Operation "Bare Chassis" has begun!

[Lil Blue Bastard]

Last night a friend and I got to work taking the Lil Blue Bastard down to the frame.

removed the dash support, along with the cross brace that nearly every interior part mounts to, the door window wiring and locking systems on both sides (which will be for sale by the way), steering wheel and just about every ounce of wiring in the frunk and cockpit area.

also removed and trashed the headliner, door panels,A pillars, interior trim pieces (destroyed by the Arizona sun), carpets, washer fluid reservoir, wiper motor, wiper arms, wiper linkage, spare tire, tools, and whatever else we deemed unnecessary for the car to run.

No pics yet, i will try to take some tonight after work. Will post updates as they happen!

[Lil Blue Bastard]

Made some more progress last night. I gotta find my camera!

Removed the rest of the door wiring, the pedal assembly (except for the clutch pedal brace, which is tied in with the clutch slave reservoir, and i'm not quite in a position to deal with fluids just yet)...

Basically at this point I've removed everything except the stuff that would compromise the weather-sealing ability of the car, since I don't have it inside a garage yet. But that is coming soon!

Also coming soon is the removal and partout of the engine, which only has 70k original miles!

[traintech86]

just the red NA? how much you gonna sell it for complete?

[lsgheero]

Where are you at in phoenix.... I live out by 67th ave and peoria pm me if you need help, also what are you stripping it down for selling parts? I need a good trans lol mine is about toast.

[Lil Blue Bastard]

Originally Posted by traintech86

just the red NA? how much you gonna sell it for complete?

I'm not sure, I suppose I would just rather sell it complete....less of a hassle that way I guess...

Where are you at in phoenix.... I live out by 67th ave and peoria pm me if you need help, also what are you stripping it down for selling parts? I need a good trans lol mine is about toast.

Thanks for the offer to help! My buddy and I have it pretty much handled for now, but we might need an extra hand for some of the big stuff.

As for why the stripdown, I am starting the process of making it into a race car, as cliche as that sounds. I see the MR2 as a blank canvas to try a few innovations that I've been working out in my head. I'll be doing a 20v BT 6spd swap to start with, ITB's, welded-in roll cage, and redesigned cooling system structure. I'm going to incorporate a few things inspired by some other great mid-engine cars, and see if I can make them work... I suppose I should be studying the rule book for both SCCA and NASA, to make sure that I will remain in a certain class that I can be competitive in, but even if that's not possible anymore with what I've done, I won't be investing TOO much money into it.

Shortly I'll be making a For Sale post with the stuff I pulled off that I will no longer need for what I am intending to use it for. Feel free to PM me if there is anything you are looking for, keeping in mind I don't really have any plastic trim pieces, either interior or exterior, because they were destroyed by the AZ sun.

[lsgheero]

you have pm

[PHOENIX]

tease

[traintech86]

OT but how are the emmissions laws in AZ? i am tryin to find a state to live in haha

[lsgheero]

if he is going full race emissions wont matter as the car will be track use only. as for emissions here... for our cars its not horrid just basic CO, NX, and the other one that I cant remember atm.

that and vehicle vins, etc.

cost is $25 or 35 for the test with 1 free retake if you fail, you can register tags for 2 years here. and the best part of living in AZ lol your AZ drivers license doesn't expire until your 50! sorry thats both a blessing and a curse here lol but I hate the MVD so...

[lsgheero]

Oh and just make sure you change your oil regularly and have a working cooling system lol otherwise carbeque time lol we get alot of those out here.

[Lil Blue Bastard]

Originally Posted by lsgheero

if he is going full race emissions wont matter as the car will be track use only.

well.... one of my goals with this project is going to be to retain the car's streetability (to a point lol). I passed the local emissions with nothing more than new spark plugs and a generic catalytic converter, so I think I can make it work with the new motor....

[Lil Blue Bastard]

pics!

[Lil Blue Bastard]

moar!

[stu4u3]

Dam, you weren't kidding about the bare chassis. i love that color blue by the way.

[como]

Damn dude, you stripped it more than I stripped mine.

Of course, I'm planning on putting all of mine back together...

o/t, but move to nevada. No stickers, which I presume means no smog. No rust (bought my '2 there) to speak of, and the people are nice. (Ask Ben, I still owe that man a beer!)


If I wind up having to move out of state, that's where I'll go.

[Lil Blue Bastard]

More progress made last night, including:

Front bumper and core support
Rear bumper and core support (both trashed)
Headlights
Tailights and trim
drained coolant and removed hoses connecting to engine
exhaust system
intake system
vacuum lines
ECU and all wiring harnesses (except the injector harness)

I am really slacking when it comes to taking pictures. Also if I wasn't so busy, I would be putting together a for sale post with most of the stuff. Soon enough tho!

The next major thing to do before I drop the engine is figuring out how to safely drain all the fuel from the fuel lines and fuel tank... any suggestions? Any tips or tricks I should know about?

[goldluderay]

very cool deal awaiting more pics

[Lil Blue Bastard]

The project has suffered a major setback. I lost the use of the garage that it was in. Also, I had to make last-minute arrangements with a friend of mine 20 miles away to keep it at their place until my bro gets his house with three car garage in a month or two.

To be continued....