Project MR2

[Andy]

Most of you guys probably know that I've been dealing with the nuts coming loose off of my aluminum caster rods. So the question is, does anyone have any tricks to prevent the nuts from coming loose? The two caveats are such:
1) I can't loctite them cause it might lead to galling the threads
2) Double nutting it takes away some of the adjustments for my caster settings though I'm not sure I want anymore than 4 degrees of positive caster.

Suggestions? Also, the caster rods are aluminum and the heim joint is steel. Here's a picture of it off of full race's website.

[Andy]

In other news, I was the track today with Mercedes Benz club. In order to match the expected bling that would be at the track, I borrowed RJ's buffer and shined up the car. I think it came out super good.

From this



To this

[.RJ]

wow :!: :!: :!:

[Ginger]

Wow, Andy, that looks much better! Is it just the pic that makes the hood look a little pink still? I don't see the same pigment loss in the fender.

[ScottyB]

holy balls

[Andy]

The buffer thing is the seafoam of autobody. I don't know how it works but it gets results. The hood is red and matches the fenders. I guess its the pics. I'm pretty amazed at the results.

[.RJ]

Post pics of the buffing pads - i bet they got wrecked :lol:

[Evan]

so how many times did we tell you this and you still didnt believe us? :lol:

[Andy]

I made coilovers borrowing from a crazy good national level MR2 autoxer's design. Here's some thoughts and pics:

I used 8in springs which are too long for a MK2. I have the collar almost wound all the way down. As she sits, it's at the same ride height as TRD springs with approximatedly the same amount suspension travel. I should have just bitten the bullet and sprung for some Koni race inserts and sectioned the strut shells. I only have 1.4inches of shock travel. You also need a 20MM spacer to clear the coilover which then necessitates you rolling your fender to have all of your bits make nice.

There were a few positives. First I bought these:


They're top hats with a recess machined into them which allows for a needle bearing to ride inside. This helps minimize wear and steering effort on the front struts and on the rear, it helped transfer the load to the camber plate body as opposed to the spherical bearing. It also gave me back a .4 in of travel as opposed to a conical hat.


Lastly, I made some endlinks for the coilovers. This worked out pretty well and was pretty straight forward. Here's a pic of my new front endlink next to the stock rear endlink. I was glad to be able to minimize the length while adding some girth to the endlink. For folks that don't know, the stock front endlink is another 3 inches longer than the rears.



Lastly, the coilover project allowed me to up my springs rates from a 168in/lb/308In/lb to 250F/450R. I'll test drive the thing this weekend and see how things shake out.

[ScottyB]

looks like a pretty trick setup! how long did it take to assemble the struts? i don't think i'd have the balls to hack into my struts like that :thumbup:

[Andy]

looks like a pretty trick setup! how long did it take to assemble the struts? i don't think i'd have the balls to hack into my struts like that :thumbup:

It's not that big of a deal. Ground control sells weldon coilover kits. Taking proper measurements is tough part. In my case, I took measurements and then went to J&L automotive and had them weld on the perch for me. I also cut the stock endlink bracket and moved it down so I could run shorter endlinks and it would clear a huge space for me to section the struts in the future once I'm ready for 8611's.

Miata guys and anyone who tracks a HondAcura have it easy. They can get practically any part they want.

MK2 MR2 requires you figuring out or piecing crap together which can get really frustrating at times.

[Dave]

nice Job Andy!
I thought you decided aluminum suspension bits was bad :-).

I'm going to have section my struts to go with a coilover setup on the Z, I'll have to talk to you some more about it as time gets closer...

[Nis01]

Looks good Andy, sounds like you put a good bit of research into putting these together. Seems to be quite a bit of extra work but worthwhile in the end. Looking forward to continued reading about this project.

The endlinks look great. :thumbup: