It HAS BEGUN!

[PETC]

Looks nice man, keep up the good work.

[Raptor13x]

I just bought a gallon of paint for the car. It will be painted satin black (60% gloss) after I do the bodywork.

This is what I'm shooting for:

[fastrax203]

Could u hand me a change of pants? Thanks.

[Raptor13x]

That car is hot.

[Raptor13x]

I played around with some hoses, got the fuel lines hooked up. Then I tackled the axles. The brace on the bottom of the 20v is not on the 16v, and it interferes with the axles on the MR2, so it had to go. It was surprisingly lightweight, all aluminum. After I finally got the axles in place, I filled her up with some nice yummy trans fluid. To fill it, I found a hose that fit, put a little thing into the top I could pour with, and filled it through the side of the trans, which took like 20 or 30 minutes of standing there bored. Then, I realized I was being a complete bonehead retard, and the speed sensor was still out of this trans, leaving a gaping chasm on the top of the trans I could have simply poured the fluid into in 3 seconds. The car is now on the ground and completely mobile, so it's going to go outside so certain family members can have their garage space back and stop bitching.


Here's the trans brace that interferes with the axles. (I didn't find this on any of those helpful 20v install links )




This stuff is fawking expensive:




A preview, of things to come...




And the car, as it sits now:




I need to figure out some of the vacuum lines, and then it's a matter of waiting on parts.

[canadam]

Are you getting some underbody neons too, Jim?

[Raptor13x]

^ Yeah, they're coming as a package deal with the clear taillights, VTEC emblem, and unpainted combat bodykit.

[David]

^Don't forget the 3' tall wing.

[muffinman]

looking good

and I'm kind of afraid to say that I really like that black

[Raptor13x]

^ I think it looks amazing- I hope it translates well onto the 2.

[mr2Nparadise]

That is flocking amazing! I hope you continue sharing this wealth of info. The pics are amazing as well, very nice. The smile on your face when you get done is going to be worth it all. I so jealous

[Raptor13x]

I spent a few days screwing around not doing much- catching up on other things. That, and I did some research on parts I need.

Today, I finally sourced most of the electrical parts I need. I also did a little bodywork. I went around with an angle grinder and a sander, and took off all the rust I could around the car. The right rear is pretty bad- I went ahead and bought some sheet metal, because I'm gonna have to weld in a couple new pieces. The rest shouldn't require any welding- I'll just half-ass it and use bondo. After sanding everything off, I sprayed the affected areas with some rust-preventing primer (or so it claims to be). The car now looks like complete ass- that multi-color old paint and primer look that we've seen around and grown to love. Lots more prep-work to go before I can paint her.

On the up side, I found what appears to have been a bird's nest up under the side skirt behind the left front tire. heh. I think I'm going to delete the center post of the rear wing, and do the Plumley mod.

[toy-driver]

Ew, lots of rust. My 87 has a bit of rust on the pass. rear quarter panel. Solution? Cut it out, weld in fender flairs

[Raptor13x]

lol, fender flares would be alright if I had wider tires- I don't.

On the plus side, 85% of the really ugly rust spots are covered by the side skirts. I'm just trying to make sure they don't spread.

[Teado]

Good work so far.

Where did you get your clear tail lights from? Have any pics of what they look / will look like?

[Raptor13x]

Clear taillights???

[mr2tim]

Looks like you need those Toyota OEM side spoilers, and mud flaps to camoflage some of that missing bodywork.

Looks like a good job buddy.

[Raptor13x]

I've been dicking around waiting for parts, of which most I have now, over the last couple weeks. In the meantime, I've been slowly taking care of some bodywork. I patched up a couple of the holes, and I'm filling in stuff as best I can. I also went through the interior and pulled out some stuff that was completely useless and just adding weight (I'll post pics and a list later). I've got the wiring I need, but I haven't bothered figuring that out yet. Perhaps I'll take care of that this weekend.

Once I finish smoothing out the body I'll go ahead and get some more pics before it gets painted, so you all can make fun of my half-ass bodywork techniques.

[Raptor13x]

w00t! I got the muffler a couple days ago, and the wideband controller today, which is the last significant part I needed to get this thing done.

I did a whole bunch of bodywork today, and have that nearing completion- there's only a couple final little patches to clear up, the biggest of which is the rear wing (I deleted the center post and don't have the holes filled in properly yet). I sanded the whole car down a bit to get it ready for paint. All I need to do now in that department is smooth out the remaining couple bits, roll the car into the driveway, scrub her down real good, and then she'll be ready for paint.

I also took a vacuum and cleaned out the interior of both my MR2 and my Civic. I then thoroughly cleaned all the interior plastic and the glass. It looks a lot better inside now, despite the ghastly '80s eyesore of a steering wheel.

I popped the sunroof out for a minute, and good LORD... I am really strongly considering having the roof cut out and converted into a hardtop. That sunroof is so heavy, and there's a ton of extra crap that supports it in place as well. I don't know if I can tolerate knowing there's that much wasted performance sitting above my head while I drive. I don't, however, possess the welding skills to make a hardtop conversion not look like absolute ass, so it remains for now...

[fastrax203]

Originally Posted by Raptor13x

I popped the sunroof out for a minute, and good LORD... I am really strongly considering having the roof cut out and converted into a hardtop. That sunroof is so heavy, and there's a ton of extra crap that supports it in place as well. I don't know if I can tolerate knowing there's that much wasted performance sitting above my head while I drive. I don't, however, possess the welding skills to make a hardtop conversion not look like absolute ass, so it remains for now...

Have someone make a CF mold out of your sunroof glass. Throw it back in place w/ some epoxy and seal it. Then get a non t-bar/sunroof ceiling