Project +1bhp a year

[K T M Rider]

8 years a member & 3rd MR2 purchase last year....... seemed about time I threw up a Reader's Ride (well not literally vomit it out, although maybe much of what I write will be about as useful  ) .

First a bit of History.........

A few members may vaguely remember I was quite active on here around 2011 / 2012. Very reluctantly sold my second "2" to my sister in 2012 (who still owns and loves it) so drifted away from the forum.....

First thing I liked the look of on my return last year was the more chilled out vibe (arguments about "oval bore" or the importance of "stagger" noticeable by their absence) and the second was Reader's Rides. 

I'll momentarily break up the waffle with this pic (from late 2011):



Bought the blue PFL in early 2010, a CAT D repaired , 10 previous owner oil burning 100,000 mile ebay "bargain" . Discovered the forum a few days later  which quickly helped me diagnose a faulty MAF - after which I got my first real taste of just how awesome these little cars are 

Unfortunately partly due to my obsession with occasionally parking up in a remote layby to rev the motor up to around 6k and check for oil haze I trashed the engine a year and around 4500 miles later (managed to get the two miles home with what sounded like Thor's hammer emanating from the engine bay  - wrecked big ends at a guess) then spent most of spring and summer in a sulk as I decided what to do about it.

By August it turned out the answer was buy the Red FL on the right. Although my natural instinct was to want to rebuild the PFL, the combination of my (at the time) PITA massively sloping drive, the realisation the PFL was a bit of a dog all round and that the price of early FL cars had dropped about £2k from when I bought the PFL made the decision quite easy in the end, the Blue car finding a (very temporary) home with a certain Mr. Sloan 

If the PFL was a dog (yet still brilliant fun of course) the FL was just superb - did 11000 miles in a year with little more than precat surgery, tyre replacement, and a couple of oil changes done.

Told myself I'd have the car 20+ years , but circumstances changed and it had to go after 1 (but I could only bear to part with it by telling myself I WILL have another).

This brings me forward 5 years to my current car purchased July last year (at 61k miles and £2750 and now parked on a flat drive - YAAY!! the years in the wilderness were worth it after all ) :



So why "Project +1bhp a year" ?

Well, naturally I thought it made a good title because it appeals to my childish sense of humour, but the logic behind it is:

I'm pretty determined to try and keep THIS car 20+ years

I'd quite like it to eventually make roughly another 20 bhp or so (not looking to turbo / V6 or 2ZZ it)

and

I'm in absolutely no rush to get there !, i'll just try to pick up a few goodies when inclination, opportunity and finances permit 



Before that though i'll be sorting tyres / brakes and suspension.........

[StuC]

I remember your 'early days', as I was a noob then too.

I am really pleased you have come back and have a little project.
Is your path going to look similar to @FGrob build that @Bernie is now keeping in award winning condition?!

[K T M Rider]

I remember your 'early days', as I was a noob then too.

I suppose it's a bit like starting secondary school, you have a shared experience of everything being a bit new with people in your "year" , whereas some of the boys a few years above can seem a bit scary at first 

Certainly when I popped back on here last year I was pleased to see you were still active on the forum and a little bit sad to see @dcod  had moved on.......   

I am really pleased you have come back and have a little project.
Is your path going to look similar to @FGrob build that @Bernie is now keeping in award winning condition?!

Really nice of you to say so and I'm hoping it's going to be 3rd time lucky. I've certainly got a fair bit more cash to spend these days which tends to help, as does the flat drive (oh yeah already mentioned that).

Without a doubt Bernie's car provides some inspiration (particularly the engine mods  )  - have always thought it seemed a very nice evolution of the stock car.

 

[shnazzle]

Brilliant back story
I've always seen your username around but never any recent posts.
Welcome back!

[StuC]

dcod was a good laugh.
Ackers too. He has popped back up, but has deffo moved on from 2's.

Back to your project though...
Do you have a shopping list?

[K T M Rider]

dcod was a good laugh.
Ackers too.

Agreed.

Back to your project though...
Do you have a shopping list?

Erm, a bit embarrassed about the "project" word now, it's just me occasionally spending a little bit of time and money on my car really, then writing about it.

But to answer your question:

Tyres and suspension already largely purchased and to be documented soon.

External appearance - I'm more into taking stuff off than adding it - have already made a couple of slight alterations in that direction - pics coming. If pushed, some bronze Rota Grids would be nice, but no imminent plans in that direction.

Internal appearance - will be swapping my nasty generic part rubber front matts for Loadswine's MR2 specific ones. Other than that, I like it as it is - very Black. Perhaps I should rip out the radio - total ICE use in 18000 Roadster miles so far - probably about 30 minutes (stuck in traffic).

Engine mods - i'm thinking probably a Zero manifold / ECU / lightened flywheel in the next couple of years.

[StuC]

RE:Removing the ICE, nice lightweight interior option. :-)

What would be more useful for you in that space? Perhaps there is a mini project there? Additional storage? Drinks cooler? Flux capacitor? Gadget docking point?

RE: Engine mods. I was wondering if you were thinking along the lines of the different cams that Bernie has too?

Nice manageable list though.

[K T M Rider]

RE:Removing the ICE, nice lightweight interior option. :-)

What would be more useful for you in that space?............

RE: Engine mods. I was wondering if you were thinking along the lines of the different cams that Bernie has too?

Nice manageable list though.

I do quite like gauges. I mean an E type would have (loads of) gauges wouldn't it ? So gauges might be nice (oil temp / oil pressure / volt maybe ? ) except unlike an E type, I'd want ones that work properly 

I do already have a digital oil temp gauge to fit though..........

The cams are a definite maybe ( at the risk of sounding like a certain infamous northern oik ) but -  much like the lightened flywheel - are only likely to go in if that part of the engine / transmission is having some attention anyway.

In other words, I'm thinking lightened flywheel can go in when it needs a clutch, cams can maybe go in if the valves clearances need adjustment (although maybe not if I have to pay out for a 2nd dyno run) - you could say "two birds one stone" is my kinda thing. If I fit the clutch myself, then the saved labour cost pays a big chunk towards the flywheel - and the looking forward to a more responsive engine keeps me more motivated when I've got a bleedin' gearbox resting on my chest, thinking where did I put my ratchet ? 

Along the same lines, a major reason I'm not interested in an engine swap for this car is it kind of kills the point of trying to find a nice lowish miles car in the first place. I think it could be fun to build a 2ZZ one day, but many seem to prefer a car already in need of an engine as their starting point and that certainly makes more sense to me.

[StuC]

How about going full digital and having a tablet mounted down there and hooked up to one of the odb apps? If it's extra gauges you are after.
If you go manual gauges, you could make it a really nice OE looking feature.

Kudos to you for wanting to do the clutch yourself. I did mine, well I assisted @loadswine , but I was the one with the gearbox on my chest. I won't be doing one anytime soon!! The flywheel maybe lightweight, that box... is not! Lol.

If you are low miles and cared for, then the cams are a nice addition.
Not sure if the stock ecu can cope with them or if you need a piggyback.

[K T M Rider]

Why Not Just Turbo it?

Just wrote loads then lost it by closing the wrong tab  (:< >

Ah well 'twas probably too much waffle.

To summarise:

Before I get in to the details of what I'm doing to my current car I just wanted to talk a bit more about why I've chosen the N/A 1ZZ route to erm, "more power" (well a bit more power anyway) 

As discussed, I can't really see the point of changing the engine in this car. I find the stock level of performance fine most of the time for the sort of driving I like to do (solo & usually lightly trafficked twisty backroads ) but there is a school of thought that if you are going to go for 20 / 30 bhp you may as well Turbo it as you can get 3 times that for similar cost.

So Why No Turbo?

REASON 1

When i joined here in 2010 I was skint so any significant mods were out. A certain Dan M was a high profile member at the time who had owned a Turboed 2 and something he said struck a chord with me, which was that as a "twisty backroad tool" he'd preferred his car as an N/A.

As to me the best thing about these cars is the handling on twisty backroads, then naturally I thought this was great  - it seemed there was a big upside to being a skint 2 owner, I couldn't afford to make it worse by turboing it  :-)

I think that Toyota would agree with Dan, as I believe the reason the GT86 is N/A is they didn't want the power delivery to interfere with the handling on backroads and however progressive your turbo power delivery, it's never likely to match a good N/A set up.

I'm sure a well sorted Turboed 2 is fantastic, but it all depends on your priorities - horse for courses etc. etc. 

REASON 2

I happen to believe that 160 / 170hp is enough for the sort of driving I like to do. If I went Turbo I could be too tempted to end up with rather more than that.

Having too much performance is a road I've been down before and mind shreddingly stupendous fun though it was for a while it is not really a road I want to go down again.

This is a pic of My 4 cylinder 900cc Honda Fireblade that I sold 18 years ago:



Headline power to weight ratio about 640 bhp per tonne (128bhp at the crank and circa 200kg mass with fluids)

Back wheel power to weight ratio about 550bhp per tonne

Real World power to weight ratio (with me sitting on it) about 390bhp per tonne.

(and unlike similar bikes today, no "riding modes" or traction control  )


My KTMs are both single cylinder engines and as such are around the 180bhp / tonne mark (with me sat on them). All 3 bikes are huge fun to ride, but on the KTMs you can have that fun without spending half your time wondering when you are going to end up in hospital, court, prison or the morgue 

So yeah, been there bought the T shirt with bikes, so don't think a supercharged V8 will be on the cards anytime soon for the 2. 

[K T M Rider]

Ok, (so with the help of my able assistant Stu) I've largely covered my future plans for the car (as they are today) so now I'll get up to speed with the story so far.

Writing on the forum last July, These were my first impressions:

Done around 200 miles so far. Already dumped the oil for some Castrol Edge 5w-30, finally got to use the oil filter that had sat on my garage shelf for 5 years .

Car is great to drive overall, but feels rather more upset by undulating back roads than I remember of old. The 9 year old 3/4 worn (and cracked) Potenzas - no doubt chief culprit. Upping the rear pressures to 36psi has improved things significantly but I think a set of Avon ZV7s may be on the cards pretty soon. Not quite in the mood for stumping up the best part of £500 for AD08Rs just yet.

The out and out acceleration of these cars isn't breathtaking but one of the more subtle joys of MR2ing is the feeling of effortlessness that comes from a biggish engine in a small car. Only one other car I ever drove that felt the same - my 1990 Scirroco Scala that also had a 1.8 motor to shift less than 900kg.

@Topdownman  replied with a strong recommendation for AD08Rs.........

As I got more used to the car, I found the old Bridgestones surprisingly good (with the rear pressures upped 4 psi the car was much less upset by undulating back roads - giving the feeling of skimming more lightly over the surface rather than slavishly following it).

Wet or dry the RE040s were still very confidence inspiring so decided to run the rears down to 2mm and sort the tyres this year instead (fitted 2 weeks ago)

[K T M Rider]

Always a good idea on any second hand vehicle to regularly check your fluids (at least untill you've got to know it) and on these cars probably more than most due to the general rise and fall of the expansion tank level and oil burning issues.....

So think I was checking both weekly and then just after the point I'd started to relax a bit (and had left it a bit longer) I opened the engine cover to see an empty expansion tank  - at which point I decided it must have been dropping for a while but of course the usual Yoyoing level scenario had hidden it.

Straightaway chief suspect was the rad (I'd put one on my last FL). Sure enough wiping up some signs of dampness with a tissue from the front undertray gave the tell tale pinkish colour of coolant and a closer look at the rad confirmed it was junk. I had given the rad a cursory inspection prior to purchase (definitely checked the passenger side bottom corner as this is often where they seem to go first) but the car had not seen much recent use. Anyway no big deal, it's a relatively cheap and easy job to sort (under £40 for the rad - ebay, although you'll need coolant too), so a new one went in. As is advised I re-used the O.E. wing nut drain screws as they ease the bleeding process (visible in last but one pic below). 




























 

[K T M Rider]

Radiator apart, the car continued to rack up the miles with no issues and with new tyres put on hold I found myself thinking what else I could spend some money on.

As you do.

Collected a few service items on ebay (air filter - fitted, plugs and aux belt still to fit) and a screaming chicken badge from MR2-BEN (also still to fit) but as this was my 3rd Roadie  - coming after a long gap - I thought it would be nice to get something that was much more of a pure indulgence, which isn't something I've ever done for a car before (or even generally for my bikes). 

After a few weeks thinking about the various options, I paid my money and DVLA sent me a piece of paper:

[K T M Rider]

Continued to enjoy the car into early November, managing to squeeze in a trip to the Lakes right at the end (stayed in Ambleside and headed round the bottom of Windermere and across to Wasdale Head. Once heading west away from Windermere all of the roads were brilliant fun and practically deserted  )

[K T M Rider]

Back from the Lakes, commuting to and from work and after gripping perfectly wet or dry since July I get a couple of slides within days of each other pulling away from junctions (It's November). Road salt probably also on its way so I call a halt to the fun untill 2018

[K T M Rider]

One month on (December) and the 2 gets a serious 4 wheeled rival for my affections (6 cylinder 2.5 petrol flavour)

THE major reason I only got the 2 back on the road last week.

The Fabia estate has (so far) been repurposed as a handy shed for stuffing full of junk out of the garage 

[wotugonado]

Nice pics of the lakes, one day I'll get up there in my 2.

[K T M Rider]

Car packed for a nice little run over to Wales 

will no doubt drive me mad rattling all the way there 



EDIT

There's a good chance  you already know what happened to my car next, but for anyone who missed the "Wrexham action" or subsequent thread, here it is:

https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=65435.0

[K T M Rider]

So 17 months on, maybe about time for an update.

I've read alot of the RR threads. Whereas some just run and run (and are often a great read), more intriguing are the ones that started out in an apparent huge flurry of enthusiasm only to peter out completely within around 10 or 20 posts.

The reader then often left wondering what happened next?

Maybe the author had a spin in a Nissan Juke diesel and thought YES, THIS is the car I always really wanted, part-exed the MR2 and quietly sloped off back into the wider world, too embarrassed to confess their guilt back here on ROC.

Or worse, perhaps the car they drove and preferred was a "wrongplace."

Clearly this reader's ride now falls into the "what happened" category and another car was certainly instrumental in bringing about the lack of further updates.

However, the issue wasn't that I drove that other car (a Hyundai i10 as it happens  ) but rather that I drove into it (12 months ago yesterday in fact).

Yes, there's probably no bigger MR2 passion killer than driving it straight out of a busy junction into the side of another car that you (almost inexplicably) didn't realise was there on a dark November evening. Especially when it is then inevitably followed by standing at the side of the road with the occupants of the vehicle you just hit, all of you initially trying to make sense of what exactly just happened (and what might be the consequences for your vehicles), while the highly uncomfortable extreme likelihood that you simply didn't look properly before pulling out slowly dawns on you.

The constant stream of passing traffic the audience that compounds your feeling of absolute shame     



Yeah, so if you want to keep your MR2 passion fully intact (which you do of course) erm, try not to crash it - common sense really.

Quite apart from a very uncomfortable 24 hours where I tried to objectively assess the level of damage (not easy to be objective straight after an accident) so I could then reason out how to approach the insurance claim, it also forced me to have a good hard think about my driving (and conclude that maybe I was a little bit too "gung-ho" in the MR2 a little bit too often  ).

Regarding the insurance claim, the fear in the hours after the accident was that the car would be written off, my insurance premiums would skyrocket and I would be given a sum of money well below the car's true value (with £900 worth of suspension and tyres recently fitted not accounted for).

The accident happened early evening and my first natural instinct was to phone my insurance company later that same evening (when you are still reeling from this wholly unexpected turn of events).
 
Really glad to say I didn't do that.

I slept on it and looking at the car in the cold light of day refreshed from a night's rest (and better informed about dealing with insurance companies through plenty of internet research, including Bahnstormer's experience on here), I realised that the damage was wholly superficial (plastic bumper took the worst of it) and that there was now zero risk of my car being written off, as I would not be claiming for it 

The fear of my still prized possession being taken from me, to be replaced by a derisory insurance payout now wholly subsided, I reckon I could have kept my MR2 dream alive, were it not for the fact that I continued to drive it through to the end of November, when it would really have been so much better for me if I'd parked it up straight after the crash 

Unfortunately though, my winter car (see E46 above) was not yet winter ready, what initially started out as a water pump change - a rumbling from the top of the engine - snowballed into a WP, rad, t/stat and top hose change (I'm all set to replace the WP, drop the engine splash guard, to find bottom of rad bowed out like a banana    )

Yep, driving through the November murk, in the days after a crash, car sometimes misting up a little (no aircon) with SUV Xenon or LED headlights at just the right level to burn into your retinas (compounded by the fact I wear glasses) did a pretty good job of killing any lingering MR2 passion not wiped out by the crash . I was really stating to hate the thing by the end of November to be honest 

I can only describe climbing back into my Beemer (having not driven it for 6 months) and then driving it over the first few days of December as restoring a sense of total wellbeing, the more cosseting ride and smooth torquey 6 cylinder engine, together with the moderately higher driving position to better fend off the frontwards SUV Xenon glare and the much greater length of chassis behind the driver to fend off the feeling of them bearing down on you from the rear was really just what I needed.

Maybe that last paragraph sounds a bit mad, but coming from the perspective of still driving a car you've just crashed days before, I can promise you it all felt only too real.   

So yeah, ironically the major win of my MR2 still being perfectly driveable after the crash, meant that I drove it through the rest of November and burned my MR2 passion to an almost irrecoverable husk 

So back in December of last year, wholly and majorly ****ing relieved to have parked the thing up and be back in one of Munich's finest, I told myself that I possibly wasn't going to drive the 2 in 2019. I'd probably just ignore it till spring, then see about getting a new bumper etc and see how I felt about the car then. The thing is though, as soon as you go down the road of "I'm not driving that next year", you are well on the way to "perhaps I'll sell that next year" even if you don't realise it.

Having spent quite alot on the car, there is no way I would have tried to offload it in its still (slightly) accident damaged condition to just anyone, but as it happens I had a ready buyer - the then owner, of the red MR2 at the top of this thread - my sister.

Her red car (formerly mine) had definitely seen better days and was in need of the full tyre and suspension refresh my blue car had just recently had. So a deal was struck and off it went to the East coast of Scotland in february of this year. Don't think I really felt anything when she drove it away, other than it would be great for her to finally experience a 2 with properly sorted tyres, suspension and alignment (she regularly sends me texts raving about the car  ) and that the very welcome injection of cash would make it easier for me to buy another motorcycle 

( Counterintuitively perhaps, one of my conclusions after the accident was that I feel happier commuting on a motorcycle in the dark than I do in an MR2, I'm convinced the reason I didn't see the little Hyundai in the dark is it must have been hidden behind the passenger side A pillar of the MR2 - there are no such blindspots on a motorcycle.....) 

So is that me done with MR2 roadsters?

Well, not quite.............

[delhusband]

sorry to hear about your woes, not fun

[Hawkes41]

Shame you lost the love for it. What's the plan with the red one then?

[shnazzle]

Hell of a story and i totally see how you felt about the car after crashing.
It's why we no longer have the turbo.
After that, you lose the relationship with the car and getting rid is the best thing. And we certainly did try to rekindle the relationship, but it's just no good.

Best thing to do; get back on ANOTHER horse

I hope, by your last sentence and picture, this is the plan.

Hope you're well.

[Gaz mr-s]

A good read!

C'mon then, we're holding our Collective breath.... What's next?   

[Chilli Girl]

Yeh, come on, do tell .... sorry to hear about the damage.  I can understand re blind spot and being a biker myself of course.

[K T M Rider]

Thanks for all the comments - they are much appreciated.

Sorry for not replying a bit sooner but typing out (and editing) that mini - epic was the main thing I did yesterday , so just wanted a bit more time to re-gather my thoughts (and hold down a day job    )

Hell of a story and i totally see how you felt about the car after crashing.
It's why we no longer have the turbo.
After that, you lose the relationship with the car and getting rid is the best thing.......

Err, maybe it's sort of a bit like discovering your partner is having an affair    - some relationships can survive that, some can't but it will probably never be quite the same either way afterwards.

Best thing to do; get back on ANOTHER horse

Well, I know it's not what you meant but the car went in Feb and my new "iron horse" arrived in March (to add to the other two already in the garage, but being nearly new and Japanese this one works properly and most likely still will when I'm drawing my pension)



The thing is, I've always seen my MR2s as "honorary motorcycles" (which as a lifelong bike fanatic is the absolute highest compliment I could pay any car, or certainly any sports car), because they offer a comparable rawness and immediacy so lacking in yer average modern FWD econobox.

The flipside of that is that if I'm running the one, I don't always miss the other and well, running a bike and a more sensible car and an MR2 can all get a bit much (my other half doesn't drive).

So (At Last    ) what of the red MR2?

The Red MR2 also arrived in March, because well my sister didn't want two MR2s, so yes I've got my old car back. Erm, it needs quite alot of attention and has settled in quite nicely this year as a front garden ornament. No current idea when that's going to significantly change, but it won't be going anywhere.

My ultimate plan is to enclose it within a lovely spacious new garage and tinker with it to the max (as any future MR2ing will now HAVE to be purely funbased, so no more commuting in the dark or working on it with one eye on the weather forecast) just the small matter of finding the money for the garage and agreeing it with wifey.

So don't hold your breath.