Rob's Sable Red Edition

Started by Zxrob, July 13, 2020, 20:18

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Zxrob

Firstly, never classed myself as a car nut, motorbikes have always been my passion, anyway, fancied another roadster, last one I had was a lovely 350Z, so started looking around, now, I new what I didnt  want, although, they are all good cars, a MX4.9, TT, Z4 just didnt appeal, considered the SLK but, nope, mind made up the MR2

Read quite a few read ups so pretty much knew what to expect, there were quite a few about in various states of condition and widely varying prices, however, I did like the sable colour, so, came across a decent condition, not too high mileage red edition, that was it :)

Here she is, my wife calls it Dinky, purchased, bog standard, no mods whatsoever, love the look of them, the stance and the the fact you can go for ages without seeing one on the road, anyway, got it back home, looked at it for ages, the wife did question how she would get in and out of it ;) , stuck it up the corner of the driver and buggered off to Spain the next day.

Fast forward two weeks, back home, time to have some fun with Dinky, well so I thought

Sorry about the poor pic, I somehow manage to delete all my first ones

Rob

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Zxrob

#1
Ok, fist couple of outings and me is thinking, nah, this just does not feel right, car was very "skittish", had no connection with the car, no good feeling and to top it off the brakes felt wooden and lacked any kind of bite, time to have a real good look around

First port of call, tyres, now, although they had decent tread, there were three different tyre brands on it, correct size but I had never herd of two of them, time for them to get ditched before I end up in one, inspected the discs and pads, discs were okish, pads were getting low so ordered new all round, thought about braided brake lines but then thought wait and see.

Well, me being me I decided to have the wheels powder coated, fancied a change of colour and while I was at it paint the calipers ;) all done, bedded the brakes in and took her out for a spirited blast, much better, pleased with the results :)

Rob

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Chilli Girl

Great find Rob.  Dare I say it but actually, I'm now starting to enjoy the 2 more than motorcycling which sadly means that my CB remains tucked up in the garage. :'(
Ex owners of Chilli red facelift 52 reg called Chilli, silver 55 reg called Foxy and blue pfl W reg MR-S called Sapphire. Now 2 less!

Zxrob

Quote from: Chilli Girl on July 14, 2020, 20:15Great find Rob.  Dare I say it but actually, I'm now starting to enjoy the 2 more than motorcycling which sadly means that my CB remains tucked up in the garage. :'(

Hmm, hmm, excuse me young lady, I really enjoy my 2, more so than my bikes, not yet ;)

Rob
Adventure before dementia 😁

Zxrob

#4
Right, car now feeling a lot better but still not happy, not 100% gelled with it, something is amiss, reading various topics on the site and a lot point to bracing the car, ok, strange, how come a supposedly good handling car, well, dosnt really, so, lets see what bracing will do, so purchased a front upper brace off a forum member for a start, fitted and yes big improvement, we are getting there :)

Rob

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jvanzyl

#5
Quote from: Zxrob on July 14, 2020, 23:12Right, car now feeling a lot better but still not happy, not 100% gelled with it, something is amiss, reading various topics on the site and a lot point to bracing the car, ok, strange, how come a supposedly good handling car, well, dosnt really, so, lets see what bracing will do, so purchased a front upper brace off a forum member for a start, fitted and yes big improvement, we are getting there :)

Rob

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Good choice in brace, I have the some one and it felt like a massie improvement.

The "skittish" feeling you describe, is at higher speeds and does it feel like there is no telemetry from the rear? Basically makes you feel nervous and you're clenching in areas other than your hands?

If so, then I'd recommend replacing your rear bushings. They will be well past due now, visually possibly looking ok but with way too much play them when removed.

I put together this post a while back which documents the handling aspect of the car and have updated it:


My main changes to the car:

1 - did front strut brace
2 - did front polys
3 - later did rear polys
4 - put Matt TTE brace on
5 - then did coilovers with edfc
6 - replaced front and rear engine mounts with new ones and added poly inserts (they take about 50+ miles to bed in)
7 - at the time of #6 I put in a lightened flywheel, and the zero manifold.
8 - then putt snelbaards corky reproduction brace on.
9 - I put on the FL front Member under brace

The biggest differences I experienced was with #1 it was like night and day.

#2 made things harsher, but at the time I didn't know you could replace the front arms for £40...

#3 & #4 together made the car feel like a go kart, the garage loved it.

#3 completely removed any possible feeling of nervousness at high speeds.. (you know the one where your sphincter goes so tight it could resemble Gandalf saying "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

#3 drastically reduced wheel spin when pulling away.

#5 drastically reduced body roll, I could throw the car into corners more confidently, and i could switch between highway cruising and "race" and " there is no suspension" mode with a push of a button.

#5 finally exposed the weak point in the whole setup for corning which is the T1R's and their softer sidewall.. BUT I get punctures a fair bit, and have had to replace two rears so far... it's a much cheaper game.

#6 & #7 was interesting. The break in period of the inserts gave me a headache as combined with the lightened fly wheel I was ready to pack it all in when it came to traffic stop start. Having come through it, the lightened flywheel is a blast and my gear changes are than much exact due to the lack of engine movement. I do think replacing the side mounts will help the gear change with lateral g's as well.. But at the end of it all, the engine spools up so much quicker.

#8 was a big improvement on cabin rattle and ability to cope with bumps again. Highly recommend it.

#9 was further improvement to the ability of the car to handle bumps and proceeded to make if feel more secure on bad roads.

Hope this helps...

Regarding fitting polybushes -  if you want to treat your road car like a race car then I'd say you could do it.
If you're more inclined to take the occasional corner a bit faster and otherwise enjoy cruising then I wouldn't.

What I WOULD recommend is replacing all bushes regardless of which route you take. The youngest cars will be going on 14 years now and the general rule of thumb is around 10 years or 100 000 miles before oem bushes start to deteriorate. Don't get me wrong, you can get away with knackered bushes for quite some time, but it's like being a slow boiled frog.

In terms of sources for OEM bushes for the rear, I'm not sure anyone has found and exact source..this is why people fall into the polybush route.

Other than the above, good matching (brand) tyres all round at the correct tyre pressures (26 front 32 rear) is a must oh and make sure you get a full alignment done, these cars are sensitive and when they're properly setup they're terrific,

Zxrob

@jvanzyl , good stuff, thank you

Moving on, handling much improved, next step, exhaust, hmm, wanted a bit more sporty sound, standard system sounded a bit naff for a sporty little roadster, looked at various options then a custom made system came up for sale local to me, dirt cheap too :) , so, purchased and fitted, sounds nice without being nasty

Rob

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Zxrob

Next up, handling now vastly improved but not perfect, fitted a centre brace as that appeared to be the way to go, that was a fun job to do ???, yep, the car now felt "tighter" to me

Rob

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Zxrob

Right, happy enough now with how the car drives for my usage,  a few spirited road roads when I get chance, so, time to look at changing the appearance a bit, I really do love the look of them with a few basic mods to the body, so, first off, rear spoiler, lots to choose from and its all about personal choice, found one I liked, prepped, painted and installed

Rob
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Adventure before dementia 😁

Zxrob

#9
Final bits to do appearance wise, got myself a c-one bodykit, prepped painted and installed, pleased with the results

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So, to date
Replaced the radio as it was playing up
Replaced one of the door speakers
Removed the pre-cats
Painted the pre-cat cover
4 new tyres
New discs and pads all round
Painted the brake calipers
Changed the exhaust system
Fitted front brace
Fitted centre brace
Repainted the front bumper
Painted and fitted rear spoiler
Painted and fitted body kit
New roof
Chavvy kick plates

Things to do
Basic service
Get on the ramps and treat underneath in areas
Sort the number plates

All good fun

Rob
Adventure before dementia 😁

Zxrob

Added some Kick plates, no car is complete without them ;)

Rob

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Chilli Girl

I always seem to catch the plastic trim more than I do the actual metal work.  Always having to use stuff to bring it back looking new again.  Must try to scuff less and raise the foot more, I'm becoming lazy or perhaps old!  :o
Ex owners of Chilli red facelift 52 reg called Chilli, silver 55 reg called Foxy and blue pfl W reg MR-S called Sapphire. Now 2 less!

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