Quote from: moca2cv on April 30, 2022, 04:27Have you tried them? I thought I'd give them a go, as Tire Streets are sponsoring our series. They don't need to be out and out performance tyres, just good enough to get to and from shows, these wheels aren't seeing a track day! Worst case they go in the bin and I get some TR1s 🤷🏼�♂️

I've not tried them personally, nor would I from the reviews I've read.
Wet grip appears to be especially poor.

It's not in my nature to ever fit budget tyres, so I guess I'll never know first hand.

Quote from: 1979scotte on April 30, 2022, 10:35Would you reccomend Bromley tyres?
I usually just go on black circles.
Last set I had fitted in Shirley and before that had them fitted at home.

Yeah I like Lev a lot, and it helps he's 2 minutes from my house. He's a black circles trader, so just order your tyres there and book them to fit. You'll get them cheaper and they (oddly) make more money than if they ordered the tyres themselves. Go figure.

Quote from: Alex Knight on April 30, 2022, 19:04I've not tried them personally, nor would I from the reviews I've read.
Wet grip appears to be especially poor.

It's not in my nature to ever fit budget tyres, so I guess I'll never know first hand.

Ah thanks. Some reviews are good, others bad, it depends what you're expecting from the tyre. I think a lot of people expect budgets to perform much better than they do, and are then disappointed they don't... These are clearly not going to be setting the best lap times. I have the track wheels for going quick

Managed to run the wiring to the wideband and calibrate that, so happy that's all working.

Ran wires for the pressure and temp senders but ran out of time to figure out which wires to connect them to. I helpfully forgot to label the loom. Whoops. I'll have to take the gauge pod off to check doh.

Fitted the rear wheels while it was up in the air too. Looks good 😊

Fronts are on! Carpets hoovered! Car packed! First car show in 12 years for me tomorrow.





I can't get over how much I love these wheels on the car 🥰 it's a shame they won't be on that often as they are too nice for the track, but for the occasional outing for maximum clout it's worth the time to swap them over.

My daughter helped with the swap today, I was going to do it after she went to bed but I'm glad we persevered (I was solo parenting so couldn't leave her in the house alone as the garage isn't nearby, no McCanning here). One of the fronts was flat as a pancake! It's clearly not holding air, but I don't know where the leak is - I couldn't find any bubbles after pumping it up again, so whacked in 30psi, chucked it on the car, and popped to the tyre shop. They were too busy so decided to leave the car standing and see what happened over time. 8 hours later and they're still round, I didn't check the pressure but I'll top it up in the morning anyway. It's slow enough to not worry. Problem with splits is the leak could be anywhere 😂 guess I'll find out during the week.

In the meantime, here's my daughter doing the wheel nuts.



If any of you are at Lydden for BHP, I'm on stand 41 / Formula G - come say hi!

@moca2cv
I have been looking around for replacement parts, including new brake hoses.
I noticed your report on getting yours from Matt Lewis Racing
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?msg=860765
Have you any update on these please?

Quote from: Joesson on May  2, 2022, 17:50@moca2cv
I have been looking around for replacement parts, including new brake hoses.
I noticed your report on getting yours from Matt Lewis Racing
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?msg=860765
Have you any update on these please?

All fitted and working fine! They're brake hoses, not much too them, well made and good quality for the price. I'd get them again if they're still doing them in a couple of years.

Quote from: Alex Knight on April 30, 2022, 19:04I've not tried them personally, nor would I from the reviews I've read.
Wet grip appears to be especially poor.

It's not in my nature to ever fit budget tyres, so I guess I'll never know first hand.

Thought I'd update you on the tyres... Bearing in mind I'm coming from semi-slicks so am quite used to having a lot of grip. These are nowhere close to performing as well as the RSRs, but I don't think anyone would expect them to. So...

On road: they're tyres. The car goes, turns and stops. I had a little drive around some lanes and I drove as quickly as is sensible on public roads and they were fine. Very comfortable actually, and not particularly noisy.

On track: not a lot of grip, but consistent throughout a whole 15 minute session. I didn't feel like I could push on and got a lot of very progressive slip, just much earlier than with semi-slicks (predictably). Under braking I measured -0.8G - after that the wheels were locking.

I have not used them in the rain but would guess on the road you'd just have to slow down a bit. On track it would probably be terrifying.

Overall: a solid 6/10 for performance, 9/10 for value. Would I recommend these for someone who is chasing lap times or driving hard on roads? Nope. Would I stick them on my daily? Probably. Are they good enough to run on the splits for the occasional show? Absolutely.

Here's a pic of the tyres after getting them hot on track:

Also a quick review of the new dragy lap timer function, video here:

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdHQVYzDquI/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

It's a neat tool! It's been a very long time coming, they've been promising it for years, but I'm really glad it's separate from the drag timer. I'd already signed up for a RaceBox Mini, so I'll be comparing the two at some point.

It had been a while since I've done anything on the car, then a mate called to ask if he could borrow the car for a trackday at Anglesey - his car's oil pump disintegrated after Bedford earlier in the year, and he'd run out of time.

"Sure, but it's not ready..."

So we met up one evening and bashed it out!

We started with an oil and filter change, no dramas there. Tried out my stahlbus drain tap - worked great, just slow, probably better if the oil is warm. Fresh K&N oil filter on and fresh oil in. Attempted to fit the temperature sender but the hole in the adapter plug wasn't big enough - I need a different type of sender, from Autometer, which is predictably 4x more expensive 😂 [A note about filling with oil with an oil cooler - thermostatic coolers are always slightly open, but oil is subject to the laws of gravity too so although the oil looked perfect on the dipstick after filling, after a run and a check the following morning it needed half a litre more.]

Next up - remove the anti rattle shims from the pads. I've not been happy with the feel of the pads since fitting them, but with new discs, calipers, hoses, fluid... it was all pointing to the pads. We found one pad had TWO shims on. Whoops. Was like a spring. Can't have helped at all...

Then we adjusted the seat. I need a slider set up... if other people are going to have a go, unbolting it all each time is going to drive me mad. I think the Bride rail is probably my best bet, as I also need the seat to basically sit on the floor.

My friend took it for a drive and reported no problems with seating position or anything else.

I'll share more about the trackday when I get some pics, and a review of the car too

I picked up some Carbotech XP8s, and some fresh front discs from Pagid (£5ea at ECP). I'll get some rears and fit them at some point. Also bought a set of 195/50r15 semi slicks from Tirestreets in their sale, under £200 a set I figured what can go wrong, the road tyres were alright so these probably will be too.

I need another bucket seat and harness, standard seat is just not good enough for a passenger at a track day...

Llandow is creeping up fast. I haven't managed to get a matching bucket yet, so standard seat will have to do for now.
I did fit sliders to the drivers seat though - the seat is half an inch higher, not great for me, but makes the car more versatile.



I need to find double lock rails with the single arm level that rotates rather than lifts up and down - that will allow me to lower the seat some more. At the moment, with the seat lower, you can't use the lever, negating the point of the sliders! I am glad however that it all lined up ok on the Rogue mounts!

I also fitted the XP8s - got a deal on front discs so fitted those at the same time. I rubbed the rear discs down instead of replacing them. The yellows have managed 6 track days - and the rears are near the metal, but the fronts have loads of meat. Not sure what's going on there. All four calipers are new, free and braking... maybe it's heat?



Racing Beats on, ready for an alignment and replacement tyres on tomorrow.

Quote from: Anon on June 28, 2022, 14:37Are you hand brake cables good? People often over adjust the cable to try to make the handbrake work in desperation come MOT time, and thus tend to drag when the handbrake is released as the cable in not moving freely inside the inner.

Good thought. They do move, and the handbrake is wound right off for track days. The car is barely used on road these days... but even so I dial in a bit of slack at the handle. The caliper mech moves freely, and even on the slightest incline the car rolls. So I'm faiiiiirly confident it's not that, but I will double check that the mechs aren't under any tension...

Didn't get around to the alignment but the semi slicks are on. I'm giving the Accelera 651 Sport (200TW) a go as a) cheap and b) heard good things about the 100TW. Unfortunately they only do a 195 in 15s so I'm square for this weekend, so let's see how that goes!

Well this weekend was a mixed bag.
First of all, I had a good time, and my mum got to go out on track and really enjoyed herself. This was the goal, that's a tick in that box.
I spent much too much time under my car. Loose oil line fittings, leaking coolant hose, easy fixes, but time sinks.
Everyone thought the car was great, and I got some passenger laps in some cool cars.
My friend had a go in mine and spun in to a tyre wall 😖
I'll do a proper download when I've processed it all, but I'm feeling pretty emotionally drained...

Quote from: moca2cv on July  3, 2022, 21:15Well this weekend was a mixed bag.
First of all, I had a good time, and my mum got to go out on track and really enjoyed herself. This was the goal, that's a tick in that box.
I spent much too much time under my car. Loose oil line fittings, leaking coolant hose, easy fixes, but time sinks.
Everyone thought the car was great, and I got some passenger laps in some cool cars.
My friend had a go in mine and spun in to a tyre wall 😖
I'll do a proper download when I've processed it all, but I'm feeling pretty emotionally drained...

Bugger. How is the car?

Quote from: Hammond on July  4, 2022, 21:29Bugger. How is the car?

It's a little bent, but it'll see a track again soon 😈

Quote from: moca2cv on July  3, 2022, 21:15Well this weekend was a mixed bag.
First of all, I had a good time, and my mum got to go out on track and really enjoyed herself. This was the goal, that's a tick in that box.
I spent much too much time under my car. Loose oil line fittings, leaking coolant hose, easy fixes, but time sinks.
Everyone thought the car was great, and I got some passenger laps in some cool cars.
My friend had a go in mine and spun in to a tyre wall 😖
I'll do a proper download when I've processed it all, but I'm feeling pretty emotionally drained...

Oops sorry about that

Alright let's rip this plaster off!

Every year a buddy from my MX5 days organised a track day at Llandow - it's a great day, everyone knows everyone, chilled and good vibes all round. The perfect track day for my mum to have a go for the first time. She's been out as a passenger before but never driven on track, and wanted to have a go!

So we load up the car and start the schlep over to Bridgend. We pick up a friend in his Supra along the way, and convoy down the M4 to J35 Premier Inn, where we meet up with even more friends. A bunch of us head to the 24hr car wash in Bridgend so our cars are clean for the track day:






A good nights sleep followed by a massive breakfast sets us up for the day and after filling up our tanks we convoy to the track. It's starting to rain... the semi slick brigade is getting nervous!

We catch up with old friends, make new friends, and then it's time for the noise test! I roll the car forward and notice an oil slick on the wet tarmac 😱



I get the car in the air and dive under to find the leak. I find a whole bunch of oil fittings relating to the cooler are loose 😮 so I torque them up, clean up the underside, and hope that's done the trick...

We finish getting the car ready (I.e. empty) and then it's time for mum to have a go! It's wet, but this first session has the sighting laps and I want her to have the chance to go round slowly first. A new friend has given us a novice sticker so at least people know to give her space.



It's a great success! Mum did really well for her first time and came in buzzing 😊 it's a great feeling to share the joy!



My turn next and I really struggle to gel with the car - I don't know if it's tyres, or me, or what. But it doesn't feel great and I'm very slow. It's still fun though


Chasing down a 350z - and failing!

At lunch we line up the Toyotas for a little shoot, such great cars!



I also saw another leak on the floor... back under I go!



This time I found a coolant hose weeping. I managed to scrounge a jubilee clip and get that fixed up.

I took mum out again. And this time she's pushing harder!

A friend had a go and really enjoyed it.



Then another friend had a go. He was doing really well and then... disaster...

Part 2 tomorrow, I'm tired!

So while he was out another friend gave me same passenger laps in his ~500bhp S14 2JZ, which was fun 😁
I can back in just in time to hear the oohs and aahs and see the car wedged in the tyre wall at Gluepot. The car was driving still but the wheel arch liner was hanging out and the wing rubbing, but he managed to limp back to the pits. Not ashamed to admit I shed a tear at seeing it come back like this... we all put so much effort in to our cars so it's sad to see this happen, and there are so many emotions and thoughts running through your brain that it's all a bit overwhelming...

But then survival mode kicks in and you're ready for action in an instant! So when the car arrived back in the pits, it was time to figure out whether we could get it back on the road, or if I was calling a tow truck.



You can see the poor guy is devastated. It's actually heartbreaking to see someone like this. That's me in the driver seat getting it back to somewhere to work on it. It drove ok at 5mph, with Max holding the wing and bumper off the wheel, so I was feeling confident it would make it at least to the hotel.





imagehosting

We wasted no time getting the light off and the bumper off to assess the damage. The light was smashed, the wing was bent, and the crash bar had punched a hole in the bumper. The crash bar itself was pretty bent up, as was all the flimsy stuff, and the chassis leg had concertinered(?). The LH exhaust tip had also bent in the middle of the pipe and split where the hanger attached.

With the help of a few friends, we hammered the wing back in to some sort of shape, popped the bumper back to roughly the right way, and gaffer taped the light to the wing. The exhaust got squatted back in to pointing the right way until it looked like... this (excuse the finger):



It was the end of the day when this happened so I packed up, chucked all the bits of trim that had fallen off in to a friend's boot, and gingerly drove back to the hotel. Filled up, parked up, and went straight to the pub for a beer 😂

I didn't want to drive home with a broken light (bulbs worked but brake lights are important) so I put a shout out on Facebook to see if anyone had one nearby. As luck would have it, another MR2 owner had one in Swansea! He didn't have both, he'd spun and smashed that at Llandow too 😂 What are the chances?

We picked that up in the morning, and with a little more hammer massage the replacement and now legal light was on:



Good as new! 🥲

It was a long journey home, lots of stops, traffic jams, road closures... but it was worse going the other way so not the worst it could have been! I got home quite late and moped for a bit, but then decided I might as well start pulling the broken bits off while I had some time and get the repairs moving!

I popped out to the car and got to work. The crash bar was a challenge to get off and I fell on my behind, tailbone straight on to a can of WD40
😖 but off it came and I could get a better look.

What it should look like:



And what it actually looks like:





Exhaust tip:



We have hatched a plan to get it to a garage to pull it out straight enough to get another crash bar on and replace the pipe in the exhaust tip. I already have one in the garage. I think we've found a wing... and I've already got a bumper I can use. The skirt had to come off to get the wing off, so it's time for the TRD stage 2 bodykit...

I spent yesterday lunchtime offering up the front bumper... it looks mega:







And I straightened out the wing tip on the BGW that had taken a whack too.

No new broken bolts yet, but I will take some time now to extract the snapped bolts that should hold on the bottom of the bumper and there are a couple others around too. Fun times ahead!

Nice work! Quick turnaround that

Quote from: Hammond on July  5, 2022, 15:23Nice work! Quick turnaround that

Not quite there yet, but give it a couple of weeks and it'll be good again 😁

Quote from: moca2cv on July  5, 2022, 19:20Not quite there yet, but give it a couple of weeks and it'll be good again 😁

So far so good! Keep it up

Side skirts are off and up for sale for FREE (check Private Sale section), and I test fitted the TRD skirts I acquired a while back from Matt Lee.






Phwoar, it's going to look mega! But my god the amount of filler and tigerseal used before 😂 I've got an extra half an inch of sill to remove 😂

Well it's been a while as I've been busy running Formula G - the last two rounds are the end of this month then I can take a break from that and focus on getting the car ready for a track day at Brands on 26 November. There's a lot to do! So what's happened?

The car is back from the shop and is now all one colour! Whoop.

I've also had a lightened flywheel fitted, along with silicone hoses and innovate side mounts for the engine / box.

Updating the V5 was a pretty painless process, and I also put a personal plate on that I bought for my daughter (she's 6 but it'll last forever 😁).

A note on the innovate mounts - the battery tray isn't stable enough fitted in the original position so I'm going to take the opportunity to relocate the battery, fit a smaller one, as well as a cut off in the cabin. Bit of extra security!

I also need to figure out a solution for the rear number plate as the new bash bar doesn't have the fixing points for the bumper supports which in turn means no plate mount. Hoping to get a TTE infill copy soon.

Then I need to fit grilles front and rear so they all match.

Bought some new wheels to go with the new look, noughties Tsukuba is what I'm going for, let's see if I pull it off...

One little but satisfying job to do was 'rebadging', putting the MR-S badge back on. It's not really an MR-S but the body kit came off one and I don't have an MR2 badge so I'm using that. Used some double sided tape, cut to shape, and then carefully lined everything up and marked with tape before committing to the permanence of 3M! Looks alright.

Other than that, a lot more tidying up and then go enjoy, turn a few heads and make people smile

Oh and my insurance renewal was less than last year - score! Big up REIS.






Yes it's a bit loud 😁

  brilliant end result
must have stomach  turning and bag of nerves when you look at your 2  when damage  
just such a horrible feeling for you.  

Hopeful your mate helped you out big time from this  

i bet your mum and you had a great time and what quality time together will never be forgotten  

now enjoy your 2 all looking spot on and ready for its next outing   

think it may to good looking now to use on the trac