B24

Im not going down the E85 path. Just not worth it to me. You may as well run 100 octane with some octane boost you find in the race magazines. Probably the same power ( will know when I retune after the Nat's weekend) and better fuel economy than standard fuel.
Also not too sure on that big hole in the middle of the car. Thats is a pretty structual part of the car there..

It's not structural - it's only single skin with no bracing.
I went with E85 because my injectors were stuffed so I had to buy new ones anyway, so I went with 1000cc ones and tuned it for E85. The only additional cost for me was the E85 rated fuel hoses.

Ok, so the fuel pump is up to the task? Did you need to change to fuel filter to a higher flow unit?
As for the tunnel hole, I respect your decision and thats its not structual but not me thanks.
I would like to be there tomorrow but leaving for Vic tonight.

The car already has a Wallbro fuel pump and large fuel filter so I didn't need to change them.

Ok, are you looking at running a surge tank/external pump in the future? How low can you go (on fuel) before you have a surge issue?

I haven't noticed any surge in this car before. Do you get fuel surge?

Yes, on one occasion but didnt know how much fuel was in the tank to know when it becomes an issue. I heard somewhere the pick up is quite good in the MR2 but it really needs a surge tank for safety sake. Just, if your running E85 it is a bigger stress on the fuel system so it may be good insurance to run an external pump and surge tank. I picked one up a few weeks ago but it hasnt made it to the table for install just yet. More than likely next month. Will also fit a purge line to help with fuel calulations.
One thing Im not keen on, is running the fuel system in the boot. Too much heat for one thing, so looking at fitting the surge tank where the power steering pump was located, pump on the other side, fuel line to be fitted under the passenger side of the car away from the radiator lines, along the chassis rail then over to the fuel rail to keep it far away from the exhaust system.
If it works will let you know
 

Well we got to drive the car on Friday though (surprise surprise) we did have issues. The first one was a stuffed ball joint on the right rear. This caused the car to be VERY unsettled down the straight and turn one (it was stepping out) and also when changing direction from left to right. Not entirely a recipe for a confident drive.
The engine also cooked every time we went out. This has happened before so I'm going to pull my finger out and do a complete rebuild of a different engine. I've heard of bores cracking on these engines before that only shows when under load and heat. I did a compression test and also a cooling system pressure test yesterday and both were fine which is a bit strange.
I'm also going to buy a new radiator and remount the heat exchanger a bit further away from the radiator to improve air flow.
Oh well - back to the drawing board!

That ball joint sounds quite hairy and eventually annoying. When was the last time you changed your alignment/steering components?
There's always that reliability issue when you're pushing high numbers I suppose. I reckon a nice 4th Gen 3SGTE is a good cheap fix just drop 'er in and have some fun :) Do you really need 400 ponies?
This is gonna sound crazy and spontaneous but what about an MR-S with a TRD Aurion engine? Those cars are feather weight and I don't need to elaborate on the engine...
GL on the next project!
 
P.S I have minimal racing experience so you prob shouldn't listen to my advice lol

Here is a video of the last outing - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqE47_7_rMM
Note that the first half of the video is very slow as we are checking out the car. The 2nd half of the video shows some faster driving though we are still only running at around 80%
 

New radiator has arrived