Another Bite Size Update for All You Turkeys

I’m currently 30,000 feet up between Colorado and Seattle, over Wyoming, and decided I would give you dedicated Attackers another bite size update to work on while you digest your pumpkin pie.

We’re still back in September with the car, so I’ll pick it up there and get you up to speed.  We had just fixed a leaky radiator, installed a slick new intake, and the car was coming together in time for the annual MR2 The Beach meet up in Ocean Shores, WA. 

But, we still had a nagging boost creep issue.  I also had this issue on my old billet ct20b (chaulk it up to lots of flow mods in the intake and exhaust and higher boost), which I remedied with some DIY wastegate porting.  I still had that exhaust housing, so I decided to switch it with my newer ATS Racing BlackJack CT21.  Which of course means... pulling the turbo.  My now least favorite job on this car.

Since we’ve gone through the turbo swap rigimore ol’ more than a few times this year, I decided to skip through taking mundane pics and time myself on turbo removal and install… again.  My old PR was like 2.5 hours to remove… I did it in a little more than an hour this time!

The turbo with it’s “new” exhaust housing ready to swap. 

Now, we obviously have to remove the ATS housing… which as we all remember, can totally ruin your turbo if you bend/break/chip anything with the exhaust wheel.  So, while pretending the turbo was a nuclear bomb, I carefully removed the housing with 90s action movie style suspense.  "Cut the red wire, NO the green wire!"

Since this turbo was rebuilt not 500 miles ago, it actually came apart pretty easily.  You can breathe easy now.  

Oem wastegate on the left, DIY ported one on the right.  I was tempted to port it out more, but the flapper just barely covered the wastegate ports, so I let it be.  Turbo was reinstalled and we we're now boosting without creep.

As I put everything back together, I’ve made a habit of testing for boost leaks before a test drive.  Awhile ago I fashioned my own boost leak tester out of plumbing parts from my local ACE, and it’s been an invaluable tool to track down leaks, and only $10!

It’s just a coupling to match my turbo compressor inlet (2.75”?), PVC cap, and I drilled and threaded in a quick air disconnect.  Turn your compressor down to 30 psi (150 would be downright dangerous), and hook it up. 

While my intercooler piping was holding strong at 30ish PSI, there were all sorts of small leaks from the throttle body area.  I took that apart and discovered my throttle body support bracket O-ring was pretty much shot.

I don't know, maybe a raccoon got in there sometime.  Instead of paying (probably too much) for a new one, I went with the mechanics special, FIPG!

FIPG!  Seal your oil pan, remedy leaky valve covers, fix boost leaks, brush your teeth with it, put it on toast!  It really does it all.

24 hours later.  Back at 30psi.  No leaks!  You can see the coupler ballooning under that kind of pressure.  Throttle response felt crisper than ever. 

But wait, I had one more mod before 2 The Beach!  One I’ve been dreaming up for awhile now. 

The combination of my Autopista rep wing (thanks Campos), homemade gurney flap, and F40 engine lid (seriously, thanks Campos), made rearview vision is what you would call… non existent.

My side mirrors, while looking really badass and saving a ton of weight, don’t provide much of a field of vision either.  So, let’s put in a rear view camera.

Since I was going to use this while driving, the typical rear view camera back up lines weren’t wanted.  This is surprisingly difficult to find with online camera setups.  After thoroughly researching Amazon reviews, I found this camera and screen for something ridiculous cheap like $35.  Thanks China!

My original plan was to remove the trunk lock cylinder and mount the camera there, pretty slick huh?  I never use the key to pop the trunk so let’s ditch that cylinder and fit the camera there to hide perfectly within the center panel keyhole.

Until you realize the lock cylinder is integral to the release latch for the trunk…  If you hack that up, the release likely will not work… then you’re really screwed trying to open the trunk (been there before… it's not ideal)

Hmmmmm so now what.  After awhile of brainstorming ideas, the lightbulb clicked on!  Well, actually it clicked off.

Who really needs two reverse lights?  Hell, my last car never had any working ones, and I only hit small children and yippy dogs a few times.  But now we need some sort of panel to fill that space…  wait a minute, I have some extra carbon from my muffler heat shield! 

I love when these plans come together in the garage using whatever I have on hand.

Using some 100mph tape, I attached the carbon panel to the taillight panel (this is likely all a temporary fitment, "cooler" mods coming this winter).  Looks pretty slick though, eh?  Now to wire it up.

The camera in the trunk needed a power source.  I thought about tapping into the tail light harness, but then remembered when I gutted the power antenna, and another light bulb went off.

We ditched the antenna for weight reduction, remember race car?  But I still have the antenna cable running all the way to the radio area.  I HATE running wires through the firewall/armrest/console area to the front of the car, and would much rather use the cavity where my current engine harness runs.  Let's pull this antenna wire out and at the same time pull the camera wiring harness through.

After some creative language and yanking... the harness was through the rear quarter cavity and into the main cabin.  Now to fish it along the door sill area to the stereo console where we are going to wire up the display.  For powering the camera, I tapped into the power antenna harness for the key on 12V ACC.  That way the camera is always on when the car is.  

It would be simple to also power the display off of the ACC power.  But... the idea of always having the display on in the dead of night sounded... distracting.  So, let's simply add a switch.  The camera and display will always be on with the ACC, but with a switch to kill the display when not needed.  

The switch wired in.  Left is rearview, right is intercooler fan.  I've since labeled each.  All the racecar looks.  

We'll also need a bracket.  Easy enough.

Bent and painted.  

Since I'm not 100% positive on the screen placement, we'll just double side tape it in place.  I know, a double din dvd player would be way sleeker, but this was in my budget, lighter, and simpler.  

TaDa!  Better vision, and all the WEC/LeMans racecar feels.

Now, it was finally time for the annual MR2 The Beach event in Ocean Shores, WA.  It's a great weekend event with a meet, poker run, bbq, and party on the beach.  Typically 35-50 cars show up, and this year was no different.  MR2s came from Washington, Oregon, California, and British Columbia.  It's great to catch up with MR2 owners every year, see what they've upgraded, and meet newcomers.  I took a lot of pictures at the official meet, and then realized my camera lens was dirty.  After the BBQ, I snapped a few more.  

A former MR2 owner now has has this gorgeous Alpha 4C.  The car sounds incredible, and pulls off it's looks and stature very nicely.  Would I pay $100k for one?  No.  But we'll see what the used market is like in a few years... you know, when Italian sportscars are at their highest reliability.

Here's about a third the cars that attended.  Some are rough, some are concours worthy, some have stock NA power, and some are 400+ whp.  It's a great mix of owners.  

Some weren't even MR2s!  It's all good though.  Ivan used to have a SW20, and now with his S2000 (which was very well done by the way), he still came and had a great weekend.  

You've probably seen Russ' 2GR car on the internets.  It's pretty close to the perfect streetcar.  His car has been on The Smoking Tire, featured in japanese car mags, and everything in between.  The TRD colors are awesome.  I want that.

Three's a crowd.  Not really though.  These cars were all nicely done.  The middle SW20 I believe had a forged engine, with a big ol' Garret turbo in there.  Makes me want a big turbo... again.

The coolest thing about Ocean Shores?  The beach is a legal roadway.  You drive right on from the end of main street.  Having been to this event 3 times before, I had never ventured to the beach road.  Well, after the BBQ, the sunset was looking too good to ignore, and the wife and I thought we'd see if we could get my car stuck in the sand.  It was worth the risk.

As you can see, the sand was firm.  There were a lot of people out taking in the sunset.  A really cool expereince.  

The wife even had a excellent time all weekend.  Don't tell her, but she's starting to like these events.

Ivan came out to the beach too.  Wish I was a better photographer, black cars and crazy light is tough to capture if your a noob.  

It was the best 2 The Beach I've attended.  Big thanks to Martin and Lyle for putting it on.  Can't wait for next year.  

What's next with the car?... well, a LOT.  Another update soon, or not so soon.  

Also, it's still Black Friday weekend, so check out some of the great shops supporting Apex Attack!

- Wilhelm Raceworks - pick up a big brake kit or suspension geometry kit.  

- RacerX Fabrication - TONS of deals on SW20 products.

- Rat2 Motorsports - Big deals on swaps and used parts.

- Campos Sites - All the cool MR2 aero mods, he still makes them.