Bargain-bucket MR2

[Chilli Girl]

No, it certainly hasn't Lee Great to hear Bucket drove well to her new home, I'm glad its nt going to be wrecked around a track too

[The Arch Bishop]

@The Arch Bishop
Please be aware that your comment "it's a non fancied colour" has not gone unnoticed !

Uh oh!

In fairness, I love silver cars - easy to keep looking clean, look smart and not too in your face! Oh and red leather (the seats, not my trousers) looks REALLY good in them.

But generally, people prefer to have other colours and that tends to reflect in the price of them compared to a red or blue.

[Chilli Girl]

And Custard Tart, dont forget her

[househead]

Here's Mr Poo and The Bucket ready at my place for making sweet, sweet car love, in anticipation of creating their own little Poo Bucket:

Reading this very nearly caused me to spit my coffee all over a brand new laptop

Great write-up, thoroughly enjoyed reading that and following the safe handover of the Bucket. Sounds like a bargain and it's nice that it stays within the club with everyone happy. Well done to all.

[AdamR28]

Awwww shucks....

Honestly it was a pleasure to meet you and your Dad! I really can't tell you how chuffed I was to get your text last night to say you'd made it and the bucket behaved. Good old bucket...

As for the icky money side of things, I genuinely think the price was right - at the end of the day it's a non-fancied colour on a car that's got a bit of grot in the sills. It also has the 'staying in the family' aspect of it too - worth more than cash to me.

And don't forget the biscuits AND the bike bearings!

Enjoy mate, and who knows, maybe I'll grow a pair and come up to Oulton Park for a track day some day!

COVID-secure man hugs all round    Thanks mate. All sounds fair to me then. Karma will come back around, I'm sure of it...

If you do fancy venturing North for a date with the finest circuit in the land, please do let me know! One of my mates lives close to the track (Hi @Maurici !) and he is pretty laissez-faire with petrolhead B&B requests.

[Joesson]

@The Arch Bishop
Please be aware that your comment "it's a non fancied colour" has not gone unnoticed !

Uh oh!

In fairness, I love silver cars - easy to keep looking clean, look smart and not too in your face! Oh and red leather (the seats, not my trousers) looks REALLY good in them.

But generally, people prefer to have other colours and that tends to reflect in the price of them compared to a red or blue.

I hear the ratcheting noise of a hasty retraction.

[Joesson]

Here's Mr Poo and The Bucket ready at my place for making sweet, sweet car love, in anticipation of creating their own little Poo Bucket:

Reading this very nearly caused me to spit my coffee all over a brand new laptop

Great write-up, thoroughly enjoyed reading that and following the safe handover of the Bucket. Sounds like a bargain and it's nice that it stays within the club with everyone happy. Well done to all.

I guess you noticed the graphic graphic!

[househead]

Here's Mr Poo and The Bucket ready at my place for making sweet, sweet car love, in anticipation of creating their own little Poo Bucket:

Reading this very nearly caused me to spit my coffee all over a brand new laptop

Great write-up, thoroughly enjoyed reading that and following the safe handover of the Bucket. Sounds like a bargain and it's nice that it stays within the club with everyone happy. Well done to all.

I guess you noticed the graphic graphic!

Certainly did

[AdamR28]

First bits of bucket tweaking yesterday...

Decided to try the cloth seats, they aren't as 'nice' (and the runners are in noticeably worse condition!) but I prefer how grippy they are, and more temperature-stable. Figured I can swap them back very easily if needed.

Also wanted to swap over my modified shifter setup, so made sense to do this all in one go.

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The better access also allowed me to unclip the stupid 'you've left your key in' beeper thing.

Had a tweak if the handbrake at the same time and it feels a little better now, might even pass an MOT if I'm lucky, especially after an Italian tune up...

Then turned my attention to a rattle Lee had mentioned at the rear of the car. I'd half noticed it but not on the motorway. Turns out it only does it around 2k rpm, so i figured engine load / speed related...

Found this:

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Aux belt bellybutton fluff, all over the side of the engine!

Wiggling the belt by hand produced this...

And it also appears to do a little dance.

My theory is that at a certain rpm, the belt is vibrating in resonance with rotational speed, and flapping to cause the clattering / rattling noise.

Mr Poo has brand new pulleys which he will now donate, and I picked up a new belt from the local motor factors just before they shut, happy days. Photo because it looks a bit like a comedy penis.

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Also gave the roof a rub over with some cleaner / treatment stuff in preparation for today's downpours, which looks to be working nicely in making the water run off.

[AdamR28]

Does indeed appear to be working nicely!

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[AdamR28]

Decided the Bucket wouldn't get away without some sort of track action during it's time with me... 

Javelin rules stipulate either a hardtop or functional roll over protection for their sprints, and sod destroying the carpets / plastics for the sake of couple of events a year.

Already had a hardtop fitting kit from when I shared Ian @thetyrant 's one at Croft the other weekend, and this came up at a reasonable price locally so thought it best to take the plunge rather than pestering Ian again!

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The seller was a top chap and also chucked in a hardtop storage bag and a set of FL wheels with tyres for free. I won't use the rears, so if anyone can make use of them you're welcome to 'em! Bizarrely the hardtop seller was also called Lee - theme appearing here...

After all that, I've just been to check availability for Javelin's Cadwell sprint next weekend and it's sold out, bummer!

[1979scotte]

Donnington on the 5th of December caught my eye.

[The Arch Bishop]

Check out the Bucket with a hardtop! Looks as good as I'd always imagined!

Very much looking forward to see how it performs on track with its elderly suspension. It felt very soft on the road in comparison with the Tart - not slower (the engine was always waaaay perkier), just more relaxed on more road-biased tyres.

Pullies and belt all sorted then?

[thetyrant]

Decided the Bucket wouldn't get away without some sort of track action during it's time with me... 

Javelin rules stipulate either a hardtop or functional roll over protection for their sprints, and sod destroying the carpets / plastics for the sake of couple of events a year.

Already had a hardtop fitting kit from when I shared Ian @thetyrant 's one at Croft the other weekend, and this came up at a reasonable price locally so thought it best to take the plunge rather than pestering Ian again!


The seller was a top chap and also chucked in a hardtop storage bag and a set of FL wheels with tyres for free. I won't use the rears, so if anyone can make use of them you're welcome to 'em! Bizarrely the hardtop seller was also called Lee - theme appearing here...

After all that, I've just been to check availability for Javelin's Cadwell sprint next weekend and it's sold out, bummer!

Looking good buddy

Shame about the sprint   would of been good to have another battle but maybe you will get a reserve space ?

I would have those facelift rear wheels off you if still available ?

[AdamR28]

Oops - forgot to reply here...

Belt and pulleys not done just yet Lee, as I've been murdering Mr Poo and waiting on one of the pulleys, hopefully here tomorrow. Figured I might as well just the job once, rather than twice.

Ian - rear wheels are yours mate, no probs. I need go and collect them but will sort that asap and let you know when they're here with me.


Hardtop removed and stashed away for next year now, sadly missed out on the Javelin sprint this weekend, but at least I have it ready to go!

I have a track day booked at Oulton on 14th November which I think will be The Bucket's first track outing. Before then I plan to chuck on some Whiteline ARBs and add camber all round with some of those funky cam bolts (real ones, not DIY this time!), plus stick in a set of my fave brake pads. Providing the looming MOT is passed successfully, of course...

[thetyrant]

Good man thanks let me know once you have them and i will see about getting down to collect, no panic they are just spares as want to run a square setup when im ready for more tyres which will be awhile yet i hope!, so if anyone is desperate for them they are welcome but otherwise i will collect once available

[AdamR28]

Sounds good - I'll hang onto 'em, no bother. I also want to go square but with smaller tyres hence making use of the front ones

Edit: Just 'saving' this link as I'll be needing it at some point... https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=12578.0

[AdamR28]

Today was one of those days...

After finding out I'd killed Mr Poo (ripped the immobiliser out and now he won't fire up) and wasting 3 hours trying to sort that, I thought I'd try and do something easy yet useful today and sort the wobbly aux belt on The Bucket.

So it began.

Old belt off, easy. Clean away fluff, satisfyingly simple. Remove tensioner, straightforward. Swap pulley on tensioner, didn't put up a fight.

That stupid little 12mm nut? The one you can't get a 6 point socket on because its close to the chassis, so you have to use a ring spanner? Yeah. That little bastard. Tight as chuff as well, obviously.

Luckily there is SOME access to the 14mm on the other end of the bolt, but I decided I wanted better access, so things escalated a bit...

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Figured with the rear end off, I could get in anywhere I wanted. I think this was the right choice in the end, it did make the job easier.

And while that was off, it would have been rude for Mr Poo not to donate his exhaust...

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Especially as the flexi on BB has seen better days!

Mid pipe with cat and heat shields weighs about 8kg, back box weighs around 13kg.

While it was all apart, I thought I might as well investigate the two different cheapo eBay manifolds that are available...

Mr Poo has the one with a flat gasket face, and no heatshield mounts.

Much larger secondaries than the other type with the recesses for ring gaskets:

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(Cheaty gasket paste as my rings hadn't arrived on time and I wanted to drive home, so reused old ones).

Looking up Mr Poos tubes...

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Not great but not horrendous - I've bought (and promptly returned!) a £450 manifold that was worse than that!

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All back together and bumper cut for the higher up tailpipe on the other side. Quite like that actually.

More manifold comparisons...

Mr Poo's one is louder, pulls harder up the top end.

BB's manifold makes better mid range - as expected, with longer primaries of smaller diameter.

[Maurici]

If you do fancy venturing North for a date with the finest circuit in the land, please do let me know! One of my mates lives close to the track (Hi @Maurici !) and he is pretty laissez-faire with petrolhead B&B requests.

I've just realized here One of my spare rooms Its been widely offered... I will have to honour that then!

[AdamR28]

So. MOT time tomorrow... This meant a bit of remedial work this weekend: Handbrake and headlights.

The handbrake had been a bit turd but 'just about ok' after an adjustment. I didn't think it would pass an MOT though, so I set about investigating some fixes. I found a couple of interesting things:

1) The length of the arm on OE calipers (approx 42mm from pivot to centre of cable pin) is different to aftermarket / refurb ones (approx 52mm).

2) It also appears the leverage ratio of the OE caliper is much higher - ie. for the same cable pull force, the OE caliper clamps the disc harder than aftermarket, despite the shorter arm.

All in all, this explains why a lot of people still have issues with the handbrake despite fitting new calipers and cables - either both sides (leaving a significantly reduced overall handbrake force) or just one side (gives an imbalance). The whole 'the non OE cables are too long' thing is a myth, any extra is taken up by the adjustment at the handbrake lever itself.

I'm a mechanical kind of guy, so set about coming up with a mechanical solution, one where I could quantitatively add braking force easily with no 'it feels better, I think?' kind of stuff...

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What this shows is a handbrake arm extender, and to get the cable to aim at the correct position, the cable location stopper thingy has been 'adjusted' with the Birmingham Screwdriver to make it 'straight'. The opposite end of the 5x20mm bar sits against the spring, and during handbrake operation is effectively trying to shear the spring in half like a guillotine - not happening.

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Et volia. 25% more handbrake force.

With this added to the refurb caliper, it was time to check the handbrake balance.

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You can simply use a torque wrench on the nuts, keep upping the 'click point' until it clicks JUST as the wheel starts to rotate, repeat both sides with a couple of different clicks on the handbrake.

I ended up with 60Nm left / 65Nm right on 2 clicks, and 95 / 100 on 3 clicks - that'll do pig.

I fitted new pads at the same time so these will need a good bedding in on the way to the test tomorrow.


Then it was onto headlights. If you haven't done this job before it's pretty easy, just a bit faffy and iterative, with relatively poor access unless you have hands like a schoolgirl.

A tip: buy some of these in advance, because you WILL lose or break a couple of the frunk clips at minimum!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/273427816094

The lights were pretty high and off to the left significantly before I started, so I made a 'coarse' adjustment inside and then rolled the car outside for the rest.

Step 1: Make sure it's fairly dark and find a flat bit of ground next to a wall.

Step 2: Turn the lights on (duh) and with the car right up against the wall, make some sort of mark where the headlights are aiming.

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Step 3: Roll it back about 20 yards and see what you're faced with. Here, both are too high, the right hand headlight is pointing too far left, and the left hand headlight is pointing too far right. That explains why I had such a narrow field of vision at night, and why using full beam was useless (other than for ushering in light aircraft).

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Step 4: To make things easier, you can cover up one of the lights - a bit of old rag, etc. does the job nicely. Play with the adjusters until the flat part of the beam is a little bit lower than the marks. The headlights should be set to -1.3% according to the moulding on them, but anything lower than level will pass an MOT providing you have the kick up at the left of the pattern (or no kick at all).

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Step 5: Get bored, cold, pissed on with rain, and give up before it's bperfect but still a lot better than it was.

Step 6: Check your full beams work ok too - a little higher than the dips, and generally straight ahead.

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Oh, and I straightened the steering wheel too. Have a fair amount of toe out up front now (half a degree because the right hand locknut was completely seized solid, first time ever I've not been able to get one free!) but it drives straight and has less understeer so happy days.


Car will be going in first thing tomorrow, wish me luck! 

[Topdownman]

Interesting to hear about the different length pivot arms.

If you look on the brakeparts website they list 5 or 6 speed rear calipers;

https://brakeparts.co.uk/shop/TOYOTA/MR2/00-/MR2%20SPORTS%20ZZW30%201.8%20ROADSTER/Rear%20-%20Brake%20Calipers%20and%20Wheel%20Cylinders

I wonder if toyota changed the design in the facelift and it nevers gets mentioned?

I measured the set of calipers I have in my living room and they are 42mm approx.

Anyone with a pre face lift car care to measure their pivot arms?

PS I am sure you will sail through the MOT!

[1979scotte]

Mk2 calipers fit i have been told and I was also told they have a longer arm on them and mk2 have less handbrake issues than we do.

[Bossworld]

The pivot arms thing is an interesting development given that the previous school of thought has been potential difference in the locating pins on the piston.

I would contest your point about the different cable lengths making no difference though. I am on my second set of aftermarket cables.  I've written about it extensively but the aftermarket cables are different lengths, both left and right, and FL/PFL.  Anyone selling the same set as suitable for both cars is setting someone up for a fall.

Therefore, combining your discovery with the different lengths of cable could go a long way to explaining a lot of people's issues.

There's a great MR2 diagram YouTube video that shows how far the arm has to actuate to actually do anything of note.

[AdamR28]

Well, that is a bit of a surprise.

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I didn't think the handbrake would exactly pass with flying colours, but one side inoperative? That wasn't the case when I dropped it off this morning!

Off to the garage now to see what's going on...

[Joesson]

That wasn't in the script!