Taking a break out from throwing spanners at code - either for my Uni work or here... ;)
Hi - I'm Max (aka Monkeymax) and I have an addiction...
Oh no, wait... wrong club...
So, you may have seen me around various other forii (as my username is usually still available!)... But somehow I've gotten intricately involved in this forum and am doing lots of stuff in the background on it at the moment. But given as how it's been almost 18 months since I last went to an MR2 event in an MR2 of my own, (having taken my sisters most of the time instead!) some of you may be wondering just what am I doing around here?!
Well, meet Aiko:
http://www.borealis.me.uk/cars/redna/PC226823s.JPG
http://www.borealis.me.uk/cars/redna/PC226830s.JPG
These photos were taken a few weeks ago when I finally got it back on its wheels after a 14 month break... Not going to go into why it was so long, but in that time she got new suspension (Koni dampners, Lesjofors springs, TRD bushes, TwosRUs Rear Tie Bars & droplinks) and new brakes (Brakes Int discs, Ferodo and Redstuff pads, HEL braided cables, refurbed calipers) as well as a new rust hole (English weather... :( ). Everything that was reused was stripped down and repainted so hopefully will last a while before rusting... :lol: Also applied some POR-15 to the underside of the car in the more prone areas...
Before I started on the suspension and brakes, it was bone stock standard. For the most part, it still is (even Toyota spark plugs, filters, etc etc) and I've been sourcing a bunch of bits for the rebuild from Toyota too... I was planning on keeping it all stock, but the Koni suspension kit worked out cheaper than the Toyota replacements - and given it was also an upgrade, I couldn't see a reason not to go for it (ahhh the benefit of hindsight!). Of course, once I'd started, I then figured to go for the other bits too... :lol:
So, now time to start addressing the bodywork (though not majorly bad, I would like to get this completely sorted...) - well, once I've got the wheels professionally aligned, car MOTd - oh and the drivers side CV boot replaced... At some point I may fit my new exhaust too, but that ain't urgent... :)
Anyway, as if I wasn't already busy enough, last year I got this:
http://www.borealis.me.uk/Cars/White...hiteSCInsp.jpg
I bought it as a non-runner... and have been (very slowly) trying to sort it out... However, Aiko has been taking priority in what little free time I've had... That doesn't mean I've done nothing though... In trying to get the head off (as it was the HG that had gone) I found I couldn't remove the supercharger... so the engine had to come out with bits all attached...
Separation:
http://www.borealis.me.uk/Cars/White...CEngineOut.jpg
(and yes, I know it's got a rusty bum - but much of the underside has had a few coatings of POR-15, so I'm getting there! :) )
Taking the head off:
http://www.borealis.me.uk/cars/white...t/PA196768.JPG
What lies beneath:
http://www.borealis.me.uk/cars/white...t/PA196769.JPG
So, more work needed on this car... but as of yesterday I've now got a firm time-limit on when it has to be moved, so I'm gonna have to get into gear on this one... Still, should be fun when it's done!
