Mr Poo the MunteR2

[Carolyn]

Over the years, I've tried all sorts to un-stick these rings.  The only method that has ever worked is to take the pistons out.

And soak them in Redex 😉

JP1 jet fuel is my tool of choice.

[Joesson]

I've never cleaned pistons, other than scrape the tops,  only got as far as cylinder heads, but wondered whether a proprietary oven cleaner would clean pistons and be as efficient, but perhaps less aggressive, than mechanical means.
But I suppose once the components are on the bench a world of opportunities awaits.

[Joesson]

Over the years, I've tried all sorts to un-stick these rings.  The only method that has ever worked is to take the pistons out.

And soak them in Redex 😉

JP1 jet fuel is my tool of choice.

Is this available at a Halfords near me 😉

[Roj]

Over the years, I've tried all sorts to un-stick these rings.  The only method that has ever worked is to take the pistons out.

And soak them in Redex 😉

JP1 jet fuel is my tool of choice.

Is this available at a Halfords near me 😉

Not quite, but your local Shell will have something similar(ish) coming out the black pump

[AdamR28]

Paraffin is also very good at breaking down baked-on old engine oil. Top tip from my local oldskool machine shop.

I guess diesel, kerosene and that are all cousins, at the very least!


Spend now £432. I'm not a fan of all the crap that floats around in the crank case being sucked back into the intake tract (on any car), so bought a cheapo catch tank from eBay (still to be delivered).

My friend with the Smurfette MX5 also very kindly 3D printed me a new gear knob, which is super cool 

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[Maurici]

I love this thread!! Despite everytime i see something new its gone wrong with the MR2 i feel kinda guilty.
Nice gear knob BTW!

Oh. Smurfette has the engine in the right place... shame on you Adam!

[AdamR28]

Has a few blasts out in the car (about 150 miles total) since the oil treatment and I haven't seen the level drop on the dipstick yet, so we'll see.

Noticed the rear tyres were feathering a little on the outside edges already, so I decided it was time for more camber. Also tweaked the rear toe to zero to compensate.

DIY camber bolts made by machining the shank of the standard bolts (no loss in strength as I haven't gone down past the minor diameter of the thread) and then welding a lump on, and machining this back again to fit.

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Only needed an extra degree so that did the job nicely.


Also made a last minute decision made to do the Javelin sprint at Croft this weekend with @Maurici

The regs state adequate roll-over protection or a hard top needed for convertibles... so I have some hardtop mounts to pick up from Dick Sloane on the way (ish) and Ian (thetyrant) has been very kind in offering that we can swap his hardtop to my car and back again between runs - legend! 

I haven't been there for about 7 years it seems, from looking at my YouTube, so it'll be interesting to see if I can remember the track at all 

Love having a 'proper' road car for stuff like this, the plan is to take in some of the finest Yorkshire moors roads on the way up, have a night away (pretty sure I booked a twin room for Saturday night mate...), do the sprint, then a cruise back. Packing was dead easy 

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And finally... to help me get where I need to be this weekend, because I'm directionally challenged, a 3D printed phone holder (thanks again Maurici):

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[Roj]

Good skills on the bolts.

Hope you go well at Croft. I meant to book onto a track day there next weekend, but by the time I got round to it it was sold out. Will try and make it down there next year at some point as I think the rest of this year is a write off for travelling across the country.

[AdamR28]

Thanks! Yeah I guess Croft is your 2nd nearest track? Well worth a visit in that case.


Spend now £467 - bought a Land Cruiser towing eye on eBay for £8 delivered, appears to be the same one as the MR2 (I know an Aygo one fits, it's just a bit shorter), we'll see!

Fulled up with fuel again, over a total of 460 miles it's managed just shy of 32mpg. Again pretty impressed with that, given how hard some of that driving has been, and a good chunk of it short 15 minute commutes.

Fitted the Apec pads yesterday and the brakes feel much better already. Still weird and a bit spongy though, even having bled all 4 calipers twice (once with engine on, once with it off) so going to try 'bench bleeding' the master by connecting the front right caliper bleed nipple up to the reservoir using a long bit of hose, see if that's where the issue lies...

[AdamR28]

Famous last words - the brakes are now really quite bad! The car yaws to the right on application, which was pretty 'interesting' coming back via the moors on the trip back from Croft - and indeed at Croft too. I have a new rear caliper to go on (the driver's side seems pretty sticky) so fingers crossed that sorts it... Sort of feels like a loose suspension component though, so we'll see.


Backtracking a bit - Croft this weekend for the Javelin sprint. I'd arranged to go and see Dick Sloane on the way up to grab some hardtop mounts as Ian / thetyrant had been very kind in offering to let me borrow his, swapping it between our cars between runs. Thank you once again mate!

There were 12 cars in our class (J12), mostly Celicas with the 2ZZ engine, plus a few MR2s - one with 2ZZ (which should have been in the class above), Ian in his pretty standard car, myself - and Maurici in his 1.8 mx-engineinwrongplace . So that at least gave 3 cars of similar spec (driven there under their own steam, 140bhp, pretty close to standard) to play with.

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We had a lot of fun trading times all day and it was seriously close between Ian and myself in the end - just 0.07s separating us!

AdamR28 - 1:46.99 1:46.84 1:46.08 1:46.24 1:45.50

TheTyrant - 1:47.30 1:46.88 1:45.65 1:45.57 1:45.61

Shame I didn't have time to find a way of bolting the GoPro in, as things were pretty 'interesting' trying to hustle the car on standard suspension and crappy Chinese undersized tyres!


Aside from the track action, it was brilliant to blast over the moors from Carlisle to Croft, and then back again through Catterick and Ingleton to Lancaster. It's been a while since I did this - more recently trailering everywhere - and I think there is huge merit in having less 'stuff' in tow and just enjoying the car.

I can't 'enjoy' it too much on track in it's current guise though - those DitchFinder Pros I fitted really do not like being driven hard! After just 6 laps of Croft the left hand ones are pretty mullered, so I'm on the lookout for a second set of PFL wheels (any condition) if anyone has a set going spare.

To try and protect them a bit (or at least the outside edges) I plan to beef up the ARBs a bit before 3 Sisters next Wednesday. I still don't want to lower the car as the current ride height is so good for B road blasting, it just needs a bit more 'response' and to corner a touch flatter.


Oil - I don't think I had it on a flat surface when I checked at Croft, but it does appear to still be burning a bit. By that I mean maybe 4-500ml in 300 miles. Ha. Again we'll see when I check it on the level later. I'm still going to try and free up the rings a couple more times, but after that it will just be left to get through my special 1ZZ oil burner juice until I decide what to do with the car long term.

Under £80 delivered for this lot!

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I do have a 'spare' CBR1000RR engine knocking about, that could be interesting... 'Only' 78lb/ft at the crank compared with ~120 for the current engine, but with the 1.604 main reduction ratio that actually gives a smidge more than the 1ZZ at the hubs, and of course more power once wound up to 13000rpm.

I fitted one of these to a Westfield last year, and it goes pretty well...

[JB21]

Think the guy in the 2zz MR2 was in J11 for the previous round at 3S and came 3rd out of 3 car inc another 2zz mr2, so why they stuck him in J12 for Croft is a bit strange. Presume he won the J12 class?

[thetyrant]

Hmm bike engine was something i considered for mine last year and while it would be hard work on road it would be fun on track im sure, also loose some weight out as well

Good effort at Croft though look forward to more battles...maybe you should go for 145's all round next time though

[AdamR28]

Have used a few BECs on the road and they are fine actually - earplugs can be helpful though for long motorway drives! I just don't think you can beat the combination of ~170bhp and a 6 speed sequential all for 70kg and less than a couple of grand, it's nuts.

Haha. I have some 155s on a set of steelies on my Micra and the wheels will swap straight over. Perhaps I should do that 

[Ardent]

@AdamR28

Do give the rear suspension a good check over with the torque wrench.
A few have reported similar feelings. Then found things not ad tight as they thought.

[AdamR28]

Thanks - would certainly explain the hideously lairy oversteer on every left hand corner at Croft!

[AdamR28]

Well. I think I've hit a turning point with the car. And I now know why it was such a handful on Sunday!

I've had this before - where one bushing indicates the condition of the rest of them... unless the lower front bush on the upright is 'known' for going? 7U in this diagram.



Given the obviously chequered past and current foibles of Mr Poo, I am now considering buying a whole new car and combining the best bits into one, leaving me with some spares and a few bits to sell.

The alternative is to keep ploughing time and money into him; either sorting issues as they crop up, or rebuilding the whole thing to avoid being stranded miles from home, at a circuit, or worse having something completely fail while 'pressing on'.

Everything is already stripped down ready to accept a new bush if I go that route, but it needs some thought. The wheel bearing is on it's way out as well - I think the car is just generally a bit knackered.


In tyre wear news. From new to that in a little over 500 road miles and 10 minutes on track. And the front is even worse! Mental.

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[Joesson]

@AdamR28
Pleased that your not giving up but just regrouping.
 @The Arch Bishop has two 2's and has fallen out of love with one because of the rear hand brake and is thinking of putting it up for sale.
Just saying!

[The Arch Bishop]

Well if you're interested, I'm fairly sure we can come to a very agreeable arrangement...

[iffyT]

Well. I think I've hit a turning point with the car. And I now know why it was such a handful on Sunday!

I've had this before - where one bushing indicates the condition of the rest of them... unless the lower front bush on the upright is 'known' for going? 7U in this diagram.



Given the obviously chequered past and current foibles of Mr Poo, I am now considering buying a whole new car and combining the best bits into one, leaving me with some spares and a few bits to sell.

The alternative is to keep ploughing time and money into him; either sorting issues as they crop up, or rebuilding the whole thing to avoid being stranded miles from home, at a circuit, or worse having something completely fail while 'pressing on'.

Everything is already stripped down ready to accept a new bush if I go that route, but it needs some thought. The wheel bearing is on it's way out as well - I think the car is just generally a bit knackered.


In tyre wear news. From new to that in a little over 500 road miles and 10 minutes on track. And the front is even worse! Mental.

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Wow that tyre has more or less melted! That's nuts

A parts donor or better condition chassis (The bucket) sounds like a good plan. Poor Mr Poo has lived a tough life it seems, and now you've pretty much driven the wheels off it.  As you said a stranding or catastrophic failure on track would not be good.
I guess it would become the Poo Bucket? fetching name.
It will be worth it I would say, you certainly seem to be enjoying your MR2.

I would also like to be able to continue living vicariously through your real-life Forza motorsport exploits!

[AdamR28]

I guess it would become the Poo Bucket? fetching name.

I would also like to be able to continue living vicariously through your real-life Forza motorsport exploits!

  Excellent. Two perfect reasons...

[AdamR28]

@AdamR28
Pleased that your not giving up but just regrouping.
 @The Arch Bishop has two 2's and has fallen out of love with one because of the rear hand brake and is thinking of putting it up for sale.
Just saying!

Thank you for the heads up on this!

[Joesson]

@AdamR28
Pleased that your not giving up but just regrouping.
 @The Arch Bishop has two 2's and has fallen out of love with one because of the rear hand brake and is thinking of putting it up for sale.
Just saying!

Thank you for the heads up on this!

I do hope it proves beneficial for you and The Arch Bishop and that the logistics are manageable.

[AdamR28]

Thank you - looks like logistics can be solved via a few trains this coming Tuesday, followed by a pretty long drive home! My dad lives around an hour from Lee, so I may try to combine collection with a visit to him as well.


Total spend now £797. Quite a big jump, yes... Some of that is the new rear bushes I've just fitted, and some front ARB drop link polybushes to firm things up a bit, but...

I'd been having a nosey at some photos from Croft, and while I do like a bit of body roll - it lets the driver feel what's going on, making the car a lot of fun - having the door handles nearly scraping on the floor isn't great for tyre wear, especially with the mac strut suspension system having less camber correction than a 'proper' dual wishbone setup like on, say, an mx-engineinwrongplace .

All aboard the HMS Poo - hideous amounts of body roll even pre-apex 

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Then, today an email came through from PayPal with a voucher for an account I hadn't used for a while. And an email from Part-Box, a company I have an account with but rarely use, who do Whiteline. So, I have a set of ARBs and proper camber bolts on the way.


The MR2 is a properly, properly good car. I am now convinced better than an mx-engineinwrongplace ! So I'm all in - and in building the Poo Bucket (thanks @iffyT  ) I am sure I'll end up with a fairly sorted example (or at least one that keeps oil in it, rain water out of it, and has wheels that don't waggle about too much) - it would be a tragedy not to get the handling properly dialled in.

I don't want to go coilovers or drop the car on springs as it is so good for B road blasting, so I'm hoping the ARBs will add the taughtness I fancy (and the tyres are literally crying out for) without making things all crashy and bashy when the pavement isn't smooth. We'll see.


In oil news - it's still above the 'blob' on the end of the dipstick - a few hundred mil over max - not as bad as I expected. And that's with the oil cold - I'd last checked it warm. Perhaps all the spanking is loosening up those 18 years of crud a bit...

[Joesson]

@AdamR28 Hope all goes well for you. You may or may not be aware that some rail tickets are available on line at lesser cost than at the station. Otherwise get to the station a little in front of time as when I went to collect my 2 the ticket office was closing, early, and the "gentleman" had  cashed up and really didn't want me to buy a ticket. I had to convince him that plastic payment would not affect his cash balance too badly. That was the only problem in my collection trip and I drove the 100 miles home, top down, my first experience of such, uneventfully.

[AdamR28]

Thanks for the heads up once again! Decided to play it safe and get tickets in advance, wasn't too expensive in the end.


Mr Poo has been thoroughly spanked again tonight, this time a track evening at Three Sisters. Great to meet you @JB21   and share some track time too!

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Doesn't look to bad in the dark, does he?

Mr Poo is now on SORN and unlikely to see the road ever again, which feels like a bit of a shame, but he will live on in a new guise...

Anyway, I have a long journey tomorrow to go and see a man about a Bucket, so best get to bed!