N-chilada the Chili

[SombreroPeak]

Ok, I thought I might as well begin my own journal as I am learning quickly thanks to you lot being so welcoming, friendly and helpful.








My car is a 74,000 mile well looked after 2003 facelift. I've called her N-chilada for a few reasons. My Dad came from Arizona and she's in Chili Red, her reg begins with N, so seems like a good name to me.

I have found it on here too, so she's been here before.

Looking around this evening for the three fuse boxes, I decided to remove the frunk cover as I'd not done that before. Can anyone tell me what the loose coiled water tube is that is pressed up against the bulkhead?



I'd have thought that if it was a drain tube it should be pointed down and not coiled?

[StuC]

Great name for the car. Love it.  s:-D :-D s:-D

The tube is for expelling air from the heater matrix. If and when you have to change the main radiator, you'll understand!  s;-) ;-) s;-)

Would be great to update your first post with some pics of N-chilada.  s:-D :-D s:-D

[Ardent]

It is used in the process of correctly filling the coolant system.
everything fine and dandy there.

[SombreroPeak]

Jobs to do -


The steering knuckles look pretty corroded. Something to deal with or do they last like this for ages?

In the summer I'll strip, treat and repaint this corrosion -


And these


But first thing is an easy job, clean up this little milky mess

[SombreroPeak]

Thanks StuC, I've been meaning to take some pics and will do tomorrow on my way home. Promise to update post #1 then!

[StuC]

The steering knuckle is a common failure.

Short term fix is some lithium grease in there. How does the steering feel?

[SombreroPeak]

Steering feels good, from my limited experience. Not sloppy anyhow. But the corrosion looks nasty. Is there any upgrade available in terms of materials it's made from or is it just a case of buying a new from Toyota?

[StuC]

Refurbed one have been available in the past. A new one is a good way to go though.  :-) :-) :-)

[SombreroPeak]

Okeydokey, thank you for that. I'll put it on the list. Would a CV boot cable tied around it and packed with grease do anything?

PS, have updated my original post as promised with pics

[StuC]

Cheeky little MR-S.  :-) :-) :-)

Looks pretty tidy.  :-) :-) :-)

Feel I need to mention tyres as it looks like the fronts are different. It's not the end of the world if they are different. Have a look here to check the tyre sizes.

[Ardent]

What StuC said.

Get the basics (fundementals) right and the 2 will reward accordingly.
You may get away with ting tong ditchfinders on a lot of cars. Not so here.

[SombreroPeak]

Agree with both of you, and read up about this before I changed the two fronts two days after I bought it, but I couldn't get matching fronts easily and needed it road safe right away. Having said that, it is on my list as well, and to do before autumn. At the moment it's sitting solidly, I've pushed it a bit too and it's held nicely in bends, although whenever it's wet I treat it like a box of eggs!

[SombreroPeak]

Used baby wipes to clean all the grime off my second hand black centre console, then polished up with interior matt spray and swapped it for the silver one that came with the car. Looks tonnes better in my opinion. Will post a pic tomorrow when it's light. The old silver one is available if anyone is interested.

[SombreroPeak]

I realise that this is hardly a mod as such, but I really didn't like the silver one, so for me I'm chuffed to bits to have this swapped over.



This is what was there

[SombreroPeak]

Ok, so again, hardly a massive mod or job, but nice nonetheless. Bought second hand for £15, plus a fiver for the tape from Halfords.

[SombreroPeak]

I know it's been a while since the last update, but the summer was too good so no much happened.

However, back down to earth and some jobs needed doing, the first of which was a much needed oil change.



A pair of ramps from Schpok for £15 and access to the under tray, sump and filter was easy. Yes it means that the car is not level, but it's surely better than no oil change. I did consider rolling her off the ramps to get the last dregs out, but how do you then get enough access to put the new filter on an sump plug back in? I looked, but I knew I'd get frustrated by the lack of space.

[SombreroPeak]

When I removed the 'nappy' this was sitting on it...any ideas what it's broken off!?

[SombreroPeak]

Then last weekend I dropped the car off at Steve from D1 Customs in Loughborough for some heavier weight work. Namely new front driver's hub, new discs and pads, and a new rear crossmember.



Steve is an amazing guy, and the quality of his work is stunning. I really cannot recommend him enough to anyone anywhere near the East Midlands. Totally trustworthy and really passionate about our cars.



Will post some more pictures in the next few days of the finished work.

Picked her up this evening and the drive home was bliss.

[Ardent]

Happy days!

[SombreroPeak]

Long time since any update, but better late than never?

Bought the decat manifold as well as the DLRs from Hamish. Can't wait to fit them both, but will have to until the weather is more conducive to disassembling the car and playing. I've also got hold of a much better from drivers light from RutlandMR2, so that'll be going on at the same time.

Also need to feel confident about the manifold swap. Has anyone done a how to? I couldn't find one in that section.

[The Arch Bishop]

I'm half way through fitting a Hamish manifold - it's been an experience mostly due to the old one being a pain to remove and my insistence on refitting the heat shields (the middle brackets don't line up on them).

The pain starts towards the bottom of page 7 - https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63117.150

It's a couple of pages of other forum users being very kind and patient in light of my terrible skills!

[SombreroPeak]

Thank you for the link to your woes, just enjoyed reading it all. It's now making me think twice about attempting it; my skills are limited to too much initial confidence followed by dawning realisation that I've bitten off more than I can chew, and then my good Catholic neighbours find themselves in a similar position to yours...!

So, is the job worth it? I had assumed from the posts about the manifold that it was a quality piece of kit.

[The Arch Bishop]

I think it's s decent enough manifold for the price certainly and Hamish has been really helpful with advice, so you can buy with confidence. The only issues were the middle heat shield brackets being in the wrong place (it's the same with many of these cheap manifolds) and one of the exhaust to block brace mountings being the wrong thread to the bolt that came on the car - easily sorted.

The real issue is getting the old one off, but you may be luckier than me!

[SombreroPeak]

Ok, thanks for that. As my only car and daily driver I think it'll have to wait for a decent length of time when I can fiddle and curse and go away and come back... Oh, and some warm weather would be nice too!

[SombreroPeak]

Well, here's a little update...assuming I can get Flickr to work as a hosting site following Photobucket's change.

I've had a little time to do some jobs with helpful advice as ever from a number of people here.

I've swapped the driver's headlight which was almost totally white, for a better but not perfect one from Dean over at Rutland MR2. Removing the bumper was very straightforward, and also allowed me to install Hamish's lovely DRLs. Here's, hopefully, a picture of them all wired up and tested before final reattachment of the bumper.