new exhaust -

for the car not me!!! Anyhow I had the chance of a Mongoose aftermarket jobbie so I had it put on in a straight swap for the std tubby exhaust. Er well the Mongoose was certainly throaty but more noticable was the drone it produced! My god was it awful. It was always loud and between 50-70mph the drone was enough to drown out the stereo.

The clincher came when during the highland drive I removed the t-bars and I couldn't believe the noise. I mean it sounded good on full chat which is fine, but just casually bend swinging along the road was too much. It had to go.

I found a Fujistubo Giken Twin for sale on IMOC so I bought it. Now it had a couple of dents on the silencer but nothing that looked too serious and knowing this beforehand I still chose to buy it. This exhaust is known to be pretty quiet so I bought it with this in mind. Also, it was fully stainless so no worries about that ole rust issue.

When it arrived I couldn't believe the size of the outlets! Must be 4inch and I'm thinking no way is this gonna be quiet. Anyway, I'd bought it so what the heck might as well fit it. Can't be worse than the Mongoose that's for sure. So we fitted the Giken and then cranked the engine. Now the guys that fitted it, Caluma and Larry were convinced this thing was going to be LOUD and I wasn't convinced they were wrong but to our amazement it is a quiet puppy. One might argue boring but at least it won't deafen me. Some pics of the puppy complete with dent lol.

Ignore rover though it did transport the mechanic over ;-)



worm eye view..

highland drive and car cleaned -

yup, I did it the wrong way round. I should have cleaned the car first then gone on the highland drive. Pah - sue me!

Some pics I think

Highland drive

a gaggle of Mr2's and the stunning Eilean Donan Castle



taking over yet another carpark - look what happened to the last tourists lol



because it's there and we can - the start of Applecross



No overnight, they are serious about it round these parts lol


clean car - using a clay bar no less

wee update -

ok so I noticed some of the vacuum pipes were looking a bit old and a couple of them even had splits on them. They have lasted 12years in an engine bay so they'll done well.

Anyhow, I bought some nice new silicon tubing and have replaced most of the tubing as shown below. I like it



I've also plumbed the thermocouple into a take off line rather than risk damaging the sensor everytime the core gets moved. Ok so it may not be as good a position but it's good enough for my needs. One thing I did notice was the in dash display is somewhat out and this has been confirmed by using another display. Also the thermocouple lead from the engine bay into the cabin is somewhat past it's best.

Some research I've done confirms thermocouple leads break down with heating / cooling cycles and that's the one thing you can't avoid in an engine bay. I'll come up with something else soon, stay tuned as they say.

chargecooler update

yup the new (2nd hand) celica pump is in and by heck it's a big puppy

original pump


versus the Celica ST205 pump and as Tim Allen would say More Power!!



Anyhow, my intake temp thermocouple finally gave up after 3 and half years living in such a hostile environment. So I'll cut the wiring and on a connector socket and then attach a short lead thermocouple to that. Saves re-wiring from the cabin.

The short testing time I had the celica unit was much better at controlling the intake temps. Recovery time after boosting was quicker too but it really was limited testing as the thermocouple just gave up lol.

I also noticed some of the vacuum tubing has become brittle over the 12 years the car has lived so I have ordered some new blue tubing to replace it. Hopefully I have ordered enough but time will tell.

it happens in three's -

got me eyes lasered
got the car serviced
got the building warrant for me flat.

I'm gonna lie down now for a wee while

more chargecooler results -

er well the core water temperatures don't alter at idle even though the intake temperatures rocket so I'm confused to what the feck is going on. The results from testing the 185cc seem to be completely different from the 205cc and it's affecting the overall results I feel.

Under boost conditions the core water temps rise and then on throttle lift off the core temp cools down very quickly. This means the core is working taking the heat out of the boosted air AND the pump / rad combo is getting rid of that heated water and replacing it with chilled water.

Doesn't explain the spiralling idle inlet temps while the core coolant stays near ambient temps.

However on a lighter note here's a couple of pics of the 2nd gauge we hooked up today to monitor core coolant temps - the lead wasn't quite long enough but we improvised





awesome work on the day I think

funny old world -

ok so been monitoring the air intake temps really really closely and found some weird stuff happening. Under hard boost conditions the intake temps are well down on the std air to air unit which is to be expected.

However at idle the intake temps rocket from high 20degC to very quickly over 50degC! Now a chargecooled lump should be much more stable than that so it got me thinking about the coolant pump I got cheaply. So I borrowed the recommended expensive Bosch unit and impressive though it's flowrate was the temp control at idle was no better.

The kick in the nuts is that when the cc pump is disabled at idle, the temps rise no differently that if the pump was running!!! Beats the hell of me. In an even more mind puzzling (for me) trick by raising the revs from 750rpm to 1200rpm while still in neutral and sat still, the intake temps fall back down to something reasonable. Going to do some checking on the cc coolant temps and see what they are doing cause something aint doing the job that was expected of it :-(

Under hard boost the chargecooler works almost as expected and way better than the std air to air unit. However there is something amiss and solving that will give us better results all round.

On another note, the Mongoose exhaust was fitted. It's a fair bit louder and has a drone at 3-4krpm which isn't ideal. It does sound well hard though so we'll see where it goes from here.

awesome day out -

went for a wee jaunt up to Aviemore Ski Resort. Was a monthly meet through the OC and the weather during the planning of it was a concern. However on the day the weather was just perfect. Ok it was maybe 10degC air temp but the sky was clear, almost no clouds all day and it was soo clear. Blue sky. Just perfect.

Started the day off by jet washing the car as it was manky and had some serious bird doo on it. Then went to get Shell's finest only to discover the garage had run out of the stuff! I mean that's like McDonalds running out of chips! It just aint right. So after a wee detour the car was fully loaded with V-Power and the run began.

A few wee blats on the road from Dunbarton to Tarbet when the road allowed and yes the chargecooler was working but more on that later. The road from Tarbet to Aberdour has turned into a ploughed field. Crap doesn't even come close to it. Anyway, past that and the climb to Crainlarich and I started stretching the legs on the car for the first time since last September I suppose. Yup the old girl could still run darn fast. Woo hoo.

Outside Crainlarich and met up with another club member and we got the t-bars off. Shades already on and off we went. Blasted through Tyndrum and on towards the climb up to Rannoch Moor. Awesome section of road and the roads were dry and grippy and fun was had indeed. I must get the dump valve plumbed back into the airbox as it's quite noisy but not to me as with the t-bars off you don't anything. The car behind however gets the full effect right in their face. As we climbed up towards Glen Coe the views were breathtaking and the sky was blue. Perfect open topped motoring. Some stunning views and look how clear the sky is





Once into Fort William it's just a wee hop to Spean Bridge and then the turn off for Newtonmore and some of the most fantastic roads in Britain. We hurled along that road having a blast, until er my brakes cried enough and started giving me a very long pedal. No matter it was just a stunning road and it's times like this I wish I carried a passenger so they could take some pics. Anyway, into Newtonmore then onwards to Aviemore and up to the Cairngorm carpark for the vehicular ride to the peaks. This was the view as we pulled into the carpark. Awesome or what!


The view that greeted us. Ah bliss


So after taking in the view and having a chat about the drive up, the smell of cooked brakes from my car and the odour of overworked tyres we got hungry and headed for the cafe. A wee photo shoot from the cafe looking down from the peaks, highest cafe in Britain don't you know...


just bliss


Before leaving we had to have a photo shoot of the event and so we acquired with permission a corner of one of the carparks and did this with it.



Alas after this and some chat the leaving began and with a fair drive ahead the car was pointed south. The drive back in the beginning was at a slower pace that the one up but that's because myself and fellow member were looking at our fuel gauges thinking it's gonna be tight. Really really tight. We had to get back to Fort William some 50 miles away where we ( ok I ) could fill up with Super Unleaded so it was touch and go for the last 15 miles. My fuel light was coming on softly but the other car was solid yellow for the last 30miles!! Lesson learned. Fill up in Fort William on the way up AND back lol.

It was late and while I was in no rush to get home the other dude had things planned for that night so he headed home on his own while I dawdled home. I had to stop at the Bridge of Orchy viewpoint and get some shots of the car. After that I sat there on the grass for awhile just taking in the view, drinking my Irn Bru and thinking, what an awesome day with great roads, great weather and great company. God damn what a place I live in and I have the perfect car for it (that I can afford anyway ;-) ).

chargecooler install complete -

indeed it is finally done. Initial results under load are good with the intake temperature rise now much slower that before. Oddly I was expecting there to be no real rise in intake temps but there is a definite reduction in the overall rise. Which is nice. At one point I was considering removing the whole thing and going back to A2A. I still need to fix the VTA as it's so noisy on part throttle it's unbelievable

I reckon there is more to come with respect to the results but my attention is slowly being drawn by the brakes. Bascially I'd like to improve them.

However the front passenger side light / indicator connector block is needing a good clean as it's shorting out. Typical. Shoulda done that when the bumper was off. Not like I have anything better to do this weekend anyway.

Apart from the Aviemore run. Woo hoo. Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbooooooooooooooooossssssssssssttttttttt

piping and VTA -

indeedy. The piping has been acquired and hopefully get it fitted this weekend. It's very bendy stuff but its designed to be flexible so rather than kink, it just follows in a nice curve. Sweet.

On another note the std Dump valve is at the moment dumping to atmosphere as I haven't figured out how to plumb it back into the airbox. What a noisy blighter it is. When driving about on part throttle it just vents - all the bleeding time. Sounds like a darned turbine running away behind me. Seems to attract Corsas and Saxos too. Annoyingly too I'm beginning like the whoosh as it dumps on gearchanges. Doh! after me saying how much I hate that noise. Life goes on

chargecooler fitted -

got some issues with it but nothing that can't be sorted with some clever piping. It's defo not as straight forward as some people make it out to be but what is?

Pre rad was fixed by Star Radiators based in the Ibrox area of Glasgow. Top work and certainly rescued me from the hole I'd dropped myself head long into.

Details and a write up to follow once I have the darned thing working properly.

pah!

indeed life has once more given me a kick for modifying my car. The nice shiny alloy radiator I bought for the pre-rad has a HUGE design flaw in it.

The end tanks are plastic, cheap cheap plastic and have a brass insert for the temp switch. So There is me screwing the blanking bolt I have into the insert. I get to the third thread and twang. The brass insert is twisted in the holder and the end tank is scrapped. So the rad no longer can be used.

The supplier tells me yeah it happens a lot! Go to a local radiator specialist and they'll swap the end tanks or fix the current one by removing it and fixing the insert. Except of course when I ask the locals they say, nope can't be done but bring it in we'll see what we can do. What a crap design.

whoops been a while -

ok so the chargecooler install is finally going ahead. Items are all acquired or on route and the timetable is set for this coming weekend.

Saturday sees the pre rad and pump fitted with the pipework run from front to back.
Sunday is for the chargecooler core itself to be fitted and then the system filled and tested.

Hopefully we will have some time on Saturday to dry fit the core and at least see where the modifications are required. I have some concerns about the BOV plumbing. Bascially haven't a clue how it's going to work. I think the ST205 and MR2 turbo BOV's are the same so it might not be an issue. Soon find out that's for sure.

Also to get fitted are new spark plugs. Might as well since the core will block the plugs anyway.

Cambelt change done -

So finally I got the cambelt done. It was within the 60k miles replacement schedule but alas outwith the 5 year mandatory change. So after checking with my usual garage they were quoting 440GBPounds plus parts and I’m like, er no. So after checking on the usual forums the OC came up trumps in the form of Peter at Sbits. So a wee jaunt down to his place last Monday night and everything was set.

Early next morning Peter started on the car and by 3:30pm the car was all back together again and everything was set to go. I was lucky as only the belt needed changing and thus the total cost was a very reasonable 236GBPounds all in. Even with the 70GBPounds of petrol I spent getting there and back it was still a massively cheaper option than having it done locally.

Thanks again go to Peter for putting me up at his house and then getting the work done on time and answering my (sometimes irrelevant) questions throughout the day.

Peter also identified the alt belt as being slack hence the squealing when cold and the odd chuffing noise from that area when the engine was running. On rebuild this has been fixed and no more squeals and funnily enough the battery seems to be getting charged better. Top dog for sure.

On another note Peter also identified the strange chatter type noise I was getting on throttle lift off. Turned out when we were testing a VTA dump valve, on re-fitting the original re-circ valve we put the VTV on the wrong way. For info, B faces the passenger side and A faces, er the drivers side. Now no more chatter but the original farting noise on lift off. Wonderful.

Top work and heartily recommended.



On another note, some company called Turborevs decided to post on my blog with what amounts to an advert for their business. Now that hacked me off cause they never asked but the info they put on the comment clearly indicated they knew nothing about MR2 turbos. Then in a fit of even more stupidity they managed to word the advert incorrectly giving the impression their products were better than the std unit fitted by Toyota. So in light of their rudeness and inaccuracy I have removed their comment but hey, you still get a mention so don’t greet ok!

Should you wish to place an advert on my rambling blog then please feel free to ask me first. If I agree to your text then I may include it on the title page, for a small fee of course ;-))

pah! Pipex are total pish -

so much so that after 4 odd years with them I have told them to shove their account and I'm going with a company called Force9. Never heard of them but their speeds seem consistent and the price is good too.

Got some info from DSL Zone and Force9 came out pretty good. I'm on a monthly contract so if it goes pearshaped then I can bog off easy enough. Scary thing is the speeds that some ISP's are getting are pretty low considering they are advertising their services as upto 8MB. Some very dodgy advertising if those speed tests are to be believed.

So, at some time on the near future I will be offline for a few days while the ISP's sort themselves out. After this time I'll need to find a hosting service so I can have my website independent of the ISP cause all me links are gonna die when Pipex go phut.

On car news, finally washed it this afternoon and boy did it look good. So I decided to polish the old thing as well. My usual crappy standard but boy oh boy does the car look fabby. I'm gonna try and add some coats of polish if the weather stays dry over the next couple of days.

The car also gets the cambelt done on Tuesday so I'm looking forward to that being over with. Means I can feel safe when booting the stuffing out of the old girl. Dry roads would also be nice too. Roll on summer eh?

Take it easy out there

bloody ISP's -

I've been having some ISP issues recently. Downloads were running at 500K and for a few days were down at 200K. Now I'm on a 1Meg download but my line speed is connected at 2Meg.

This all came about cause many years ago I joined Pipex on their Broadband 500K package. It was good and for a couple of years I had no issues at all. BT then upgraded all the lines in the area and suddenly we had 2Meg connection speeds. Pipex at the same time upgraded the package at no extra cost to a 1Meg download. Fantastic!! Again for a couple of years no hassles.

The last month or so have not been very good. Like I said in the first paragraph the download speeds went deep south and i was being asked to do speed tests using a 'Special' login. Well the Special account gave 1800k+ download speeds but I am on a 1000K download so it's not really relevant. After much to'ing anf fro'ing I had many speed tests that were from 200K to 960K. Last night I was asked by Pipex to use the Special account and obtain 5 test results. Well they all came out 1800+k which didn't surprise me. As soon as I logged back in as my account it dropped straight back to 500k. After speaking to one of the Pipex guys he logged in as me at their end and guess what. Yup 500K download. It's now being escalated to his manager who will now look into it. Funny that.

I still have the MAC mind.....

it's alive -

indeed, the dashboard dark zones were entirely down to pilot error. Having reversed the LED it now shines very happy like. Me also happy and the result is



I like.

pah I say pah pah pah!

decided after two years of ignoring it I would fix it. Got some LED replacements and off I went. Started with


and ended up with


Excuse the pic's usual camera phone rubbish but the dark zone is still there in the same place. So either the circuit is dead or the light track is blocked somehow. Back into the dash yet again...

5 years -

since the cambelt was last replaced. Ho hum time to replace it. It's going to hurt, a lot but it's cheaper than a busted engine that's for sure. Looks like a garage from the oc is going to do the work. It's all good news. Must get the alloys re-furb'd too. More money....

a new year -

a new bash on the car. Bleeding typical. Yet another driver out there who finds the concept of driving / parking beyond them. The decency to leave a quick note with your number and an apology was also lacking too. Well a pox on your kids and the curse of a thousand Traffic Wardens on you.

On another note, the car is making more noise under boost than it used too. So says a mate who hadn't been in the car in a while. Also very recently it has been making a strange noise that almost sounds like the alt belt is squeaking. Knowing my luck it's likely to be the alternator itself. Boo hoo.

On a positive note I now have both charge cooler pre-rads. Just need to purchase the pump and figure out how to pump it all in and bob's yer uncle.