Maurici´s 2ZZ Roadster. A Mallorcan and a Japanese meet for a drive.

[Maurici]

So, Tomorrow is the day to pic up the lady. I´ll have to think a name for her.
I´ve been biting my fingernails the whole week looking forward to go and pick her up... and I´ve spend some of my time designing and manufacturing a gear knob for the MR2 and printed some sunvisor blanks, as they will have to go out straight away.




The only thing I think I want to do with the car is to Add a half cage...
However, it has to be softop compatible, and don´t disturb too much the rear storage possibilities too much. What are the options (if any?).
Watch this space, I´m expecting to update tomorrow with pictures of the new toy!!

[Call the midlife!]

All the half cages I've seen so far have required the removal of most of the rear storage bins to get the framework in but still left a far amount of open luggage capacity.
It could be that they've just not been worried about making the bins fit around the steel or for weight reduction but I've never seen one.

[Maurici]

All the half cages I've seen so far have required the removal of most of the rear storage bins to get the framework in but still left a far amount of open luggage capacity.
It could be that they've just not been worried about making the bins fit around the steel or for weight reduction but I've never seen one.

Bollocks. It then will need more investigation. I have a mate who works as a trimmer, and maybe he can sort something out making the rear space slightly nicer... than remove the all trim and off you go...
will see.
A shame, coz I dont really want to screw the OEM look of the car

[Roj]

JP Cages do a soft top compatible half cage without a diagonal directly behind the driver so there's a bit of room between the back of the seats and the firewall. You'd need to cut the existing plastics and add some carpet though.

https://www.jp-cages.co.uk/product/mk3-toyota-mr2-half-cage/

They had a 20% discount recently, think it was Alpine20.

[Call the midlife!]

JP Cages do a soft top compatible half cage without a diagonal directly behind the driver so there's a bit of room between the back of the seats and the firewall. You'd need to cut the existing plastics and add some carpet though.

https://www.jp-cages.co.uk/product/mk3-toyota-mr2-half-cage/

They had a 20% discount recently, think it was Alpine20.

I'm glad you posted this, I couldn't remember who made them and it's been doing my head in!😆

[Maurici]

Well. Made it back to crewe, that is not allways granted when you buy a new unknown car and an over 4 hours drive ahead...

Awfull to drive in the motorway. Is just like my former VX220 or any elise Ive driven. Front floats as bother over 80mph(needs a splitter to mitigate this). This an endemic problem of those cars... way worst than any mx5 ive owned.

the flighweel is SO LIGHT that is terrible in traffic too, has to be driven in 3rd and spining the racing clutch unless you want to go bouncing.

Inside is actually quite a nice place to be, not too much drooming from the exhaust when little gas is applied, in this regard is better than the mx5s...

But now, take it to a b-road and is one of the most exciting and exceptional cars I've ever driven.

The engine is really really good. The soundtrack is LOUD at full chat, well past CHAV and borderline legally ASBO, but i fluffing love it.

Other than a blown fog lamp, the car is inmaculated, looks like a fully stock hairdresser car, but is a full on weapon. So happy.

Looking forward to the first drive we can take toguether!!!😃

[1979scotte]

Something is wrong if it feels floaty at motorway speeds.
Has it got jack and spare wheel?

[Maurici]

Something is wrong if it feels floaty at motorway speeds.
Has it got jack and spare wheel?

Yes it does, and will ditch them as soon as I can.
I would not say that something is wrong, is perfectly driveable, the geo setup seems ok. Drives straight, the wear in the tyres seems even, the steering is extremely responsive and I suspect that is because it does have a significant ammount of toe out (but this will be checked and probably tweeked as soon as I have time). It just felt exactly as any other mid engine sub 1000kg I've owned or driven TBH. I can't think of anything mechanically speaking that would contribute to the car exagerate its lift on the front. What are you thinking so I can check?

[Call the midlife!]

Academic really in this instance but that car will weigh over 1000kgs, I would imagine at least 1200 from  the way it looked in the photos. An FL straight out of the showroom weighed over 1000kgs.

[1979scotte]

Should have a tiny front lip under the bumper.

My FL with AC, SP turbo, bracing and style bar weighed 1050kg when I had it corner weighted.

My PFL V6 was 1070kg

[Maurici]

Academic really in this instance but that car will weigh over 1000kgs, I would imagine at least 1200 from  the way it looked in the photos. An FL straight out of the showroom weighed over 1000kgs.

without AC, without Power Steering, custom made (and really small) exhaust, no airbox, and with the sachs monotubes that are like half the weight of the OEM suspension, much lighter flywheel and so on... I really really REALLY doubt it will be over 1200. Don't judge a book by its cover they say?

However, not really the point. Even if is over a tonne, the diference in weight in the front axle vs an S2/3 Elise, or a Vx220 (that was what I was comparing with) will be pretty minimal due the weihgt distribution of this cars, and this is what I meant...

[Call the midlife!]

Academic really in this instance but that car will weigh over 1000kgs, I would imagine at least 1200 from  the way it looked in the photos. An FL straight out of the showroom weighed over 1000kgs.

without AC, witout Power Steering, custom made (and really small) exhaust, no airbox, and with the sachs monotubes that are like half the weight of the OEM suspension, I really really REALLY doubt it will be over 1200. Don't judge a book by its cover they say?

However, not really the point. Even if is over a tonne, the diference in weight in the front axle vs an S2/3 Elise, or a Vx220 (that was what I was comparing with) will be pretty minimal due the weihgt distribution of this cars, and this is what I meant...

Apologies, I thought you'd bought an immaculate 2zz as a platform for the work you intended to do, not one already halfway there.

[Maurici]

Should have a tiny front lip under the bumper.

From Factory you mean? Ill try to lie down the car and check what I can see in the front, but, I think the way to go will be put a chav-ish front splitter to go with the sound of the car, so will have the whole midlife crisis car...
Chav looks, Chav sound, a grown up fat adult driving it...

[Maurici]

Academic really in this instance but that car will weigh over 1000kgs, I would imagine at least 1200 from  the way it looked in the photos. An FL straight out of the showroom weighed over 1000kgs.

without AC, witout Power Steering, custom made (and really small) exhaust, no airbox, and with the sachs monotubes that are like half the weight of the OEM suspension, I really really REALLY doubt it will be over 1200. Don't judge a book by its cover they say?

However, not really the point. Even if is over a tonne, the diference in weight in the front axle vs an S2/3 Elise, or a Vx220 (that was what I was comparing with) will be pretty minimal due the weihgt distribution of this cars, and this is what I meant...

Apologies, I thought you'd bought an immaculate 2zz as a platform for the work you intended to do, not one already halfway there.

Well. It is inmaculated really. but yes, under the OEM apearance its had some work done

[Joesson]

@Maurici
I would start with the tyre pressures.

[Maurici]

@Maurici
I would start with the tyre pressures.

Yeah... this is a very valid point. I have no clue where they are ATM...

Anyway. Lets go to the important stuff.
Now is 2ZZ certified!

[thetyrant]

Glad you got the car and all seems well , i found my roadster similar floaty at speed when i got it in stock form, first thing i did was check alignment which was ok, next i changed the tyres from old Bridgestones to sticky Federal RSR and this did improve it a little but still never felt confident at speed, fitting Tein lowering springs made the most difference which i believe was from dropping the front ride height, little better still with the Koni Sport dampers later date.

Check tyres and alignment first, what suspension is on it looks fairly stock in your picture? if its stock there is most likley culprit....get some springs or coilovers on there

Enjoy and dont blow it up like most 2zz on track it seems

[Maurici]

Ch

Glad you got the car and all seems well , i found my roadster similar floaty at speed when i got it in stock form, first thing i did was check alignment which was ok, next i changed the tyres from old Bridgestones to sticky Federal RSR and this did improve it a little but still never felt confident at speed, fitting Tein lowering springs made the most difference which i believe was from dropping the front ride height, little better still with the Koni Sport dampers later date.

Check tyres and alignment first, what suspension is on it looks fairly stock in your picture? if its stock there is most likley culprit....get some springs or coilovers on there

Enjoy and dont blow it up like most 2zz on track it seems

Cheers mate. Will see. The car is on brand new AD08Rs, alumninium sachs monotube, tein springs, cornerweighted and theoretically fully aligned...
I think i will just have to get on with it🤣

[Alex Knight]

FYI, for geometry settings, I've found the following to work well on my 2ZZ:

0 toe all round
1.5 neg camber all round

32PSI rear (road)
28PSI front (road)
AD08RS

I know the race boys like a bit of toe in at the rear for stability and ultimate lap time, but I like a dab of oppo whenever I can!

[Maurici]

So. We´ll start with the fiddling with the car.

1. One low beam bulb was incorrectly fitted/seated.
I can see why... unless you have japanese hands, is rather difficult to put your hands under the plastic cover (front brace in place so no chance to take the plastic surroundings) and between the washer filler neck. Solution... take the headlight off.
Wheel liner off, bumper loosened... headlight off. Difficult? no. Ridiculous you have to go that lenghst? well, maybe. Now that i know how it goes, I would probably be able to blindly do it squeezing my fingers, maybe, but for a first timer... impossible. Indeed, the user manual was useles..



2. New OMP dished steering wheel.

I´ve been surprised to see how everybody struggles to take the steering wheel off. Mainly the airbag, specifically the Airbag screws in. I may be re-inventing the wheel here, but I´ve seen reffering to the spyderchat tutorial like if it was the bible, and, from my perspective, It may be academically correct (but the point of trying to pull the screws out, that is a recipy for desaster) however is far from what real life working in a car is... So... here my tips to have the steering wheel out in about 3 minutes.



There is two options here. (no, the one in the tutorial of just trying to ply or pull the bolts, isn´t the actual way to do it)

First option. Take a 12mm drill bit. Take your drill. Drill the tabs off BEFORE you undo the bolt. (red circle...ish). This tabs are only aimed to the manufacturing line. they push the bolt/washer in, and avoids it falling down, so it can be screwed from the bottom without loosing the bolt. You will never do it that way at home, so remove the tabs with a 12mm drill bit, and the bolt will fall once undone.

Second option. You don´t have a 12mm drill bit, or you irrationally find risky to put a drill bit near to a trim cover (well, there is an steering wheel, and an airbag... but you won´t ever touch this, is a trim cover only). then... put a plastic spoon/lever/trim tool/ Taped screwdriver, and pry the plastic cover out AFTER undoing the bolt (blue line) then the screw will fall inside the steering wheel trim. once the airbag is off, you will recover the bolt.



After this... losen the 19mm nut and give it a wack, it will loosen. 9.9 times of 10 you won´t need an extractor.

Once the steering wheel is loose, lock it in centr position, and finish removing the nut and the steering wheel.

** NOTE ** Of course, the precautions of Dissconnecting the battery, to do not even connect it back  without airbag or the airbag resistor cheater if you don´t want the light on permanently and so... they of course apply.

As soon as the momo Hub is here will show a picture of the finished result.

Enjoy!

[thetyrant]

Cheers mate. Will see. The car is on brand new AD08Rs, alumninium sachs monotube, tein springs, cornerweighted and theoretically fully aligned...
I think i will just have to get on with it🤣

Hmm ok i thought it looked a lot higher at front on the pic you posted and copied below than mine did on Teins, could be just the angle of pic i guess, i did find the springs helped mine with floaty feel  but better dampers were the final thing that sorted it, im sure Adam will check the geo is all good for you as well


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[Zspeed]

Cheers mate. Will see. The car is on brand new AD08Rs, alumninium sachs monotube, tein springs, cornerweighted and theoretically fully aligned...
I think i will just have to get on with it🤣

Hmm ok i thought it looked a lot higher at front on the pic you posted and copied below than mine did on Teins, could be just the angle of pic i guess, i did find the springs helped mine with floaty feel  but better dampers were the final thing that sorted it, im sure Adam will check the geo is all good for you as well


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The gap under from tyre to arch is about 55mm As stock, would be an easy check.

I think I have read in a few places about some Teins resulting in a high appearance at the front and people cutting down bumpstops to even it up. Is that happening here?

[Maurici]

Despite I´m detemined to mitigate the floatiness... I will say that I don´t see it as an Issue, or being anything wrong.
Is about the same as I´ve experienced In my VX220 or many elises... and those cars had a much less "lifty" front and with a low presure zone in the bonnet due the radiator outlet that the MR2 does not have. "it is what it is". I feel it floaty and will allways feel it that way because effectively there is no weight in the front, and a lot of lift due the shape of the bonnet, so... untill you preload the front with the brakes, will be rather unresponsive... is not an MX5/Westfield/BMW with the engine over the front axle.

I´m interested on having a go in one of the "non floaty" ones to see if is actually any better than mines... I commented that as a novelty for me as I´ve not been driving a mid engine in the motorway for a while, not as an actual issue.

I´m making this clarification because we may be trying to sort an Non Issue.

Yes, the car is lowered on green teins.

After taking the car for a drive in a broken road yesterday night, I did also find that the front tramlines quite a lot... Again, i feel this quite normal due the lack of weight AND supports the hipotesis of a pretty agressive front geometry (also stiff front tyrewall won´t help).
I will look after/check all of this once I´ve sorted the driving position issue, that is way on its way now.

[Maurici]

duplicate

[Maurici]

Well now I'm at home. The trusty dished OMP is in place, and my driving position is the one I like (yeah, I know the horn button says momo... fits better and is easier to connect than the OMP).
My driving position is now perfect!!
Far from the pedals so hell&toe is easy and achiavable, free knees, and the steeringweel very near to my chest!
Also... the self made and designed "2zz" gear knob fitted well... (yeah I've been fiddling around with the design).