First Update in a While

So it has been quite a while since I've updated our progress. That definitely doesn't mean we haven't had things going on. Since the last update we have:
-replaced a broken shift cable to the tune of $185
-poured solid urethane motor mounts
-finished the bushing installation
-replaced the broken passenger headlight motor
-discovered we had a bent front wheel
The car is getting a roll bar this week in preparation for VIR North on May 16 and 17th!

Things to do before that weekend are:
-flush brake fluid and buy good pads to swap in at VIR
-get an alignment and tech inspection
-still need to make sure we do not have an active oil leak (the engine area is just real dirty, and I'm not convinced its just old road grime)
-get the bent wheel swapped out (straight used wheel is sitting in my garage)

Prothane Bushings - Rear Installation

What should have been a relatively simple install turned into quite an ordeal. I started with the rear suspension only, taking off the control arms and strut rods to put in the new bushings. That was easy enough, and I got one of the new strut rod bushings back in. However, getting the other two old bushings out was not so easy. I tried all the tricks I found online and could not get them to even budge. So I took it to a machine shop and just had them pressed out - more expensive than it should've been, but you can't win them all right? Then getting the pieces back on the car was more complicated than anticipated as well, until Jeremy pointed out we could loosen one of the strut rod bolts to get the flex we needed to line up the last bolt. Next time it will be lightning fast! The real fun was yet to start, as when we were torquing down all the bolts, the two bolts holding the ball joint to the hub decided to strip the threads on the hub. I swear the torque wrench couldn't have been more than a quarter turn away from clicking to 83 ft lbs and we would've been done. Instead the bolt just started spinning, oh joy. After much debating and some discussion with our Dad, I went to look at taps to rethread the bolt holes. Metric taps are nearly impossible to find, unless you buy a whole $50 to $60 set. I also didn't really want to jump all the way to a 14mm bolt from the 12mm that was OEM. Too much material to take out of the hole. A 1/2" hole is 12.7 mm, so I decided to give that a shot. I found a 1/2" tap and handle at Lowes for under $20, and bought new bolts and washers to match the new threads. Wound up costing me $16 with a coupon. To get the tap and handle enough clearance to work, I had to take the ball joint back off the car, and swing the hub out away from the LCA. The threading went good actually, slow since you have to clean out the hole and tap every couple turns though. Then I went to reattach the ball joint to the hub, using the new bolts and threads. It was amazingly smooth (i guess new threads and bolts would do that for you) and it did torque down to the required 83 ft lbs. I test drove the car around a bit and everything is fine. I did also find a small tear in the inner axle boot, which I patched with bike tire sealant - it seems to be holding so far, but I will definitely check this often.

Shifter

The one complaint I had immediately about the car was that the shifter felt extremely long and sloppy. After some research, I had two good options, the TRD shift kit, or a combination of a 93+OEM shifter with a JonO short shift kit. The JonO combo appeared easier to find, a little cheaper, and performed almost as well, if not the same as the TRD kit.

The parts were ordered from Twos'r'us and installed a couple of weeks later. I went ahead and ordered new shifter base bushings and cable bushings as well, as rubber on a 17 year old car is iffy at best. The installation was again fairly easy, minus having to pry the shifter cup off of the old shifter, which managed to provide me with a nice gash on my finger! We did have our first bolt casualties, as I snapped two of the bolts that hold the shifter assembly onto the car. I'm sure we will have more.

The shifter is much better, though a little stiff. I intend on getting back in there, taking it apart again, and making sure everything is greased properly. It is a little hard to downshift into 2nd, and the 3rd gear synchros are going bad.

First Wrenching Day

Just to make sure things were up to date, and just because you should when you buy a car, the first work to be done was changing the oil and transmission fluid. This was fairly simple and straightforward, just had to go buy a 24mm socket for the transmission drain and fill plugs. Oil used was Mobil 1 Clean 5000 (5w-30) and transmission fluid was Mobil 1 75w90.

The Master Plan

The first order of business is to get the car ready for HPDE weekends (PDX for SCCA). This will mainly consist of making sure all the stock pieces are in good condition, along with some upgrades such as brake pads and fluid. Of course as bad components are found, they will probably be upgraded if possible and reasonable.

It will mainly be a HPDE car for the time being then, maybe do some time trials if the requirements are not too stringent. Since we neither have the funds or time to devote to making it an amateur race car, the DE events will be a good compromise.

Eventually we would like to turn it into a car for SCCA/NASA competition, probably in the ITA class, but that could change of course.

Step One - Buying the car

We purchased the car used from a local seller on September 15, 2008 with 172,800 miles. It is a white, 1991 Toyota MR2, NA. It does have T-Tops and power windows/locks. We had been looking at ads for awhile, and the cars somehow seem to be going up in value and are increasingly harder to find. This one looked to be in good condition, especially for its age, so we decided to pay a little more than what our ideal price was. It will obviously need some work and cleaning up, but that was expected.