of complete failure, so was dangerously close to causing some bigger issues. Fortunately, the sump on my spare engine was not nearly as bad, so a quick wire brush and a coat of black stone chip (only paint I had to hand) meant I was back in action quickly. Bit of sealant, nip up the screws, job's a good'un.

Now when the old sump came off, there was a bit of mayo in there... but not when the oil was draining. A mystery... not so much that I was overly concerned (this engine is not a permanent solution anyway), but certainly intrigued. When I took the cap off to refill the engine oil though, that's when I got a little worried! The cap had mayo all over it! But then I saw the Kode cap had no O ring - that is never a good thing, as it's not going to seal it, so I'm hoping that a swap with an OE unit would stop any condensation forming in the oil ways. Either way, I will keep an eye on that though...

Gearbox oil was straight forward enough - just used the speedo blank rather than the fill hole, and popped the fill hole out and poured in MT90 until it overflowed. I left that open while I sorted a coolant top up so I got the level just right. Once the drips stopped, in with the plug and all happy with that!

With the car off the ground I tackled a couple of other little jobs. First up, O2 spacer. I've been having trouble with my post cat sensor, suspect it or the cat has had it, but in the meantime a spacer will hopefully keep the CEL at bay. For the first time ever, the O2 came out with just a spanner! Very surprised :)

I also swapped the engine mounts for BRD bushed mounts. I went for red, as apparently these are the same stiffness as the factory rubber, there's just more of it, so I was hoping for a noticeable difference but one I could live with from an NVH point of view. Fairly straightforward except whoever did the subframe swap had threaded one of the mounting screws. Cleaned up the threads and popped it back in at the jaunty angle it came out at... it torqued up so with the other three I'm confident it will be fine :)

** Now a word of warning on engine mounts if you're considering it... if you spend a significant amount of time under 2k rpm, or in stop start traffic, just DON'T. It's bloody uncomfortable! Once you're on the move and over 2k it's barely noticeable. **

Coolant was a bit of a ballache... there was a bubble I just couldn't get out, until a little pootle up the street managed to coax it out. Toasty warm cabin and rock solid coolant temps is one of life's little pleasures :) As an aside, so nice for Toyota to supply the bleed hoses! Makes life much simpler.

I also swapped the lights off the spare car on, as the fronts had painted eyelids (not a fan) and the rears had been tinted. Now gloriously standard!

I still need to replace the spark plugs to complete the service, but I ran out of time so I'll do that another time.

moca2cv

Innovative left and right engine mounts have arrived courtesy of Justin 👍🏻 Here's hoping they calm some rattles down a bit 😂

Also received an intake. Not sure if it will work, but I'll measure it up.

moca2cv

Well the intake is smaller ID than stock, not sure how that will work 😂 I don't know who makes this rubbish.

Received my Dev door bushes, looking forward to getting them on.

May or may not have a strut brace in the post 😏

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