Tom's GTLIMITED

[GDII]

Looks spot on. What supplier are the intercooler pipes from?

[tomnomnom]

It's a prime intercooler kit, I bought them off a guy locally.

[GDII]

Of course. I've seen a few kits from different manufactures but some just don't look as tidy as the Prime one. It's nice to have the hot pipe and cold pipe lined up as the go across the engine bay instead of being completely different.

[tomnomnom]

Yes, that drives me nuts.
I'll be going trunk mount intercooler at some stage though. It's a great kit but heat soak still becomes an issue on high boost after a 20min session.

I would like to wrap the pipes in a gold reflective tape, or heat wrap similar to my exhaust but I'm not sure how effective it would be.

[GDII]

Yes, that drives me nuts.
I'll be going trunk mount intercooler at some stage though. It's a great kit but heat soak still becomes an issue on high boost after a 20min session.

I would like to wrap the pipes in a gold reflective tape, or heat wrap similar to my exhaust but I'm not sure how effective it would be.

That should make things a bit easier to keep temps in check. The intercooler isn't huge and air flow is not the best down in the side but could be worse. 20mins pushing a car will usually make it heat soak all the parts if they aren't massive or designed for it.

Gold wrapping it could help but it will also keep heat in the pipe. But if the heat getting into the pipe form the exhaust manifold and valve cover is hotter than what is in the pipe then that shouldn't matter. From my experience with NA engines, the intake manifold stays cold as air rushes through it, you can touch it fine until you turn it off and the head starts to push heat back up the runners to the plenum. But with turbo engines the turbo is producing hot air so it doesn't quite work the same.

[tomnomnom]

I think the gold would work well on the hot pipe from turbo to intercooler, keeping the radiant heat away but not insulating the pipe so much that it can't 'breath' so to speak. Perhaps just a layer on the underside as it goes over the turbo/manifold and past the downpipe.

The cold pipe on the other hand, could be heat wrapped to act as insulation and then covered in gold foil to continue radiant heat protection.

This is getting me thinking now though

[tomnomnom]

Neglected this for far too long
Adam said I better update it

I'm not sure on dates so I'll try pick up where I left off...

So the old girl was going great with the gen4 unit

Hampton skid pan

New wheels and a wash

Until getting locked into third gear at Taupo. Keyway broke in the 3-4 gear assembly.
It was a 3 day event, and we spent most of the Saturday trying to fix the problem (cheers Adam for the help)

Face down, ass up

received_2470147836542408.jpeg (202.88 KiB) Viewed 3149 times

Gearbox apart at track

received_611899412980450.jpeg (262.61 KiB) Viewed 3149 times

Keyway

received_1275697842620747.jpeg (218.05 KiB) Viewed 3149 times

Managed to gear it out of third gear, and thought I'd have a go at drifting just using 2nd gear. Was a bit of fun but decided I had better just park her up while it can still roll to get it on the trailer on Sunday arvo

Trackday at taupo

So then I needed to decide on what to do next..

Whilst on the hunt for another E153, Jabeo found me a deal I couldn't refuse
So I bought another MR2
I needed the gearbox anyway

This one was an OEM turbo, which mine was not
This was certed for everything mine wasn't certed for
And it also had a weld in half cage, with homologation papers if needed

It made sense when I put as little thought into it as I did

So I went and picked it up. It was blown (suspected bearings but later found out to be melted piston) gen2 and a few things had already been scavenged off it but it was everything I needed and more..

That new new

received_755094078270323.jpeg (235.13 KiB) Viewed 3149 times

So long story short I swapped all my bits out of the black one, into this one. Motor, suspension etc

Pulled both boxes apart and swapped the new gearset into my case with help from friends as always

Hard working

received_623242735092275.jpeg (259.06 KiB) Viewed 3149 times

The odd hiccup but it worked out. I stripped the car and got it to 1260kg with me in it and half a tank. It went really good. I was almost ready to start thinking about paint..

Engine in

Stripped

I know I'm a wheel whore

I had sold the black shell and every thing was going good.


And then I cracked a ring land in piston 4
That was the beginning of 2020 for me

So the car sat outside...
until lockdown
I had 4 weeks off and thought stuff it, I'll pull it out and get stuck into it. Not really knowing where I was heading

This is what the last few months have been


Always wanted a nice Instagram worthy engine bay like the Honda boys do
Unfortunately I only have videos on the finish product and not sure how to upload.

The colour is called Metro Electric Cow, I literally picked it at work because I thought the name was hilarious after a couple beers
It's just a sassy gun metal grey

The car will.be going this colour too

Paint prep

Ready to paint

Wossner forged pistons for the gen4
And gen2 rods with ARP hardware
And a big thick HKS head gasket

This was my idea of a strong budget build

Ready for head assembly

Picked this Masterpower r545 up quite cheap. Had been used but upgraded

Here is a size comparison to an (HX40?)
The exhaust housing is a lot smaller though.. T3 .63
Would like to push 350-400hp out of it but the numbers won't mean anything until it can go around a track without an issue haha

Big dick off

So it's all in at the moment. This photo was a couple weeks ago
Currently the exhaust system is under construction
I have a big list of things still
Next will be finding some injectors and sorting out loom and (presumably Link) ECU

Engine in again

So I'll make sure Adam continues pestering me and I can keep you all up to date when I find the time

I'll try take photos of the exhaust system as we build it

[4CylinderSpecial]

Love the wheels mate. Really suit the car. 350whp should be pretty achievable on that setup - of course if everything stays together.

[ClanFever]

Good to see a progress update and to see her still an on going project

[tomnomnom]

So we tacked up the downpipe the other night, going for a two piece system for minimal weight and cost

2.5inch of the turbo immediately flaring into a full 3inch system
3inch bellow
Vband just before the axle
Into a twin centre exit Adrenaline R muffler

But I came home from work tonight and my flatmate had finished the entire exhaust system!
I was stoked, he did an excellent job. I almost don't want to heatwrap it, anyway pics speak for themselves and he took a few for me.

I have amazing friends

[GDII]

That's amazing!!

[Benckj]

I like your simple design. Never seen a bellows ‘Flexi’ like that before on a car exhaust. Didn’t see an O2 port at bottom of DP though.

[tomnomnom]

I like your simple design. Never seen a bellows ‘Flexi’ like that before on a car exhaust. Didn’t see an O2 port at bottom of DP though.

Tuner will use a probe style one whilst on the Dyno, my exhaust is short enough to get an accurate reading
I'm not set on running an aftermarket one to a gauge/ECU yet

And the OEM one does nothing for tuning or safety parameters

[GDII]

I like your simple design. Never seen a bellows ‘Flexi’ like that before on a car exhaust. Didn’t see an O2 port at bottom of DP though.

Isn't the inside of the OEM braided flexi a bellow? The braid just protects the bellow.

[Benckj]

Isn't the inside of the OEM braided flexi a bellow? The braid just protects the bellow.

Good question as I've never actually had one apart.

I'd still install a port on the DP approx. 18" from turbo. Wideband O2's are much better (and cheaper) these days and its something that could provide real time feedback to an aftermarket EMS.