Zspeed’s Shirubārōdosutā

[Zspeed]

@SV-3 @Zspeed

Is there enough time left to have a mini meet?


We form a rough triangle. Somewhere central to thurmaston, sw leic and Rutland.

I'm game but timing is key for me. I get pressured to spend every moment I'm awake with the family unless planned in due to 6 day week most weeks. Do you mean at a weekend? Sat after work would be my best time, which finishes around 4, when I will be in Melton. Next Saturday would probably be good for this.  Possibly later today after doing my brakes in prep for snetterton on the 18th, they will need testing after all.

[Ardent]

Today would have been do able, just timing is unknown. Out to lunch at the moment.

[Zspeed]

It's been a while since the last instalment I'm afraid. I have been struggling to find the time as there has been lots going on at work, a holiday (very unusual and welcome) and lots going on with the Roadster.

This post will be a bit more abbreviated ('yer right' you say) as I have made some posts around the forum which cover some of what has been happening in more detail. A quick search for me should bear fruit if you want more detail or just ask away!

Back to the detail.

So my EML was back, same code. So either a faulty sensor supplied or something else was happening.

A few searches on Google and a question to the Uk Roadster FB group got me chatting to the ever helpful Dick Sloan.

He pointed me in the direction of a couple of possibilities, a faulty MAF or an exhaust leak.

Well he called it right, hard to hear but there it was, at the back of the flexi towards the subframe, blowing away. So much for buying a car that had been sitting around then using it as designed. It's catching up with me.I have attached a dodgy pic of me with some tissue holding it in the leak, it was so tiny it was hard to locate.

Also whilst we were going through things I showed Dick my O2 sensor and he mentioned how clean it was and the car looks like it wasn't burning oil. More about the disappearing oil at another date though.

So advice was to get a new Cat pipe or fix the flexi's. I started to look at options.

The popular choices were to find another oe pipe in one piece or buy a cats2u replacement. However,  I like to think that if there is an opportunity to improve something you might as well do it when the time is right.  So more research and a reference to Zero Exhausts kept coming up. I figured with the poor reviews of the cats2u on the fb group I might as well invest in a better pipe that might deliver me some extra bang.

As @Iain will attest the timing was off.  The product is great but Zero we're suffering with Cat supply due to Covid/Brexit, and ended up changing from magnaflow cats to a Uk based supplier.

This delayed the order massively and I had to limp to and from work for a number of weeks with various 'bandages' supporting the flexis to try and slow the breakdown. Spoiling all my back road fun right in the middle of the summer.

Whilst waiting I decided it was the right time to look into changing the back box. My target here was to reduce weight but maintain an acceptable level of noise.  I get the impression that a backbox has little effect on performance as long as it is good enough.

I found a couple of options. Matt Lee had a TRD that was very appealing but I just couldn't stretch to this.  Bearing in mind how little effect I believe the backbox can have, I was amazed at how expensive some of them are for what must be bling.  If I am wrong I would love someone to correct me so I can give it more time in the future.

The other option was a origin unknown custom stainless box on eBay that fit the bill. Much smaller, a slightly bigger pipe diameter at 2.25inch and seemed very well made. It weighs about 5kg less than a standard box. It was a lot cheaper than the other options and worked out at about £100 takings into account getting rid of another standard box I had.

I needed some help to get it done but with a friend having limited time available I found myself driving over to him on a Saturday morning with the back end stripped off for easy access, oh er missus!

All done and the fun can commence again!

The back box is quite nice fit for the money. It's deep throated loud point is cruising at about 3k revs or when flooring it from low revs. Once over 3k it's almost stock.

[Iain]

Was a long wait for the zero cat pipe but well worth it, beautiful piece of workmanship and top quality.

Ive just built my own lighweight high flowing back box. Its a tad loud for me and may end up coming off because of that but i felt that after fitting, it has fully opened up the exhaust with the aftermarket manifold and zero cat. Revs much more freely now with no flat spots at all. Pulls well.

[Zspeed]

Still trying to catch up with current day.

This is a little piece that went on whilst waiting for the exhaust to get sorted.

My car came with an aftermarket air intake and maf pipe. After the conversation that occurred elsewhere on the forum about DannyDc2's exploits developing his mr2 championship car's intake, I decided to take mine out and examine it.

I wish I had done sooner. The first thing I noticed when I removed the maf was there was a hole in the maf pipe almost opposite the maf, surely not good.  This didn't seem to be a machined hole with any purpose band slightly mis-shaped. I can only think it was a budget decision.

In addition, I thought I best measure it so I could source a replacement. Only to find that the tube seemed quite small, and turned out to be only 60mm, much smaller than stock.  I was amazed the car run ok.

After participating in some discussion on here, i couldn't see how the options for a filter could make much difference over stock.  I feel like these cars can really only benefit from a filter if it is reducing the temperature of the air or compressing air in like a turbo or supercharger, and as Dev said i really need to measure the air intake temperatures under the same operating conditions to tell.  As I didn't have anything to do this, I decided it didn't matter for now as long as the car run ok. 

I have now ordered an obd reader to try and do this but as it was direct from china it appears to be on the proverbial slow boat as its almost a month and no sign of it.

When it finally arrives i will test my current setup, which is a ram air enclosed filter behind the battery, against an almost stock airbox.  I say almost, because after the dannydc2 videos, i thought i might as well invest in a 2zz maf housing from j-spec (i didnt have anything else to put on) and i have butchered the 1zz air box so they can work together. The 2zz maf pipe is on now and is certainly better than what was on the car when i got it.  I have tried the 1zz airbox/2zz maf pipe and actually thought it was even better but its hard to tell for sure so im waiting for my reader. Maybe i will get some time over Christmas to do this.

I can really tell, particularly in higher revs at speed, that the car is getting the air it needs now.  Lovely

[Ardent]

@Zspeed

Worth digging out @shnazzle posts on intakes.

Just about every option covered.

I forget the title, but he has rounded up many years of experimentation.

[Zspeed]

I also solved hard top storage during  this time. I am keen to get the roof off when possible.

I have a garage full of stuff due to my love of fishing over the years so I needed a solution to get it out of the way where it wouldn't get damaged.  I had no free wall space so it needed to go up.

I done some searching and came across a video of a Thule Multilift. This looked perfect and was ordered promptly.

Installation took a little longer than expected as it didn't quite match up with the ceiling rafters but got there in the end.

It's a great solution and makes it easy to remove and fit by yourself in no time at all with no fuss or strain.

Highly recommended

[Zspeed]

Managed to pick up another bumper today.

This means I have two and two halfs now. Not sure why I have not thrown the half's away. I guess it might be possible to still use them on a track day.

The new bumper has original Toyota Spats on it and the silver inserts that my car should have but does have a lot of minor scuffing all over. Not sure yet if I will put the silver on or stick with the black.

The idea is I should be able to create one good bumper now without the high cost of getting one repainted and blended in.

Here is the new one pretending to be a big wing on top of my recently acquired luggage rack. It's also been proving very useful to make some deliveries for work with (the rack that is).

[Zspeed]

Fitted already.  Was a good price as included original spats and silver inserts. It's not perfect but should be a lot easier to sort out. Looks much better.

Also rubbed the spare rear wheels down as were very corroded. Wondering whether to do a fun colour like orange as they will most likely be track wheels eventually.

[Topdownman]

I do like a red wheel on a silver.

[Joesson]

As @Topdownman said elsewhere, some time ago, "this thread may help":


https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=54164.0

[Zspeed]

I do quite like it with the red. I might try and complicate it by doing something like the black and orange image from that library.

I'll have a look at the wheel edges, and might try to a photo edit if I can manage it, or may be a request.

[Zspeed]

I forgot to mention a new addition to the collection, although I don't actually have it yet.

My brother in Kent is holding onto an under brace for me. It came up on Facebook marketplace and the chap only lived a few minutes from him in Ashford. Hopefully pick it up at Christmas.

[SuperArt]

That looks suspiciously like a TTE brace or Matt brace (TTE copy).

Good score!
I have the same, it is not terribly rigid mind so I imagine improvements will not be as significant as with other options available.

[Zspeed]

That looks suspiciously like a TTE brace or Matt brace (TTE copy).

Good score!
I have the same, it is not terribly rigid mind so I imagine improvements will not be as significant as with other options available.

I thought for £50 it was worth a punt. Maybe @Carolyn will make some better ones after the front braces early next year 😁🤞. 

If I'm really lucky Santa will suggest one of those supercharger kits whilst he is dropping off presents.

[Zspeed]

Literally on the day I finished rubbing the fl wheels down ready for painting I picked up a set of pfl with some ado8r tyres on them for a good price. 

I will put them on the car and try them out. If they are more fun as has been suggested I will probably finish the fl ones and sell them to pay for refurbishing the 15s.

[Zspeed]

Just rubbing down between coats and cane up with this strange idea. Just mocked up.

They looked grey in the garage (primer) but a bit blue outside.

Was thinking of using one of the current popular grey paints as a finishing colour rather than silver or black.

Not sure about it though.

[Zspeed]

The wheel image I have put above really does look terribly blue in daylight so I won't be doing that.

I have just put the pfl 15s set on though with yoko ad08r on them and I must say they are excellent. The ride seems much smoother than my Michelin ps3. It's first impressions though so I will have a chance for a longer run soon as I'm back to work for a couple of days.

[Zspeed]

Gave the yoko's a run to work through the back roads despite not being the best weather for it. Definitely feel softer than the ps3 fl set, a real surprise.

[Ardent]

surprised feel softer. Unless PS3 are old and tired.

[Zspeed]

surprised feel softer. Unless PS3 are old and tired.

It really was not good weather, probably an unfair comparison.

[Zspeed]

Unfortunately I will be selling this car now.  It has been a joy to drive in the short time I have owned it.

My hope was that I could fund a second vehicle that was more practical for my business but it is not good times. I will have to compromise in the mean time.  Hopefully I can sort things out and and pick up another when things improve even if it needs some tlc.

Thanks to all for their advice and suppprt.

The car is being MOT'd at the end of the week. I will list it for sale
after that.

Long live MR2s.

[SuperArt]

Sad to see this, but now that you've had the bug you'll definitely be back.
Hope your circumstances change for the better so you can keep this car, you've done so much work on it already it'll be a shame to have someone else enjoy it before you do.

[Topdownman]

Sad indeed. Good luck for the future and I hope you will be back soon!

[J88TEO]

I also solved hard top storage during  this time. I am keen to get the roof off when possible.

I have a garage full of stuff due to my love of fishing over the years so I needed a solution to get it out of the way where it wouldn't get damaged.  I had no free wall space so it needed to go up.

I done some searching and came across a video of a Thule Multilift. This looked perfect and was ordered promptly.

Installation took a little longer than expected as it didn't quite match up with the ceiling rafters but got there in the end.

It's a great solution and makes it easy to remove and fit by yourself in no time at all with no fuss or strain.

Highly recommended

I have the same idea for my HT when I get the garage.