View Full Version : Track car project - Season 2
16th January 2009
A little update for those who haven’t been keeping up!
We like Mk1 MR2’s. A bit.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/five.jpg
In 2006 we were given another Mk1 MR2 as the owner didn’t want it. A bit like a dogs home! We named him Humphrey.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/clean.jpg
Phil had competed in sprints before ( a kind of time trial event) and decided that we should prep Humphrey for the Toyota Sprint Series. We did, and Phil ended up winning the class, as well as picking up some other trophies on the way.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/woodbridge/trophies.jpg
I didn’t complete the series due to breaking my leg and ankle after the third round. Read about last season here: http://www.boat-drinks.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6934
This season, we have plans to replace the 1600 n/a engine with a Supercharged one.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint/supercharger.jpg
As well as hopefully some other tweaks.
Today we began to remove the old engine!
Phil started by clearing the garage so we would have somewhere to put the engine.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/garage.jpg
You can see the new engine on it’s lovely stand in this picture, and also the white item in the top left are fibreglasss wings which hopefully will be put on at some point. There are also lots and lots of bits of MR2.
The last time Phil took an engine out, he lifted it over the top of the car. However this car was a scrapper, and he didn’t care about how many times he clonked the engine on the bodywork. So he decided this time to go for the ‘Snetterton method’.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/hoistboot.jpg
This method is one we saw after Phil had helpfully sold one of our spare engines to an MR2 Racing competitor at a Snetterton meet. Yes, it involves lifting the car by the boot, and dragging the engine out of the bottom!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/pull.jpg
The driveshafts got in the way a bit.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/driveshafts.jpg
It took most of the afternoon, but finally we had one removed engine
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/engineout.jpg
Something should go in here:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/hole.jpg
I don’t think it’s one of these:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/enginebay2.jpg
Over the winter the supercharged engine was given a bit of a once over, it needed the headgasket doing anyway so while it was in bits I also replaced the cambelt, tensioner and water pump as well as numerous gaskets etc.
I've also fitted an na sump (and painted it silver) as it has a tapping for an oil cooler (as standard the na has a cooler, the sc doesn't so seeing as we've got one in the car I thought we may as well make use of it.
Have you got a close up pic of the supercharger? I had a small Nissan badged blower a while back which I could never find out anything about but I'm convinced it was an MR2 supercharger.
A Place of Light
17-01-2009, 19:03
^^^
Was the supercharged version available here?
I thought it was only the US that got that model.
^^^
Was the supercharged version available here?
I thought it was only the US that got that model.
Not just US, but they weren't made for the UK. Plenty over here now though!
I'm sure there will be pics in weeks to come Jonny :)
Aha, someone else taking advantage of the weather! Good stuff :D I shall be taking mine out for a spin this afternoon.
A Place of Light
18-01-2009, 14:23
Not just US, but they weren't made for the UK. Plenty over here now though!
I'm sure there will be pics in weeks to come Jonny :)
I remember reading some mag years ago that had an article on the charged version of the MR2. IIRC it was to breathe some life back into the car after the US (read Californian) emmission regs had effectively castrated it.
I didn't know it was available elsewhere, although thinking about it Japan probably "got" some.
18th Jan
Forgot to mention the wheels. Lighter racing wheels, bought rather baraginly second hand, as we would have had to import them new.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/wheel.jpg
Today we took the flywheel and clutch off the old engine to fit to the new one. I then spent some time cleaning up some random rusty bits so Phil can paint them.
When you are done, please please take me out as a passenger. It's going to be pant wettingly fast. Especially if you get the rest of the bits done. :evil::evil:
I'm hoping to get a track day in before the TSS season starts so I'll keep you informed.
Well, it's in, but we need more bits before we can start and play :D
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/365/1302.jpg
*dribbles* Was going to ask how you were getting on later :D
Is this the earlier or later engine?
Vroom!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AcGwjhxLRQ
26th Feb.
I must admit I’ve not been doing much helping, mainly due to the fact that the garage is too full for us both to work in it! A lot of it is due to the fact that Phil is trying to sort of find his way around the new engine too, and it makes it difficult if I start asking ‘what does this do?’
The main differences as far as I can see on the SC engine are the fact that it has a supercharger of course and a large intercooler, for which the engine cover is going to need modifying. Phil’s main concerns were getting the coolant pipework and wiring correct, if you see pics a few posts up, most of the engine came in bags and boxes so we did need to work out how this all goes together. In the end, regsrding the wiring, it was a case of ‘square peg, square hole’ just fitting plugs in holes they went in, and as you will see later, this technique worked! In order to get the coolant pipes and other confusing bits in the right place, we called upon other SC owners to take pics of their engines so we could copy it!
Once Phil had received some vital components from the supplier of the engine, he fitted most of it into the car in an afternoon. Cue me nagging for about 2 weeks .Can we start it yet?’ But I was told that plenty of things needed to be done before this important moment in history. Again, as the engine bay is a little tiny for two people to be working round, I didn’t have much to do with the prep work, but Phil had plenty to be going on with. So whilst I was making myself useful baking and hoovering or something, Phil did the following in one day:
Fitted torque mounts, with new Speedsource Poly Mounts.
Bolted up the driveshafts.
Extended brake booster pipe and connected up.
Fitted and connected coil.
Connected top and bottom coolant hoses.
Attached throttle cable.
Fitted clutch/ gear linkages.
A few days after this day of activity, my car, Sakura broke down for the first time ever! I was on my way to work and she just cut out after pulling out of a junction. Phil had to come get me and our original thought was the throttle cable as this is sometimes a bit dodgy! However, preliminary investigation proved this wasn’t the case, and we ended up towing Sakura with Phil’s car, which must have been a sight! Phil then booked a few days off work in case the problem was serious, however we fixed her that night, thanks to Nik (Cybershot) who lent us the use of his business premises in order to have some light to work under! Problem was a worn out rotor in the dizzy cap, so very easy to fit, and handy because we had about 3 spares. I also nabbed Phil’s red HT leads whilst we were at it. I’m so vain.
So this left Phil with a few days spare to get some work done on Humphrey, which was quite useful. The work to be done before the countdown to start was as follows:
Fit coolant sensor into thermostat housing and fit plug onto loom.
Find somewhere to bolt FSE power boost valve and finish plumbing in.
Make up oil cooler lines and fit.
Fit alternator belt – firstly buying one!
Fit exhaust (last year we forgot this at one point and tried to start the engine!!)
Check loom connections – engine and car.
Fit battery.
Fit intake system and intercooler.
Fill with fluids.
You can imagine the end looked nigh at this point and we were getting quite excited at the prospect of hearing Humphrey’s new engine roar into life. However, we hit a little hiccup after Phil had done the oil cooler lines, FSE valve and coolant sensor. He filled the coolant, and found a leak in one of the hoses. This was sorted fairly quickly, however he then noticed a slight drip from the cambelt end. The leak turned out to be where the water pump seals to the block, possibly the worst place to have a coolant leak as you have to remove most things to get to it!
The day that we should have been ready to attempt a start, Phil realised that the battery had not been put on charge! Doh. So we had a bit of a fiddling day, trying to mount the ECU, the problem with this is that the Mk1a and b variants mounted the ECU in different places, we have a Mk1a chassis and now a Mk1b engine, but in the end we mounted the ECU in a completely new place anyway!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/ecu.jpg
We also removed the engine cover catch bracket in order for the intercooler to fit, and then fitted bonnet pins on the engine cover.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/catch.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/bonnetpin.jpg
And the next day is the reason I didn’t update the Sprint diary last weekend, because we were pretty despondent. Bolted the exhaust on and turned the key. The engine turned over but just wouldn’t start. We spent most of the day trying to troubleshoot, checking for fuel and spark, charging batteries, going round in circles, very annoying. We lost the light in the end and went to fix a headlight on a friends Mk2, which went rather well! Whilst we had light and the weather was acceptable, I carried on cleaning some suspension parts and giving them a coat of Hammerite. We rigged up a washing line to paint and hang them from, consisting of string and ramps!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/hanging.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/drying.jpg
Phil once again went to his sounrce of SC owners to ask for any advice, and we did get some good ideas, unfortunately the weather went off for a few days so we hadn’t got a chance to try any of them.
One of the pieces of masterful advice we received were ‘check the earths’. Wednesday night was fairly dry, so Phil went out, and a few minutes later I heard a new roar from the side of the house. He lives!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AcGwjhxLRQ&feature=channel_page
Still got a few issues that need sorting but we feel that the end is in sight! The engine sounds a little tight when cranking, the idle is quite high, and the pistons get wet. The worry is that we were doing so much cranking at the weekend when we were trying to get it to start, obviously oil wasn’t getting around and this may have affected the bearings. There may be the case that the head bolts are loose, and perhaps the head gasket isn’t sealing properly. Of course it may be a simple timing issue which we are going to check at the weekend.
Big thanks need to go to our Supercharger owning friends, for brilliant help and advice, and also to Nik for the use of his business premises.
Congrats, just got home where I can see the vid. Sounds like a lot of work ..... eeep ;)
1st March.
On Friday, Phil sorted the timing which did help the engine sound a little healthier. So now he idles at a normal speed, which is great. However there was still oil around the pistons so on Saturday we toddled off to the Toyota dealer to order some new head bolts.
Head bolts on order, not much else to do until they get here except remove the head in ready ness. This is quite a drawn out job, but finally we got to where we needed to be.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/removinghead.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/headoff.jpg
The offending articles (hopefully!)
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/bolts.jpg
As I was taking this picture of Humphrey having a wee (dropping coolant!), I noticed this shiny new poly bush on the engine torque mounts.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/polybush.jpg
Once the head was off, Phil set to work on the engine cover, removing some of the supporting metal from the inside in order to make room for the intercooler. We wont know yet if this is enough space, we might still have to cut a hole in the cover!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/grinding.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/enginecover2.jpg
Today, Phil began to fir the refurbed clutch master cylinder he had bought, however the new one had been machined incorrectly where the hydraulic line enters it, and wouldn’t seal. He ended up rebuilding a new master cylinder from the new one and the old one! Once this had been done, we bled the clutch, but ran out of clutch fluid! Weather deteriorated whilst we were out buying more clutch fluid so we have stopped for the weekend.
I’ve still not been helping much! Finished Hammeriting the suspension parts today, and have a little project of my own that’s keeping me busy, which is the refurb of my cam covers.
Next weekend we hope to fit the new head bolts and find out that they were the problem! Once they are done we have the adjustable anti roll bars to fit and then we can start thinking about the MOT. That could open a whole new can of worms!
Bit more detail on what's wrong and why the head is off:
When I got the SC engine it needed the HG doing. So I took everything apart and put a new gasket in, when doing up the headbolts the spec calls for 29Nm +90Deg +90Deg. After putting the 29mn on and trying to put the first 90deg onto that I felt that something wasn't quite right, the bolts were torquing up too soon and I could barely get 90deg onto them, a second 90deg simply wasn't going to happen without risking snapping bolts. Seeing as earlier engines only needed 60nm total I reckoned I'd give it 70 to be safe and that should be tight enough.
Now that the engine is in the car and running I was noticing that after a run if I pull the plugs out and shine a torch into the bores and the tops of all 4 pistons are pretty wet with oil, given my earlier problems my first thought is that the HG probably isn't sealing well enough possibly because the headbolts might have yielded preventing me from torquing them properly unfortunately Internet wisdom seems to give mixed advice on whether 4A-GE headbolts yield when torqued up or not.
Once I'd done the timing on Friday I started looking into the problem and decided that rather than pull the head off straightaway I'd try retorquing the bolts some more (which unfortunately involves taking the cams out so plenty of disasembly required but it's still less work than pulling the head off). Stripped everything down, cranked the headbolts to 100Nm and put it all back togwether again all to no avail as after running for 5-10 minutes for things to heat up the pistons are all still oily. :(
So anyway that's why the head is off and I'm waiting for new headbolts. In retrospect I should have just got new bolts in the first place but once I get out in the garage I'm too impatient and have a habit of improvising if I find I haven't got something I need :p
Of course if the new headbolts don't torque up properly or oil still gets into the bores I'm going to be properly at a loss as to what's going on and another week closer to needing the car to be running!
I didn't realise you had THAT many cars!!! :shocked:
I thought you had 2!
Lol! :D
BB x
Yes, I have started the habit of improvising on mine as well. Warped head? But I know you checked that. Hope its just the bolts, I know bugger all really but if you want a hand, shout.
I didn't realise you had THAT many cars!!! :shocked:
I thought you had 2!
Lol! :D
BB x
Three, one each and a track car to share :)
Yes, I have started the habit of improvising on mine as well. Warped head? But I know you checked that. Hope its just the bolts, I know bugger all really but if you want a hand, shout.
I did check it and it was within spec so I'm not expecting it to be the problem.
I love seeing engines in pieces. If only I had the time, talent and space to work on something of my own.
Big thanks need to go to our Supercharger owning friends, for brilliant help and advice, and also to Nik for the use of his business premises.
I thought I'd better sign up to accept my thanks :angel:
8th March
It took most of Friday afternoon to get the head back together after refitting the head bolts.
On Saturday, Phil finished putting it all back together and started the engine again! Unfortunately the wet pistons issue appears to still be there, our next plan of action is to leave it for now and see if it goes away after some running time. With this in mind, Phi tried to see if the battery could be mounted another way so that the intercooler fits better. Unfortunately at this point he managed to break Humphrey’s engine and he wouldn’t start! Phil originally thought this was due to bad earths from the battery, but finally realised that it was because the distributor had been fitted incorrectly. However by this time he had flattened the battery so he put that on charge and called it a day.
This morning, he fitted the battery (correct way round!) and just checked that Humphrey starts, which fortunately he did although the idle is hunting a little. He then refitted the drivers seat and we bled the clutch. We then had an afternoon at an MR2 meet in our two road cars which I had washed yesterday!
MOT is booked for next Friday so no doubt another stressful weekend will be upon us before we know it!
Here’s another video of the engine, sounding a bit more healthy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjc-VVPmi3g
I've been thinking about this all weekend and wondering how you were getting on. Glad that its running a bit better. Just thought, worn piston rings?
Worn piston rings were discussed at the weekend along with the words 'I'm not replacing them' :D
13th March.
Phil did bring up the question ‘Is it pushing our luck to be booking two MOT’s for Friday 13th?’. Anyway we had a 50% success rate as Mister Five passed.
Actually Humphrey’s fail wasn’t too bad either. First of all, a bush is worn on the trailing arms:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/bush.jpg
Fortunately this is connected to the suspension parts that we were going to replace anyway, and that I have prepared newly painted ones of, complete with brand new poly bushes. The only problem is that the bolts in this area are pretty tight, held in with years of rust, so they may prove awkward to remove.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/bolt2.jpg
The handbrake is below efficiency, however we have some fairly new handbrake cables that came off Mister Two so they will have to be fitted.
The horn doesn’t work, Phil forgot to check it, but hopefully that’s just a connection error.
Aaaaand, we need some welding doing (I can’t wait til Phil finishes his welding course!) I managed to get a picture of the small hole at the rear:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/welding.jpg
And there is also a small amount at the front which I can’t get to at the moment as Humph has his bottom in the air due to having his rear suspension fiddled with.
It’s all stuff we can fix, so it’s just time consuming, and a little bit of money towards the welding, which is booked for next Thurs.
15th March
Spent half the weekend playing with the car and half watching racing at Snetterton.
Phil replaced both rear trailing arms with the newly painted ones and poly bushes. They look rather nice.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/newsuspension.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/suspensionon.jpg
It’s not a small job either, most of the bolts are rusted on, and then getting the suspension back into it’s various mountings and brackets is a very tight squeeze. We used lots of grease, and my tiny fingers were called to service more than once to squeeze grease into holes. Ick!
Once Humphrey’s rear end was back on the floor, I managed to get a picture of the hole at the front which will be welded this week:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/hole2.jpg
This was before Phil attacked it with a screwdriver to see how much rotten stuff was around it. It’s now a much bigger hole!
Phi also removed the from ARB in order to make the welder’s job easier. We have a new Whiteline adjustable ARB to replace this once the welding is done. This was what Phil spent his prize money on from winning last year!
With me needing to drive Humph to the welder on Weds, we decided to try and get insurance sorted. Budgeted about £400 for this and were pleasantly surprised. However Phil wants to check the paperwork before we go spouting about what a good deal we had!
Snap, mine went in the exact same spot on the front. Everyone raves about Sky insurance for modded mr2s.
The number we dialled was Sky, but as they were closed we got put through to a general call centre :/ Ended up with Flux!
Keep a very close eye on Flux. The one time I used them (never again!) I sent off my mod form, which they acknowledged. And then 6 months later when I rang up to add more they had no record of any of the previous mods. Which left me uninsured for the previous 6 months...
They said they had record of recieving it but not that actual details, and said if I'd had to claim they would have disputed it!
Not at all impressed. Cheap isn't always good (and they're still cheap, quoted £75 for my 99). Won't touch them ever again.
I've always heard they were expensive (quoted my friend £14k on a Bini!!)
We'll photocopy the mod form and send it recorded I should think, thatnks for the heads up!
I've always heard they were expensive (quoted my friend £14k on a Bini!!)
We'll photocopy the mod form and send it recorded I should think, thatnks for the heads up!
That was my renewal notice with Endsleigh :D I'm now with Flux - but have the advantage that they're an hours drive away if I have to go kick ass :evil:
I would have thought they would have given a note with your insurance detailing the mods they know of? Certainly with Admiral they added it as part of the insurance note.
edit:- are you all welded up now?
Not sure. :p
Wasn't done when we went to pick it up yesterday evening but he was going to stay late to get it finished and give us a call when he was done. Didn't get a call meaning he either gave up or finished really late. Will go down after work at lunchtime and it better be ready as I intend to fit the new ARB, get the retest done and buy tax this afternoon.
With the insurance they asked about the 'main' mods on the phone before quoting but they weren't really interested in the detail at the time (they just ask you to fill in the form so they've got a record in the event of a claim).
That was my renewal notice with Endsleigh :D I'm now with Flux - but have the advantage that they're an hours drive away if I have to go kick ass :evil:
Aaah. I know Flux have quoted people silly before though :)
21st March 2009
We got Humphrey back from the welder on Friday, and took him for the MOT retest, which of course he passed. Unfortunately a new problem had reared it’s head. Phil had noticed that when driving, there seemed to be a delay between pushing the throttle and getting power. He had also had an occurrence last week when Humph had a stuttering fit, nearly stalling. This week, the MOT guy managed to stall him, and he just wouldn’t start again. Turns out the battery isn’t charging. Battery is fine so it’s either the alternator or regulator. Unfortunately, although we have plenty of engine parts knocking about, the SC alternator is different to the NA one.
Today we zoomed over to Zirax's house where there is a SC engine sat doing not much in his garage and nicked the alternator and regulator. (With his permission of course! Thanks Matt)
So after replacing the alternator, no change. It’s the regulator then. Probably the best news we could have hoped for really! The regulator is more freely available than the alternator as it was put on other cars.*
Having now got a taxed, MOT’d, insured, working car, what else was there to do than go for a drive!
We were making good progress, hearing that SC whine, no unusual rattles, smoke or smells, phew!. We were driving along the A11 when suddenly *BANG!* *whiiiine* *nothing*. Lost all power, all engine and just coasted to a halt. Oops! Fortunately, Phil had packed his tools so we tentatively opened the engine cover. No smoke, that’s good, turns out a boost pipe had popped off! Tighten that back up and we’re off! New jubilee clips are on order then.
After that, I took a video to try and catch the engine noise, which worked quite well. Scuse my hysterical screechings, I’m quite excitable :p
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ye-tvd-3VI
You may notice us mention heavy steering. Phil thinks this is to do with the new ARB fitted this week. As we drove into Snetterton, we felt a clonk and the steering got a bit better. Something for us to check tomorrow!
As of tomorrow, it’s a week to the first sprint! Still a few things to do:
Phil is going to use Humphrey as a daily drive this week as a ‘shakedown’
I need to get some driving time in to get used to the power, and any new foibles he has.
We need to do a bit of usual admin, which will be last minute.
I need to get the race suits out, make sure they are ok and fit!
I need to stop feeling petrified every time I think of the Sprint. I was like this last year but I thought The Fear would have gone now I know it’s the best thing ever. I’ll be fine.
*update - the regulator is actually a **** to get hold of. Doh!
Excellent, I was wondering how you were getting on this afternoon. Good to hear that whine inside the car, I can imagine that getting a fair bit louder when you really stretch it :D Hmmm perhaps that and the boost hose are connected? ;)
Two days that really sorted my nerves were the Carlimits driver training day and the activity day. I think the best start this year was the Activity Day for me. Got my worry of sliding about out of my system. Personally I never get the car sideways on the road, so doing it on purpose was great.
I don't even know what I'm worried about. I can handle the car, had spins and slides in the past, done TSS last year, but every time I think about next weekend I get butterflies! Need a bit more time in the car I think, it might be that I'm a bit nervous because the new engine isn't quite settled yet.
Dunno what you're nervous for. I'm the one who will have buggered up our season if this engine plays up and I'm the one who'll have to fix it too :p
Oh yeah I did a really stupid thing today too :( Put the alternator loost in the boot, on the way home, chucked my car round a roundabout and heard a massive *clonk* from the back. Alternator had gone flying and has dented the rear wing from inside the boot and cracked the paint. Doh :(
22/3/09
Whilst we were out on our test run, Phil had noticed the steering was heavy, so we took off the front wheel to make sure everything was ok. He had previously fitted a new anti roll bar and the droplinks it came with are slightly different. Here you can see how they have been too big and fouling on the arch:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/fouling.jpg
So he replaced the new droplinks with the old ones. Here you can see how the bolt head sticks out too much on the new droplinks.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/droplinkdiff.jpg
Once that was done, he fitted the rear anti roll bar. I took a picture so you can see how the new ARB is a lot thicker and therefore a lot stiffer.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/ARB.jpg
Whilst Phil was doing this, I gave Humphrey his first wash in who knows how many months and attacked him with T-Cut and eventually the polishing machine, in order for him to look pretty for his first outing!
He had faded a lot again, as is the issue with old red cars :/
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/wingbefore.jpg
However he does scrub up quite well with a bit of elbow grease, T Cut and polishers!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/wingafter.jpg
29th March 2009
Unlike the wet and windy Saturday, Sunday dawned bright and dry, although rather cold. Perfect fast driving weather!
We set off early from the hotel (didn’t want TOO much of an early start!) in convoy with a fellow competitor (Zirax/ Matt). Good job we convoy’d too as I manage to forget to put our bag in the boot so Matt had to pick it up!
We got to the circuit, through the fantastic Exhaust Appreciation Tunnel, (no revving of engines before 9:30, honest!) and were scrutineered and noise tested before we were allowed to get to the garage – rather a good idea actually.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/scrutineered.jpg
We passed the noise test – just! And made our way to the garage. The garages are nice and big, so we managed to fit both race cars and support cars in there!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/garage.jpg
We signed on, and then sat around for a bit as we were already stickered up. The only thing we had to do was put on our new race numbers.
Phils:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/48.jpg
Mine:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/53.jpg
Mine are on magnetic vinyl so I can slap them on when I go out for runs. I also took the time to organise our garage.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/organised.jpg
Another great idea was the map of the track layout so we had a vague idea of where we were going! We weren’t pleased however with this layout as it used a lot of the oval, with a few coned chicanes. Useless for the MR2’s as it would favour powerful cars with turbos.
It was soon time for the briefing, and then a dash to get the cars ready for the sighting laps, basically each driver has to do two laps in convoy so we knew where the course went. As Phil takes the passenger seat out of Humphrey for sprints, I blagged a lift with a MR2 20v conversion.
The course was as we thought. Lots of high speed straights and long speedy corners, with a few chicanes thrown in for good measure. I was a bit apprehensive as the last time we drove Humph at high boost, he threw a hose off, and this track would obviously require lots of revs.
The next stage of the day after the sighting laps, is two untimed runs. Again this is to get a feel for the course and the speed, whilst not ruining your chances. Phil went out first, took it steady and returned back in one piece. I was feeling nervous but got in, joined the queue, and once the light went green, I remembered why I do this!
It was the 16th of July, the last time I drove a car on track, three days before I broke my ankle. I’m really pleased because I remembered to stay smooth and calm, not brake too early, and get back on the throttle quickly. I was also pleased Humphrey didn’t blow up!
The track was actually quite good fun. After the start was a tight hairpin which got you on to the main straight. Lots of drivers managed to get sideways here! Quick dash down the main straight, to a tight left down the banking. A smooth right hander took you back up the banking, at one point you were looking right at the wall before having to turn a sharp left. Back down the banking and then following the track round , another couple of squiggles and then you were going back up the banking. Final straight bit took you slightly down hill, then a sharper left and right chicane and a short dash to the finish.
Took Humph back to the garage for a short rest, then it was Phils turn for the second run. As we share the car, we generally are non stop, although there were teams there who had three drivers per car and that really doesn’t stop! Phil came back from his run and said he had pushed harder, great, as Humph was still going strong.
I queued again and was right at the front of the queue waiting for the light to go green, when a marshall opened the door and told me I was losing water from the back. I had to come out of the queue and drive carefully back to the garage. We were losing coolant. Oh dear, Humphrey needed a wee.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/wee.jpg
Lifted the engine cover and Phil went to open the expansion tank, perfectly safe to do this on a hot car as this shouldn’t get pressurised. I said shouldn’t. It was.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/365/2903.jpg
Unfortunately, this meant Phil got very very hot coolant all over his hand as he opened the cap. We were lucky to be in a garage as we had a sink in the corner so he was straight there to douse it in cold water, but it was soon evident that it was badly scalded, and he was taken in an ambulance to the circuit medical centre. Unfortunately they did not have the correct dressings, so I had to zoom out to a minor injuries centre in Corby to get him sorted out. At this point, we hadn’t even started to investigate the coolant issue!
Fortunately, we weren’t very long at the medical centre, and when we returned found the cavalry had arrived, in the form of a number of our friends. I’m sure they would rather have seen us on track but instead had to help diagnose our problem!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/bearding.jpg
We filled Humph back up with coolant, and made the decision not to go back on track. The plan was to limp home and if we had a problem, call the RAC once we were clear of the circuit. So we spent an enjoyable afternoon with our friends, spectating, but with a bitter taste in our mouths, wanting to be out there getting a time, and worrying what was wrong with the car.
We managed to get home without overheating and the first plan is to get some more ‘O’ rings to see if that was the problem. Feel a bit bad now as we probably could have had a few runs (I even considered taking my road car out) but we didn’t want to take the risk. The good thing is that this season, we are allowed to ‘drop’ a round, so obviously now we will have to drop this one. This would probably have been the round we would have dropped anyway, as we were taking care of the engine, and also the circuit didn’t really suit the car.
So now I really can’t wait til next time! Phil’s favourite circuit too so I hope we can get some good times!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Rockingham/queue1.jpg
It was a bit of a surprise when I went back into the garage and saw coolant everywhere with Phil running his hand under a tap :eek:
I now have a list of bits to do on mine.
New pads all round (they were killed)
Look at harness install
New front end, new bumper
Fit new headlights
Run around with a screwdriver and remove bits.
Install fire extinguisher
Some of this was planned before the season started but it was just too cold.
Ouch bad luck phil :( Hope no serious damage.
Um, one thought though, expansion tanks are always pressurised on a hot engine. It serves to raise the boiling point of the coolant a little. Hence the sprung cap :)
Hope you get the fault sorted!
Not on the mk1, the expansion tank is outside the pressurised part of the system, the pressure cap is on the top hose and is connected to the expansion tank in such a way that when the cap blows off excess pressure it vents into the expansion tank which is also vented to atmosphere (meaning no pressure can build in there)
Unfortunately the tank is also connected to a hose which is used to let air out of the thermostat housing when bleeding the system. Under normal conditions this hose is totally sealed off and deosn't see hot coolant however the 'o' rings where it seals at the bleed point were shot so it was feeding hot coolant at pressure into the tank at such a rate that the vent to atmosphere wasn't big enough to prevent pressure build up.
Ah right. Strange setup! Bad luck.
CaptRugWash
06-04-2009, 22:04
Interesting read, never driven a MK1 but I sprint in a MK2 N/A MR2. Excellent and underestimated cars, especially once you sort out the OEM handling issues.
Interesting read, never driven a MK1 but I sprint in a MK2 N/A MR2. Excellent and underestimated cars, especially once you sort out the OEM handling issues.
Cool, do you fancy having a go at TSS?
18TH April
We had arranged to go on a rolling road day today so we could see what power the new engine delivered. Also it’s a good idea to see if anything else happens to the engine (ie hoses popping off, coolant leaks) when at full power.
On the way to the garage, we noticed a lot of knocking noises coming from the front, so once we got there, Phil took off the front wheels to investigate.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/revivals/humph4small.jpg
Turns out that when he had re-fit the original droplinks, he had fit them the wrong way round! Shows how much stress we have been under at the moment then!. So he quickly sorted them out and we managed to get an early run on the rolling road.
The guys set Humphrey up and did one test run to check the fuelling and to make sure the engine was ok. We knew he over-fuelled and hoped to get this sorted today. The first test run went well, and nothing untoward happened, except from lots of fuel being used!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhdYbmEiyt8
The whining noise is the supercharger, I’ll come to this in a mo.
The guys started arranging the first power run, however, about one second into the run, the revs dropped and the mechanic shouted that the throttle cable had come off. It turned out that the tiny screw holding the solderless nipple on to the end of the throttle cable had come out, but fortunately fell into a convenient place, so Phil refitted it and we tried again. Nope, it came off again and this time the nipple was nowhere to be seen. Ooer.
Off the rollers then, and one of the really helpful mechanics began his search for new nipples! Apparently there was a bag of them somewhere! We finally managed to bodge the throttle cable back on, but decided we would go last in case the problem happened again.
Whilst we were socialising, and looking at other cars, we realised that the other superchargers there weren’t making half the noise ours was. This is a tad concerning.
Soon everyone had had their runs and it was time to get Humphrey back on the rollers. Everything crossed, the guys got him up to speed, and managed to get a figure. I think Phil had rather they didn’t, as the figure was in the 140s, about what a standard supercharger engine should be putting out, so basically our big pulley was doing nothing! A few faffs were done in order to sort out the over fuelling, and checked the boost on the supercharger, (we still need to check these figures to see if there is an issue)
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/revivals/humph1small.jpg
Phil decided that because of the really loud supercharger, and low power that there may be a fault with the supercharger itself, and planned to borrow one from our handy friend Matt, who has a supercharger engine sat in his garage. Thanks again Matt!
Final figures were 145.5 at the flywheel and 109.5 at the wheels.
Good things gained from the day were: sorting the overfuelling – we actually managed to drive home at the speed limit without needing to stop for fuel 3 times – and also finding out that the engine can run at full power without things going wrong. Sort of.
Plans are to swap the supercharger over and hope!
Ah well, I’m sure we’d be bored if things were simple eh?
Some other pics:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/revivals/humph2small.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/revivals/humph3small.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/revivals/groupsmall.jpg
Don't forget that rolling roads can't be relied on to give accurate numbers, their main use is to put the car on, get a base reading tweak, see what it does, tweak see what it does. It's always a good idea to take a good condition standard car along to a rolling road day as a benchmark.
What would you expect the larger pulley to do powerwise? What were the torque numbers like and what power/torque would the original engine be?
The good condition SC's were getting 165s which is more what Phil was aiming for.
There were another couple of SCs there with similar mods, one made 165 with a cat, the other made 180 without a cat, ours is also sans cat and should be up around the 180 mark. There were also a couple of n/a car there which were making slightly above their stock figure so if anything the RR was reading a tiny bit high.
Power wise we were making about the same as I'd expect from a stock engine.
26th April 2009
Phil and I are members of the Lotus Motor Club, who run various events at the track and factory in Norfolk. The Motor Club were running an autotest today and we decided to go. Autotests are low speed competitive events, based around a track of cones. Each course is given to the drivers and they lose points for going the wrong way, hitting a cone or not doing things right, ie there are reversing sections and stops. The length of your car is also taken into account, so the shorter cars get penalised.
Phil took Humphrey and I took Sakura as I don’t get to do much motorsport in her, and the autotest is open to any car. The Motor Club also loaned out the Club car, a left hand drive Elise.
I found the courses easy to memorise, but struggled with the reversing! I’m such a girl! Didn’t do too bad though and really enjoyed it. Think I came about 11th overall, and was the quickest female. Phil was around 6th in the end, and Humphrey had a good day, despite throwing off a spark plug cover early in the day.
Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed on the Lotus site, so I have no pictures from the day :(
3rd May 2009
Round 2 – come oooooonnn!!!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/humph1.jpg
So this is the day of round 2 of the Toyota Sprint Series at Barkston Heath in Lincolnshire. Barkston is a purpose built sprint track, on an airfield. It favours the agile cars and drivers as it is a tight, twisty track. Last year, Phil loved this track, getting runner up in class, and I hated it, getting slower all day and being last overall by a considerable amount of seconds. Add this to the fact that we aren’t sure how the car is running (despite having a new supercharger on and sounding better) we were a little apprehensive, but I was also determined not to let Barkston get the better of me, and determined not to finish last.
We had driven up the night before and stayed locally with two other MR2 Mk1 competitors, Mike Ellis and Matt Hopkins. We got our hospital visit out of the way early, as Matt fell over on the Saturday night and had to go and get his head superglued back on!
The weather had been great on Saturday when we drove up, so Phil and I just packed shorts and T shirts. When we woke up on Sunday, the roads were wet and it was dark and windy. Brr! As soon as we got to the circuit we put on our nice warm race suits.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/paddock.jpg
We unpacked and took the car to be scrutineered. All was fine, except we are still getting very high results on the noise tests and I think an impromptu new exhaust is on the cards.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/scrutineering.jpg
Soon it was time for the first practice run and I went out as a passenger with Phil driving. The course was exactly the same as last year, great as I had been watching some YouTube vids of the track too, and I knew it with my eyes shut. Just had to get the technique right now!
When Phil got back from his first practice run, he said Humphrey was running perfectly, and felt really planted on the corners due to the new ARBs we had. I think this gave me the confidence in him, and also for the first time, I realised how much my driving had improved. I felt that I was attacking corners correctly and felt a lot more confident. I was a bit disappointed with my 73 second time, although this turned out to be my slowest time of the day, I improved by 7 seconds to have a final time of 66, which was both competitive and a massive improvement on last years quickest time of 76.
Phil said he should have gone home after his first lap, getting a 58.67 and only improving on this on his last lap, getting 58.63! However this time was right up there with the more powerful cars and really showed me what I should be doing with the car!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/results.jpg
When our 8 timed runs were up (that’s right, no car issues this time!), we had plenty of time to spare, so the organisers allowed us to go on the track for untimed fun, including passengers. Phil took me out in Humph, and I realised where I had been going wrong. To put it simply, everywhere. When I had my tuition last year I was taught ‘break early and light’, however for a twisty track like this, we were needing to break late and hard, in order to throw the car round corners. Point noted for next time!
We decided to pack up, which is always fun. As my leg is bad at the moment, we only brought the one car, so here’s some more examples of what you can get in an MR2:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/packed1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/Barkston1/packed2.jpg
After a bit of fun, the results were in, and we all gathered round for the prize giving. The Starlet we had battled with in class D last year was on top form, I think he finished 6th overall, and was obviously that class winner. Our results came in, and runner up was one of the Starlets, and the winner………… Phil! Nice to see some more silverware!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/365/0305.jpg
So.. plans now.
We are on the lookout for a new exhaust to keep the scrutineers happy.
We hope to get the front end ready by next round, we have fibreglass wings to go on, and a new slam panel. The front end is really swiss cheese and looks manky, so I think this is going to be a project.
We hope to get Humph on the rolling road again with the new Supercharger in, to see if we have got any more power. (Do we really need it though!) If this is the case, we then need to source a new Supercharger as Matt will want his back at some point!
Full results can be found here:
http://twistysprint.com/sprint/images/stories/files/barkston%20heath%2003.05.09%20final.pdf
Good writeup, much better than what I could produce :D Personally I couldn't get into the circuit on the day as you'll notice from my times. I clicked a bit on my last run and knocked off 3.1secs which is an age in one run! I most certainly had more. Not sure why really, could have been the knock as I was worried about it opening up again.
Either way, see you at the one after next.
Hey Matt, you might be lucky and get to do all the rounds, they've just cancelled Waterbeach.
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3491/woot.gif
Cracking, if they can move it off that Lemans weekend then there is a damn good chance that we'll make it.
Just fired in what I think is a very good option. North Wield on the MSA circuit. No noise limit and not a bad circuit either.
16th May 2009
Those front wings were looking rustier and rustier, and we were having to use more and more gaffer tape at each round. The rules are that your cars have to look presentable, it is a professional race series and they don’t want primer’ed rust buckets driving about. Fair enough.
Here are the wings sans gaffer tape, yuk!
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/beforewing1.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/beforewing2.jpg
We had some fibreglass wings that were bought last year, but so far hadn’t had time to put them on, due to the Supercharger constantly playing up. Phil decided that as the weather was good, he was going to spend the day restoring the front end. He had already been preparing the wings throughout the week, so they were red and shiny, and ready to go:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/wingspainted.jpg
We also had a new bumper bar and front splitter to go on, so really a good front end rebuild was on the cards.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/valance.jpg
MR2 geeks may have noticed in previous pics that Humphrey had no front splitter, so he is going to look slightly different after the rebuild. The bumper bar was complete swiss cheese, as is the case with most of them.
The front end basically bolts on and off, so theoretically there isn’t much to getting everything off. Bolts of course can be seized and rusty but to be honest, we are used to this by now! Because we knew we were replacing everything, Phil wasn’t too bothered about how it came apart, so it came apart rather easily.
In order to get to the wings, the side skirts need to come off, as they overlap on to the front wing. An important note for anyone looking to buy a Mk1, this is a great place for lots of wet leaves to live, rot and consequently make your car rust. This is the lovely pile we got just from one sideskirt.
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/muck.jpg
Soon our car had no nose! How did he smell? Oily :p
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/noseoff.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/noseoff2.jpg
The only thing that would be going back on was the front bumper skin. The rest is scrap.
Cue bolting (and I’ve been told tiewraps have been used to great effectiveness too!) the new bits back on.
I think you’ll agree a great improvement:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/Afterfront.jpg
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/vix/Sprint2009/frontend/afterwing.jpg
Webspace will be down. They'll be back later.
4TH October –
We’ve had a hectic few months and I haven’t had much time for updates. One of the most important thing to note is that we haven’t really been doing much on the car, as we haven’t had time to do any of the bits we’d like to do, and nothing has gone tragically wrong that we NEED to do.
Phil is doing well in the Series, and we go into the final round in a few weeks time, with just a few points between his and the second place in our class, so it’s going to be an interesting one. I’m also doing ok, although no prizes for me.
Humphrey has now started living in a lock-up close to our home, as we have somehow aquired another car, and the neighbours are getting rather agitated! When Phil ‘visited’ Humphrey the other day, he noticed a small leak in the radiator, and decided it best to replace the rad before the two trackdays we have and the Sprint just after. Whilst he replaced the radiator, he put in the radiator for the chargecooler which is going in over the Winter.
As that had gone well, Phil decided to attack the roof!
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/Sprint2009/roof/grinding.jpg
The sunroof was additional weight so we had an alloy sheet to replace it.
The area around the sunroof needed grinding out,
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/Sprint2009/roof/roof1.jpg
Some spot welds needed drilling out:
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/Sprint2009/roof/roof2.jpg
But soon we were left with a delightful hole!
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/Sprint2009/roof/hole.jpg
The ‘new’ roof is currently bolted on to check durability and waterproofing, but shall be riveted shortly. It will then be covered in red vinyl to look slightly prettier!
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/Sprint2009/roof/roofon.jpg
He's a bloody vandal with that angle grinder. Good work though, I'll have to see how this sheeting holds before I crack my grinder out :D
I've got some ideas for mine, one of which may result in me being burnt alive by the purists.
Just a thought, what are you doing about the trim and headlining? Will the TSS be ok with it?
I'm worried about TSS personally. But Phil says it will be ok! We never had the headlining in anyway.
Well I think this answers the question 'why do you own 4 cars?'
We went to a trackday weekender at Anglesey this weekend. Lovely track, shame it took 8 hours to get there!
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/albums/userpics/1710.jpg
On the way for fuel on the Saturday, after a full day on track, Humphrey threw a driveshaft off!! Fortunately we now have our tow car and trailer, but unfortunately we lost our Sunday on track!
http://www.finkydink.co.uk/albums/userpics/humph3.jpg
Back home, Phil nicks a driveshaft off my car, so we fortunately have a working car for the Sprint Series finals this Saturday!
However I don't have a working car as my 'new car' failed her MOT :(
TSS 09 ROUND 6 – TEESSIDE AUTODROME – IN THE DARK
The final round is finally upon us, and it’s the longest journey away for us, up at Teesside Autodrome. We don’t mind though, we get a few nights in a hotel, with lots of our friends, and the track at the Autodrome is my favourite. It is another twisty one, and is also the most three-dimensional of all the TSS tracks, having a large hill between too corners. There is also the obligatory hell for leather straight, ending in a teeth clenching chicane, and the final corner is long and sweeping, and the additional challenge that this final round runs through the evening, in the dark!
So, for once we had a leisurely morning, as the track didn’t open until 2pm. We unpacked at the track, amid showers of rain. We had to make the difficult decision of what tyres to use. Phil had seen that the weather report had said the rain does clear throughout the evening and he was determined to stay on the Toyo R888’s for as long as he could. Other drivers opted for slightly more ‘treaded’ tyres.
Scrutineering went well, and we were soon briefed, signed on and waiting for our convoy runs to get an idea of the track.
The track was laid out just like the last two times we had been there, however I had only run it in the light, as I had my broken ankle for last year’s night race. The track was quite greasy however the rain had stopped so once everyone had done a few runs, you could see the ‘dry lines’ appearing.
Javelin, our track day organisers, wanted to run the untimed practice runs in the light, so that we got a few for the circuit before we were plunged into darkness.
The first few runs were taken very steady by all the drivers, and nothing untoward happened. I had a ‘tail happy’ moment on the hill, which stuffed me for the exit, and other drivers experienced this ‘waggy tail syndrome’ but no serious spins to report.
Once our three practice runs were over, it was a case of waiting for the night to draw in. Some drivers were getting nervous about the dark clouds which were appearing in the horizon, but hoped it was just ‘The Dark’. Many were still pondering tyre changes. We were happy with the R888s.
At just after 6pm, the track was deemed dark enough to start. Part of the track (with the hill) was in total darkness, whilst the chicane and long final corner were floodlit. We hadn’t done much with Humphrey’s headlights, apart from the new Raybrig headlights which all our MR2’s get treated to, as they are a much more modern headlight. Many drivers (mainly Celicas) had interesting ‘pods’ of extra headlights on the front.
Phil had to pretty much win this round to guarantee first place in the championship, so he was trying very hard. His first lap was 57.24 seconds, making him the second fastest MR2 at that point. Unfortunately, He couldn’t beat the Starlet which he needed to, and got runner up with a time of 54.49 (still a very respectable time!)
This meant that Phil was runner up in the championship also, and 11th overall. Still a great acheivement (second fastest MR2 too!)
Roll on next year!
I've not commented through this but it's been a fascinating read and I've always looked forward to the next instalment.
Very interesting Vix, looking forward to what next year brings.
Oh I forgot to put in my amazing bit.
I hadn't done Teesside int he dark as last year I had my broken ankle and couldn't drive. I really enjoyed the track though so was looking forward to it.
I aimed to get under a minute by the end of the day, and started with a 66. Then I had three annoying laps of 64 each, and then when I passed the board on the 5th lap, i noticed the number ended in 6 again so though, damn, back up this time to 66 :(
Turns out it was a 56.
Not sure how I did it, but we also can't work out how it is a mistake!
I didn't get close again and ended up with a 60 on my last lap.
Nice one :D Congrats to Phil for the runner up, and well done on showing you can do it too :D
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