Apexi 1.1mm HG arrival:
 




 
Completion of the drilling/syncing on the water galleries:
 

Returning after Xmas/NY last week, Racesolutions raised the motor back in.
 

 
Only real surprise here was requiring new oil cooler lines/fittings. Replaced those & the turbo lines with new Speedflow fittings. Took a good amount of time there, but the result is perfect.
 
Recent update, after some electrical dramas & issues with my alarm resetting, the car finally cranked over & was tidied up. Will give it a good clean & polish again, but it all seems to be working well. Hope it stays that way. I'm honestly paranoid & tense, but am calming down. That's just me though. Still going to have the AC regas'd & my alarm reprogrammed next week, but those are easy & in the scheme of things, there's very few loose ends this time around. Either way, it's good to have the MR2 back home.
While I haven't driven very far, my immediate observations are an improvement in spool (BOV louder & audible earlier) & a change in engine response due to the comp ratio. Lower comp still feels extremely driveable though. Motor is also quieter due to the tighter clearances & engine knock/noise is a bit lower (read from handcontroller).
Took a nice drive on Saturday night for the crucial first part of the run-in. 80km down Yurramundi (Springwood Rd) to Blue Mountains (driven 110km over the weekend). Some very nice hills there where I could give the motor some great off-boost high gear load. Running well for now *fingers crossed*
 

^ Cheers dude. There's always some love/hate involved with MR2's.
 
Update: Just ran across a little snag after completing my 5SGTE which I thought would be beneficial to mention in this thread. Removed my dipstick to check the oil & found it was snapped down the end. Dropped the sump & discovered it wasn't going through the hole in the baffle (enlarged it to fix the alignment problem), so curled & was snapped by the crank. All good, no damage done.

Take note anyone building a Gen3 based 5SGTE. I'm using the Gen3 sump, union/fitting, tube & dipstick.

I'm guessing it must have gone unnoticed since most are probably building Gen2 based 5SGTE's, or using aftermarket sumps on Gen3's.

Be afraid brutha....be very afraid. Ain't a stroll around the park....lol
 
We gotta catch up dude.

 
HKS Zorst (still love it)
 

 
"Put in Work"
 

 

 
5SGTE:
 

 
Thanks RaceSolutions:
 

 
Oldskool Darkside crew:
 

 
BEL "battlespec":
 

 
Ralliart MR2....lol
 

 
Tommi's friend (TME is running like shyt though due to a faulty knock & o2 sensor)
 

nice to have it back dont have to suffer driving ones like mine now haha

Cheers MRTurbo!

Speedracer, was a joy driving yours around. Sucks you're selling though :)

MR2gtracer, the tyre wear is fine. I'm.even hoping to wear em out (no burnouts) so I can go wider. Mainly good wear though cos my camber isn't excessive & I'm fussy with alignments.

its examples like this that keep me pumped to build mine