yes it is very tight in there. i will wait until ian is finished and then i will have a good go at cleaning it up and making everything pretty, match the hoses etc.

darren i havent made a decision on tuning yet, i havent really spoken to ian yet but he should be able to get it running considering his expereince with haltech. i need to make decisions soon though as i have decided to move to hobart, got a lot to do before i go!!

i didnt consider the fuel thing, im sure it cant be that bad but there is nothing worse when you are low and cant find the right fuel. yes i will be in hobart by christmas. need to talk to you about that intake plenum too...

sweet build up stuka..car looks good, and engine looks definatly promising! :)

Thanks for your interest. Its been quite some time since I have updated the engine build and other upgrades. I never expected it would be easy but overall its been a quite draining process with a steep learning curve. You only have to look at Kameleons or Totenkopfs build threads to appreciate the frustration that accompanies highly modified engines.

The car first hit the tarmac in the middle of December last year after some serious issues with lubrication which resulted in the exhaust cam snapping and the engine removed again from the car, taken apart for examination and reinstalled. Christmas day wasnt much good either as I had a small engine bay fire, lucky I had a fire extinguisher handy.

During this time I decided to go opt for an aftermarket inlet manifold and sourced one from ATS in the US. The sidefeed arrangement resulted in some significant modification work to accommodate the manifold, by no means a bolt on modification no matter what ATS claim. Anyway, I was glad I did this while the engine was out, there is no way it would have been fitted with the engine in the car.

The car has run very well since mid December and the run in is completed. It is surprisingly docile for such a highly strung motor, it sounds tough but not too lumpy. It seems very eager and torquey and spools really well. The turbo is going to come on as quick as stock and pull like a monster when its properly tuned, the GT3071 really is a well suited turbo for the MR2, particularly in 2.2 form. As Kameleon pointed out on a recent trip to Tas, the roads here are more suited to turbos with a smaller exhaust housing to get that boost up before the next bend.

Since I moved to Hobart Ive also realised tuning options here are not great so I think I will have to bring it back to the mainland in the next couple months.

The water to air set up is almost complete also, I just need to hook up some braided lines and the top up tank, this will be finished at the weekend.

Ive also fitted the ganador mirrors at last, I really like the look of them.

I will update with photos soon.

I know the steep learning curve well, just pieced together my own 2.2. My turbo is smaller than yours though so should spool excellently but I anticipate that I'll get board of it pretty quickly.

What was the lube issue?

hows the inlet noise going pat?

no joy with the air leak yet, I'll tackle it again this weekend. might be a while yet before Im in Melbourne.