Jason's 1990 MR2 project

[JasonFriday13]

Well, after a couple of cars where I have talked up what I am doing, this time I am aiming lower with completely achieveable goals.
The car in question is a 1990 MR2 G-limited rolling shell with a live rego. The donor is my current 1992 MR2 G-limited. Both cars were once owned by EssDub, but now they are mine .

What I am doing:
Gen 3 engine conversion
S54 gearbox, turbo flywheel and clutch cover
Turbo fuel pump, turbo fuel pressure regulator
7M-GTE 440cc topfeed injectors
Link G4 Storm wire-in
Caldina Turbo valve cover
Caldina Turbo coil-on-plug's
Gen 3 turbo intake manifold
Gen 2 NA exhaust cam
Adjustable cam gears, dialed for 24 degrees overlap
Turbo 100A alternator
1992+ Big brake upgrade
Removed aircon lines
Complete swap 1992 NA wiring looms
Swap side window glass for tinted ones
Swap door locks, boot lock and steering column

I already have most of this stuff, I just have to get a wriggle on and do the labour.

The last time you will see this car as is before I strip it down.




After a good clean out:


The front wiring loom removed, I will be using this a reference for my custom aircon fan wiring. The aircon switch will turn it on and off.


The front of the car stripped and ready for it's rebuild.


And some of the goodies:

[Benckj]

Looks like you will have your hands full for a while. Will be following project with interest so thanks for sharing it with us.

[JasonFriday13]

Quick update, last weekend I swapped out the window glass for the tinted ones. But there's a problem. The tinted quarter glass is from a targa top, which is a bit different to the hardtop I have. And they failed the water test . So I have changed my mind and going to swap the untinted glass back in. The donor car is going into the garage today so there will be alot of work to do this weekend, pics to follow soon.

[numbers]

Got another Gen 5 cluster today haha
Not quite as cool as your one though!

[JasonFriday13]

Pictures of current progress.

One bent window mount.


Ready to go back in.





Started stripping the silver car.


Cream of the crop Gen 5 Beams dash .


Wiring for the aircon override switch. That join on the AC amplifier turned out to be wrong so I fixed it.


My bumper foam still has intact mounts for the number plate .


Front loom ready to go in.


Progress on removing the body loom from the silver car.

[JasonFriday13]

Some progress during the week.

Custom bracket for the clutch switch I made up.


The position it's going to be welded on.


After draining the brake system, I removed the brake master cylinder. Gen 1 vs Gen 2.


The following day, I welded it up at work with the TIG. Don't get to use the tig much at work, I mostly use MIG and ARC welding.


And a box of goodies from Toyota. This joins the other box of parts to make a cambelt kit and complete oil seal swap (minus the oil pump gasket and dizzy seal).

[JasonFriday13]

Due to all the rain last week we had a mini crisis with a slow leak of water in the basement. Saturday was spend clearing all my stuff out.
Got started with the front end suspension on Sunday.

Shocks from the red car.


Drained the powersteering on the red car.


One job that's actually finished.

[JasonFriday13]

I didn't get as much done on the car as I would have liked over christmas (due to chocolate, fizzy and sleeping aka relaxing). Still, spent 5 hours doing this.

Swapped power steering racks, and assembled entire front suspension including brakes.


Also installed the front loom. Still have to install the clutch components before finishing the frunk off.


New Years weekend is three days of work. I plan to get the front end finished, along with the fuel tank swap.

[Benckj]

Good progress all the same. I also have my 98 to bits while I install new suspension bushes and play around with exhaust. Nice to follow others projects as it seems to inspire me.

[JasonFriday13]

Well, I achieved my goal of fuel tank swap and frontend finished, right before tea time .

The last of the air-con lines.


Old fuel tank out, removed about 10 litres of fuel (free!). The other car has more than half a tank .


The turbo tank ready to go in.


The clutch line installed. Also had to use the brake line and mounts from the donor as it's a different shape.


Clutch master cylinder installed.


Clutch pedal also installed.


Fuel tank and lines installed.


And the frontend nearly finished. One of the mounts on the bumper for the foglights uses these stupid plastic clipon threads and I can't tighten them up enough, so I will take the bumper to work and weld on some M5 nuts to fix the problem.


I also investigated the oil leak on the Gen 3, and it looks like I will have to replace the oil pump gasket. I'm taking no chances and putting high temp rtv on both sides of the gasket too.

Next up is the interior and wiring looms.

[*84vvt]

. I'm taking no chances and putting high temp rtv on both sides of the gasket too.

RTV is a no no it can get squashed in to the oil pump and cause problems
if both mating faces are clean and flat there should be no need for anything else but the gasket.

[EssDub]

. I'm taking no chances and putting high temp rtv on both sides of the gasket too.

RTV is a no no it can get squashed in to the oil pump and cause problems
if both mating faces are clean and flat there should be no need for anything else but the gasket.

This.

The gasket that you will get will self-seal when it heats up. the tolerances in the pump are soo fine that if you get even the slightest bit of goop in the rotor, its game over...

[Benckj]

Agree on above advice. Save the rtv for the sump gasket and leave well away from pump.

Never had the need to drop a MR fuel tank and following your thread I hope I never will. Looks like a total PITA to do. Take it the tanks are the same but you switched because of diff internals?

[JasonFriday13]

I switched it because it's a pump from a turbo version, ie future-proofing in case I want to add anything down the track.

[edit] Also, it wasn't that hard to do, I did it on my own. Just time consuming that's all.
Thanks for the heads up about the oil pump, looks like I will just put a blob on the join where the sump bolts to, so it doesn't leak out between the sump and the bottom of the gasket. I'm paranoid about oil leaks and I want to make sure first time round that it won't leak. I really don't feel like pulling the motor back out when it starts leaking on first start up.

[EssDub]

Thanks for the heads up about the oil pump, looks like I will just put a blob on the join where the sump bolts to, so it doesn't leak out between the sump and the bottom of the gasket. I'm paranoid about oil leaks and I want to make sure first time round that it won't leak. I really don't feel like pulling the motor back out when it starts leaking on first start up.

its parts like this that have you fighting inside over 'do i seal it or not blah blah' that catch people out. Specific parts - not just for the lubrication system - have specific ways in which you must use them in order for them to do their jobs. Sometimes, ya just gotta put down that silicone tube and walk away LOL