MCT_MR2

 
What is up with the boost? Swinging 2-3 psi up and down in the mid range, must be costing you some power/torque through there.
 
Able to get some dyno graphs with the torque curves on them? Keen to see how the torque comes into it all when comparing the SC to the Turbo.

I think all mechanics can attest to making the customers cars better!

Will have to come for a ride sometime Nath.

Ah yes driving (or riding which is 100 times worse) dulls the speed senses alot. I hope my MR2 is faster than the Monaro...

The fastest Adub ive been in was Robs 3S version, so it will be good to see what the 4A is like.

Wow, i just realised how long it has been since i have done an update, so i'll recap on the last 12 months.
 
Power wise not much has changed, i tweaked the cam positions again and tidied some stuff up, and leaned everything out on cruise a bit more, the boost is a steady 16psi, few hundred rpm better response and it was 197ishkw.
 
I have given the car a bit of a freshen up steering and suspension wise, as it had been woeful for quite a while, i had the dreaded aw11 front end rattle, steering wheel shakes, and massive body roll. So first order of business was the steering and ball joints.
 
I ended up getting roadsafe aftermarket bits through bursons, as it worked out costing me $200 for tie rod ends, rack ends, and ball joints for both sides, which was soooo much cheaper than twos r us it was ridiculous.
 

 
Next order of business was struts and springs. My car had tokico struts that came with the car, and fitted with cusco springs, which are 4kg front and 6kg rear. As pretty much everything was hammered (struts, springs im sus on, top hats, rubber spring perch inserts etc), it was cheaper as a mean time option to get a set of BC coilovers. I ended up getting the HC RM model, and they came with swaybar links too. Oddly enough the camber plates for the front end were fitted wrong left to right.
 

 

 
They ride alright. I was concerned at first about the spring rates for a street car and how stiff they ride, but i have to say they really aren't. 8 clicks from full soft gives them a slight bounce over bumps, 12 clicks plus is when they get really firm. I had sussed out several custom options (KW, MCA, and Ohlins) but with quotes starting at $6k, i gave them a miss (id spend that on fixing the body and paint on the car before anything else.)
 
Also to help keep engine bay temps down, as i was having issues with melting some of the older components that inhabit the engine bay (more on that later) I picked up a passengers side engine scoop off ebay. I has made a massive difference to the temps in the bay, im tempted to get the drivers side version that they also sell.
 

 

Now my car has had a love hate relationship with the bottom shift linkage on my car. It melted early on in the turbo setup, and i was unable to source a replacement. So with some variety of tapes, zipties and heat shielding, it was patched up and some care was taken till i could find a replacement.
 
Fast forward to earlier this week, and after a spirited tailgating of an evo through kinglake, the linkage decided enough was enough, and decided i should get by without gears 2,4 and reverse.
 
So once again i tried to find a replacement, with no luck. To make matters worse the linkage decided it wouldn't play ball with another patch up job (it only gave me reverse back). So i rang around, a company here in melbourne that makes and repairs speedo cables and shift linkages can do it, but can't take on any more work for two weeks hile they catch up.
 
So with nothing to lose, today i pulled out the linkages to size them up. I had a spare set of evo 8MR linkages lying around from a customers car i did a gearbox conversion on. Turns out they were close. Sort of close.. More i decided i was desperated, had time on my hands and would make it fit. Now unfortunately i didn't think to take any before pictures, so i can show you the after with a walkthrough on what it took.
 

 
At the shifter assembly end, there was enough length, and the ball end that attaches to the shifter is thankfully threaded with M6x1.0, so this was the easiest end to modify. Slight altering of the shifter base to accommodate the linkage was simple, so then it was a case of measuring it all up, cutting the excess of the evo linkage, tapping a thread into it, and using a turnbuckle nut to join the two. The benefit of this is i have been able to tweak the shifter a little bit further away from me, its pretty much in line with the wheel now, and still has enough throw to engage the gears.
 

 
diameters of the cable section are identical, the length between the mounts are a bit different (evo linkages are longer) but not enough that they could not be used.
 

 
Now we come to the painful part. the end is the same diameter, but the mr2 ones taper down to slide through there mount, whereas evo ones clip into the frame. The solution? I had to take 4mm off the diameter of the mount to allow it to work with the standard linkage bracket. Now due to what i had available to me (a bench grinder, a right angle prep tool, some sandpaper and a file) this is a little bit rougher than i would like, and it also took about 2.5hrs for this step alone. I can't say i ever want to do it again, but it is a snug fit, the clip holds it tight, so im happy.
 

 
Now the linkage was still around 35mm too long to fit correctly, so i measured it up, cut a section out and welded it back together. I also fitted a set of speed source shift bushes that have been living in the bottom of my toolbox for about 5 years now. They are a perfect fit in the evo linkage.
 

 
Then some heat shielding and ready to fit. I also fitted the brass bush to the other linkage.
 

 
I added some lockwire at the gearshift end for a bit of security, just in case (the retaining clip is fitted from the bottom, and it holds the linkage firm, but not rock solid).
 

 
And back together. My gearshift boot was quite ratty, so i deleted it, and gave the shift plate a quick hit of paint.
 

 
Now call me ignorant, but i finally remembered to clean my headlight lenses and realised they are made of plastic, which isn't uncommon for jap imports, but usually not from the 80's, and also that it has MR in the middle. Are these aftermarket? Anybody know??
 

Iridiums are a bit better in as much as they concerntrate the spark a bit better, so you don't blow the spark out as quick, and you can get away with fouling them a bit more and still have strong spark.
Some ignition setups arent hugely fond of iridium plugs, but the main reason I run them is that are what we stock for the most part.
Yeah, it makes sense that they are taiwanese lenses, when they are clean they are way too bright, and they dont quite diffuse the light properly.
As for the compressor surge I mentioned on your thread, I have a few more things to try. I know if I squeeze it on, it doesn't really do it, and I might pick up a turbosmart recirc valve and see if it is better or worse.

Well done with the welding in that awkward location!

Have you got the tacho working yet? In case you haven't, here is how I did it on my SW20, with perfect results:

- Aux output from my aftermarket ECU, configured as a tacho output and wired to the factory tacho wire (with the factory igniter removed).

- Instead of a pull-up resistor to 12V, I have a pull-up relay coil to 12V (the contacts of the relay are unused).

- The relay coil generates a voltage spike on each tacho pulse, just like the factory tacho signal which comes from the ignition coil negative in the factory igniter.

I know you have an adub not an sdub, but I'm assuming that they have a similar tacho signal/setup.