Custard Tart - MR2 hand-me-down

Started by The Arch Bishop, May 23, 2021, 16:35

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Ardent

Already having Gods own choice of colour; Sable. It's hard to look elsewhere, but with this thread and the recent posts of @puma2, the custards are looking very good.

The Arch Bishop

Quote from: Topdownman on May 27, 2021, 15:25I cant help thinking that you need the rest of the bodykit, poor form for a press car!

I seem to remember that some online guides mix up the mk2 and mk3 batteries? If its their error then the company should surely arrange the return if you have bought it in good faith?


I have to say that I'm not a massive fan of the bodykits although I would quite like a duck-tail spoiler for no other reason than it finishes off the back end quite well.

Yes, that seems to have been the case with this guide too! I contacted them and they were fine with a return (they do ask you to double check the dimensions before ordering, so I'm also very much at fault). It went back yesterday so when I'm back from holiday, I'll get the proper 053 version ordered.

The Arch Bishop

Quote from: Ardent on May 27, 2021, 22:30Already having Gods own choice of colour; Sable. It's hard to look elsewhere, but with this thread and the recent posts of @puma2, the custards are looking very good.
I'm a big fan of Sable too(and silver but I'm in rare company there), but the yellow has really grown on me. Also love that it brightens up our close amongst a sea of resale grey/black/white cars!

1979scotte

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on May 28, 2021, 11:23
Quote from: Ardent on May 27, 2021, 22:30Already having Gods own choice of colour; Sable. It's hard to look elsewhere, but with this thread and the recent posts of @puma2, the custards are looking very good.
I'm a big fan of Sable too(and silver but I'm in rare company there), but the yellow has really grown on me. Also love that it brightens up our close amongst a sea of resale grey/black/white cars!

Silver is a honestly a good looking colour it's more the amount of them about that's off putting.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
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 🇺🇦

puma2

:) i have to say after my black 2 (God bless her)
going to yellow was shock 8)

At 1st i thought you can only see a bit of yellow when driveing.
plus to here that would look good if it was in black said someone passing by.

then as time went on and more and more drives out so fell in love with yellow ;D  ;D
then the plus side of it being rare plus a fl version i really  fell in love.

over the last year of lock down after shin ding day i have spent over £3000 just to renew and cover big bills even if it did not need the work. eg new roof and tyres ect.

now would i swap yellow for any colour no apart from fl green which now is even more rare than the yellow.
a few years ago at ding day we manged to get 4 yellows in row for some pictures so not so rare then. ;D  ;D

The Arch Bishop



That's more like it!

Great service by Tayna batteries to be honest. They accepted the return of the incorrect battery without quibble and processed the refund really quickly. The correct battery was ordered on Saturday evening and it arrived today just before 10am!

Snugged the new one in;



The Tart is now far less reluctant to burst into life. I think the old battery has been on it's last legs for years now, but it was always had just enough life in it to get by or plan around it potentially being flat (again). Silly really as it's not like the new one was particularly expensive or anything!

The Arch Bishop

I dodged the heat this weekend to change the tensioner O-ring that Carolyn kindly sent me (thanks again!). Not a difficult job but a bit fiddly.

I'm not convinced this is the main source of the oil leak as the cam cover sweats a bit out of the corner (you can see oil above the tensioner in the below photo), but it's good peace-of-mind.



It all came off easily enough using my mini ratchet.



Popped the new O-ring on, set the tensioner and reinstalled it. Then I faffed around trying to get an extension on the crack pully before I remembered that it's a lot easier with the emissions canister removed.

Then after giving the crank a flick and then not being truly convinced I heard the click of the tensioner doing its stuff, I took it all back off and did it again. Oh the paranoia...

Second time around, I heard the definite click and buttoned it back up.

Started - no explosion of valves and chains - no gushing oil - sorted.

Not the most exciting update! Come back soon to read about how I watch paint dry.

The Arch Bishop

#32
Nothing much to report with regards the Tart. It's spent most of the summer pootling about doing local trips, but with the sale of my daily Hyundai, it's now my only car so I've done the moving in ceremony - USB music stick, ice scraper (it still won't see a winter, but hey), tyre compressor, wet wipes and other assembled junk all moved across as well as a new air-freshener.

I needed a rare trip in to work to collect a new laptop and with the weather being amazing, I was looking forward to driving over in the tart with the roof down. As always it was a great drive even though the roads were clogged and the car is only improving with use.

It was the first time that I noticed that the panel filter I fitted a while back was adding to general cacophony that the yellow goddess makes, with a decent amount of intake noise and some gentle burbling off throttle. Generally speaking, I'm not a massive fan of obnoxiously loud cars (and it is really rather bassy), but with the sun out and the roof down, it made me smile which means I guess I liked it!

To prove it does occasionally get out, here's some snaps of it looking pert at work;





Mrs. Arch Bishop continues to use it at every opportunity. She took it to Guides (she's a leader for the local group) a few months ago and the general consensus with the younguns was that it was 'very cool.'

matmr2

I can remember when we picked custard tart up from Cardiff, was a few years ago. Had some paintwork done with us then we sold it on. Found these photos.

The Arch Bishop

Blimey...it's been a long old time since I updated this thread!

I suppose it's because there's not been too much to report on, but I have done some miles in it this year. When last I wrote, I was using the car as my daily after selling my Hyundai. That only lasted about a few before I found a gem of a car and snapped it up. I will admit that the colour played some part in my purchase giving our driveway a bit of a ketchup and mustard theme...



After the previous post from matmr2, we did get in touch with each other and he kindly sent me some images of the car after he'd rescued it from being "in a pretty sorry state."



I think we've got a pretty good idea of this car's history now which is really nice!
So as usual, the Tart was packed away in the garage for the winter until the weather improved and we had a suitable trip planned.

Just before COVID hit, I'd booked tickets to the Classic Car & Restoration Show at the NEC. Now I have form with anything I book tickets for going either bust or being cancelled for bizarre reasons, so I suppose an international pandemic is one to add to the list of no-shows.

However, having forgotten all about it, I received an email with my tickets for the 2022 show in March. Now it's a fair trip to Birmingham from Sussex, but it was decided that it was only fitting to take the Tart.
With the barest minimum packed for a long weekend, we set off for Warwickshire. It was mostly motorway so not ideal MR2 territory...well not our MR2 anyway... The drone from the exhaust was...well a bit exhausting as it settles at a very loud boom between 60-70mph which is less than ideal. Couple that with the horrific wind noise (later found to be the roof sitting proud of the passenger window) and it wasn't the most relaxing journey we've ever had, but I had absolute trust that it would happily get us there without any real bother.

We swung off of the M40 at Banbury so we could take B-roads to my old hometown. These were my stomping grounds back when I was a lad and the B4035 never disappoints! Now the tart was in its comfort zone!



Great fun!

We arrived at our AirBnB which was 15 mins from the NEC in plenty of time to park the Tart up for a rest and to go grab a very hearty meal indeed!



The next day we were up nice and early to join the throngs at the NEC and to meat up with some friends and old acquaintances. Strangely, when we were walking out of the car park, another yellow mk3 was just entering!
The show itself was pretty good but weirdly quite overwhelming as it was the first mass event we'd been to since lockdown.

A few highlights though!

This was utterly stunning:



Hubnut was there with Foxanne:
 

And also caught up with an old friend James from the Project Puma forum who was rebuilding the mighty Alcon callipers on his beautiful Racing Puma:



After a very long morning, we decided to give the unearthly prices of NEC food a gigantic swerve and instead departed for Leamington Spa for a bit of shopping and a light lunch. However, getting over the sleeping policeman in the entrance of the multi-story provided us with a teeth clenchingly loud grinding noise. The tart has often done this which has generally made us avoid using her in some instances. I love the lowered look, but not the practicalities!

For the rest of the weekend, we whizzed around visiting friends and some local attractions and then began our boomy return trip back down through the motorway network. All told, we did a fair bit of mileage - very almost on a single tank of fuel!



However, with some major house alterations booked for the following week, we unpacked the car and then hoofed it over to my in-laws for an extended stay on their driveway. There she sat for a couple of months before I fancied borrowing her back for a bit and driving to the Goodwood Festival of speed. A few due-diligence checks and....ah....MOT ran out a month ago... Oh well....I ended up hitching a lift in my neighbours Ford B-Max instead.
Fortunately my father in law offered to put her royal Custard one in for a test. This, as it turned out, was partly because he fancied a razz in it, but also because I couldn't find the time to do it myself. Sadly it was a fail. I'd noticed the distinct build up of brake dust on the nearside rear after the trip away and sure enough, the Tart had a gammy calliper. Rather than faffing around with it, the MOT station was instructed to just fit a new one on there. Job jobbed (fairly reasonably as well) and MOT got!

So fast forward to this Tuesday - yes, the REALLY hot one (or most of the country) and Mrs. Arch Bishop and I were looking for ways to beat the heat. The scaffolding was finally down, so we decided to jump in the car (for some aircon action) and go and pick up the yellow beast. Only a 15 min drive, but still worth it to get away from the heat for a short while. Luckily, the aircon in the MR2 is outrageously fierce, so I enjoyed the journey back with it absolutely blasting into my eyeballs.

The in-laws said they were actually sad to see it go. Father in law, having driven it a bit, fell in love with it and it had become something of a celebrity with the local delivery drivers, many of which asked if it would ever be up for sale.

Anyway, yesterday I assessed just how manky it was after 3 months sitting idle without any love and care. It was pretty grim and the paintwork needs a clay and polish, but I did give it a wash-down.
Here's the brake-dust-caked wheel complete with new calliper (I'm going to have to crack out the yellow paint!!);



Half an hour with a bucket and wash mitt, and she was somewhat back to her pomp;



So that's it up-to-date!

I'm having a bit of a dichotomy however. During our trip away, the MR2 performed faultlessly, but there's certain things about the car that knacker the practicality, namely the droning exhaust and the lowered springs. In all honesty, it's put me off doing longer trips again.

The old silver bucket, with it's stilt suspension and standard back-box wasn't as visually and aurally exciting, but it really was a do-it-all car and never irritated.

I could throw some standard springs back on and change the back box, but then the car's had them from the very start, so that'd be a shame also!

Decisions....

Ardent

#35
Brilliant write up.
Ketchup and mustard. Love it.
On the zorst front, the tte is the best sounding in my book. Mine was unbtrusive at cruising speed.

It is not unknown for the packing wadding to disappear over time.
To keep originality, you can have the Box opened up, re packed and closed up again.
Has been done by others on here.
You cannot view this attachment.

The Arch Bishop

That sounds like just the ticket, but I wouldn't know who to go to with something like that. Presumably they'd need to be pretty good with a TIG wielder?

MisterK

Quote from: Ardent on July 22, 2022, 17:12Brilliant write up.
Ketchup and mustard. Love it.
On the zorst front, the tte is the best sounding in my book. Mine was unbtrusive at cruising speed.

It is not unknown for the packing wadding to disappear over time.
To keep originality, you can have the Box opened up, re packed and closed up again.
Has been done by others on here.
You cannot view this attachment.
Agreed that the TTE is probably the best exhaust for the MR2, with just the right looks and sound.  The sound is even better with the packing removed completely.   Rogue Motorsport opened up my silencer to sort out loose welds inside the box & the packing had compacted up & become useless.  I removed it all & didn't replace it & the silencer was resealed and welded up.  The result is an even better sound, but the exhaust still passes emissions and noise for the MOT.  I love the TTE  ;)
MARK K - Original Owner/ \'Best In Class\' winner, \'Show n Shine\', MR2DC National Event 2017.

McMr2

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on September  5, 2021, 15:00Nothing much to report with regards the Tart. It's spent most of the summer pootling about doing local trips, but with the sale of my daily Hyundai, it's now my only car so I've done the moving in ceremony - USB music stick, ice scraper (it still won't see a winter, but hey), tyre compressor, wet wipes and other assembled junk all moved across as well as a new air-freshener.

I needed a rare trip in to work to collect a new laptop and with the weather being amazing, I was looking forward to driving over in the tart with the roof down. As always it was a great drive even though the roads were clogged and the car is only improving with use.

It was the first time that I noticed that the panel filter I fitted a while back was adding to general cacophony that the yellow goddess makes, with a decent amount of intake noise and some gentle burbling off throttle. Generally speaking, I'm not a massive fan of obnoxiously loud cars (and it is really rather bassy), but with the sun out and the roof down, it made me smile which means I guess I liked it!

To prove it does occasionally get out, here's some snaps of it looking pert at work;





Mrs. Arch Bishop continues to use it at every opportunity. She took it to Guides (she's a leader for the local group) a few months ago and the general consensus with the younguns was that it was 'very cool.'

Lovely looking car. Out of interest, what springs does it sit on? The wheels nicely fill the arches and this shot shows it.
2004 Silver. Stock(ish).

The Arch Bishop

Quote from: McMr2 on July 22, 2022, 22:04Lovely looking car. Out of interest, what springs does it sit on? The wheels nicely fill the arches and this shot shows it.
Yeah it looks great on them (bit a little too low to be entirely practical). I seem to remember them being a sort of greenish colour so I'm guessing they're the Tein springs - I think 29mm drop on the front, 30mm on the rear. As far as I know, the car was spec'd with them from new as the images from back when it was in Evo magazine show it running at the same height.

The Arch Bishop

Quote from: MisterK on July 22, 2022, 21:58Agreed that the TTE is probably the best exhaust for the MR2, with just the right looks and sound.  The sound is even better with the packing removed completely.   Rogue Motorsport opened up my silencer to sort out loose welds inside the box & the packing had compacted up & become useless.  I removed it all & didn't replace it & the silencer was resealed and welded up.  The result is an even better sound, but the exhaust still passes emissions and noise for the MOT.  I love the TTE  ;)
It's a lovely exhaust, but with the stainless manifold it just booms through the cabin and my skull at motorway and NSL which becomes tiring on a longer drive or when you're just not up for it. When you're just burbling around, it's great fun.

I do wonder whether it'd be better with a standard manifold back on it.

Ardent

There must be some of these floating around.

Topdownman

You could try taking the bins out and fitting some silent coat sound deadener and some foam on the panels underneath? Putting some on the floor under the carpet also reduces cabin noise. This should help quieten things and easy enough to do compared to the exhaust opening!
"Racing" tax disc holder (binned), Poundland air freshener, (ran out), Annoying cylinder deficiency,  (sorted),
Winner of the Numb bum award 2017
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puma2

 :) great to see some more pictures and write up :)
let me no when when your painting your callipers and i can bring my over as well they need doing since I put new 1s on :))  :))   

MisterK

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on July 22, 2022, 22:16It's a lovely exhaust, but with the stainless manifold it just booms through the cabin and my skull at motorway and NSL which becomes tiring on a longer drive or when you're just not up for it. When you're just burbling around, it's great fun.

I do wonder whether it'd be better with a standard manifold back on it.
My TTE was fitted when the car was under a year old by my Toyota Dealer...I bought the car new in 2004 & it was completely standard.  The manifold is still the original, complete with the pre-cats & it will stay that way  :) I completed a 150 mile trip up the M5 last Saturday at the speed limit & I had no problems with booming or excessive noise giving me a headache.
MARK K - Original Owner/ \'Best In Class\' winner, \'Show n Shine\', MR2DC National Event 2017.

The Arch Bishop

Quote from: Topdownman on July 23, 2022, 07:24You could try taking the bins out and fitting some silent coat sound deadener and some foam on the panels underneath? Putting some on the floor under the carpet also reduces cabin noise. This should help quieten things and easy enough to do compared to the exhaust opening!
Do you know, I actually have some sound deadening in the garage that I bought for some project or another - that's a really good idea! Thanks!
Quote from: puma2 on July 23, 2022, 10:55:) great to see some more pictures and write up :)
let me no when when your painting your callipers and i can bring my over as well they need doing since I put new 1s on :))  :))   
It won't be fancy - paint brush job, but you're welcome to join me!  ;D
Quote from: MisterK on July 23, 2022, 11:15My TTE was fitted when the car was under a year old by my Toyota Dealer...I bought the car new in 2004 & it was completely standard.  The manifold is still the original, complete with the pre-cats & it will stay that way  :) I completed a 150 mile trip up the M5 last Saturday at the speed limit & I had no problems with booming or excessive noise giving me a headache.
I think it's just the manifold/backbox combination - at 70mph at half throttle, it's all encompassing!

The Arch Bishop

An impromptu day off meant I had some time to burn, and what better way to spend it than some Midship meddling?

With Topdownwoman's suggestion of sound deadening, I dug out the stuffy I'd bought for another project years ago and armed with my £8.95 set of rollers and a fuzzy image from the internet as a general guide as to what I was meant to be doing.

Out with the driver's seat to make a bit of room and out with the storage bins to reveal what is essentially a big old speaker for the engine.



With a general idea of wanting to get this right (within the boundaries of incompetence), I managed to find some cardboard which was black on one side for making templates, the theory being that I'd cut out the cardboard to shape on the brown side and then flip it to the black side to draw out the template on the reverse of the deadening material.







This was, I'm proud to say, a cunning idea. What I'm less proud of was just how many times that I forgot the process and cut out a mirror of the piece I needed...

Anyway, after the first piece was laid (I should have made it out of more separate parts to make it easier to stick down), I started becoming more confident with elaborate shapes to fit the spaces.







And just a few short hours (4 of them actually), I had this;



Well, OK, I then spent another 30 mins adding more up the firewall and using up some off-cuts, but you get the idea!

I will say that I actually found the whole process great fun and weirdly meditative. I mean, I've no idea if I've done it right, but it looks pretty good, so I'll go with that. It's easy stuff to work with.

So, did it work?

I've only been for a very short drive up the village and initially I wasn't sure. It seemed a bit less warbly at idle, but taking off up the road, my daughter declared it far better and less 'buzzy' overall. I'll only really know once I get it up to about 60mph, but the initial signs are good. It's still loud, but if it stops it reverberating through my skull then I'll be really chuffed!

Chilli Girl

Well done, you've done brilliant here. ;D
Ex owners of Chilli red facelift 52 reg called Chilli, silver 55 reg called Foxy and blue pfl W reg MR-S called Sapphire. Now 2 less!

The Arch Bishop

Having done a little driving around, it's certainly better, but it still builds up a strong resonance at around 2700rpm - enough to rattle the door cars and windows.

I think that the rear storage bins themselves are effectively acting as bass bins and I've a fair amount of deadening left, so I'm going to hoik them out and give them a covering as well.

I think that past that, I'll need to look for new ideas!

Topdownman

I have some carpet tiles on the inside of the bin doors on one of my cars and I think they help.

Starting to sound like it could be a fault in the box though.

Any exhaust builders near you that you could visit to get their opinion?
"Racing" tax disc holder (binned), Poundland air freshener, (ran out), Annoying cylinder deficiency,  (sorted),
Winner of the Numb bum award 2017
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