tw2's mr2 - the journey to a clean 2

[tw2]

Ceiling is done, the headliner is back up.

[tw2]

Ok so I have pretty much finished with the sound deadening this weekend. I took it for a drive and lost some more dB. It does make a noticeable difference. Music can be a lot quieter now.

[tw2]

[tw2]

My average was 79-80dB on chip seal at 105 km/hr before starting. It was pretty difficult to hear the stereo. I replaced the window seals and dynamatted the doors which dropped it hugely to less than 70dB average. After this I am sitting at 62dB average under the same conditions. Because I didn't test every single stage I can't say how much of a difference everything makes. I still have not put the right B pillar trim back in or the box behind the seat as I am waiting on some new toyota clips (the repco/SCA ones are garbage).

Anyway... am I glad I did it- yes. Was it worth it- probably not. Would I do it again- yes but not in the same way. I probably wouldn't bother dropping the headliner and doing the roof. I would not have bought the thicker vinyl mat, I would have only used the thinner version to make the install much easier. I used up every single scrap of dynamat which was a huge pack. The car already comes with sound deadening material on the floor pan and some on the "transmission tunnel" in lumps. The floor mats also block sound as does the seat. So you are better to focus your efforts on the quarter (B) panels and around the edges of the floor pan if you don't want to do everything. The firewall already has excellent stock material so I only did dynamat behind. I can't see any reason to add anything extra.

The carpet fits ok, no one would notice but the sides had to be trimmed a little and there is some slight bowing out. I suspect it will slowly settle as the material underneath gets used to its new shape. I left new bottles of oils and other assorted weights around the edges for periods of time to help.

Ignoring the effort am I happy with the improvement- yes I am, it is slightly less than I was hoping for but it is very obvious and significant. I noticed many people on the internet complain about the lack of improvement with just dynamat or similar so it is very important to still use a sound blocked like the vinyl and this did help a lot. As Jim pointed out, I think tyres have a bit part to play as does the engine speed. At 100km/hr you would be much better off if you could increase your 5th gear ratio so you are cruising around 2500rpm. If I need a new clutch I will look at getting a 5th gear from a corolla diesel S54. I will post back once I have installed the last pieces of the puzzle and tested again.

[Benckj]

Good job completing and follow up report. I’m getting a little bit enthusiastic to finish mine now. Need to do the doors and possibly a bit more attention to lower B pillar area. I also want to insulate above the rear wheel liners toward front as I can hear road noise transmitt from that area.

[rajkumar]

Nice work.

[MIKEP]

Good Job Thomas I was wondering how it would turn out. Thanks for the write up

[tw2]

Thanks guys, I should have my toyotapartsdeal delivery this week and can post up the final result soon.

Pity we live in different ends of the country Jim as it would have been good to compare noise levels.

[tw2]

Stuff arrived. Quarter panel replaced and the storage bin behind the drivers seat. Will get out for a drive sometime in the next few days. I found some of these parts hard to find so this may help someone.

[tw2]

Most of those parts were between US$1-2 each. Some were less than $1. I wasn't 100% sure about the interior clips so I only got 4, I will have to order a whole pile next time. Here is the text so anyone can find this while googling.

Part No.: 90467-08104-03 CLIP Replaced by: 90467-08104-P0
Part No.: 90467-07041-11 CLIP,QTR.INSIDE TRIM Replaced by: 90467-07041-C0
Part No.: 53879-14010 RETAINER, FR FENDER
Part No.: 90159-60403 SCREW, W/WASHER TAPP Replaced by: 90159-A0012
Part No.: 90179-06104 NUT
Part No.: 90467-07072-22 CLIP
Part No.: 67921-17030 RETAINER, FR DOOR SC
Part No.: 90119-08560 BOLT, W/WASHER Replaced by: 90080-11555
Part No.: 90179-10103 NUT
Part No.: 90950-01150 PLUG, HOLE Replaced by: 90950-01882

[tw2]

It's been a while since I have done anything major with the mr2. I got a bit distracted with the other car:

I finally got around to installing the new steering wheel which I have had for months. It was extremely easy, the momo 7715 boss kit was a 10 minute install. No cutting and complicated wiring, just plug in two wires with blade terminals and the metal back ring of the boss kit works perfectly with the spring loaded horn contact. Of course the steering column covers are not available anymore and broke despite me knowing they were very fragile and being careful, they are at the plastic welders currently.

It was a huge upgrade to the feel of the car and the stock one would sometimes be a bit slippery being very smooth, not good with manual steering!

[afot]

Really nice work Tom, exceptional effort!!! Totally informative... I have bought some of that - supposedly "lead" deading matt out of china to put in my SW - don't think it's lead though, not heavy enough at all... + could it really be lead in this day'n'age...!!!
Where did you get the 7715 boss kit from???
Although i think the latter models ( my car a 96') have a different horn connection set up - i have tried for many years to get a boss on ebay & have found them but only for the earlier SW's....
I very cleverly took my O.E.M non air bag ( non air bag wheel for later model J.D.M cars was standard...) wheel off & took close up photo's & sent to seller to check before actual purchase...
I have a beautiful Momo "Apache" model wheel I'd love to fit BUT can't source a suitable boss kit...
I found your thread very very useful, thanks very much for the AWesome information.

[tw2]

No problem. I got it from ebay, actually from Lithuania, they had the cheapest price with free shipping. It took about 2-3 weeks to get here. I just searched momo 7715 and there are lots of listings, they used them for several toyota models, the one I got was actually listed for a hilux or some other toyota 4 wheel drive. The steering wheel came from a seller in Estonia. Very cheap shipping from there too. The only difference between the two models is the 7715 has the horn ring which I believe you are correct, later models don't have this setup, and the other one (7728 I think) requires you to mess around with the wiring which I have done on a previous mr2 also. My last two also had aftermarket wheels with working horns, a 90 g-limited and a 94 gts, neither used the horn ring style setup of this one.

I seem to remember there was a 3 or 4 pin connector at the base which had the positive for the horn (it spun around with the stock wheel) and it had to be wired manually to the horn button and then grounded from there. It was a pain to do but worked fine, that was some years ago though.

[afot]

Yes Tom you are correct, the later models have a 3 pin - male - from memory - conector block on the column & the wheel/horn button has the female block with wire to horn button.
I searched high & low for ages for a boss to no avail... I even still have a boss saved on my eBay account a very nice short machined aluminum one made by NRG listing # 172303537957 but that aint gonna work on my 96 G'ltd.
Any body else got any ideas??? As i say I've got a mint little Go Cart of a wheel to install just need a God damn boss!!!
I knew i got a boss with the Momo wheel - I've had a wee look see since last message - ( i bought off of Trademe years ago from a set builder...) & it is actually a 7715 model one. Hoping it will fit my st162 coupe!!! But have never tried even looking in to that yet. It seems old Momo bosses are hard to find nowadays...
I'd really be interested in hearing what your car is like on the road now you really went quite "hard out" on the reduction effort!
I've got some noise canceling ear buds ( Audio Technica brand ones at $120!!! ) i run with a portable Mini Disc player & that solves the 5th gear 3200rpm drone at 100kph!!! Untill i plumb in my double din Alpine MD head unit.

[tw2]

I possibly have the same earbuds. I have new exhaust mounts on order and will replace the engine mounts later. I think that will help with some of the vibration. The old ones must be very dry and hard by now.

So neither style boss physically bolts up? (Ignoring the wiring issue).