Resurrecting from the dead Part 3

[MR2_Josh]

So over the past 3.5 years I have been restoring my MR2. I bought it for $900 as a rolling chassis. I purchased it from MR2Source aka Artur in Texas and had to convince him to sell it to me. He thought it was junk and was planning on taking it to the scrap yard the next week but I convinced him otherwise as I saw a diamond in the rough. I received it and found that the interior overall was in great shape save for the seats and carpets. To catch you all up here are the previous threads incase you do not know of my cars history while I have owned it...

Resurrecting from the dead Part 1 (56K teh suck!)

Resurrecting from the dead Part 2; Revived (56K STILL teh suck!)

Then here is the most recent/up to date thread with the newests pics/mods at the end

MR2 Owners Club Message Board™

So now that you are caught up for the most part over the past 7 months I have been tinkering away...okay so I have gotten overly carried away but the end result is going to be completely bad ass. I could go on for hours on everything I have done but I'll just have the pics speak for themselves with a short explaination....Long of the short, basically everything is brand new on the car....literally. It's nearing completion so this is a thread of the progress of it will post updates as they come. End product will be a nasty 600whp on e85 pump gas MR2 that is essentially like new....

First off here is the most current mods list that's just a brief run down, there is so much more...Wire tuck to the extreme!!! Honestly, there is a ____ load of new stuff that it would take too long to list out lol

~Engine and tranny/performance~
-Dedicated-Matt (a.k.a. ATSMATT) built "Big bore" bottom end
.......-5sfe block (stronger than the 3sgte block)
.......-Wiseco moly coated forged pistons,
.......-Crower Billet rods,
.......-ACL thrust and main bearings and ITM rod bearings
.......-micropolished 3s crank
.......-balanced assembly
-ATS high volume oil pump
-ATS Prototype top mount tubular exhaust manifold (ceramic coated)
-44mm tial WG
-v-band dp(ceramic coated)
-Precision dual ball bearing Billet 6262 .63AR with a custom 3" vband turbine outlet ceramic coated
-Dedicated-Matt straight runner intake manifold
-70mm TB
-Apex Power FC w/ commander, datalogit, and boost control
-Custom Engine harness built by me
-Trick Flow adjustable FPR
-ATS TFFR
-FIC Bluemax 2150cc injectors
-Two (2) New Walbro 255lph fuel pumps
-Earl's prolite fuel lines and all earl's anotuff black fittings
-1zz shimless buckets
-Crower titanium retainers and valve spring
-ATS Engle valve springs
-Kelford Gen3 High lift cams (10.5mm lift 268 duration)
-1mm O.S. Ferrea valve intake and exhaust with bowl correction
-ATS Cam gears
-ATS ARP L19 head studs
-Toyota MLS '98 5s head gasket
-Trunk Mount IC using a high density core (24x12x5), 3" aluminum piping, CT worm gear clamps etc
-Tial Q 50mm bov
-Berk 3" dual exhaust (ceramic coated b-pipe)
-MSD 6al-2 w/ integrated 2 step and rev control
-MSD Blaster 3 coil
-MSD 8910 Tach adapter
-4" aluminum intake that I built with a AEM dryflow filter
-Blitz turbo timer
-'93 shifter
-CRW upgraded axles
-Transmission Bronze bushing inserts
-Custom Clutchmasters dual diaphragm clutch
-Competition Billit light weight flywheel
-kirkosaurus solid motor mounts
-Dedicated Motorsports Anti-torque bar
-two's r us valve cover bolts
-Brand new Mishimoto radiator
-Every gasket replaced with Toyota OEM from the dealer
-Moroso Track oil pan 6.5qt capacity with trap door system


~Suspension, brakes~
-Full Wilwood BBK kit in the front
-'93T rear brakes in the rear with Stoptech slotted rotors and Porterfield R4S pads and completely rebuilt with Toyota rebuild kits
-Tein's new MonoFlex coilovers with EDFC control
-EMSPowered front and rear strut bars
-ST sway bars
-Strut endlink mount reinforced in front
-Highntight Endlinks front
-unknown beefy rear endlinks
-Full H&T Polyurethane Suspension Bushing Kit
-Brand new OEM ball joints
-Brand new OEM inner and outer tie-rods
-All brand new wheel bearings from the dealer
-Everything suspension-wise has been powdercoated including the hubs, spindles, etc etc..

~Wheels and Tires~
Street:
-18x8.5 and 18x9.5 rims with Hankook RS2 215/35-18 front and Bridgestone RE01r 265/35-18 rear


~Interior~
-Leatherseats.com black leather w/ red stitch seat recovers and leather with red stich door panel inserts
-'98 JDM leather w/red stitching steering wheel
-Redline leather w/ Red stitching shift boot and e-brake boot
-'98 JDM leather w/red stitching shift knob
-Redline leather w/ red stitching e-brake boot
-ashtray pod with AEM UEGO and Prosport electronic Oil pres. gauge
-Omori Stock location boost gauge

~Audio~
-Eclipse touch screen TV/DVD/Navigation/AMFM head unit with ipod control
-New Kicker componants and crossovers
-Tang Band foctory location subs courtesy of EMSPowered
-SoundStorm 4f400 4 channel amp
-Soundstorm 2f200 2 ch. amp


~Exterior~
-Rev6 Low-rise kit
-Retro-Solutions Full digital slim 55w 6000k low beams and 5000k highs
-Toyota/Lexus Spectra Blue Mica
-'93+ front lip
-'94+ tail lights
-'94+ wing and trunk lid
-'98 jdm low profile trim (installing once painted)
-JDM rear quarter glass (doesn't have the dot matrix like USDM)
-JDM Back glass (doesn't have the dot matrix)
-JDM OEM clear corners
-20% tint

Noowww the pics start...please forgive me, some of the pics are from my cell..For all of the pics view this album Josh Putthoff's Photos - Guy stuff...3 | Facebook

It all started when my clutch finally threw a spring, bound to happen as I was launching hard on it with slicks (best 60' of 1.47).


Motor out and stripped


Pics of a few of the parts. The 3082 in this pic is not the 3082 I am using, I have since bought a new one which you will see on down...


new GT3082r with vband housing


Ceramic coated now....Comp side soon to be mirror polished

[MR2_Josh]

More parts...



Order 1 of 2 from the dealer lol...

[MR2_Josh]

more...


1mm O.S. Ferrea's


Rev6's installed


Cleaned, prepped and painted the chassis I'm finishing up the mid section of the underbody as you can see in this pic it's still untouched..


ST Sways stripped and recoated

[MR2_Josh]

Before pressing all bushings/wheel bearings out of all the suspension pieces, and of all brackets mounts etc etc....


And After...(still a second batch coming back from powdercoat hopefully next week sometime)




Rhino Lined the crossmember...


Just getting a little antsy hah

[MR2_Josh]

One of the many boxes of random parts 4" piping for intake, 2 10 spal's, 5lb Halon Fire supression system etc...


Mickey Thompsons on back when the car actually was rollable


'94+ wing and lid installed (don't worry about the paint, that is coming in January/february once the engine and body mods are complete)


ATS L19 head studs, ATS HV oil pump, Engle valve springs (not being used), and GM knock sensor.


interior shot as of right now, a mess but not for long

[MR2_Josh]

bay is facking dirty....hate it but again, not for long...


the twins...


Just again getting impatient lol


Intake side of the head for clearancing to fit the Kelford monster lift cams tomorrow I'm going to smooth it out with 400 grit sand paper. Caveat....this is a pain in the mofo'ing azz...


Exhaust side

[MR2_Josh]

Omori installed...Yay 30 psi max reading?....That's not gonna be enough.


Cut off of the lows and my sweet ass first bike from when I was like 3. hah


Rear hubs completely clean after media blasting and now they are off to PC with the rest of the crap.


A lot more pics to come over the next few weeks. head goes off to the Machine shop tomorrow to have the valves fitted, new toyota valve seals, Crower springs and titanium retainers, 1zz shimless buckets, and kelford high lifts. Once I get my last batch back from PC and the head back assembly starts which should be the end of next week I'm hoping.

Stay tuned...

[MR2_Josh]

Today after class I did the finishing touches to the head so I could send it off to the machine shop in the morning. I smoothed out the radius and chamfered the edges where I took material out to clearance the cams and just overall cleaned up the dremel marks. I also checked each guide with a bucket lubed in lucas oil to see if there were any areas that would catch or bind up and nothing of the sort. It all moved smoothly. It's perfect now and I'm very happy at how well I did seeing as it was my first time to do such a job.

Exhaust side


Intake side


I know have all the valvetrain parts and the head all nicely packaged and boxed up ready to take to the machine shop tomorrow morning. Pretty anxious to get that back!


Next up was the block, it was freshly rebuilt last fall for me by Matt and he did a hell of a job building me a bad ass built 5s bottom end so nothing needed addressed internally other than cleaning the tops of the pistons which they didn't need much at all thanks to the methanol I ran.

Also, the cross-hatching is still very present and there is absolutely no scoring in any of the cylinder walls. There shouldn't be as the bottom end only has ~5000 miles. I also wanted to change the color of the block to blue cause well, that's the theme and looks great. It's going to look kick ass once I get the moroso pan fitted, head on, turbo hung etc.

Pistons all clean and shiny


Block painted with high heat ceramic paint and high heat ceramic clear coat, that ____ is never coming off on it's own. hah The oil pan, oil pump and dip stick tube are all being replaced so that's why I left them on for "Masking". That oil pump on there is a ATS HV oil pump and is for sale if anyone is interested for $100. PM me for details.

[MR2_Josh]

Today I stopped by a mustang shop and picked up a bad ass catch catch. It's very well made and has internal baffles like a catch can should have. Not your P.O.S. greddy and the like that is just a open tank.


The baffles

[MR2_Josh]

Also today I pulled the old pan, oil pump and windage tray and pickup tube. Cleaned all of the FIPG off of the block and cleaned the windage tray and pick up tube in the parts washer. Installed the new oil pump and put the studs in the block to mount the new moroso pan.


I installed the pan with Toyota FIPG and the proper torque and cleaned up the excess FIPG. I also installed the new waterpump and housing as well as the alt bracket, carrier bracket, motor mount support (that I modified as well), and the lower tranny dust shield. The bottom end is almost completely assembled now, I'm finishing up modifying my water hardlines tomorrow and sending them off with the powdercoat items.

[MR2_Josh]

The head is at the machine shop now and they will start on it monday and should have it hopefully friday which will be kick ass. Powdercoat items should be done around friday as well I think. Gotta talk to him Monday.

Alright finished for the most part coating the underbody. I still need to drop the gas tank and install my twin walbro's and then I will clean and prep and spray that tunnel area. I also still need to get the areas where the lift pads are as I could get to them but that's not an issue. You can also see the new ebrake cables and speedometer cables too. lol

Here is a before shot...nasty



And here is the after shots. The pic quality sucks due to the lighting and the stuff still being wet and shiny. It will cure to more of a matte black, like the crossmember actually. I spent about 3 hours last night cleaning and prepping it and then sprayed it tonight. I have one good thick coat on and ran out. I'll see how it looks in the morning and decide then if I need another coat but I don't think I do.





Also the brackets that hold the gas tank, coolant lines, and all cables etc up I am pulling off and media blasting and repainting next week when the tank comes out.

I'm going to do the rear underbody as well but not until all the holes are cut for the fans on the trunk mount intercooler.

[houston2]

wow keep up the good work. can't wait to see it done.

[mr29180]

Wow!!!! I'm lovin it!!!! Pls pls fiinish so I could druel on it lol

[MR2_Josh]

haha thanks guys and trust me it will be finished. Actually I'm shooting to have it all assembled in 3 weeks or less and on my way to Texas for Matt to fab up my intake manifold and then over to ATS for Aaron to tune it.

[MR JAS]

congratulations grasshopper your build has officially ranked "god tier" in my books

[MR2_Josh]

Got my rotors for the bbk and the brackets, lines and hardware as well as the 93+ turbo stoptech rotors. The rotors are HUGE!!! I laid down a bill to show the size. hah Sent the bbk rotors and brackets off today with the last or the powdercoat items to make them look like the stop tech rotors. The last of the pc batch will be done wednesday.


Kinda at the waiting stage atm. Have a couple small piddly shiz I can do to get the car ready.

[MR2_Josh]

Not really that cool but completely disassembled the rear 93T brakes cleaned and wire brushed them in the parts washer for a good 30+ minutes and them painted them. I was going to powder coat them but there is a bearing for the eBrake and I wasn't sure if it came in the rebuild kit so I just decided to paint. Anyway, the rebuild kit should be here along with all the rest of the Toyota order I got. My powdercoat batch is said to be done wednesday cause the owner likes me and I've spent a lot already with him. lol Pays to pay I guess. Head should be done friday as well, sooooo with that my car will be back on it's wheels and the motor fully assembled by sunday save for the Greddy t-belt since it's still on a boat heading over. I'm thinking 2 weeks and my car will be loaded up on on the trailer and ready to head to texAssss. Also got my water hardlines all welded up and fittings welded on as well as the valve cover welded up how I wanted.

Used a cermic high heat paint that's honestly almost as tough as pc.

[LeePeyton]

Wow, you took that poor car and made it amazing. You are a hero in my eyes for saving it from the yard and making it bad ass.

[da_force]

Lovely Lovely Lovely!!

[MR2_Josh]

Thanks guys means a lot to me! Yeah I have put literally my heart and soul into this. lol My girlfriend the other day goes "Josh, you really do literally love your car like it's your child" I laughed and told her that I do infact love this car as it's a reflection of me.

Anyway

A few updates. Crosslink Powdercoating, whom I have do all my PC work, is amazing! I've only been in a few times to drop off and pick up stuff but yet everytime I stop by he knows exactly who I am and knows my name. Right as I walk through the door he says "Heeey Josh, hows it going?". Not only that, I dropped off the last batch of PC yesterday at 3p.m. and they close at 5p.m. He called me today at 3p.m. saying everything was done and ready to roll and that they finished up at noon today (they open at 10a.m.). I didn't say I was in a hurry to get it but that's just how he works. It's awesome and he has my business from now on for sure. Anyway, I'm picking it all up tomorrow.

Alright to the other stuff, I wasn't satisfied with the finish on the rear calipers and when I coated them it was colder outside so that caused the paint to cloud up. Today I sat them in the sun for a bit and then added 3 more coats and they are MUUCCCHH butter now. Nice and shiny and thick ass coating.


I received box one of my second and final Toyota order full of seals, brake rebuild kit etc. Still have another box on the way (backordered stuff)


And then also received my Wilwood 4 piston superlite calipers and pads as well as the Brian Crower Titanium retainers and their valve springs however I am not going to use the valve springs but isntead sell them. The Engle valve springs is what I'm using as it has a stiffer spring rate and allows for much more compression which is much better suited for my high lift cams.


So basically, the car will be back on it's wheels come sunday after I finish this round of tests. I'm hoping my head is done friday, I'm stopping by tomorrow to check up on it and drop off the Toyota valve seals and the Ti retainers. I'm thinking that the car will be ready to take down to Texas the weekend after this coming one. However, I can't go then as I'm a groomsman in my good friend's wedding on that Saturday so it will have to wait till the following weekend. (2 weeks from this one)

By the way, this car is not for sale. lol I've had a few very nie offers but I'm not selling it. lol