AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (2lateforPplate)

Sun, 18 Apr 2021 09:53:06 GMT

I had a cracked windscreen and rusty upper rail. I also suspected a rust bubble (per Wheeler dealers) or stiff suspension had been the root cause.

Then I heard it crack again on the new screen as I was lifting the bonnet. And the crack was in exactly the same location, drivers side lower left. And Looking closer at the drivers side hinge, it behaves like a see-saw. As you lift the bonnet the upper corner of the bonnet swings down and comes very close to the windscreen. On mine, it just makes contact on the lower drivers side edge of the screen.

Some of you may be fine (build variation) but its worth keeping in mind for anyone with accident damage, a non-original windscreen or is missing the windscreen lower plastic support block. And especially anyone who gets a mysterious crack here when you cant remember being hit by a stone.

Avoid repeating my mistake. I definitely dont recommend opening to maximum and "checking" if you have the same issue. Do take a look at the very top corners of your bonnet. Is the paint here sound or has it already been chipped due to some softer hits?

If you have any doubts, open you bonnet with the stay prop handy and only high enough to slot it in.

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Sat, 25 Jun 2016 15:14:57 GMT

Part 4/4

March 2016

Great Ocean Road
All good! All fixed! All fresh! Ready to drive! All is good again.A few of us planned an early drive down the great ocean road.Pulled the covers off the day before for a spanner check, oil check etc

Windscreen cracked. Bottom of the A pillar.(Perhaps a sign, didn't drive but co piloted the roads were super wet and greasy.)

Only 9 stationery days after the last use, but parked on non level ground perhaps the chassis flexed?! Because stiff suspension?! Curious.

April 2016

Windscreen ReplacementFound it prohibitively expensive to source a genuine OEM windscreen.RACV Autoglass had the best as far as I could tell with great product and installation warranties.

Cracked glass out and check this > Rust on the windscreen edge of the roof.

** A while back in the thread I had a leaky spot from above the rear view mirror.No doubt it wasn't sealed properly. This wasn't the original glass, replaced by a previous owner at some stage.The RACV Technician suggested when it was installed it wasn't sealed properly and/or care wasn't taken this being the common result. Gutted because OCD, and the roof had JUST been repainted... I could've fixed it then.The proper fix will have to wait.

Because the A pillar trims have to come off to remove the glass, I re did the trims.

Glass was in, trims could get painted and put on the following week.

NOPE.

A week after the glass went in the trims didn't fit. They were out bigtime.RACV Autoglass and I worked out the new glass is 1+ mm thicker than OEM. So the trims have to go on whilst the glue is drying to compress the glass and glue down into position. Hot tip for anyone replacing AW windscreens.

A new windscreen was fitted the following weekend. Mid April 2016

Current day.
Thats it! Up to date =)

Learning something new at every stage. Far more attached to this car than I could have ever imagined and better for it.
The people you meet, the places we go, the scenery we soak in, and the tarmac shuffled across with friends brings great experiences and the biggest smiles!

Hat tip to the Midship Runabout 2 Seater.

As of June 2016

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Sat, 25 Jun 2016 14:58:46 GMT

Cheers Barry! Thanks. I felt I'd come this far it'd be rude not too! Updated and included those photos above.
Certainly worthwhile reinforcing especially if your mount hasn't cracked yet.

barry
Your car looks great.
Good idea repairing the brakes. Most people never bother.
I am quite interested in seeking this motor mount you had made up. Thinking i should do the same.

Thanks mate! Will get around to the rears hopefully later this year.

5SGTE
Rims (front) look fantastic!

Less than ordinary! Really glad they fixed it up no hassles. Cheers Eric!

Eric
Wow I cant believe a shop would give a customer their car back looking like that!
great that they re did it but still... what a joke.
Loving the updates so far!

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (Eric)

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 09:00:42 GMT

Wow I cant believe a shop would give a customer their car back looking like that!

great that they re did it but still... what a joke.

Loving the updates so far!

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (5SGTE)

Fri, 24 Jun 2016 00:56:55 GMT

Rims (front) look fantastic!

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (barry)

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 18:24:28 GMT

Your car looks great.
Good idea repairing the brakes. Most people never bother.
I am quite interested in seeking this motor mount you had made up. Thinking i should do the same.

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 17:58:40 GMT

Part 3/4

October 2015

The new front rotors are a thicker than standard so the standard studs wouldn't be safely long enough. So out with the original ones in favour of some cool looking ARP Extended Studs w speed nose.

November 2015
Refurbished rims were ready (only the fronts)

December 2015 (30th)
Brake installation front and rear.

Double checked, and checked again.
Everything match-marked and torqued correct.
New braided lines both front and rear.

2016

January 2016
Brake installation front and rear complete.

Triple checking torque and match marking everything I touched.

Bedding in
Adhered to both run in procedures from RDA and Wilwood.

Extra stuff:
Removed cruise control guide from throttle pulley.
Was bugging me for a little - no longer served any function.
Before:

After:

Motor mount
(No photos atm (I’m sure I've got some.. will update later))
Removed the under body shrouds to inspect the throttle cable, and resting on one of the shrouds was a lone bolt, clearly from somewhere important.This wasn’t there pre track day spanner checking, I suspect it happened at the track.
Lucky nothing else happened as a result.
After some research, turns out the front motor mount is prone to cracking chassis side in AW’s pushing more power than stock. The 20v does, and the firmer motor mount bushes no doubt contributed.
This would have to get fixed post paint.

Paint Condition

Off to Paint.
Finally able to drive again, It was long overdue for new paint in sections.
The paint was average in sections but rapidly broke down because of poor storage while the car was stationary.

Back from Paint.
Not at all impressed upon closer inspection. Not what I paid for. It had to go back.

Not sanded or prepped in sections.

Not even painted in sections…

It had to get sorted but only after the motor mount was fixed.

Off to Trackart.
Off to have the cracked motor mount repaired and reinforced.
Andrew at Trackart reinforced the area with a custom formed plate to protect against it happening again.

The damaged area, you can the hole from the removal of the loose piece of cracked steel that used to contain the nutsert. Area cleaned, free of paint and prepped.

Mock fit

Development of reinforcement

Developed reinforcement with vertical flanges for extra strength/rigidity

6 weld plugs added for peace of mind, extra security.

Done and metal sealed/painted

Cheers Andrew.
Highly recommend Trackart and anyone tracking or putting more power through the AW. Simple preventative solution availble especially to reinforce before a crack develops.

February 2016

Back from Trackart.
Woo hoo!
This was honestly the first proper drive, since the track day.
On the way home from Trackart through the Dandenong's via Olinda.

Off to Paint V2
Car went back to paint to correct the previous job’s shortcomings.

March 2016

Back from Paint V2
Back and better for it.
Still not 100% happy but far better than it was.
(**Somewhere before the track day the roof and right rear quarter were resprayed and the rust blister cut out of the fender - will update.)
New paint now covers:
> Roof
> Rear right quarter
> Hood
> Headlamp covers
> Eyelids
> Front bumper
> Both LHS and RHS fenders

Almost there. Almost up to current day.

END update 3/4

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Thu, 23 Jun 2016 17:47:07 GMT

Dammit... cheers 5SGTE!

5SGTE
I could have lent you the tool...

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (5SGTE)

Wed, 22 Jun 2016 13:17:06 GMT

I could have lent you the tool...

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Tue, 21 Jun 2016 22:38:33 GMT

Part 2/4

2015 Jan - Sandown
Great day, great instructions.
Session after session we got quicker and more confident.

Making some friends.

Followed that EK Civic around and we swapped positions for many laps. Pulling up alongside and giving each other thumbs up.

Keeping cool between sessions, at the back of the garage in the wind.

We’d later find out that the Blue 2014 Ford Focus ST out there with us was CarAdvice.com.au - doing a review. Haha timing > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSk-1mi-vxo There’s a little red car making an appearance at 0.01 and 2.06 !

Fellow adub Benji was there too =)
Benji and I actually met years ago, great guy. Good catch up even if only brief.

The result of my amateur driving skills, and a motor that seemed to spin forever.
(Poor prep on my behalf didn't expect the fluid to cook, or pads to wear out that quick.)

By the end of the day I had no pads, wheels covered in brake dust, boiled fluid, and I’d later find out warped rotors.

Had too much fun, swore to do it as often as possible.To do it again and often safely, whilst still remaining a street car meant upgrading the brakes to cope, have better longevity, reduce fade and have more bite.

At the very least to drive again the car needed:
Front Rotors
Rear Rotors
Pads
Fluid.

**The car wouldnt move from the driveway for another 11 months.

March - April 2015
Looked into, and later bought a set of Toyota Celica ST165 front calipers (2 piston sliding callipers).
Keeping it all OEM and because they're directly compatible with AW11’s.
They mounting directly with no modification to the uprights.

They would need rebuilding, and ideally because OEM OCD would use Celica ST165 rotors redrilled to 4x100.

ST165 Front Brake Upgrade
Caliper: 2 pot - Sliding
Disc: 277xXXmm - Redrilled to 4x100

Decided to do it myself. Working on it over a period of time, when it possible whilst saving for the parts in between the numerous stages. Because it definitely wasn’t going to be a quick job, I’d have more time, and at this point was only a little more to source and use a lighter more powerful kit from a handful of companies.

An alternative to the ST165 front callipers could be the BBK kit from MRP.

MRP offered the best BBK kit. Value for money, ease of install and it was developed with the intention of being hassle free using the stock master cylinder and no need for additional modifications. Will clear most 15in rims.

MRP (Manon Racing Products NZ) Front Brake Upgrade
Caliper: Wildwood Dynapro 4 pot (With option dust seals)
Disc: 280x25mm Brembo disc - Redrilled 4x100
Brakelines swapped for custom HEL lines made by MRP.

The rear brakes I’d rebuild and replace the rotors and pads.Rear rotors: RDARear pads: EBC

Decided to go with the MRP Big Brake Kit!

June 2015
MRP Kit arrives.
Mock fit to find x2 things.
1. My Work S1R’s are not S1R’s…(They turned out to early 1 piece cast Work Nezarts (Great not what I bought.))
2. Calipers are awesome but clash. Rims do not clear.
Absolutely shattered.

TIME EXTENSION.
(If they were S1R’s the guys at Work via a dimension sheet show it would clear.)

July 2015
RDA (RDA751D) rotors sourced from Online Performance Autos.
Test fitted

July 2015
Looking to clear the front caliper, trying what wheels I had.
The original upgrade RAYS GR-N’s rims from early in the thread clear! But I only had one.
One cracked memento.

Seeing this could take a while longer, I managed to pick up a spare upright to work with in the garage, off the car for all measurements.

MID JULY 2015
By mid July and the cold and wet had adversely affected the paint, being parked under a cover for a few weeks, I went away and then got distracted doing other things I had a micro greenhouse, oxidising, fading and bubbling paint...

Great.

Id send it off for paint as soon as the brakes were installed.
Which meant finding rims that clear.

AUGUST 2015
Love a 2, 3 piece rim and Watanabe RS’s hence a staggered set of SSRxWatanabe RS8’s was found on Yahoo Auctions.
4x100 15x6.5 +21 (Maybe get rebuilt into 7.5’s?! In the future)
4x100 15x7 +27
Cool!

They arrived buckled, and in need of a resto…Great.

TIME EXTENSION.

All lessons. The whole thing so far. Even though I tried to “measure twice and cut once” a host of variables helped drag things out.

They would clear.JUST.

To be safe, if they flexed even the slightest bit i'd be in trouble…For peace of mind I'd have to use a 3mm spacer.
Custom Hub rings machined. Better rim to hub interface for better mounting weight distribution and vibration reduction.
ID (Toyota hub spigot @54.9mm) OD (SSRxWatanabe ID@ 65mm).

Which affected the offset calculations...

SEPTEMBER 2015
Woah September.
The OEM rear caliper rebuild kits arrived and both calipers were rebuilt over the month.
I thought I could make do without SST 09756-00010 to remove and reinstall the adjusting bolt. Ha. Nope.
Spent a good half day struggling. I regrettably sacrificed a piston from a spare caliper to get its floating coarse thread spiral core. This core when wound down, compresses the assembly allowing for effortless re-installation.
It actually worked a treat if anyone needs to borrow it let me know, or grab it from a rear piston!

Rear calipers wire wheeled, cleaned, re lubed with OEM grease and rebuilt with new seals.

END Part 2/4

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Mon, 20 Jun 2016 23:15:08 GMT

Update!
Time flies.
Just under a year since the last update...
And I didn't even complete that… Gotta bring this up to speed, up to current day by the end of the week.

Cheers again for the kind words, and 1slow for the most recent comment that’s made me pick up where I left off.

Part 1/4

Immediately post Haunted Hills (November 2014 - Club Day Bryant Park) Nothing but driving and enjoying it!
No major work/updates/refreshing servicing or maintenance.

2015
The new year arrived.
In early January I heard a creak when leaning gently on the center console.(A few posts back, a while back I took the preventative measure of discreetly reinforcing its B-Surface ribs with resin.) Suspecting a crack was imminent from the creak (nothing visible) I re-visited the repair and reinforced the surrounded area. Mint uncracked consoles are getting super hard to find.

2015 JanThe Airbox cover got a clean and a lick of paint.

As did the head cover.

Installed an ITG JC100 filter and SQ Engineering adaptor plate for a bit of audible fun.

Clearance to rear bulkhead.

2015 Jan - Pre Sandown Track Day
Sandown “The home of horsepower” with those long straights!
Going there with a largely stock 20v I’d take any NA intake breathing gains I could get!
After consulting local genius and a very humble talented machinist Sam at SQ Engineering, I replaced the IMEC 35mm plastic trumpets with some excellent machined alloy tapered 50mm parabolic trumpets.
These fit perfect.
No step where they meet the throttle and a generous bell mouth.

They look and sound the business.

2015 Jan - Sandown
A few mates, a local track, a garage, good weather, a mixture of cars, good times.
Quick fill for both car and jerry can the night before:

Ill pick up from here with Part 2.

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Mon, 20 Jun 2016 23:08:29 GMT

Cheers 1slow! Thanks very much for the kind words and reading through till the end! Your compliments are much appreciated!

1slow
I should be working, but just read this end to end. Thank you so much for sharing and compliments on your attention to detail. That is one seriously nice car!

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (1slow)

Fri, 03 Jun 2016 16:48:00 GMT

I should be working, but just read this end to end. Thank you so much for sharing and compliments on your attention to detail. That is one seriously nice car!

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (MK1corse)

Tue, 21 Jul 2015 22:43:55 GMT

RdS
...update..!
I havent seen you in fkn ages mang.. need to cruise again..
Loving the chunky rear tyres, and jelly of that Ti exhaust (get that damn thing on there..!). Re. the paint issues; nothing a cut/polish can sort? Single-stage acrylic red.. just remember - out of the sun, out of the rain, and wax, wax, wax...

Hahaha dude entirely my bad! Hope you're ace. Ti pipe is SO well made and weighs very very little! Keen to fit! Sage advice on the paint front, reckon ill cut the bonnet and assess but the front bar is proper gross.
As soon as its sorted ill msg ya - cruise then!

Surgeon
MK1corse
Had a thought, if you're okay with I'd quite happily and easily update the artwork to reflect your car and its two tone black/white paint job and SC decals!

That sounds freaking amazing, but I don't want you to feel obligated or anything. As long as it's easy and doesn't take up too much of your time, I'd love to see it.

Cool! Not at all, it'd be a pleasure. Leave it with me ;)

Re:AW11 MK1 MR2 Super Red - 20v Blacktop - MK1corse - Melb (Surgeon)

Mon, 20 Jul 2015 19:43:18 GMT

MK1corse
Had a thought, if you're okay with I'd quite happily and easily update the artwork to reflect your car and its two tone black/white paint job and SC decals!

That sounds freaking amazing, but I don't want you to feel obligated or anything. As long as it's easy and doesn't take up too much of your time, I'd love to see it.