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View Full Version : Like many of you, I too have a car



Nigel
05-22-2004, 09:59 PM
My car is nothing really spectacular to the untrained eye, and unless you are me you probably dont see anything particularily extraordinary in it, but here is its story non-the-less. Shawn can post you some pics too, he has more pictures of my car then I do, lol.

I had a skoda 135gli for a couple months, and after working on it for 3 months, and its first day on the road, my brother wrecked it and didnt even apologise...then I picked up an 84 jetta which I beat the living crap out of for over a year. I finally retired it after ruining the brakes. Shawn and another buddy and I were drifting with the back wheels on mcdonalds meal trays when the ebrake failed so I got my tire iron torque bar and jammed it throught the wheel to stop it from spinning so we could drive around on our trays. this sprung a slow brake fluid leak that would continue for the next week or so. finally, with no brakes I ruined the clutch going down a really steep hill slowing myself down by feathering the clutch in reverse. I sold it for barely less then I bought it for :D

six months ago I picked up the cheaped mr2 I could find which turned out to have a bhg and lots of rust. It also had major coolant problems. I fixed the rust and paid to have the bhg fixed, but on the way back from the mechanics place, about 45 minutes into the drive home, I through a rod through the block. To make a long story short, I now have a pretty decent car with a gt-s engine (my 5th engine, if you can believe it or not) and some other little mods. After the first swap following the thrown rod I did all the work myself (with shawn and anthony's help).

whiteballz
05-22-2004, 10:09 PM
sounds, uhhmmm... irresponsible,... sounds like fun!

is it a nice car?

Nigel
05-22-2004, 10:11 PM
Of course it is nice!!!

as eggnog and mechanicsfetch have both seen/riden/driven it, I will let them tell you since everyone thinks their own car is nice.

VtecMini
05-23-2004, 08:29 AM
I ruined the clutch going down a really steep hill slowing myself down by feathering the clutch in reverse.


:D I'm lovin' it.

Egg Nog
05-23-2004, 04:19 PM
Here's a couple pictures of Nigel's car :) These are good ones...

Nigel
05-24-2004, 12:50 PM
A few changes from the set of pics egg nog posted: wheel center caps are on, bumpers painted.

Nigel
05-24-2004, 12:52 PM
The unmistakable egg nog proof of ownership comes in a 4 frame set:

Nigel
05-24-2004, 01:08 PM
Here is an old thread in which my car was discussed. And in answer to the question about which car (the 914 or the mr2) would win in a race, we tested them out, and up a relatively steep hill from about 0-160, shawn was faster off the line and then I caught up and passed him. In all fairness though, at the time it was acting up a little. Im sure his can handle better then mine due to the low mounted flat 4 and 50/50 weight distribution. Also, his car is stock (+ a kick ass exhaust system) and mine has a faster then stock engine and some other minor mods.

http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=908

Niko_Fx
05-24-2004, 01:40 PM
A few changes from the set of pics egg nog posted: wheel center caps are on, bumpers painted.

Looking nice ;)

UK CARS
05-24-2004, 01:48 PM
Looking nice ;)
could have something..a bit more...than boosting your post count! :D
joke.. :p you know im messing niko ;)


anyway you planning to keep the mr2 the way it is? :confused:
well hope you have hours of fun with it anyway! ;)

Nigel
05-24-2004, 02:01 PM
could have something..a bit more...than boosting your post count! :D
I know that I do, this is kinda funny. Shawn was there.

foto_choppa
05-25-2004, 02:49 AM
nice mr2 you prob. said this b4 but what hp is it? :D

UK CARS
05-25-2004, 03:08 AM
errm dont get me wrong..but.....err your rep is very high for a low post count... :confused: ....i know your buddy egg nog and he can dish out a lot of rep :confused: i dont want to get the wrong end of the stick.... :confused:

Nigel
05-25-2004, 12:34 PM
errm dont get me wrong..but.....err your rep is very high for a low post count... :confused: ....i know your buddy egg nog and he can dish out a lot of rep :confused: i dont want to get the wrong end of the stick.... :confused:
actually, egg nog has not given me any rep points other than the standard 2 points or whatever for being new. all the rest of my rep points come from people who think I have made good points, like in the "why buy and suv" http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4002&page=2&pp=40 forum and the "swap engine-need opinion" http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=71954 forum, or a number of others. Have you actually read anything I wrote? or have you just made this assumption because I am friends with someone on the forum?

Nigel
05-25-2004, 12:37 PM
nice mr2 you prob. said this b4 but what hp is it? :D
I dont have any proof because I havent run a dyno, but the red top is stock 130 + cams + intake + exhaust. I guess it is around 150 at the flywheel - 15% in the trans (a generalization based on the mr2 trans, not trans in general) puts it at about 125hp at the rear wheels.

UK CARS
05-25-2004, 12:52 PM
actually, egg nog has not given me any rep points other than the standard 2 points or whatever for being new. all the rest of my rep points come from people who think I have made good points, like in the "why buy and suv" http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4002&page=2&pp=40 forum and the "swap engine-need opinion" http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=71954 forum, or a number of others. Have you actually read anything I wrote? or have you just made this assumption because I am friends with someone on the forum?

oh im very sorry mate...i just thought he might of been helping you out a bit! :D ...oh im so embarased :o ..hehe

well yeah that post was worthy of rep :) ....Damn i knew i would end up in humiliation :p .......... ;)

Egg Nog
05-25-2004, 04:36 PM
Just to clarify, I've only given Nigel positive rep once...

Motorer1
05-25-2004, 04:38 PM
The unmistakable egg nog proof of ownership comes in a 4 frame set:


Jeez egg nogg, you even make your friends take that challenge!

Nigel
05-25-2004, 06:10 PM
Jeez egg nogg, you even make your friends take that challenge!
LOL! That was primarily for the other users on the forum, and I thought it would be cool, and I was taking pictures of my car anyway.

Nigel
05-29-2004, 11:45 PM
I just finished making a custom rear stut brace, what a difference it makes. It went from a very mild understeer to a moderate (wild in the rain) oversteer. It is sooooo much fun! Pictures to come tomorrow.

Egg Nog
05-31-2004, 03:12 PM
I've got a photo of the strut brace...

Compare with the older engine shot (on the right) :)

Matra et Alpine
05-31-2004, 03:30 PM
what ?
A lot of difference was attributed to a simple strut brace ?
Either the brace is the wrong dimensions and you've pushed out/in the camber or your bodyshell is BADLY fatigued :)

A strut brace would not make a BIG difference other than at the range of forces that VERY wide tyres would provide. The rubber will break adhesion from the road before sufficient force will be applied through the suspensions to move a major mounting compnent - unless as I said you've a badly fatigued body :)

So, if it truly has made THAT big a difference, I'd get to a laser alignment shop and check out each corner :)

Nigel
06-01-2004, 08:34 AM
you are pretty quick! My car is 20 years old. To build the strut brace I cut out the two plates and the bar, then welded the bar to the plates while on the car. I took the bar off and painted it. When I went to put the bar back on it wouldnt fit! I ended up jacking up the car from the middle and putting a little bit of pressure on either side of the car to pop the brace back on. Is this really bad? I had to move it almost 5mm.

Matra et Alpine
06-01-2004, 10:03 AM
you are pretty quick!
yep and knowledgable

and modest :)


... I ended up jacking up the car from the middle and putting a little bit of pressure on either side of the car to pop the brace back on. Is this really bad? I had to move it almost 5mm.

bad in SO many ways.

First, you've radically altered the geomotry of the suspension.
Second, you've potentially placed side pressure on the struts.
Third, you've a home-built piece of steel in compression.

so, why are those all bad ??
1) The suspension geometry was designed by the manufacturer to provide a stable and predictable handling car. You've taken it out of that. You need to return it to normal or get it adjusted. The camber will definately be out. To adjust the top of mcPherson struts to try to restor it you'll need to fit concetric plates and rotate them. You MAY have affected the castor as well.
You may need to lengthen the bottom arm length to have the strut operate within design bouds. To do that, you'd need to fi adjustable rose joints ( easiest) or fab new bottom arms. You may have introduced braking/acceleration induced steering as the suspension travels. Gettin them all back will be a challenge !!
2) If the struts are not running 'true' - ie angle of the top is distorted ot side pressure being applied then you will burst the seals on the damper fairly quickly. Dampers don't like dideways forces. Suspension is designed NOT to give any - until you jack it and force it apart. As well as wear, at it's extremem it may jam, bend and break.
3)That strut is taking forces you may not have engineered it to do. Under constant compression I'd be worried that the weld onto the top plates will shear. If this happens mid cornering the sudden shift of 5mm will through the car faster than you can think. You'll be SERIOUSLY off into the woods backwards ! If it happens while you're working on the engine -- well steel pieces flying at hundresds of mph from a strees fracture embeed pretty deeply into skin and bone ( my old man was buried with a piece of spitfire still in his skull !! )

The big problem is you may have already done damage in forcing things out, they may never return to original position.

I'd advise getting it out as quickly as possible.

Second, I'd advise scrapping it if you want to drive fast. It will always be a bit of a liability now.
You can mitigate some of that by getting the geomettry checked over and hopefully the manufcatrers adjustments are enough to get it all back in line.

Alternatively, drive it carefully - after all it's not any worse than being side-swiped by an SUV and continuing to drive.

Sorry if that all sounds a bit scary. Not the intent to frighten you , but you DO have to think what's important in your life. Wouldn't want you to lose the latter !!!

johnnynumfiv
06-01-2004, 01:29 PM
When you welded the braces to the struts, did weld a bead continously or in sections? The warp of the metal from the weld probably cause your problem in the first place.

Matra et Alpine
06-01-2004, 01:57 PM
giveing you say you welded it in place and it came OFF OK, then I don't think you've got ditortion.

Are you sure you put it back on the same way round ?
it could be as simple as swapping the ends round :)

Either way you don't want that bar in place as it is now !!

Nigel
06-01-2004, 11:09 PM
I cut out the plates, put them in place, then tacked the bar on, then put a solid bead around, then drove it for a while, then had a real hard time getting it off, then jacked the car up to get it back on. I am just about to do a major suspension upgrade (DIY) with tokiko HP struts, suspension techniques lowering springs, and High and Tight polyurithane bushings, so I am going to have my allignment done, etc.

I will take your advice and modify the brace so that it slides on nicely.

Matra et Alpine
06-02-2004, 01:18 AM
OK, Nige, as you will be stripping all the rear suspension for the upgrade parts and to rebush it I'd advise getting the alignment info from a bodyshop and doing a check. It will be easier to jack things back into place and then put on your new suspension than find after you've put it all back that there is a twist. Suspension adjustments are not great at removing twist effects.

If you check the poitions of the strut top and each suspension bush point then you can ensure a better starting position to then build a more consistent handling car.

Good luck with it. Cheers .

Nigel
06-02-2004, 07:54 AM
Doesnt that seem a little overkill? couldnt I just remove the bar and put in the suspension stuff and just go with it?

Matra et Alpine
06-02-2004, 08:32 AM
Doesnt that seem a little overkill? couldnt I just remove the bar and put in the suspension stuff and just go with it?
I'd suggested it as you were obviosuly stripping it all out anyway.
It's easy to check the turret tops and pivots with no suspension in place and the figures are availabel in any bodyshop manual.
Yes it's overkill for ordinary street use.
At worst you'll get funny tyre wear and odd handling that you may well get used to.
I've raced/rallied/crashed too many cars to let me NOT check alignment and especially if any damage/twist may have been there. Last thing I wat to condsider is the consequences of a strut breaking on a corner doing 100+mph.
Maybe you want to let us know what you're planning on doing with the car. I'd assumed the upgrading of suspension parts was for seriosu driving as a coat of paint would be enough for the look.

Falcon500
06-18-2004, 04:14 AM
Flash car Ive got to say i quite like it :) its also one of the cars im considering buying i found one at a dealership for $9900 AU im curious to know where this rust was...so i know where to look....