It all started some 6 months ago when I bought my MR2 mk1.
I just loved the car for a long time and really wanted one. The time came and I bought one of only 2 for sale in my country. I live in a tiny country in south-eastern Europe. Things are different here. Parts are hard to find, I spend fortunes on shipping, labor is cheap, expertise and quality is scarce. I dont mind, all I want is to get my MR2 into great shape and drive it to my heart's content.
I bought the car because it had very little rust. It had a complete paint job done (one of the things that are done properly here) and it had a sunroof. I didnt want the t-bar. Just a matter of personal taste. the t-bar is great I'm sure. the mr2 is red of course.
When I bought the car i didnt even know what a 4AGE is. The car was driveable when I bought it. 2nd gear grinded. 5th gear poped out, the engine was drinking a bit more oil than it should. Timing was off. Otherwise fine.
Fast forward through a montage of endless research, BGB, haynes and forum reading and here I am. Mad in love with the 4age and the mr2, with the engine and transmission out of the car. Doing a full rebuild on both. my mechanical experience is zero. But I removed both myself. Using mindless persistence, surprising patience and fueling myself with visions of a future where I drive the MR2 through a series of bends along the coastline.
I have a 1987 MR2 with a 7rib 42mm crank 4age and bigport head.
Fast forward through some more research I decided to not just rebuild, but improve the engine a bit since I am at it.
My engine build got boiled down to this:
- Tomei 264 poncams. This item is still under debate and I am still open to suggestions.
uprated valve springs
10.3 smallport pistons - already bought a set from Perfect cirlce, new old stock, 0.5mm oversize
Aftermarket conrods - Brian Crower sportsman or something similar along that line, if you have any suggestions. Considering some blacktop rods that are on sale here. Heard they need different bearings or something
A bit of head and block shaving to get more compression. I dont know what my target compression should be and how much I should cut to get there
head porting and polishing, combustion chamber deburing, 3angle valve job as per trd bible,
new bearings, oil pump, water pump
all new gaskets from Toyota - already bought - 350 USD for a bunch of gaskets.
Megasquirt pnp standalone - not right away. I am already destroying myself financially. Plan to run the engine ons tock ECU for a while.
lightweight flywheel - either fidanza or exedy
exedy OEM clutch
Thats pretty much it I think. Let me know what you think. I am open to suggestions, opinion, anything. I know this is nothing new but to me its a dream and sounds great. I want the car to be the best it can be. I am building a street car for my own personal enjyomnet and pleasure. Not interested in competitive racing, turbos, engine swaps, etc. Want to keep things original but also make everything a bit better in the process. Maybe a track day once in a year or two.
Fast forward just a bit more in the future. I decided that since I am going through the whole thing of rebuilding and basically restoring a car it would be great to document the whole journey. So I started a blog (haven't we all?)
Here's my latest operation - I disassembled the engine block http://www.driving4answers.com/how-to-e ... /#more-443
Since I am a newbie, the blog is very newbie friendly. Most likely boring for the 4age veterans out there. There's some leisurely philosophy on the blog as well. if youre daft enough to read that sort of junk.
Anyways, thats pretty much it. Let me know what you think of the build. Any other comments welcome as well.
I will of course be updating this thread as I go along.
I have a long standing thread on the mr2.com forums on the build - "4age street build". If you are mad and interested in more details. give it a look