Mickeyduck's machines

[mickeyduck]

In light of today's drive...

I have a 500 hp SW.

SWeet!

And a near new 86 GT.

GreaT stuff!

But it's still the AW that puts the biggest smile on my dial on a twisty back-road.

That little gem is genius.

AWesome!

[lasersooby]

Looks really nice

[mickeyduck]

OK back to the SW... Wastegate issues.

As CJ noted at the Nationals at Manfield, the red thing's wastegate had developed a nasty rattle. In fact it was nigh impossible to have a conversation if the car was idling nearby.

I stripped it down and had a damn good look at it after we got back. What I found was rather interesting. The valve only just closed on the seat, there was no excess travel which meant if you had to skim the seating surface of the valve (the 45 degree chamfer on its edge) it would no longer seal. This was due to the length of the valve's shaft.

Thanks to vibration (I guess) the valve had started to eat into the large washer that presses down on it from above, and because there was no excess travel available the valve could no longer close properly. So at idle it simply bounced up and down making a rattle noise. Here's the large washer with the recess carved into it by the top of the valve stem:

The wastegate has rattled ever since I bought the car 6 years ago. But recently it got a lot worse. I guess it's been a very slow problem but one that intensifies as it goes. Like most things, best nipped in the bud.

Note that the recess is only a fraction of a mm in depth. Maybe a tenth if that? But it's enough to prevent the valve from sealing and therefore allows an intermittent yet incessant blow-by to occur. This is not a good thing for an exhaust valve. Carbon deposits on the valve thus got seriously hot and ate into the valve creating pits. The pits in the seating face of the valve meant that even if you managed to get it to seat, it would still blow by (through the pits) and therefore slowly self destruct. I needed to get that valve to seal properly again.

What to do?

The seat in the headers was in perfect condition. But the valve was in self destruct mode.
The looseness and the rattle had also made the M6 x 12mm washer and nut on top of the alloy dish that holds the diaphragm, eat into that alloy dish.

I figured I could sort the alloy dish ok by adding a 32mm wide stainless washer or two on top of it. Far tougher than having the nut on top of the alloy. But the valve was an issue.

I photographed the valve and carefully measured things, and sent the pics to engineering shops asking for a quote to have a replacement made. With a couple of mm extra length so it would seat properly even if skimmed later.

WastegateValveButtonDetail.JPG (397.07 KiB) Viewed 2514 times

The best response I got was that it would cost me $1,060 to have a new valve made from 316 stainless (316 has more resistance to corrosion than 304). OK, I can buy a whole replacement HKS GT-II wastegate from Nengun in Japan for $1,300 landed including GST. But right now money's a bit tight. The Nationals left us a bit stretched, the house has gobbled a few bucks and four cars need tyres...

Had a chat to a neighbour who works at the local airbase. He had a couple of useful ideas. So I found myself an M6 cap screw, a nut, and a couple of M6 x 12mm stainless washers. Locked the washers on the cap screw using the nut and with a drill clamped in the vice, had a miniature lathe so I could use a file to turn down the washers until their outer diameter matched that of the valve's shaft:

End result:

I had the seating surface of the valve turned down to a nice clean 45 degree face again:

Coated the stem of the valve with super hi temp Vertex nickel anti-seize and added one of my custom shims on top:

The shim seated nicely into the recess that the valve stem had cut into the washer, locating it well. I also ensured it was perfectly aligned with the stem by dropping it into the wastegate body's valve guide as I did up the nut that sits above the diaphragm's cup. Tested it and it slides up and down smoothly, no snags. Here you can see the shim at the top of the valve stem, below the large washer that in turn has the diaphragm cup on top of it:

To ensure the top of the alloy diaphragm cup would be ok I added two 316 M6 x 32mm stainless washers on top of it, with dual stainless hi-temp locking washers from ANZOR to secure things. That ain't gonna crap out any time soon.

The spring and its locator cap, with the tiny tensioner locator thing goes on top of that:

The wastegate's cap with its tensioner needle goes on top of it:

And they get clamped together with a V-band. Clever gizmos.

The spring in the wastegate is kinda grunty and it's a PITA trying to press it all together and get the V-band clamp on at the same time if you're doing it by yourself. Good job I had a speed-clamp handy, made it a breeze:

Done.

The result is I have a perfect seating surface on the valve again and it now has about a mm of extra pressure on it when it seats, so it's not going to start bouncing again any time soon. The V-band that secures the wastegate to the seat on the manifold pulls it down tight. I still have an extra 1.5mm thick shim if it ever needs fitting too, but frankly I don't think it's going to leak and blow-by again in any hurry.

Put it all back together and let her run for a good half hour. No more rattles. SWeet...!

While I was at it I decided to make two small adjustments to things. I removed the screamer pipe baffle cos I kinda miss the shotgun sound the car used to make when you changed gear. An unmuffled screamer pipe is actually better for the wastegate and turbo anyway. No rebounding shock-wave. Can readily bolt it back in for a WOF etc if needs be. Though if you go by the letter of the LVVTA law, it's not needed anyway. Hence it got its cert without a baffle.

As the AF gauge isn't working I decided to remove the sensor and wiring so a dyno fella can pop a sensor into the exhaust if the occasion arises. The sensor is in my box of SW bits if it's ever needed, though I'm unsure as to why it wasn't working.

Wires got un-hitched in the cabin:

And a brass bung went in the exhaust, with hi temp anti-seize on the threads:

I'd also found a small coolant leak due to undoing a hose clamp to rotate things away from rubbing on the new starter motor recently. Sorted that too and after a half hour at running temperatures, no more leak. So it seems the old SW is SWeet as, once again. Ready to scare the heck outta all and sundry. Here's to it! Mu ha ha!

[mickeyduck]

I need a facelift AW grille please, in decent condition. Cheers.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=15632

Like the one I gave Isaac:

[mickeyduck]

P.S. the Red Thing is running SWeet again thanks to the wastegate not rattling and not leaking for the first time since I've owned the car (it had always rattled but had recently been getting pretty bad). Took it for a wee test blat with Michelle and yep, it gets off its arse like it did when I first bought it. Yoiks!

[GDII]

POWA!!!!!

That's great to hear! Always nice to have a working car.

[mickeyduck]

One of the things I got around to doing this weekend was making some engine mount inserts for my AW. We did this to Isaac's one 2 years ago and they've done the job real well. Finally got around to casting mine late yesterday.

Turned out that WD40 with Lanolin is the perfect release agent. Spray it on the moulds, leave it to dry for a half hour, then pour the goo into them. Peeled out easy as. Now that I know the perfect release agent, it'd be real easy to replicate things in perfect detail. Hmmm... Front lips made of urethane...? Eyebrows...?

Anyway I made a set of mount inserts, and a puk for my little blue jack (a Torin "Big Red" jack - go figure )

They can harden up over the next wee while but some time I'll have to attack the task of swapping them in. Bit of a mission but it needs doing. Not like you can buy ready to go engine mounts for an AW any more is it?

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On a completely unrelated note I looked into how to preserve interior and exterior vinyl and plastics and NOT have a reflective dash. Seems one of the best ways is to use Mothers Protectant which apparently lasts better than most... They say that after applying it rub it with a cloth to de-gloss it on the dash so it isn't reflective. Cos it's good to see where you're going eh. Looking forward to trying it out.

On an even more unrelated note I fitted some Whiteline camber adjusting bolts to the front of the 86 today. Didn't make any adjustment, just fitted them so I can take it to the alignment guy and dial in the front camber. The 86 has multi-link rear suspension, like an evolved version of double wishbone, and it adjusts nicely under cornering to increase the negative camber from its OEM 1 degrees. But the front suspension has McPherson struts like the MR2 and it has basically no camber at all, and no adjustment. I tend to chew the outer edges of the front tyres off (just the way I drive ha ha) so I'm looking for maybe 0.75 to 1 degree negative camber on the front of the thing, more like on an AW. Hence the camber bolts up front.

Interesting too, the 86 had 1 mm total toe-in on the rear whereas factory spec is 2mm with a max of 5mm. Basically the same as an AW. In my experience 1mm rear toe-in meant the back of the 86 would come around real easy if power was added (and it's not a powerful car). I got it set to 3mm total rear toe-in and now it's totally neutral, almost too much so. Might set it back to 2mm total toe-in on the rear so I can kick it out if it's not making a corner. That's how I've driven it thus far when really going for it on twisty back roads. Understeer at speed? Add throttle and it turns in.
Works well.

Up front the 86 is again like an AW with a factory spec of 0 plus or minus 3 mm total toe-in. B.A.

Anyway the point is if you have an MR2 that oversteers, maybe increase the rear toe-in cos it'll reduce the snap oversteer. Or if the car won't turn in and tends to understeer, maybe reduce the rear toe-in a little. Just 1mm or so in total at a time, then see how it is. But treat the front toe-in as something to be set at factory spec and left there. Then mess with the rear toe-in to adjust the car's handling. That's my opinion anyway, for what it's worth.

After-market suspension for a race car may be a whole different story of course, but that's another matter.

[mickeyduck]

Not being able to go for a decent blat on the weekends during this Covid-19 lockdown is a bit of a downer. I see there's a lot of work getting done on MR2's at the mo. Funny that... It'll be great to see a bunch of cars emerge way more SWeet after the lockdown than they would have been without it.

Found an excuse to take the red thing for a very sedate little blat on Sunday, to drop supplies to my 79 year old father in law. Enjoyed it, even if the loud pedal had to be (largely) avoided so as not to draw undue attention in our ghost-town environment.

But damn does that thing go when you want it to.

Much as I love the big blingy Rays rims I'm still thinking I'd like to have softer feet on it. Higher sidewalls.
Any of you guys run these sizes on your SW?

245/40R17 rear
215/40R17 front

They do 'em in Potenza RE003.
I'm thinking they'd work well on 17 x 8.5 and 17 x 7.5 inch rims. Rota D2 were once made in the right size and offset:
https://www.mr2oc.com/threads/question- ... -5.270996/
https://nicedayz.net/post/3004

I'd like the outside edge of the tyres tucked inside the rolled guards so I can run real low without the tyres rubbing. Bearing in mind the car has 2-piece front rotors that act a bit like spacers pushing the wheels out, so the offset up front might be a challenge.

Finding a 17 inch rim that fits over the front brakes is the next trick. I tried a 17" rim once that did, and another that didn't.

Took yet another look at rims available new and frankly it seems there's very little on offer that'd work.

Logic suggests this isn't the best time to start spending cash on new rims. But I still think the car would benefit.
Finding a set of suitable rims is the thing. Maybe some will come up?

https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?ti ... -245-40r17
https://www.tacomaworld.com/tirecalc?ti ... -215-40r17
https://www.bridgestonetyres.co.nz/tyre ... alin-re003

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On another note there might be a lot of Ford Rangers for sale soon. Personally I'd like to score a '94 or '95 4.5L petrol powered Landcruiser. Preferably with less than 200,000 km on the clock. Maybe one will come along at the right price in the next year or so...? We'll see.

[mknz]

Personally I'd like to score a '94 or '95 4.5L petrol powered Landcruiser.

To tow the mr2s when they break?

Rota D2 were once made in the right size and offset

Please don't get rota wheels, you go on both bumpy roads and the track, I don't think rotas would survive.

[GDII]

Personally I'd like to score a '94 or '95 4.5L petrol powered Landcruiser.

To tow the mr2s when they break?

Rota D2 were once made in the right size and offset

Please don't get rota wheels, you go on both bumpy roads and the track, I don't think rotas would survive.

Rota do make OEM wheels but.... I'd not buy from a company whos CEO openly says, yes we copy other manufactures wheel designs and change them enough to make them legally our own. The manufacturing process is far from the same. Maybe if you were running a drift car and were damaging wheels all the time from hitting things, getting a cheaper wheel is better but you are not in that boat.

[ClanFever]

Those sizes will work perfectly on your SW, I've got very close, 205 40 17 and 235 40 17, I think Phil above has those sizes you quoted (of course you need the right offset, +30 to +35 is great). Anything bigger (rim or tyre wall wise) basically won't fit on the front, and will gear up the car if put on the back - more positive offset will also mean the wheel is more likely to hit the strut before it's on the studs properly, unless you use spacers (yuck) or have adjusties which move the strut further back from the hub, which I can't recall which brands (if any) do

[GDII]

Yes I do run those tyres. They have been excellent.
For you you'd need something like 17x8+30 to clear your coilovers. +35 is fine for standard struts.
17x9+29 is what I run in the rear with half folded lips just to make sure it wouldn't touch. A 235/40 would be better but at the time that size was far more expensive than the 245 and 215 set.

[mickeyduck]

As always I greatly appreciate your feedback guys!

Re the Rotas, I'm not familiar with them at all and when I said I wanted "softer feet" for the SW I certainly didn't mean rubbish rims! Not saying that Rotas are rubbish, just that I do need strong rims because as Michael suggested with its super hard springs and our beloved bumpy back-roads, my SW rims do take a hammering!

Any suggestions on rims that would be worth considering? Reputable brands? To have 17" rims clear the front brakes they will need to have thin walls so the alloy will need to be decent quality.

Can't help thinking a custom made set of steel wheels would work well if they had enough venting and air-flow through them. Dunno if anyone in NZ makes steel wheels...? It would make for a thin wall to get over the brakes, and the offset on the front could be whatever is necessary to keep the outer edges tucked inside the guards. Chrome plated would be SWeet.

Hmmm... https://elitewheelcompany.co.nz/steel_wheels.htm

I guess my other question is, if I find rims that seem ok but have the wrong offset, do manufacturers make them to order or are you typically able to obtain only what's already been manufactured? I imagine it'd be the latter...

I'd actually love to have a set of rims on the SW that looked like my old Holden's rims. Can't believe what those things are worth now. Nice. I scored a set for about $50 back in the day, surface corrosion, spent a weekend polishing them up and they came up mint. I'd love a set of rims that looked like these, even if made out of steel...

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[mickeyduck]

Hmmm... These guys in the USA make some interesting rims. Would need to be custom made to fit and very carefully balanced but an interesting option. They do alloy or steel rims that I like the looks of. Again, no idea on quality...

https://www.procompusa.com/wheels-produ ... &pqa=13700

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[mickeyduck]

Check out this squishy silicone rear-vision mirror gizmo I used to have, before the cat shredded it...
I used to think of it as a JDM smilee but it bears a resemblance to those coronavirus pics you see everywhere now eh.
It even shares the NZ Govt's Covid-19 colour scheme.