mr2-digest Monday, December 22 1997 Volume 02 : Number 013 MR2 Mr2 setup MR2 Dino vs mr2 MR2 turbo MR2 SC Registry Re: MR2 MKII Turbo - What Fuel Cut? Re: REWARD FOR FINDING ME AN MR2 Re: MR2 Midwest Mr2 Members!! Important Re: MR2 MKII Turbo - What Fuel Cut? Re: MR2 Mr2 setup Re: MR2 Mr2 setup MR2 Mark I reliability MR2 thanx randy/boost controller MR2 Re: need for speed se Re: MR2 Mark I reliability MR2 MK1 window tinting MR2 MK1 wiper motor? Re: MR2 VIN Numbers...MkII MR2/MKI: New owner questions Re: MR2 Mark I reliability MR2 Cool X-mas present ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 21:09:49 -0500 From: "Mike" Subject: MR2 Mr2 setup This is a multi-part message in MIME format. - ------=_NextPart_000_0004_01BD0F1D.F01024E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Hello All, I'm a proud new owner of a 91 Mr2 NA. I'm looking for suggestions, = opinions, or the like, on setup for the mr2. (Ive been trying to = convince my wife for 4 years to let me get one as a 3rd car) i finally = won! anyhow, i'm looking for suggestions on alignment setup for solo & = occational track, the best performance exhaust (or lack of) to gain the = most low end preferably, and any other "hints" or tricks within stock = mods allowed (SCCA CS). Thanks for your time, Mike - ------=_NextPart_000_0004_01BD0F1D.F01024E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
Hello All,
 
I'm a proud new owner of a 91 Mr2 = NA.  I'm=20 looking for suggestions, opinions, or the like, on setup for the = mr2.  (Ive=20 been trying to convince my wife for 4 years to let me get one as a 3rd = car) i=20 finally won!  anyhow,  i'm looking for suggestions on = alignment setup=20 for solo & occational track, the best performance exhaust (or lack = of) to=20 gain the most low end preferably, and any other "hints" or = tricks=20 within stock mods allowed (SCCA CS).
 
Thanks for your time,
 
Mike
- ------=_NextPart_000_0004_01BD0F1D.F01024E0-- ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 19:03:36 EST From: Ace123JIM Subject: MR2 Dino vs mr2 Group, Years ago I owned a Dino. It was a 246GTS, blood red, tan leather, and beautiful from every angle. I bought it in Jacksonville, FL from a banker who kept it in top shape. It was one of the most gorgeous machines I had ever laid eyes on, and is probably one of the many reasons I find the mr2 mkll irresistible. I spent hours looking at it, taking pictures of it, waxing it and showing it off. I have no doubt that some Japanese designer once spent months studying it's form before sitting down to draw the mkll. But that is as far as the comparison goes. The Dino is a car whose beauty is only skin deep! I probably said this once before in an earlier post a year ago. I had a friend who owned a Dino several years before I bought mine. I told him that I was thinking about buying one. His comment was, "Well, obviously Jim, you haven't had enough grief in your life". Over the 2 years I owned the Dino I came to know the full meaning of the word "grief". I won't go back over all the mechanical, electrical, and body problems I dealt with during those 24 months, but I have never had any car with poorer design, or construction than the Dino. It was a living nightmare. Try getting one repaired in your average sized town. For a real shock, price a tuneup. Check out some parts' prices at your authorized Ferrari dealer. But, when the initial infatuation fades, thank our Japanese brothers who picked the world's best design features and rolled many of them into our beloved, dependable, and affordable mkll's. Thanks......I feel better now. Jim Griffin 93T "The Beast" ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 19:35:21 -0500 From: "RONALD K. PARKER" Subject: MR2 turbo Hi guys I'm new to the digest for forgive me if this question has been asked. I recently talked to a guy at Turbo Auto Diesel, who says they can take the factory turbo of the MR2 and enlarge the impeller housing and put in a larger impeller which would increase air flow 30%. My question is has anyone out there had this mod done and if so were the results worth the $450 dollar cost. thanks.... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 18:28:57 -0600 From: "Steve Hoult" Subject: MR2 SC Registry Due to a problem with my Web Host, the MR2 SC Registry is temporarily unreachable. As soon as I get it sorted out I will post the results. This looks like it will at least be after Christmas..... Steve Hoult '89 SC ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 15:49:51 -0700 From: Christopher Heiser Subject: Re: MR2 MKII Turbo - What Fuel Cut? At 2:53 PM -0800 12/22/97, James S. King wrote: >Well... it didn't. Instead of the stock 9 PSI I now had 14 PSI. I have a >quality Stillen 0-25 PSI gauge, so these numbers aren't guesses. >Question: I thought the fuel cut was supposed to happen at ~12 PSI. > What's the official spec for when this circuit is supposed to kick in? the 12psi fuel cut number is slightly bogus. this number is for relatively standard temp and pressure, namely sea level and about 80 deg F. in colorado, at 5000 ft and 80 deg F, my car would boost to 16 or 17 psi before the fuel cut. in fact, i set it while i was in colorado, and by the time i got to california i had rolled it back quite a bit due to hitting the fuel cut periodically. the best way to test the fuel cut is to put the car in 5th gear at about 45 MPH and gun it. this will spool the turbo the quickest and produce the greastest spike (if any) as well as run at max boost for longer periods of time. you *will* know when you hit the fuel cut. you car will no longer allow positive pressure, and you must turn the car off and on again before it will function normally. -ch ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 15:48:19 -0008 From: TerrySaltzman@home.com Subject: Re: REWARD FOR FINDING ME AN MR2 > > I WILL GIVE A $25 BONUS IF IT IS SILVER!!! ardell, that would be "Steel Mist Grey." you are correct it is a "bonus." dividing the list further with my "bonus" - terry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 17:57:01 -0600 From: "Steve Hoult" Subject: Re: MR2 Midwest Mr2 Members!! Important >Whoa whoa whoa... I think we better get some kind of organizational scheme >here before everybody just starts making the midwest mr2 page, etc. I do >have a complete listing of everyone interested and it seems to be a pretty >fair amount of people. If any of you are wondering, it looks like Scott >McBurney and I are going to be trying to plan something in the spring >(assuming he doesn't move to Florida :( ). Regardless of if he does move, >there should still be some kind of trip planned. Anyways, it seems to me >premature to set anything up at this point. Afterall, none of us have even >gotten together for alomost a year and a half. Well when you decide on a get together, let me know. While I'm in Tennessee, my original home was Michigan and I make frequent trips back there. Besides Southern Indiana is only 3.25 hours from Nashville. Get togethers in the Chicago, IL or west coast of MI are aslo do able. Steve Hoult '89 SC (have supercharger, will travel) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 10:06:21 -0400 From: bagdon@rust.net (S and K Bagdon) Subject: Re: MR2 MKII Turbo - What Fuel Cut? >I installed the wastegate restrictor on my '93 Turbo as per Marc Summers' >technical note found on the website. This went smoothly enough. Out of >curiosity I decided to drive the car WITHOUT installing an FCD (or trying >the Team Toyota Europe zener diode fix) to see how the factory Fuel Cut >circuit worked. >Well... it didn't. Instead of the stock 9 PSI I now had 14 PSI. I have a >quality Stillen 0-25 PSI gauge, so these numbers aren't guesses. >Question: I thought the fuel cut was supposed to happen at ~12 PSI. > What's the official spec for when this circuit is supposed to kick in? > I'm worried that the fuel cut circuit in my car may be kaputt and that I'm >running with NO overboost protection whatsoever. I believe that the fuel cut-off requires overboost for a certain period of time (2 seconds?). you can go way over boost without kicking in the oem fuel cut-off, but not if you do it for too long. Steve B. bagdon@rust.net (h) sbagdon@ford.com (w) Katharine aNd Steve (KNS) http://www.rust.net/~bagdon '91 MR2 Turbo (for sale), '85 MR2 SC Twincharger (project) Mk I/Mk II parts (http://www.rust.net/~bagdon/mr2/parts) ICQ#4280372, AIM#sdbagdon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 10:08:51 -0400 From: bagdon@rust.net (S and K Bagdon) Subject: Re: MR2 Mr2 setup >Hello All, >
Hello All,
Please, no HTML. Thanks. Steve B. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 19:45:29 -0800 From: Randy Chase Subject: Re: MR2 Mr2 setup For setup info on the 91/92 MR2 for autox in SCCA CS, see: http://www.autocross.com/autoc/toyota.htm Any other questions, feel free to ask. CS next year is going to have a bunch of NA MR2s. I have now gotten asked by 7-8 people in the last 2 months that have just gotten an NA Mr2. One of them intend on no lower than 4th place nationally. 8) Randy Chase '91 MR2 NA CS ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 16:58:24 -0800 From: karim.marouf@cancom.com Subject: MR2 Mark I reliability How long will a Mark I engine last if it is properly taken care of (but not babied). I'm thinking about getting an '89 with 150K miles on it. The car is in showroom condition cosmetically and it runs great, but I wonder how long I can expect the engine to last until it needs a rebuild. How about the transaxle? Other than the front rotors on early cars, are there any components that are known to give trouble? Karim '86 MR2 '67 GT6 and MGB-GT ***************************************************** Karim Marouf Canon Communications LLC Tel: 310-392-5509 Fax: 310-392-4920 Internet Address: karim.marouf@cancom.com Home Page: http://www.cancom.com ***************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 20:53:58 -0008 From: TerrySaltzman@home.com Subject: MR2 thanx randy/boost controller got my long-overdue boost controller today. will "strap it on" soon. (maybe race santa in a few dayz). my sincerest thanx goes to randy chase for taking the time to call john @Mr2PP and giving him an earfull about "the situation." would not have happened without you, true blue. owe you lunch again (you must be getting phat off my thinning wallet!) public recog. is, what public recog. does - terry ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 21:00:25 -0008 From: TerrySaltzman@home.com Subject: MR2 Re: need for speed se you know i cannot recall which version of the "SE" it was. ill check into it tomorrow to make sure.as far as the thrustmaster goes will double ckit also. thanx for all the info - terry > > i think the wheel you're looking at comes without pedals. dont do it. buy > > a t2 and add shift buttons on the wheel. way better. > > > > dano > Hey terry, you said the game with the wheel is "need for speed se"? Not > NFS_2_SE? Just "SE" is the improved version of the old game, "NFS". You want > the improved version of "NFS2", right? (which would be "NFS2SE") If not, you'd > be downgrading to an older game, no? Geez, I think I'm getting confused with > all these abbreviations. Hmm, to make it clearer for all, to date there are: > > Need For Speed (NFS) > Need For Speed SE (NFSSE) > Need For Speed 2 (NFS2) > Need For Speed 2 SE (NFS2SE) > > As far as wheel/pedal setups go, I will soon own one. I saw a Best Buy ad > today and they have the top-of-the-line Thrustmaster (sold as the "NASCAR" or > "F1", depending on where you live...but the same product) on sale for > $99.99!!! Only a couple of bucks more than a T2 and much better feel and > quality, IMO. > > I'm also going to start hunting for a 3dfx card companion to utilize all of > NFS2SE's capabilities. Any suggestions? I already have a 2mb rage card, I just > need the 3dfx chipset. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 23:25:48 -0600 From: "Andrew P. Tasi" Subject: Re: MR2 Mark I reliability I can tell you at least how long a 4A-GE will last *without* proper care. The previous owner of my Mk-I had the car from 30,000 to 149,00. He never changed the coolant or the timing belt, and was pretty lax with oil changes. And when I brought the car home (on flatbed since it wasn't running) and performed an oil change, just a little over a quart drained from the crankcase. Now at 154,000 miles, the car is still going strong, the driveline is tight, although oil consumption is about a quart every 750-1000 miles. The only major unscheduled work I had to put into it was the alternator (and driver's window, but that's another story). Given this, I would *speculate* the engine should do at least 250,000 miles if maintained well. My $0.02, Andrew P. Tasi Black '88 MR2 T-top - -----Original Message----- From: karim.marouf@cancom.com To: mr2-interest@validgh.com Date: Monday, December 22, 1997 10:38 PM Subject: MR2 Mark I reliability >How long will a Mark I engine last if it is properly >taken care of (but not babied). I'm thinking about getting an '89 with > 150K miles on it. The car is in showroom condition cosmetically and > it runs great, but I wonder how long I can expect the engine to > last until it needs a rebuild. How about the transaxle? >Other than the front rotors on early cars, are there any components > that are known to give trouble? > >Karim >'86 MR2 >'67 GT6 and MGB-GT >***************************************************** >Karim Marouf >Canon Communications LLC >Tel: 310-392-5509 >Fax: 310-392-4920 >Internet Address: karim.marouf@cancom.com >Home Page: http://www.cancom.com >***************************************************** ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 21:32:15 PST From: "Todd klosnick" Subject: MR2 MK1 window tinting Hello, Has anyone out there tinted the windows on a MK1? I want to tint the two small triangular pieces and the back window. I have the tint but I'm not sure of the methods to use. I want to do it right. I've also heard that the defroster on the rear window could be a problem. If anyone could guide me through the steps that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!! PS. I want to know everything from which method to cut the tint to applying it. Todd 87 MR2 ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 21:37:08 PST From: "Todd klosnick" Subject: MR2 MK1 wiper motor? Hello, I have a 87 MR2. I had to drive in a heavy downpour today so I had my wipers on full blast. After I parked the car to go shopping I came back. On the way home I had my wipers on full blast again but this time the full power was about half as fast as the previous time I had them on full blast. What could be wrong. Do I need a new motor or am I just overheating it. This seemed to happen to me before but the problem corrected itself. I'm not sure of the problem here? Anyone got an answer? Thanks Todd ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 00:35:50 EST From: MR2Turbo91 Subject: Re: MR2 VIN Numbers...MkII In a message dated 97-12-22 16:54:33 EST, t_pummill@hicam-msd.hitachi.com writes: << Also, seems to indicate that our cars were 1025 apart. I thought there were only 900 of these cars sold in the US in 1994 (source MR2.com faq) thanks... troy >> maybe they don't just build US cars on the line, but produce 300 US models, then 300 Japan models, and so forth... It seems to meet the demand in all the markets they would have to rotate asymbly.... Austin T ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 22 Dec 1997 23:50:22 -0600 (CST) From: "Muhammad Ali M. Bawany" Subject: MR2/MKI: New owner questions Hello everyone, I recently purchased an 86 MR2 with 129k on the clock. I have read a lot of good information on mr2.com, but still had a few questions: 1. Is Valvoline Durablend 10W-30 a good oil for use in this car (for use in Texas)? I looked at the oil FAQs but I seem to have read somewhere that the 4A-GE likes thicker oil. How about NAPA Gold oil filter? I will move to the Toyota oil filter at the next oil change. 2. The car has very high idle at startup (~ 2k - 3k rpm). It keeps to this level for a long time (at least 2 minutes after I start driving in addition to warming it up for 30 seconds). I would be grateful for any clues on fixing this, as all cars I have come across come down to "warm" idle within 30 secs of *startup*. 3. Are there any issues in replacing the valve cover gaskets? The Haynes procedure seemed moderately difficult (I am an amateur), but are there any additional tips for this procedure? 4. What do you guys think of AMSOIL reusable air filter as compared to the Toyota stock filter? I do not want to get K&N etc just yet. 5. Spark plugs were ~$8/- each at the dealer (Lou Fusz Toyota)! Any suggestions for aftermarket replacements that work as well (Bosch Plats or NGK Plats for example) but are cheaper? 6. Is the engine compartment meant to be this dusty? On my MR2, it looks as if everything is coated with dust. The front trunk is quite spotless by comparison. Is this normal? 7. The steering wheel looks quite bad. Toyota replacements appeared to be around $550/- at least (local dealer, vinyl steering). Aftermarket "Grant" steering was around $60/- with kit. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for your help and sorry for the long post. Sincerely, Ali. ------------------------------ Date: 23 Dec 1997 05:55:21 -0000 From: Felix Morley Finch Subject: Re: MR2 Mark I reliability >>In article <003f01bd0f63$3ba83420$35df0bce@ad-astra>, "Andrew P. Tasi" writes: > Given this, I would *speculate* the engine should do at least 250,000 miles > if maintained well. At least 271,040 as of this evening :-) - -- ... _._. ._ ._. . _._. ._. ___ .__ ._. . .__. ._ .. ._. Felix Finch: scarecrow repairman & rocket surgeon / felix@crowfix.com PGP = 91 B3 94 7C E9 E8 76 2D E1 63 51 AA A0 48 89 2F I've found a solution to Fermat's Last Theorem but I see I've run out of room o ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 23 Dec 1997 00:03:09 -0600 From: "Andrew P. Tasi" Subject: MR2 Cool X-mas present Hey everybody, My fiancée bought me a real cool little Christmas present (opened early) for my MR2. It is a "Auto Seat Back Organizer" from Brookstone - stock number 178525. If you haven't seen one, check it out. It's like a backpack for a car seat, with one adjustable strap going around the headrest posts. It has six pockets, including two zipper and one see-through mesh, and was just perfect for holding all the stuff that was piled into my glovebox, but now everything has it's own compartment. Given that the MR2s don't have a lot of storage capacity, I found this very handy and thought one of you might too. Smitten with a sweet woman that supports my MR2-habit, Andrew P. Tasi Black '88 MR2 T-top ------------------------------ End of mr2-digest V2 #13