Alex's 2ZZ Swapped MR2 Roadster

[Alex Knight]

Well, things have escalated...

[JB21]

How come you go with 15W 50 oil mate? That 15w rating scares me for cold starts.

[pistol pete]

from that picture, are you now making space to fit the Honda cTDi engine in the front for the low down torque

[Alex Knight]

How come you go with 15W 50 oil mate? That 15w rating scares me for cold starts.

Hot viscosity mate. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of cold start protection for high track temps.

I don't drive the car much, and the oil gets changed extremely frequently.

[JB21]

How come you go with 15W 50 oil mate? That 15w rating scares me for cold starts.

Hot viscosity mate. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of cold start protection for high track temps.

I don't drive the car much, and the oil gets changed extremely frequently.

Thats it mate, as long is not a daily it'll be fine. You got a oil temp sensor?

[Alex Knight]

How come you go with 15W 50 oil mate? That 15w rating scares me for cold starts.

Hot viscosity mate. I'd rather sacrifice a bit of cold start protection for high track temps.

I don't drive the car much, and the oil gets changed extremely frequently.

Thats it mate, as long is not a daily it'll be fine. You got a oil temp sensor?

Actually no, but I don't do long sessions.

[Alex Knight]

Well, it's been the best part of three months in the making, but I have my car back.

It went to a friend (the former proprietor of Bonsai Car Services - and an absolute top-rate, first class mechanic) to have the aforementioned maintenance parts fitted.

Now, I knew things were looking a little crusty under the front bonnet. The contrast was stark compared to the refreshed rear end, but things, as previously mentioned, had escalated.

It wasn't horrendous, by any stretch, but I asked Andy to take a look and clean up/refresh what he could.
We quickly realised that you can't do half a job. If the front end needed a seeing to, then we had to go all-in.

What follows is evidence of just how crusty things had gotten (not all the pictures are amazing quality, but you can get the gist):
































So, by the time all the stripping was done, we ended up with something that once resembled the front of my MR2:



Now, the real work began!

I asked Andy to do everything, and I mean everything!

Every. Single. Nut. Bolt. Component.

Everything that was removable on the front end was removed and either replaced with new if possible, or treated, cleaned painted and sealed.

Here is a selection of the (non-exhaustive) work carried out:





















Both OCV filters were extremely clean:






Andy kept up the little jokes as he went along...



To cut a very, very long and expensive story quite short, I was over the moon with the finished results:












I cannot thank Andy enough for all his hard work, detail, diligence and dedication to my cause.

The ABS pump bracket is now no longer available from Toyota, and from my research, is a prime candidate for attracting the brown stuff.

Not a problem for Andy, he made me a new one!









The car drives lovely, there's no longer a single rubber bush on the car, every joint is now polyurethane.

It feels extremely cohesive and tight.

I couldn't be happier! 😊

[1979scotte]

Great work.
Unfortunately there are lot looking like that now. Won't be long and they'll be as bad as mk1 mx5.

[The Other Stu]

That's lovely work there Alex. I remember that you and Andy were friends.
What happened with Bonsai? A couple of years back, they were advertising that they were imminently going to do a drive-in K20 swap, then it all went quiet, the website went down etc.

Did he get a better offer? He's definitely got an amazing eye for detail there. I'd love yo have a car that's sparkling as that. It must feel like a brand new car!

[Alex Knight]

Great work.
Unfortunately there are lot looking like that now. Won't be long and they'll be as bad as mk1 mx5.

I'm not so sure.

Ancillary wise, perhaps so.

Structurally, I don't think so.
MX5s rot everywhere, including the chassis.
MR2s (mine at least) chassis' are much more resistant.

My chassis legs for example looked brand new, before we even started.

[Alex Knight]

That's lovely work there Alex. I remember that you and Andy were friends.
What happened with Bonsai? A couple of years back, they were advertising that they were imminently going to do a drive-in K20 swap, then it all went quiet, the website went down etc.

Did he get a better offer? He's definitely got an amazing eye for detail there. I'd love yo have a car that's sparkling as that. It must feel like a brand new car!

He did get an offer, to go and work for a very well regarded classic car restoration company. Very high end stuff.

I don't think Andy enjoys working for people though (as many don't), and so he's going to set up a Japanese modern classic fettling/restoration business.

My car has been ground zero!

[The Other Stu]

Sounds great. There are a lot of people looking for restoration and mods.
Someone Bristol way was asking recently on Facebook, so would be good to point them his way.

Obviously, we've lost a couple of our specialists of late - Steve has gone off to drive Ambliances, for instance although nice to see Matt Lee back in the game.

[Roj]

Outstanding work, looks great and I bet feels even better knowing its all sound.

[1979scotte]

Great work.
Unfortunately there are lot looking like that now. Won't be long and they'll be as bad as mk1 mx5.

I'm not so sure.

Ancillary wise, perhaps so.

Structurally, I don't think so.
MX5s rot everywhere, including the chassis.
MR2s (mine at least) chassis' are much more resistant.

My chassis legs for example looked brand new, before we even started.

I've seen more than one that's not too pretty .
My yellow one needs welding.

[1979scotte]

Sounds great. There are a lot of people looking for restoration and mods.
Someone Bristol way was asking recently on Facebook, so would be good to point them his way.

Obviously, we've lost a couple of our specialists of late - Steve has gone off to drive Ambliances, for instance although nice to see Matt Lee back in the game.

I certainly wish I'd been able to take advantage of Steve's skills.

[tpivette]

Hi Alex, Just checked in to see if you still had the old girl and good to see you taking great care of her. I'm afraid that as I work in a dockyard, the car was submitted to a few years of daily parking in a mist of sea air which can't have helped. I'm currently carless due to Covid restrictions meaning I havent been at work since March 20 so nothing to impress you with, MR2 itch might need another scratch at some time though.

[Alex Knight]

Hi Alex, Just checked in to see if you still had the old girl and good to see you taking great care of her. I'm afraid that as I work in a dockyard, the car was submitted to a few years of daily parking in a mist of sea air which can't have helped. I'm currently carless due to Covid restrictions meaning I havent been at work since March 20 so nothing to impress you with, MR2 itch might need another scratch at some time though.

Hey, great to hear from you!

Indeed, I've been taking the best possible car of the car. I honestly don't know any other way 💁🏻‍♂️

Don't be too hard on yourself. Lots of W30s are going this way now, and are starting to need some attention.

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!).

Sorry to hear about your situation, hopefully things will pick up soon.

[MrChris]

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!)

Bit of a lurky/hijacky comment but where would one find one of these many 2zz swapped 2s?

[shnazzle]

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!)

Bit of a lurky/hijacky comment but where would one find one of these many 2zz swapped 2s?

Your local mechanic on a lift...

You cannot view this attachment.

[Alex Knight]

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!)

Bit of a lurky/hijacky comment but where would one find one of these many 2zz swapped 2s?

There's an FB group. Cars (and swaps) are of varying quality though...

[Alex Knight]

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!)

Bit of a lurky/hijacky comment but where would one find one of these many 2zz swapped 2s?

Your local mechanic on a lift...

You cannot view this attachment.

Pfffffft...

1ZZ <cough> perpetual oil changing machine <cough>

[shnazzle]

If you're looking to get back into one, there are many more 2ZZ swapped cars now (but no, you can't have mine again!)

Bit of a lurky/hijacky comment but where would one find one of these many 2zz swapped 2s?

Your local mechanic on a lift...

You cannot view this attachment.

Pfffffft...

1ZZ <cough> perpetual oil changing machine <cough>

Hahaha! Truth

[Alex Knight]

I have recently moved from Bristol to Scotland, which meant relocating the MR2 400+ miles north, and therefore a very boring motorway schlep.

Nothing at all to note, with the exception of the rather dull topic of fuel consumption, to which I must say I was rather surprised.

I stopped to refill after 286.6 miles, and it took 32.27 litres (7.1 Gallons). This worked out at a rather surprising 40.37MPG!

This was no 60MPH hypermile journey either. Was doing 70-80 (with a few 'explorations' of the entire rev range) almost all the way.

I'm in no doubt that the longer 6th gear was a significant contributor here.

This is how much fuel was left before I stopped to refill:

[JB21]

I have recently moved from Bristol to Scotland, which meant relocating the MR2 400+ miles north, and therefore a very boring motorway schlep.

Nothing at all to note, with the exception of the rather dull topic of fuel consumption, to which I must say I was rather surprised.

I stopped to refill after 286.6 miles, and it took 32.27 litres (7.1 Gallons). This worked out at a rather surprising 40.37MPG!

This was no 60MPH hypermile journey either. Was doing 70-80 (with a few 'explorations' of the entire rev range) almost all the way.

I'm in no doubt that the longer 6th gear was a significant contributor here.

This is how much fuel was left before I stopped to refill:

Its the only downside to my MR2, the Celica 6th. Sits above 4000rpm at 70mph, so its not economical at all. Around 35mpg average on a long drive.

What revs does the MR2 6th sit at around 70mph?

[Alex Knight]

70MPH is circa 3,300RPM I seem to remember.

Honestly, having a short 6th gear is a waste of time. I've got the limiter in 5th gear, and that was getting on for 140MPH. No one needs more than that on any UK track.