John Welch (squelch@ix.netcom.com)

Location: Monee IL
     Car: 1987 Turbo, Red
     Tag: SQELCH 1
 Mileage: 47,000 miles

Stereo:

 - Alpine Tuner CD
 - Alpine 6 disk changer
 - Alpine Equalizer
 - 3 Alpine Amps total 240 watts.
 - 2 6" Kicker Subwoffers
 - 2 5" Alpine Midranges
 - 2 5" Boston Acoustic Midranges
 - 2 3" Boston Acoustic Highs
 - 2 1" Alpine Tweeters
 - 2 3" Aux. Speakers ( Phone and Radar )
   Above are connected to a custom 2 watt amp so you can hear them over the stereo
 - Custom Door panels for speakers

Engine:

 - 1.6 Liter 4 cylinder
 - 240 bhp @ 6200 rpm
 - 8000 redline
 - Toyota 4AGZE Block
 - Forged, dished, ceramic coated pistons Cosworth pistons are on order...
 - Carrillo rods
 - Billet steel crank
 - 430 ccpm fuel injectors
 - TRD Adjustable cam gears
 - TRD 2 mm oversize valves
 - Ported and Polished Cylinder head
 - Extrude honed intake and exhaust manifolds
 - Enlarged throttle body
 - Garrett Airesearch T-25 water cooled turbo
 - HKS intercooler
 - J&S Electronics Digital Safeguard Knock sensor

Drive Train:

 - Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch
 - Limited slip differential
 - Toyota Paseo Transmission Gears
 - Toyota Supra CV joints
 - Red Line Synthetic Fluid
 - Carbon Fiber Brake Pads
 - Cross Drilled Rotors
 - Stainless Steel Brake Lines

Suspension:

 - Tokico Illumina Adjustable Struts
 - Eibach Springs
 - TRD Bushings
 - Suspension Techniques Anti Sway Bars
 - GAB Strut Tower Braces
 - Yokohama A-022 Tires  225-50ZR15

Interior:

 - Autopower Race 4 point roll bar
 - RJS 5 Point harnesses
 - Auto Meter Gauges  Fuel Pressure, Oil Pressure, Oil temp.
 - HKS Gauges Exhaust Gas Temp., Boost/Vacuum
 - HKS Electronic Valve Controller
 - HKS Turbo Timer

Miscellaneous:

 - 4 Gallon secondary JAZ Fuel Cell
 - Holley transfer fuel pump
 - B&M Roll control Line Lock
 - Custom air intake brake cooling ducts
 - Hot Laps Timing unit
 - Sony Video Camera
 - Panasonic S-VHS VCR
 - Bell Helmets with mic and earpiece
 - WC Engineering intercom system
 - Passport Radar detector
 - 2 watt amp for Passport ( so you can hear it over the stereo )
 - Passport Laser Detector

I've compeated in the Sliver State Classic 4 times. May '92 , May 94, Sept. '94 and May '95. I drove my '87 turbo MR-2 in each on thease events except for the Sept. '94 event in which I navigated the race in a '93 Dodge Viper.

If anyone is interested in the EXACT details of what the race is like I would be more than happy to share my experances with them. My best finish was 5th place in my car and 3rd place in the Viper. It is a very enjoyable and rewarding event. It can truly test you and your machine, and find the limits of both.

1987 Toyota MR-2 1600-T

Below is a brief log of the life of my car. Although it may seem repetitive in some areas I'm glad I've gone through these steps, each one has been an education. I don't ever want to add up how much money is in the car because I would get ill. People tend to refer to my car as `The weakest link theory in action' because I always seem to upgrade one thing and find something else to break. I've had many enjoyable hours working on and driving my MR-2, It is a very unique automobile and I doubt I will ever sell it.

June 1987

Car was purchased new as a toy. It was NEVER intended to see any harsh midwestern weather, it has been stored on jackstands in a heated garage every winter. It stayed stock until late '88 when I learned of a turbo kit for the car while visiting TRD in California.

March 1989

Installed HKS Stage I kit, saved money, upgraded to Stage II, saved more money Upgraded to Stage III.

April 1990

Replaced all rubber lines to turbo with Stainless steel

Feb. 1992

Installed Safety Equipment so that I could run The May 1992 Silver State Classic

Mar. 1992

After careful calculation, I won't have enough fuel to finish the Silver State Classic race. Installed 4 gallon Fuel cell in front trunk with transfer pump to dump into main tank.

July 1992

Burned Hole in piston #3, too lean... Installed spare engine block w/metal head gasket, new pistons, rods..ect.

Sep. 1992

Cleaned the engagement teeth off of 2nd gear when I screwed up a shift (clutch out, on the throttle when not fully in gear ) installed new clutch, rebuilt trans.

May 1993

Burned hole through cylinder head From chamber #3 to #4, didn't damage pistons...Had head re-welded and machined, reinstalled w/metal head gasket, adjustable timing gears, valves, match port, and polish, extrude honed intake and exhaust manifolds, bigger injectors, custom chip ignition / fuel problem was cause.

July 1993

Clutch slipping badly, installed TRD clutch

Aug. 1993

Clutch works great, Cleaned teeth off of third this time. installed spare trans. Red line fluid used this time WORKS GREAT!

Sep. 1993

Removed HKS EGC unit, installed J&S Digital retard unit

May 1994

Took 5th place finish in the Sliver State Classic 125 MPH class

Aug. 1994

Suspension, after reviewing video tapes of my car on a road course it was obvious that the suspension needed some help, installed anti-sway bars, struts, TRD hard bushings, springs.

May 1995

Silver State Classic 9 miles from finish, came upon bumps in road, rear end came up off road, RPMs climb when it came down snapped the CV joint yoke. ( torque steer in a rear wheel drive car at 135 MPH FUN !! )

June 1995

New custom CV joints ( Toyota Supra parts )

July 1995

Made and installed cooling ducts for front brakes ( up coming track is hard on brakes )

Sep. 1995

Best drag time 13.310 @100.10

Oct. 1995

Center force clutch, Toyota Paseo gears ( shorter 1st, taller final drive for better top speed)

Future Plans; Turbo upgrade, Direct port 50-75 hp Nitrous system, wider stickier tires

John Welch
squelch@ix.netcom.com
'87 Turbo MR-2
'86 4-Runner
'78 Triumph Spitfire

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Last Update: Monday 06-May-96 20:27:51

Geoff Seeley (geoff@mr2.com)