88 MR2 SC

Scot shipped the super charger back today.... This is what he had to say: No issues. I am hoping they drained the oil before they shipped it because it was pretty much empty. There was some oil residue on the inlet and outlet. This could be a sign the seals are fading or it could be from PCV or elsewhere. I would check the oil level every 6 months or so to monitor consumption. If it goes through a bit it's not a big deal as long as you keep it topped off. I'll throw in an extra bottle of oil Otherwise it was one of the healthiest superchargers I have seen. The clutch had less wear than most, the lobes were beautiful and everything else looked and spun very nice.

So update on the car.... after a annoying argument with "passive aggressive" Ming on the phone he finally shipped the super charger out one week after I dropped the car off... whatever...  Scot has now received the supercharger... It's obvious at this point I'm not getting the car back till next year.... so I'm not bothering calling Ming every week asking the progress since I wont be back in town till the 6th... I'm at peace with the situation and hope that Tetzu does a good job....

Finally got a quote from Ming... $2,800... so there we go... T-8 days till I drop off car and get Stage II of the Yoshida Project underway ... Car has been parked under cover with a battery trickle charger on for over a month now...

So after some frustrating conversations with Ming... and a long wait... He was unable to find any OEM syncros for the car... I found a E-51 transmission rebuild kit recommended by Matrix garage from Cobra Transmissions in Florida... just under $700 for the kit... Still waiting to hear back from Ming with an estimate for the tranny rebuild, installing new clutch, LSD, flywheel and replacing the steering rack... I have an appointment for the 24th to bring the car in... he's supposed to call me today with a quote...

Discovered some oil leak on the bottom of my Engine ? Transmission ? hell I don't know :) I posted for some help in the forums ...

What a pain in the butt , but I removed the rear bumper and then got rid of the inside foam... I was expecting 10-20 lbs like the You-tube video said... turns out it was 3.2 Lbs... well.... lighter is lighter...

one year ago on the day I bought the car and exactly one year later... both in front of where I live...

Yet another 5.4 Lbs this evening by removing the remaining AC behind the glove box... There might be a few more pipes below the chassis of the car :)

removed 6.4 Lbs this morning ... head liner, dome light, some interior rear trim, passenger visor, random un-used wires and screws...

Removed more of the AC... 2.264 Lbs...

Car drove flawlessly in the canyons early this morning through cool fog... Got rid of 1.04 Lbs of AC tubing in the front ... There is more deeper in that I could not reach, something for a later date...

Went for an early morning ride up to Camarillo hoping for some fog... no luck but had an amazing ride... the canyon roads were a little wet which made for some carefull but fun driving... Now I want to do the track in the wet :)

The tint shop wanted $70 to tint my tops... I talked them down to $60... but then started to think and went to Auto-zone and bought tint for $10... it's not perfect but good enough for now... I always drive with them off anyways...

The lightest this car has ever been... not sure of weight but it's dropping :)

New 15 Lb battery arrived... took to have it checked... a little low, but normal... just need to drive it after I install it...

Made an appointment the other day to have my tinting removed and re done on t tops... $180.00, but then news from work scared me from spending any extra money so I decided to try removing it myself... a box of razor blades about $3 and 3 hours later, looks great... on a side note... last week I cleaned the motor and put in a bottle of fuel injector cleaner in the tank... after a few minutes of driving hard the car started to putter, like it did a few weeks ago... it was either the additive or water got in somewhere in the fuel ? whatever the case after a few days it drives just fine, problem solved itself... which makes me think that it was water...

OK... so that battery is not going to work... Long story , but talked to a tech guy at the Braille factory for the battery but a 15 lb one will fit my needs... so I now have to see if I can return it under my warranty and get the new one... I guess I will still be saving 24.5 pounds...

6 pound battery installed... Old Optima Red top was 39.5 pounds... 33.5 lb loss :)

Chris at West End Alignment recommended this small shop... located about 1 mile from West End... Ming is the head guy and Tetsu is the mechanic... 310-630-1999

YELP Review I just wrote.... Took the car to West End Alignment... Darin and Chris were both extremely friendly and professional... It's very hard to find this kind of pride in workmanship these days... I had an issue with my car pulling to the right as well as I wanted more camber up front... My regular shop had my car in there alignment place 4 times over the past 6 month and could never solve this issue... They finally told me that my frame was probably bent... My regular shop also told me that it was impossible to add more camber because of spacing issues with the strut... I had to buy wheel spacers, they didn't fit, yada, yada, long story.... Darin not only found the problem causing the car to pull to the right , solved it and was also able to add more camber to the front... I live in thousand Oaks and will always make the drive here for any suspension work... The problem was the tire... Preferred Auto took the tire off the wheel and moved them left to r...

So car is running fine... Mark didn't do anything, just magically went away.... The battery will fit but now requires a brace to hold the front two inter-cooler mounts... so probably next Friday I will try to do it myself.... Track was Willow Springs, streets counter clock wise... it was fun but not as fun as Horse Thief mile... best time was a 1:38.6 ... started day with a 1:45

E-mail to Mark and Anthony.... Hey guys…. So I drove the car early Sunday morning through the canyons like every Sunday morning… First of all… when you drive the car normally, no problems at all… But when you start to push it, Like I do every Sunday morning… after a minute or two it starts to putter and looses power… feels like it’s not getting enough fuel ??? …. It happens in 1st 2nd and 3rd gear… I then slow down a bit and after a couple of minutes it drives normal again,,, I then start to push it and the problem comes back… This problem has never happened before… Im going to Willow Springs this coming Saturday and I really, really, really want to solve this problem before then… please... I was thinking that I can pick up the car any morning and test drive it to work if that helps you guys… ??? I would just have to have my wife pick up the key the evening before… Please help me :) Thanks Charles p.s. On a side note Mark… I tried the turn key partially on then off, th...

Car back from shop.... Oil and filter changed... all fluids checked... Fuel filter replaced.... Idle setting adjusted....

I don't notice any difference in sound... maybe a slight wind noise that sounds like a Turbo winding up... Does a Super charger make that noise ? Also the alarm system still works :) Dropped the car off for an oil and filter change... also going to have the fuel filter replaced... and there going to check the "output injector pulse" which was faulty on my old ESC and sounds like same with the newer ESC.... which leads me to believe the problem is not with the ESC but a wire... He's also going to adjust my idle ...1500 is a little too high....

Removed the carpet and insulation between cabin and motor... was 14.4 pounds of dead weight... can't wait to hear what it sounds like tomorrow... Also killed the passenger side door buzzer... need to check if I didn't accidentally disable the alarm sensor...lol

3:30 AM

Just went for a drive through the winding roads of Highway 23 early this morning.... T-tops off... windows down... heater on setting 2... wind blowing cool on my face... amber shades on and the morning sun skimming the country side trees and green hills... The car gripping the turns and then smoothly back on the accelerator coming out of each corner...The tires are warm and so are all the fluids...no other cars on the road... engine revving into the 6000 range and the sound of the car shifting between 2nd and 3rd... Life can not get any better then these moments...

Picked up the car today... $1,300....he did a pretty damn good job... I'm happy....  (1) less weight up front   (2)  I can now drive up driveway into carport   (3) passenger fender not sticking out   (4) looks better and he did a great job matching paint color...

Dropped the car off at Rich & Famous Auto Body this morning... Spoke with Sy... Sy is the brother of John ... They are Armenian ... John takes care of interior and Sy does body work... He's going to replace the passenger side panel that was never fixed correctly as well as factory front spoiler and match paint with side panel blending... Now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed... it will be around $1,400...

Spec data for a 1988 Toyota MR2 SC BHP: 145 at 6400 RPM Torque: 140 ft/lbs at 4000 RPM Source: Toyota Curb Weight: 2605 lbs. Weight Distribution: 44.5% Front / 55.5% Rear Fuel Capacity: 10.8 US gallons 0-60 MPH Time: 6.5-7.0 seconds Lateral Acceleration: .78-.80G Source: Various car magazine test results. Crank pulley/harmonic balancer diameters: 130mm alternator, 145mm supercharger. Rim sizes: 14 X 6.0 inches (stock) Alternate sizes: 15 X 7.0 Rim Offset: 33mm Tire Sizes: 185/60/HR14 (stock) Alternate sizes: 195/55/14, 205/60/14 (rear only), 205/50/14, 195/50/15 Tire circumference for best speedometer accuracy: 71" or 800mm (195/50/15) Top Speed: 129 MPH headlights up, 132 MPH headlights down. Boost: 3 PSI at 1000 RPM in 5th gear 6 PSI at 2000 RPM 7 PSI at 3000 RPM 8 PSI at 4000 RPM 8 PSI at 5000 RPM 8.25 PSI at 6000 RPM

Very sad day.... I drove to work... parked in the same spot... put on the hand brake but not in gear... Mark asked me around 7:40 whether I moved my car... went to look at it... The car rolled by itself and hit a large rock... if that rock was not there it might have rolled off the 300+ foot drop hill... I pulled the spoiler off becaise it was just hanging down on one side... I called Rich and Famous body shop... I'm taking the car there this Friday and I cxled Willow Springs for Sunday... This is life... 

went through the Canyons this morning... Friday is not the ideal day, even before 8AM... I think Sunday is the best day... But after getting the rear brakes installed, the car is amazingly better... The stopping power has a much better feel, and seems to stop much quicker... I'm glad I did this upgrade...

What a great day I had at the track... I was able to get my time down to 1:08.02 ... The brakes were a noticeable improvement although I did lock them up a couple times which I've never done before... There was a large group of first timers and one one guy in the Red group, so I got moved into that group which was nice because there was only 5 or 6 of us... The great thing was I was faster then 2 porches on the track... what a cool feeling to pass a Porsche :) Met a father son at the track who was driving a VW Passat... But turns out they are going to be in California for a year on work and bought a 1988 MR2 NA to play on the weekends... Unfortunately the car was not running that day...

Picked up car from Anthony .... They rebuilt the distributor... Rotated tires left to right.... replaced front brake pads and hoses...  some exhaust thing broke so they fixed that... He's going to order a rear rotor and then I will bring back to install rear brake pads and hoses... and he didn't install steering rack... ran out of time I guess... also the wheel spacers did not fit... turns out I need hub & wheel centric spacers , not just hub centric spacers... holly shit... I'm taking 2 steps forward and one step back... Tomorrow I take car back to fix fabric on doors...

Update.... the fabric is coming off the door... sounds about right... I'm going to see if I can take it back next Friday before the track.... Which means I need to get it back from Preferred auto by Thursday afternoon... Busy week with production Monday and Tuesday and shuffling car around town... Oh well... got to do what you got to do... A few images I grabbed from the go-pro testing.... finding some angles I really like and some real boring ones...

Picked up the car yesterday afternoon... The seat came out better then I thought... I'm so happy and the side doors turned out good... I'm totally used to them... gives it a clean look... The other little bits are not perfect but much better then before... I drove it through the canyons this morning... The seat is amazing.... holds you in like a warm comforting hug from mom...lol... yes it's that good... I'm so happy I went this route... Kinda nice to have the shift boot fixed... that was really getting to me... The speaker cover up on the dash is again not perfect but gives the interior cleaner lines...

The guy at the upholstery place had a bad attitude and didn't give me much confidence... we went to have breakfast and came back when John was there... he's going to mount the seat on the factory rails since the ones I bought do not fit... also gives me the advantage of adjusting seat back and forth... He also covered the entire interior of the door with fabric which I was surprised, but it's growing on me already... the work is OK, nothing exceptional, but I will be fine... Looks like next week sometime... Oh well...

Lancaster guy can not do it while I wait.... so never mind... Going to have the seat fitted for me this Friday.... very excited...

Took the car to Rich and Famous auto shop... Looks like they can definitely do the work including installing the seat, ect... I'm dropping it off Monday morning... he gave me a quote of $800 which I'm sure will be higher because I'm going to have him do extra stuff since the quote was so low... He said it should take about a week... Also text ed the Lancaster dude about rebuilding the distributor... He can do it while I wait... so that will be scheduled after the interior gets fixed... Not sure if I mentioned before but I now have yellow brake pads and braided brake hoses... :)

Talked to Anthony today... He said that two of their mechanics are pretty sure the cold start issue has nothing to do with the cold start sensor I bought but has a connection to the ECU ( Engine Control Unit ) basically the computer... I also told him that I have had at least 3 alignments with them all with the same car pulling to the right results... I asked him whats the problem and that I think it could be the Tie-rods... He said that they replaced the tie-rods at some point... I then told him maybe they are not the same length ? He's going to talk to the alignment people... Stopped by the upholstery  place but was met by some Mexican dude who could not tell me anything, even whether or not they can do the work, could not tell me the price, nothing.... I left and decided to talk to the alarm installation folks... There guy apparently died last week... yikes... but he recommended a place called Rich & Famous 14741 Bessemer St Van Nuys , CA 91411... If I'm not worki...

Just ordered some brake pads and steel brake lines... a future upgrade that will sit in my closet for a while :)  EBC Yellow Stuff Brake Pads and Goodridge G-Stop Brake Lines

So Anthony is going to replace All the poly bushings, replace the speedo cable and the cold start sensor I bought a while ago... Car will be ready Friday... Atsuko will have to go pay and get the keys since I'm working with Nicolas Friday.... Sat 8AM I'm taking her in at the upholstery place and see how much to fix up the interior and mount the new seat...

Was driving today and looked down to see my gauge reading 40mph .... what ? It works... well... it works above 20-25 mph....  which I guess is fine for me... Still might drop the car off Monday to have him replace the cable to see if that fixes it completely... don't know yet... Might also take him the other bushings I have ?

Well... the speedometer is still not working.... I have to drop it off Monday for them to replace the cable and see if that does it... The other parts were broken but still did not fix the problem... seems to be the hardest thing to fix on this car.... You can see in this pic the rear sway bar threaded connection rod... it is now in a more 90 degree position so it will be harder to flip up...