1991 MR2 - 1mz-fe swap Challenge Build

In reply to Indy-Guy :

Yes both Zack and Sammy got to go for rides as first tests. 

Did your tach work after swapping the guts from the Camry?

In reply to revhard :

yes, just had to get the needle in the right place, about 100 rpm off but I think that is cliose enough.

OK it is running now! Had some ecu issues and then the misfires was a simple swapped pair of plug wires, oops.  Now on to the 1000 details to make a driving car as well as body work for paint. Its gonna be close.

Further update, we have been through about 6 or 8 heat cycles and driven about 30 miles in a loop around the house. Fixing small issues as they come up,

Some vacuum hose routing was incorrect so the VSV valve and egr was reversed.

Somewhere one of the radiator fans fell off, they are aftermarket ones that were put on with the plastic ties through the radiator, found the fan, and mounted them with proper bolts and straps so no more plastic ties.

Headlights, brake lights and turn signals sorted out.

Time to start driving a bit further from home to get more confidence in the car

In reply to Fladiver64 :

AWESOME. The challenge is rapidly approaching. Good to see you all are getting some testing done.

Well more progress today, we decided to tackle some small things that add up. Fixed a fuel leak, coolant leak, and a few other  small items.

We installed the correct lug nuts for our wheels, we had used cone lug nuts and we needed mag style with washers,

Fabricated sway bar end links with hiem joints and tubing, and installed them with the stock sway bars.

Then ran three 10 mile heat cycles, the first revealed we still had a small fuel leak in the return line that we fixed. Re torqued the wheels and did an over all nut and bolt check. 

The next two 10 mile trips went un eventfully, car is fun to drive, and boys ar thrilled hat it is running and driving.

So now focus is turned to body and paint work, its gonna be close.

It's not a challenge car if it's not close. Woohoo!!

This is VERY nice. Good luck at the Challenge. 

Regardless of placement, you guys built one cool ride.

In reply to wheelsmithy :

That is exactly what I have been telling the boys. Taking two non operational cars and building one that runs and drives is further than most people get on projects like this (maybe not this group but in general). They have a lot to be proud of, and I think painted they are going to be thrilled. Now to see how much they enjoy sanding.

The beginning of the week was spent fixing the body kit we got off craigslist. We thought a real deal at $75 but turned out to be a lot of work to get to fit reasonably well.  I did not take any before pictures but here are some of the during.Fi

The Front bumper was off by about an inch on the divers fender (too long) and about 3/4 on the passenger fender (again too long) so both corners had to be cut off and reshaped to fit the body. The patch in the middle was a hole cause by po garage damage. 

The rocker panel covers were about !/4" too short to fit fender to fender, so we cut them in the middle and shaped to fit. Once we glassed everything back together they are bonded permanently to the car. Our rockers were quite rusted so we did the structural repairs but did not make it pretty so now it is pretty sort of.

Today we had everyone working on getting the car ready to paint the jams, so we took it back apart. Hard to do after you get it running.

Then Zack and Sammy had to figure out how do we mount an aftermarket abs Subaru wing to an MR2? First we use crayons to make a template, told them they learned everything they needed to know in kindergarten. 

Then you drill holes, most of them ended up in the right place, a couple had to be adjusted, but that is how you learn.

That is cool! The furiouser the better! 

OK so what does a good GRMer do with a running and driving car.............. Take it apart of course. Disassemble for paint got a little carried away. We finally said no more parts being taken off, not sure what was left at that point.

So after three days of bondo, sand and bondo and sand, we got first round of primer on.

Progress in the right direction.

Car is jammed! cant wait to see paint on the rest.

This is turning into a challenge car that will make me envious. 

Andy Neuman said:

This is turning into a challenge car that will make me envious. 

Yeah, Lol-I'm not sure these kids are learning how a lot of us build challenge cars.  This one is all nice and stuff.

In reply to Andy Neuman :

Not sure how fast we will be but we are having a good time building the car. 

In reply to MrJoshua :

The boys decided at the beginning to put budget money in paint and body so that it would look cool. This was one of the reasons to compete in the gastropods class. One of the lessons that I was trying to teach was that every project is a compromise especially when you have a fixed budget. We will see after the challenge if they are happy with the decisions, no mater what I think we will end up with a really nice car. Just may not be the most competitive race car.

In reply to Fladiver64 :

I make jokes but the reality is they are lucky to have such good guidance on their first build. I am impressed.

always loved this body style mr2. and it sure is turning out to be nice. yall have done a great job!

Fladiver64 said:

In reply to MrJoshua :

The boys decided at the beginning to put budget money in paint and body so that it would look cool. This was one of the reasons to compete in the gastropods class. One of the lessons that I was trying to teach was that every project is a compromise especially when you have a fixed budget. We will see after the challenge if they are happy with the decisions, no mater what I think we will end up with a really nice car. Just may not be the most competitive race car.

I don't know if the boys came up with that on their own or if it took some convincing, but I KNOW that their enjoyment of the car will be 100x more if it looks nice and is a nice ride on the street. "Racecaring" something gets the youtube views but absolutely sucks for just about everything else. 

Tell them I think they are wise beyond their years!

Robbie said:

Fladiver64 said:

In reply to MrJoshua :

The boys decided at the beginning to put budget money in paint and body so that it would look cool. This was one of the reasons to compete in the gastropods class. One of the lessons that I was trying to teach was that every project is a compromise especially when you have a fixed budget. We will see after the challenge if they are happy with the decisions, no mater what I think we will end up with a really nice car. Just may not be the most competitive race car.

I don't know if the boys came up with that on their own or if it took some convincing, but I KNOW that their enjoyment of the car will be 100x more if it looks nice and is a nice ride on the street. "Racecaring" something gets the youtube views but absolutely sucks for just about everything else. 

Tell them I think they are wise beyond their years!

Thanks for the feedback from all of you. I gave them a choice in the beginning, either build a stripped down race car or a "street" car that we will bring to the races. I actually wanted to build the race car and got out voted 4 to 1. Building something in between is very difficult and I wanted their first build to be successful. The deal I made with them in the beginning was that it would be my car and I will fund the project, but I wanted them to make the decsions as a team. I retained veto power over any stupid choices, but for the most part I have gone with their choices. Many times I narrow down the choices to three of four options and let them pick from there. For example I wanted a blue and white car with chrome rims, they wanted a blue and black car with black rims (we are painting the roof black). This color combination is growing one me though.

Working on some new spill plates for the spoiler.the boy's named the team blacktip racing and so we're trying to make him a bit shark like. Zach and I work in a little cad today what do you think

Round one of paint, wish we had more time but it should be a good 10 footer.