SuperArt's "Turbo Dodo" - TTE Turbo

Started by SuperArt, May 19, 2019, 14:31

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SuperArt

SuperArt's TTE Turbo - "Turbo Dodo"

As these cars continue to decrease in number, the hope is this one survives long into the future even long after I'm done with it.
The mission: To assemble the most desirable and rarest factory option parts and to drive the subsequent OEM flavoured time capsule for as long as possible whilst refreshing the greasy moving parts along the way.


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Why "Turbo Dodo"? I believe this car is as good as extinct with the rate of change the automotive world is seeing. There may be a future where only the most affluent automotive aficionados can afford to enjoy fossil fuel fun let alone the whole discussion about how lightweight sports cars like this won't ever be made again.
It's as dead as a Dodo and it's turbocharged. Simple really.
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#1
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Current Specification

Basic stats
2005 MR2 Roadster - UK Facelift
1E7 Crystal Silver
Hardtop
Aircon

Interior
OEM Two-tone leather interior with contrast stitching
OEM GB carbon effect instrument cluster surround
OEM GB carbon effect door sill
TTE roll bar (P/N: AM27987)
TTE chrome pack 1 & 3 Gaiter surround, weighted shift knob, door handle surrounds, cluster rings.
JDM Navigation Pod
JDM aluminium MR-S rearview mirror cover
JDM aluminium MR-S handbrake lever [soon!]

Exterior
OEM GB body kit
OEM GB ducktail spoiler
OEM GB red "TOYOTA" badge
TTE front bumper (P/N: AM27917)
TTE foglight kit (P/N: AM26430)
TTE air intake kit (P/N: AM27977)
TTE rear grille (P/N: AM28034)
TTE rear spoiler (P/N: AM27919)
TTE chrome fuel cap cover (Part of chrome pack 3)
TTE sports silencer (P/N: AM27909)
TTE Grand Prix Alloy Wheels (P/N: AM18422)
JDM 'Midship' Badge custom painted silver
JDM Chrome mirrors [soon!]

Engine Room
TTE turbocharged (P/N: AM26404)
TTE performance air filter (P/N: AM18150)

Chassis & Suspension
TTE chassis brace
TTE lowering springs (P/N: AM27910) [soon!]
TTE stabiliser kit (P/N: AM27914) [soon!]
TRD Front Strut Brace [soon!]


*No fibreglass copy items or third-party parts installed. If multiple parts available in the same category the rarer part was chosen and fitted. I.e. Grandprix wheels over grandstands, sharp-look side skirts over jelly mould style and carbon effect door sills over the chrome/mirror plates*
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#2
It's 2014. As a youngster whose focus at the time was just finding a good work/life balance I didn't really pay any effort in pursuing any passions/hobbies.
That was until I discovered the world of Touge (峠, tōge Japanese for mountain pass) driving. After spending an unreasonable amount of time watching Japanese language video clips of tuned cars take to the windy narrow mountain passes, I was enamoured and wanted a piece of the action. It just looked so FUN!

The search as it most often does started with a MX-5. By chance I happened to stumble across the zzw30 MR2 and a decision was made to source one after a little research.
Mid-engined, reasonably priced and a Toyota product? What's not to like? Sure it was an incredibly awkward looking thing but it seemed to perform incredibly well on the mountain stages.

At the time I was still driving my first car, a 2004 Nissan Almera having obtained my licence only 2 years earlier. I didn't really know much about cars then and even less about MR2s. After my research I only knew that my car would have to be fitted with a hard top and leather interior, anything else would be just be a bonus.

The car you see today was actually the third car I viewed, after days browsing on Autotrader it was the only car which kept grabbing my attention with its rare/interesting leather interior.
Rather on impulse, I decided to purchase the car.

I'll wager not many people would base the decision to buy a car on the interior but that's what I did.
Purchased in 2014 with 62,000 miles this is the car on the day I brought it back home.

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Acquired!
- 2005 MR2 with hard top, A/C, Two-tone leather interior, TTE Spoiler and some interesting exterior weathering.
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#3
In hindsight I should've done a bit more research and viewed the car with a more critical eye, however heart won over mind and I purchased a car which on closer inspection was a little rough round the edges.

There was a scrape on the rear bumper, paint had begun peeling from the front bumper/bonnet, the front lights (all of them) were badly weathered and the brakes looked like they'd seen MUCH better days.
It was also missing one of those black kidney grilles from the rear bumper. The previous owner lived in South End and the street the car was parked was not very wide. I imagine it's quite difficult to keep a car when it has to stay parked on the street at all times so in fairness to him the condition could've been a lot worse.

The redeeming qualities of this purchase were the excellent as new interior, hardtop and TTE spoiler.
At the time I was still getting used to driving such a low slung lightweight car that my focus wasn't really on the presentation but the driving feel. However the car couldn't stay like this as my OCD was putting me on a path to pursue perfection.

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Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#4
I drove the car around like this for a while but eventually ran into my first major problem.
On my way home from work on a balmy summer evening I noticed that the water temperature had shot up dangerously close to the limit and I ended up parking the car on the M25 hard shoulder to wait for the AA man to recover my vehicle.
Long story short, it was the radiator that let go. I decided to have a crack at carrying out the repairs myself so armed with Les' incredibly helpful guide here and a few choice tools from Halfords I took the front of the car apart and replaced the rad with a Koyorad item.
Seeing as I'd never done any car repair/maintenance by myself before, this simple task felt incredibly rewarding even though it took me from noon to after dark to finish - not to mention the hours of internet tutorial trawling before that.

I don't remember much from 2014 at least not pertaining to this car, but I do remember having the worst time bleeding the car. God how much do I not want to do that job again.

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Job jobbed!
- Koyorad replacement by myself
- Purchased my first tools from halfords
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#5
At this part of the story you'd probably expect me to reel off yet more issues and my recount of fixing them.
The truth is (and I'm sure a lot of you already know this) this car doesn't really get used a lot. I've always had a daily driver and at one point this was even my third car. For me this is just a toy to play with on fair weather days.

Back in 2014 I drove it perhaps once a week which didn't give the car a lot of chances to show me what it wanted to break next. Instead of concerning myself with those small issues of reliability and safety :) my main focus and obsession was bringing the car up to scratch with original factory issued optional extras.

My thinking was that I'd first upgrade the car until it matched the image I'd been obsessing about (more on that later) and focus on the repair/maintenance work once the car reached a state of "wholeness" - you know, then it would be a cinch keep it looking pretty.
Present day me would do the complete opposite and focus on the maintenance and repairs first but for a young and inexperienced car guy image was the only thing I cared about.

Having discussed all my car dreams and aspirations with the ROC, I realised a lot of parts I wanted were either extremely rare to the point of non-existent or that I'd need to shell out inordinate sums bringing them in from overseas.

I then spent a good few weeks on the blower to various scrappers whose ebay listings indicated they might have some tasty parts in stock and hitting plenty of dead ends along the way. That is until I found a man who I'd come to depend on an awful lot in the coming years. You all know him fairly well now but back in 2014 I am not sure many people did. I'm of course speaking of our good friend Dean from Rutland MR2.

As is the way with these things, one never leaves an Aladdin's cave with merely what one originally intended to buy. I really only wanted the black ducktail spoiler I saw in Dean's ebay ad but it turned out he had a lot more on offer. Dean is the nicest bloke you could meet so after spending some time nattering away he talked me round into parting with more of my beer tokens.

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Acquired!
- TTE Brace
- Toyota GB plastic side skirts
- Toyota GB ducktail spoiler
- TTE fuel cap ring
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#6
This carried on for a while, calling breakers, spamming Dean with text messages and checking the ROC classifieds as often as I could and meeting ROC members in the wind and rain (why does it always rain when I buy parts for this car?) all the while slowly piecing together the parts I needed to recreate what I believed to be the perfect silver MR2 roadster - the silver SP240 belonging to Simon Walsh.

Here's a small e-shrine I've put together to immortalise his car... which ultimately performed a back flip and somersaulted into some hedges but I won't post that photo here.

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Around this time, the parts I'd been collecting were starting to build up.

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Acquired!
- TTE Style bar (Courtesy of Dean Roiser)
- TTE lowering springs
- JDM midship badge (Courtesy of Andyroo)
- TTE exhaust (coursety of Dean Roiser)
- TRD rear strut brace
- OEM Toyota GB front spats
- OEM Toyota GB side skirts and rear spats (courtesy of UKTotty a.k.a. Russ)
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#7
Towards the end of 2014 I turned my attention to refreshing the brakes (with my retired neighbour's helping hand), installed a TTE style bar and the TTE exhaust while I was at it too.

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Job jobbed!
- TTE style bar installed
- TTE exhaust installed
- All new brake discs and pads fitted
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#8
I tried my hand at tidying up the front lights with the meguiars 2 step kit. Expensive for what it is and the results weren't that great. Still, slightly yellowed is better than very yellowed.
Ended up getting new headlights later on anyway.

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Job jobbed!
- Meguiars 2 step headlight restoration.


Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#9
Armed with some new stoppers and a head full of Hot Version you tube videos, I decided to participate in the first Car Limits ROC meet arranged by Scotty.

Hilariously fun day but I really didn't learn anything other than how much I'd been overestimating my driving ability so it was still money well spent in that regard. How often do you get a chance to really ****-up a corner in real life, not once but over and over again and be smiling about it?

Put some faces to names and had a great day out.

EDIT: My car was the only other car (together with JoeCool's) equipped with hardtop much to the bemusement of other ROC members of course.

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Job jobbed!
- Attended track day and my first ROC event
- Made friends
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#10
The next major event in the history of this car occurred sometime in 2015/16 when a red TTE turbo car came up for sale.
I wasn't able to purchase the car but I did manage to buy the kit from the member who had (no prizes for guessing who I got the kit from  ;D :D). A pilgrimage to Headcase in Bexhill was made to get the kit fitted (my old man followed me on the way down in his SLK). To bring the boosted car back up to London I sat shotgun in Scott's SP240 and drove in convoy with Jrichard's V6. Shame I didn't take photos of the mini meet.

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Acquired and fitted!
- TTE Turbo kit with piggyback ECU 'Power Control' module.
- TTE Panel filter (Did not know this even existed!)
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#11
After the turbo conversion I managed to get a good 3-4 months of fun (I think we're still in 2016 here, but my memory is hazy), tackling my favourite local B roads on my once weekly drives. However the car developed a strange issue and started belching great big plumes of white smoke, I guess it decided to join the vape craze.
The car was checked into my local friendly garage R2 Automotive and upon inspection oil was leaking from the turbo and the fins were pretty damaged. To this day I have no idea what could've caused it but I ended up putting a shiny new snail in and from all indications this one will last me a long while.
R2 also carried out a compression test and found the car in clean bill of health!

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Job jobbed!
- New turbo fitted
- Compression tested and healthy
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

ManInDandism

Black 2004 Roadster
Previous: Black 1994 Mk2 Turbo

delhusband

Quote from: ManInDandism on May 20, 2019, 07:12
Er - any pics?!
Pics are there (viewing on Android), lovely too  :)
Hate pointy animals

1979scotte

Quote from: delhusband on May 20, 2019, 07:36
Quote from: ManInDandism on May 20, 2019, 07:12
Er - any pics?!
Pics are there (viewing on Android), lovely too  :)

I couldn't make up my mind ifnl he was taking the Mickey or not.
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 🇺🇦

SuperArt

Hey if you guys want more pics I'll not hold back this weekend when I continue the story.
Hope you guys' internet speed is good 😎🤯
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

1979scotte

Quote from: SuperArt on May 20, 2019, 08:13
Hey if you guys want more pics I'll not hold back this weekend when I continue the story.
Hope you guys' internet speed is good 😎🤯

I only do fibre mate.
Plenty of speed for a few pictures
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 🇺🇦

ManInDandism

Quote from: 1979scotte on May 20, 2019, 07:58
Quote from: delhusband on May 20, 2019, 07:36
Quote from: ManInDandism on May 20, 2019, 07:12
Er - any pics?!
Pics are there (viewing on Android), lovely too  :)

I couldn't make up my mind ifnl he was taking the Mickey or not.

That's odd. All pics in full view now!

Read the whole thread (on my Android phone) on the train on my way into work. Loads of text but honestly could not see a dickie. Hats off for the endeavour!
Black 2004 Roadster
Previous: Black 1994 Mk2 Turbo

MisterK

Great write up which gives a good step by step explanation of how you have developed your car....and the more photos the better  :) 
You've now put me to shame and I'll have to start a similar thread to show how my car developed, although it was completely standard when I bought it from new in 2004 and it has taken probably 15 years to get it as I want it.  It might take me a while to start the thread as I need to sort out 15 years of photos first  ;)
MARK K - Original Owner/ \'Best In Class\' winner, \'Show n Shine\', MR2DC National Event 2017.

SuperArt

#19
To continue the ever more confusing and less coherent tale then!

I'd been picking up a few factory option parts for the bodywork since the very beginning, and due to the car's paintwork not being up to scratch anymore I decided to have it all sorted out once and for all. The parts I found are genuine articles, I was adamant if I couldn't find the genuine parts to complete the body kit I'd rather not have a body kit at all. This insistence on genuine parts stems from my own belief they'd be longer lasting than copy parts. Whether that's true or not remains to be seen, but at the very least I hope that it would  add more value to the finished car (if ever there was such a thing!)
And so yet another trip down to Headcase in Bexhill was made and the exterior rejuvenation project was underway.

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Trivia!
Did you know?
Toyota made 2 styles of side skirt for the Toyota GB body kit. One with straight sharp edges, and one with a softer jelly mould style. I couldn't tell you which year they offered which style or if the change in design was tied to some other reason. Hopefully someone out there will let me in on the secret one day!

I went with the sharp edge style side skirt and sold the jelly mould. Good choice too as it turns out the jelly mould skirt would later be reproduced in fibreglass.

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Job jobbed!
- Fitted OEM Toyota GB body kit
- Fitted OEM Toyota GB ducktail spoiler
- Resprayed and blended
- JDM front badge fitted
- TTE fuel door fitted
- TTE badges applied
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#20
Well it's a good thing one of my photos had a caption on it courtesy of my old man. So now we know it was April 2017 when this all took place.

Here's the car when it first rolled out of Headcase's shop freshly painted. Took a photo alongside my old man's SLK - he had to drive down with me all the way from Hornchurch and back up again. What a great dad.

Edit: It must be said though it looks great in pictures there were some huge oversights on this job which I noted to Scott, SteveA and JoshR when I collected but was essentially told (in the gentlest terms) to manage my expectations. However it's not a matter of expectations but minimal acceptable level of quality which this really did not meet.
Without going into details, this remains one of the most annoying and worst jobs carried out to Dodo.
I do not rate this workmanship at all.

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Some have remarked the car looks a bit 'chavvy' referring to the double spoiler. As much as I like to have the TTE spoiler on the car I do agree this was a very busy look.
You'll see some photos with it on and sometimes with it off going forward as I can't quite make up my mind about it.
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#21
In the same year a car port was erected to better make use of the wide access area beside the house. Now with a way to keep the away from the elements I was ready to carry out even more exterior upgrades without having to fear mother nature wreaking havoc when my back is turned.

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Job jobbed! (But not by me!)
- Car port erected
- Turbo Dodo parked in a safe place
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#22
All the lights at the front were then replaced with genuine Toyota items.
These really hurt the wallet, but I did try the headlight restoration kit (see above) and it didn't do anything for me so I bit the bullet and decided to go with the longer lasting option.

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Job jobbed!
- New headlights
- New foglights
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

SuperArt

#23
Another very significant exterior change was the addition of some rather tasty TTE Grand Prix wheels which had to be imported from the continent. I'd been waiting for years for a set of these to pop up for sale and there just aren't any in the UK. Lo and behold, within the first month of putting out the feelers on the European owners group someone was ready to part ways with their set.
After forking out some rainy day funds (I really wanted these wheels) I waited for a few weeks, and then they arrived!
I had also purchased a set of Grandstand wheels but decided I didn't much care for them after all as they were made available through the 90s on corollas and paseos. After deciding the grandprix and chicane wheels fit the modern look of the car that bit better I moved on the grandstand wheels to a corolla owner.

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Acquired!
- TTE Grand Prix 16x7 wheels
Best regards,
Arthur
Essex - "Always happy to meet up for a weekend drive"
Making demented squirrel noises since 2014
TTE "Turbo Dodo" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?msg=797148
TTE Turbo "Friday" - https://www.mr2roc.org/index.php?topic=73711.0

househead

Quote from: SuperArt on July 23, 2019, 22:34All the lights at the front were then replaced with genuine Toyota items.
These really hurt the wallet, but I did try the headlight restoration kit (see above).

I have the same kit and am yet to try it. Looking at your brand spankers does make me just want to get new ones tho! Tbf only one of mine is particularly bad, the other is like 75% decent.
2004 Sable Red Edition, TTE Twin Exhaust, Toyosports Manifold

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