Diaries of the Noob Mechanic: Fuzzydunlop's '85 MR2

[Eli]

Don't say that, you're well on your way! Some paint, and all your body fixes will disappear...

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

ITS ALLLIIIIVE!!!!!! ITS ALLLIIIIIVE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hraB6jzps
Finally got a 10x20x5tc seal in from kbox dot com and rebuilt the distributor. I got lucky in that the very first time I put in the dizzy it lined up perfectly and the mr2 started right up - after a little twist on the dizzy cap I had the timing set where its supposed to be and a grin on my face!
My neighbour got a little upset because I dont have a muffler on it yet, lol, straight piped right after the manifold! Sounds weird in the video though.

Also - does this mean my trannys toasted? The clinking noise is the brake rotor I had loosely put on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUX2021TC0

So amped to get this on the street. I can do all the body work later - I just want to drive it! haha! ya. im excited today.
I also have friday, sat, sunday to work on the car and not worry about work - weeeeee

 

[vshah]

truly epic.

 

[Zargon]

awesome!

Also - does this mean my trannys toasted? The clinking noise is the brake rotor I had loosely put on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsUX2021TC0

You might need adjust the clutch cable? if its a hydraulic system it might need a bleed

sportbikes do that ALOT, but they have a wet clutch. My SC2 did that sometimes but not THAT bad.


clutch could be sticking to the flywheel is all, it may stop once you drive it

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

awesome!




You might need adjust the clutch cable? if its a hydraulic system it might need a bleed

sportbikes do that ALOT, but they have a wet clutch. My SC2 did that sometimes but not THAT bad.


clutch could be sticking to the flywheel is all, it may stop once you drive it

hmm, ill have to figure out how to do that.

OR

could it be caused by this??

It looks like a bolt, that was once there, was stripped out . This is a cause of a major oil leak from the transmission (according to some guys on MR2OC they just use regular engine oil in the transmission).
How can I fix that??? Helicoil??


COULD A MOD PLEASE CHANGE THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD TO
Diaries of the Noob Mechanic: Fuzzydunlops '85 MR2 Build blog.
I didnt realize that I couldnt keep updating the thread title.
Also, its not an 86 as previously thought... its an '85 - haha!

 

[JCH13]

That's not a great application for a normal helicoil because you have to break the tang off of the insert and it will wind up in your transmission. Maybe there's a type of helicoil where you don't need to do that, or you could not break the tang off... but it'd make me nervous.

If at all possible I'd drill it out and tap bigger, but that still might put shavings in your transmission case, and they'd be aluminum, so the magnetic plug won't collect them.

The strongest/best solution might be to take it off, do the helicoil with the pan off of the car, then reassemble.

Good luck!

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

That's not a great application for a normal helicoil because you have to break the tang off of the insert and it will wind up in your transmission. Maybe there's a type of helicoil where you don't need to do that, or you could not break the tang off... but it'd make me nervous.

If at all possible I'd drill it out and tap bigger, but that still might put shavings in your transmission case, and they'd be aluminum, so the magnetic plug won't collect them.

The strongest/best solution might be to take it off, do the helicoil with the pan off of the car, then reassemble.

Good luck!

another question.
Does the transmission have pressure inside?
Maybe if I find a rubber plug and permatx it into place, would it be enought to keep the oil in?

 

[JCH13]

another question.
Does the transmission have pressure inside?
Maybe if I find a rubber plug and permatx it into place, would it be enought to keep the oil in?

That's a good question, I think there is, there is no vent, and it'll heat up. I would definitely not trust a rubber plug at all.

 

[exdeath]

Are you talking about the wheels turning when you're in neutral?

Nothing wrong there. The fluid viscosity alone inside the transmission is enough to transfer motion to the wheels in neutral when there is no load on them. Especially since your application (integrated transaxle with differential) probably uses a thick heavy gear oil rather than ATF like some manuals.

The gear selector in neutral, the clutch fully engaged (pedal up, nobody in the seat), the input shaft in the transmission is spinning at 800+ RPM in neutral. There is enough friction and turbulence in the fluid and parts of the transmission to transfer that to the wheels in much the same way a output turbine freewheels. You can see how little transfer there is by the fact you can stop it with your hand and the fact that the 800 RPM of the engine is only causing the wheel hubs to spin at 60 RPM with zero torque, allowing you to stop it by hand.

Like you said, the noise you hear is the brake rotor. It becomes more evident when you stop the driver side because the passenger side with your loose rotor suddenly increases it's speed by 2x due to the way an open differential works.

 

[exdeath]

awesome!




You might need adjust the clutch cable? if its a hydraulic system it might need a bleed

sportbikes do that ALOT, but they have a wet clutch. My SC2 did that sometimes but not THAT bad.


clutch could be sticking to the flywheel is all, it may stop once you drive it

I'd hope the clutch is sticking 100% being that it's fully engaged (nobody sitting in the seat to push on the pedal).

If it was in gear and doing this with the clutch pedal depressed and the clutch was misadjused and still grabbing a little with the pedal to the floor, he'd probably break his wrist trying to stop it with his hands.

 

[arrfep]

ITS ALLLIIIIVE!!!!!! ITS ALLLIIIIIVE!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69hraB6jzps
Finally got a 10x20x5tc seal in from kbox dot com and rebuilt the distributor. I got lucky in that the very first time I put in the dizzy it lined up perfectly and the mr2 started right up - after a little twist on the dizzy cap I had the timing set where its supposed to be and a grin on my face!
My neighbour got a little upset because I dont have a muffler on it yet, lol, straight piped right after the manifold! Sounds weird in the video though.

That's fantastic. One of the greatest feelings of accomplishment ever is getting a dead machine running again. When you're unsure if you've fixed it and you turn the key and/or hit the starter button and it roars to life...simply awesome.

Kudos to you, my good man.

 

[exdeath]

That's fantastic. One of the greatest feelings of accomplishment ever is getting a dead machine running again. When you're unsure if you've fixed it and you turn the key and/or hit the starter button and it roars to life...simply awesome.

Kudos to you, my good man.

Even better when it's your first time and you're second guessing everything and think you've probably FUBARed it.

Then you grit your teeth as you turn the key expecting fire and explosions and anticipating towing in a box of parts to the shop down the street to finish it for you... and it just purrs to life and not a single problem.

 

[exdeath]

I got lucky in that the very first time I put in the dizzy it lined up perfectly and the mr2 started right up - after a little twist on the dizzy cap I had the timing set where its supposed to be and a grin on my face!

Did you disable electronic timing advance via shorting T and E1 in the diagnostic port when you set mechanical base timing?

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

I'd hope the clutch is sticking 100% being that it's fully engaged (nobody sitting in the seat to push on the pedal).

If it was in gear and doing this with the clutch pedal depressed and the clutch was misadjused and still grabbing a little with the pedal to the floor, he'd probably break his wrist trying to stop it with his hands.

I see. Interesting.

Did you disable electronic timing advance via shorting T and E1 in the diagnostic port when you set mechanical base timing?

Ya, I followed this guys guide
http://www.padandwheels.com/mr2/timing/timing.html
I feel like I owe him money or something, just due to the amount of information he has provided.


About the hole in the transmission
Do i have any other options besides dropping the transmission and either fixing the hole OR replacing the whole tranny? Be nice if I didnt have to drop the tranny at all.

 

[Zargon]

I'd hope the clutch is sticking 100% being that it's fully engaged (nobody sitting in the seat to push on the pedal).

If it was in gear and doing this with the clutch pedal depressed and the clutch was misadjused and still grabbing a little with the pedal to the floor, he'd probably break his wrist trying to stop it with his hands.

good point

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

Scored some RIMS!
Ricer ones too!
Guy was selling em onling fo $200 with good rubber. Most excellent!
16" Motegi MR7
Never heard of the brand of rubber on two of them, but the others have Dunlop Direzza DZ101's.

They are nearly exactly the same size as my current wheels

-35 offset... should work.

I forgot to get the keylock and bolts for the rims when I met the guy. Derp! He called me later in the evening and reminded me. He lives an hours drive away...no big deal, im headed that way this weekend probably.

For those of you who didnt visit the other thread... CURRENT STATUS: MOBILE!

Not legally though. Will be putting things together this week and taking it over to a tire shop to get the wheels balanced, aligned, etc.

Next on the list is replacing the Cherry Bomb muffler on it - its ridiculously loud and draws too much attention. doesnt sound too bad though.
After that its mostly bodywork - which I am looking forward too.

I still havent decided whether Im going to get it professionally painted for $$$$ amount of dollars OR just shaker can it myself for $$ amount of dollars. More than likely shaker can at this point. Its not like its a real expensive car. Thoughts?


EDIT: Going back to the oil pressure guage. It DOES flutter when I press on the gas.

 

[Zargon]

whats the brand on the others?

 

[Howard]

I see. Interesting.



Ya, I followed this guys guide
http://www.padandwheels.com/mr2/timing/timing.html
I feel like I owe him money or something, just due to the amount of information he has provided.


About the hole in the transmission
Do i have any other options besides dropping the transmission and either fixing the hole OR replacing the whole tranny? Be nice if I didnt have to drop the tranny at all.

Here's one possible solution: get an aluminum coupling with a pipe thread, and weld it on. then you can just plug it up with a plug /w Teflon tape (or if you select an NPTF coupling /w NPTF plug, you can probably get away with no sealant at all).

Heck, for an application like that, JB Weld might work too, to attach the coupling.

Solution 2: Measure the ID of that hole and see if you can find an appropriate thread-forming (not cutting) screw or tap, then install the same-size screw with a crush washer.

 

[JCH13]

You can do an amazing job with a shaker can if you wet-sand. A buddy of mine in college painted most of the panels on his car with a shaker can, then wet sanded them with 2000 grit IIRC. The results:

He had not wet-sanded the roof yet, but had sanded the hood.

 

[Howard]

You can do an amazing job with a shaker can if you wet-sand. A buddy of mine in college painted most of the panels on his car with a shaker can, then wet sanded them with 2000 grit IIRC. The results:

He had not wet-sanded the roof yet, but had sanded the hood.

You can take it to 2000 but 3000 is preferable. And then you need to polish with a coarse (medium) compound, and then finish with a fine compound.

Takes a hell of a lot of effort.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

You can do an amazing job with a shaker can if you wet-sand. A buddy of mine in college painted most of the panels on his car with a shaker can, then wet sanded them with 2000 grit IIRC. The results:

He had not wet-sanded the roof yet, but had sanded the hood.

Wow, that looks fantastic. Thats very encouraging to know that that is possible.

 

[Eli]

That hole has to be there for a reason. It's too clean to be a threaded bolt hole that is now stripped. I have no idea what it is though.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

whats the brand on the others?

SRY for late reply. it says FULDA CARAT EXTREMO.

That hole has to be there for a reason. It's too clean to be a threaded bolt hole that is now stripped. I have no idea what it is though.

Ya, I cant quite figure it out. I tried JB welding a bolt in the other day, but didnt clean the area good enough. Ill try again tomorrow night with a tigher fitting bolt and some teflon tape and MOAR JB.

 

[jlee]

If you haven't yet, try posting on MR2OC first and see if we can figure out exactly what that hole is for.

 

[Howard]

SRY for late reply. it says FULDA CARAT EXTREMO.



Ya, I cant quite figure it out. I tried JB welding a bolt in the other day, but didnt clean the area good enough. Ill try again tomorrow night with a tigher fitting bolt and some teflon tape and MOAR JB.

Why would you need Teflon tape?