Resurrecting from the dead Part 3

[MR2_Josh]

hahaha thanks guys! Good eye MR29180. Yeah I am going to actually keep a beer cap there but probably switch to a Coors Light as that's what I always drink.



Well the car is essentially ready for transport to the shop where I have been assembling the drivetrain. Just waiting on the spacers to get here either today or tomorrow. Theeen it's on!





Here is a rough mock up of the oil drain. Yep that is a full hard line! I'm going to weld on AN fittings to it and then have a very short piece of prolite 350 line ran from it to the pan for absorption of vibrations etc. But yeah hardline > all.

[MR2_Josh]

Haven't really been doing much on the car do to other obligations but I ordered new wheels today so I don't have to run spacers.

Received my DEI titanium turbo blanket yesterday and really like it. Fits perfectly and looks awesome!



Also had my b-pipe ceramic coated as well and also had my dipstick tube pc'd black.

[Trak Turtle]

That is sick... I wanna eat those mat pipes with that glittering turbo

[houston2]

DEI titanium turbo blanket looks so sick....and were can i order one from?

[MR2_Josh]

^I ordered mine through a company on eBay (found them there an contacted outside of it). They are sold for around $160 and some come with 15' of extra wrap as well which is what I got just because it was $2 more and why not even though I don't need it. hah

I've really only been doing small stuff to the car. Got new wheels for the car as well and waiting for the new front tires after finding one of the fronts had a broken belt causing it to buldge out. I've been mainly concentrating on my daily driver getting it back up and running (converting to a manual after my auto trans woes)

Here are a couple "teaser" pics of the new wheels. 18x8.5 30mm with 215/35 Hankook R-S2's (the new tires are the same that are on the way) and the rears are 18x9.5 30mm with 245/40 Mickey Thompson ET Street drag radials.

I finally put the car back on the ground for the first time in months! Since the front tires are stretched now I need to lower the fronts even more (around a 3/4" or more). I actually don't even need to roll the fender which is awesome because I can use my new fender well liners and not have to cut them etc.

This is still with it needing to be lowered more and I'm going to run a little more negative camber but I won't go to messing with that until all of the car is done and ready to head to Texas.








Here you can see that it needs to be lowered at least 3/4".

[MR2_Josh]

and a shot of the rear wheels before I got the tires mounted up. Haven't taken any yet with the tires mounted up yet just because I want to get the new front tires on etc.




I also finished up the valve cover and the turbo comp housing and sent them off to powder coat. Should have them back Monday or Tuesday.



here is what I started with



And here is the finished product. Came out nicely IMO.
Pretty sure I'm the first to go to the extint that I did on the valve cover. Not only did I weld a -12 bung on (which is common) but I welded the stock TB support bolt holes in the center shut and the secondary vent fitting just below and right of the #2 spark plug hole. I then took a dremel and smoothed them and got rid of the rasied areas and matched the factory casting contour. (hard to explain) I then took 80 grit sand paper and made it all perfectly smooth.


For comparison to show what I did to my valve cover here is a stock VC that I found through google search and I circled in black the areas I modified.

[MR2_Josh]

I am basically finished with the water outlet mods as well. Here is the final product and I sat a stock one next to it to show what all I did to the new one.

Removed and welded the water fitting for the turbo off the neck


Here is the intake side of the water outlet. I removed and welded the water fitting as you can see and I was going to completely remove and weld/smooth the area for the sensor but I am thinking of getting an aftermarket water temp so I left it however I removed a lot of material from around it to make it more rounded and "sleek". You can also see on the far left of the outlet all of the material that I removed from it as well where the original stock fuel lines bolted to it that I no longer needed. It just cleans it up much nicer.

[mk1doridori]

wow man, im seriously impressed.
i wish i had a garage even half of what yours is.

nice work man, keep it goin!

[MR2_Josh]

Thanks man! Yeah I'm very privilaged to have the resources that I have available to me not only at home but also just throughout the community and locally. This definitely would not be what it is today without the help of soooo many people through advice and services etc. One of the best things is I have made a lot of new good friends through this car. hah

[MR2_Josh]

Valve cover and compressor housing is done just didn't have time to get by to grab them. Haven't done a whole lot again because of all of the tests I have going on right now and other obligations. I'm just taking my time.

Finished up the fuel system though. Dual walbro set-up with all Earl's fittings etc. Also fitted the dual filters as well. Not pictured is the Earl's prolite 350 fuel lines. I'll show them once I have the stuff mounted in the car.

Two new OEM filters in the custom holders.







The Fuel pump carrier modified to handle 2 walbro's.

[MR2_Josh]

Installed a new dash today that's in mint condition and cleaned up the wiring nest that was under the dash as well from a ______ previous owner audio install. (Crappy pictures I'll get better tomorrow)



No sun warpage





New one installed

[MR2_Josh]

Installed new billet aluminum shifter base bushings to replace the worn rubbers.






Oh and got my new jdm '98+ red stitched shift knob to replace my old one and a new redline red stitched shift boot.

[da_force]

Excellento

I'm so jelous on your dashboard! atm I have 3 of them at home trying to figure out which one to mount... there is not so much options for mr parts in my country

but...Lookin good there fella!!

[MR2_Josh]

hehe thanks man! I was really hoping to find a pristine '94+ dash. Actually still looking but for now I'm happy with the new one. I checked out your thread as well. Very nice work! We are on the same page.


Valve cover is back. Done in candy blue. Turned out AWESOME!!!




You can't even tell that I modified the valve cover, it looks like it's factory! Exactly what I was going for!!! The -12AN fitting doesn't even look like it was welded on.



This is it without any light glaring on it, it's crazy how much the color shifts.


and one with the flash on

[Trak Turtle]

Wow Josh... WOOOW!

[mattdouken]

money/love+time/hardwork=one beautiful 3s setup...

[rousegk7]

Hey Josh, What kind of degreaser did you use to scrub down all the chassis parts before paint?

[randomxzero]

wow awsome build man.. looks like this 2 is gonna be a beast

[MR2_Josh]

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by rousegk7

Hey Josh, What kind of degreaser did you use to scrub down all the chassis parts before paint?

I started with simple brake parts cleaner to get all the grease and crap off of everything. Then simple soap and water followed by sanding and then again cleaning with soap and water. That was for the paint.

For the under body urethane coating I just used the brake parts cleaner and soap and water.

[MR2_Josh]

Right now my Honda is my main concentration getting it back up and running after the trans died as it's my daily driver. Hit a speed bump on that as I need to find a trans motor mount for it. However I have made small progress on the MR2 when I have free time (which is rare)

I disassembled the shifter assembly and cleaned all of the old grease out of it, sanded, primered and repainted the base and the shifter. I then added new white lithium grease to it and reassembled. Feels much smoother now and looks much uch better (not that it will be seen anyhow heh).




I removed all of the unecessary items off the firewall. This is all that will be on the back firewall except for the fuel feeds and return and then my firewall heat shields that I have powder coated extreme chrome.



Removed the heater core lines and the brake vacuum source. They all will no longer run into the engine bay but instead I have them routed a different location.


Then here is a better pic of the dash that I installed