MR2 1600 sport 16V/20valve
TOYOTA MR2 MODIFICATIONS
Since I purchased the car back in may 2000 I have made some modifications to it. These include fitting a strut brace across the front suspension turrets, which should strengthen and stiffen up the chassis around these points. I have also installed Koni top adjustable shock absorbers all round, these where recommended to me by Demon Tweeks. Installing Koni shocks has been one of the most worthwhile things I have done to the car. They have improved the overall handling of the car, but more than anything they have made the car more tractable under hard acceleration.
KONI installation
Date 22/07/2000. With the help of a friend and my brother we make a start on changing the shocks over. This took a couple of days to do, it mainly went well except for undoing the top nut on each of the shocks witch needed something like an 80mm spanner witch no one had anything like in stock. So what we did in the end was to get a Halfords chain oil filter remover and apply this to the giant nut, witch, we cracked, metaphorically speaking. Wile I was up inside the wheel arches I made shore there was no rust, which there was none so I Wax Oiled every thing ready for the winter.
JANSPEED
S1 STAINLESS STEEL EXHAUST 
Another major upgrade has been to the exhaust system. I have fitted a Janspeed S1 stainless steel back box and down pipe since the original pipe was looking a little worse for ware. The Janspeed pipe has improved the mid range pick-up, plus with its 3 inch twin tail pipes and single silencer it looks and sounds a hole lot better than the standard exhaust.
TOYOTA ORIGINAL EXHAUST (removal)
As you can imagine, such a small exhaust system is not that difficult to remove, its just a matter of undoing 3 nuts on the exhaust manifold, slide off three rubber bushes and Bobs your virtual reality uncle.
THE NEW JANSPEED EXHAUST (fitting)
Fitting the exhaust is almost as strait forward as removal, but I found on my car that the old center exhaust mount (witch is a metal bracket) fouled the new pipe when is was in place. Out came Mr. petrol disk cutter and the job was done. Ah, and don’t forget a couple of exhaust gaskets neither, @ £2.32 + the Queens pocket money from your local Toyota dealer.
If you want to see a video clip of this click here.
Date 16/02/01. I have fitted Pirelli P6000 185/60/14 tires to the rear wheels of the car. These tires are very good and are showing the Michelins up that are on the front wheels, I'm tending to get a bit of under steer when cornering fast (I don't like that!!!).
NITROUS INJECTION
Before I fitted the nitro fuel system I knew very little about this form of power enhancing apart from it being a bit of a tuning legend as far as power gains where concerned, so after looking around on the net for a wile I found very little of use apart from a company in Doncaster U.K. by the name of High Power systems. After a couple of chats on the phone with Trev at High Power about the car and what I was hoping to achieve he advised me to go for the ECOBLASTER 100i, in there own words, the Ecoblaster 100i is the highest quality, Nitrous system in the world. It is also the simplest system to install and is the only system designed to fit to your stock street car without any major modifications. This system is supplied with all the parts needed including a pair of Pulsoid solenoids, a 5lb alloy Nitrous cylinder (with brackets), a single Venom injector, all pipes, fittings and switches, plus simple to follow D.I.Y. fitting instructions for the quickest and easiest D.I.Y. installation possible. Ecoblaster 100i can increase the power of your engine by an extra 100BHP, however for economy and safety reasons the system is "initially" supplied with power metering jets to deliver 25BHP extra. Ecoblaster 100i is only suitable for injected cars.
nitrous... the installation
Date 14/04/01. The first thing I did when I got the kit was to lay it all out on my desk to make shore every thing was there, plus understand where all the connections went. This turned out to be very strait forward as there isn't much to a nitrous kit. With a nitrous kit there are several things you have to take into account, one of which is that the solenoids (picture no.2) don't want to be any more that 12" away from the Main injector nozzle (picture no.7). With this in mined, I went about seeing if I could get away with placing the solenoids in the boot, this is a perfect place for them as it doesn't get hot. Turned out to be just the job, in the boot there is already a large rubber grommet (picture no 4) so I put the pipes through this and they just reached the throttle body where the injector will go. Grand! Picture number 5 shows the unattached large bore red fuel hose which will be attached to the cars fuel supply, plus smaller blue nitrous and small red fuel injector in pipes. In number 6 I have made a hole in the boot wall for the nos pipeary (is that a word?) to pass though. Picture no.7, the next thing to do was install the injector body in the air intake hose. Very easy, big drill, little pressure...and as if by magic a hole appears. Being sensible for a moment though, the hole for the injector wants to be as close to the throttle body as possible for maximum affect, and if you've got the sphericals the injector can be placed in the main throttle body itself by drilling into that, (not my bag baby!).
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Number 8, throttle body intake. In Picture 9 the air induction hose with injector is now in place with fuel and nitrous oxide pipes ahoy. The next thing to do was cut into the cars existing fuel pipe just after the fuel filter and install the T piece that came with the kit. The T piece takes the extra fuel needed direct to the air intake (pictures 10,11 and 12).
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The kit was supplied with two switches for activating the solenoids, one is the master arm switch, the other is a micro switch that is only activated on full throttle. To install these takes a bit of time with the MR2 because you have to run the wires under the carpet round the back of the seats (removing rear bulkhead carpet plus all rear window fittings) etc etc. What fun! Number13 is the removal of lower dash fascia in order to run cables to the master arm switch to the left of the steering wheel. Picture 14 is the micro switch that operates the solenoids on full throttle. With nitrous bottles they need to be kept as upright as possible so in order for this to happen I got 200sx geezer to make a ramp out of M.D.F (Medium Density Fiberboard). Any branch of B&Q will be able to help you out here. You can see the ramp before it was carpeted in pictures 15,16 and 17. As a temporary solution to the problem of how to affix the solenoids in the car I utilized the holes left in the chassis for holding the bulkhead carpet in by putting bolts through these and then using some Halfords I.C.E install steel strips (picture number 18). Also in this frame, if you notice on the blue nitrous pipe you can see a white/green substance this is frozen washing up liquid, at this point I was checking for leaks. You have to be very careful when checking for leaks, as the nitrous is dispensed from the bottle at -128 degrees and at 800 P.S.I (cool!), this would give you a very bad frost burn (not so cool!). Number 19 shows engine bay almost finished with the exception of tidying the wires in the top let corner.
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When installing a nitrous kit depending on how much power is required from the engine you may need to do several things to the car. The first of witch is a change of plugs, they need to run colder than original equipment. I installed plugs for the 2.0L MR2 as these are a harder, colder plug (no. 20 & 21). When undertaking a project such as this its always a good idea to check for the demon rust and so with the carpet up I had a good look and found nothing at all, witch was nice. And finally for the time being picture 24 is what it looks like at the moment with a piece of carpet I got from carpet right. Possibly the next thing to do is make a better bracket for those solenoids.
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The beauty of my nitrous oxide installation is that there are only two undoable modifications to the car, the first is the hole in the air intake pipe and the second is the severed fuel pipe. If there's one thing I hate doing and that's drilling holes and stuff like that into the cars chassis.
Times recorded so far (with 40bhp nitrous jet)
Being mechanically sympathetic (yer right! I here you say) I don't like doing to many tests like this but I have found that I am easily recording times of 30 to 90mph in 12 seconds, 0 to 60 in 7 seconds, 0 to 100 in 17 seconds (witch to put it in perspective is a second quicker to 100mph than my beautiful 1985 Audi UR quattro turbo) say no more squire! O and also the clutch slips a bit as well!
Team Dynamic Light Alloy Wheels
For that little extra cornering stability that I need the cars now wearing some very nice 195x45/16 BFGoodrich Tires, complemented with some very tasteful Team Dynamic Diablo's. More pictures can be seen here.
FENSPORT lowering springs
Date 17/12/01. Once I had fitted the Team Dynamic alloys the next thing to do was lower the ride height. This is something I have been thinking of doing for a long time but I never seemed to get around to doing it. After a lot of looking around at the various spring kits available I decided to go with Fensports bespoke kit. These springs are specially fabricated to Fensports own specifications and lower the late model MK1 35mm and stiffen the ride by about 20%. Fitting the springs is a piece of cake just as long as you have a good set of spring compressors, you can get them from any good auto factors.
Once fitted to the car I had to take it for a blast to see what it drove like now I was over an inch closer to the black stuff. I made shore the Koni's were wound down to there softest setting and I was off. To be honest I don't think the overall quality of ride has changed that much but it is firmer. The car is more stable when subjected to sudden directional changes and is very positive when cornering on smooth surfaces. The only down side of lowering any car and more to the point stiffening the ride is that you lose some compliance when encountering potholes and the like in the road. This can result in bouncing over rather than soaking up the bumps, this can be disconcerting at first but in time you get used to having to take the car by the scruff of the neck, This scenario is made more obvious in the wet when traction can be lost quite easily. At the end of the day this is the kind of ride I was expecting, firmer, just right for track day use. Also looks better sitting lower to the ground filling those arches!
black diamond 12 grove vented disks
Another item that was in need of some attention was the rather worn disks and pads on the front wheels so at the same that I lowered the car I slapped on some of the finest black diamonds and a set of Ferrodo pads, result, very good stopping power with less fade. The only small down side is that they are a bit squeaky under minor braking and under heavy braking you get a vibration sound effect off the grooved disks but with out the vibration, strange but true!
...and yes, I know my calipers look a bit sad at the moment.
Oh, that's better Sir!
Date 12/07/04. Update... rear brakes now using the Black Diamond disks. I did a track day around the famous old GP circuit Goodwood in West Sussex on the 23rd of August 2003 and I hammered the brakes all day, I NEVER had any problems with warping disks what so ever...superb.
Levin Twin Cam variable valve timing 20v 146BHP engine
I may live to regret this but I am currently trying to fit this monster 146BHP 4age into MR2. I don't think the physical install will be the problem but I'm not looking forward to wiring the bar-steward in.
When taking the engine out you have got to get MR2 as high as possible, then drop the engine down and out. I used some ramps and a pit to get the height required. To lower the engine I used a block and tackle attached to a wooden frame I made.
Gearbox
This is what the inside of the MR2 gearbox looks like when you get a bit involved with a set of spanners and a large hammer. The second picture is of a Toyota Corolla clutch bell housing, witch to do the job properly is what you will need because the starter motor is on the other side of the engine to the MR2 and the MR2 bell housing will not except the new starter motor position.
When opening the gearbox be very careful because there is a small ball bearing that drops out of a gear selector gallery and it will fall in to the gears. 3rd picture is closing it all back up again, the only things to know are 1st. that selector rod is a sod to put back on and 2nd. don't forget that ball bearing in the selector gallery. Its all quite self explanatory when you are doing the job...honest governor.
exhausted
One of the things I like most about the 20v engine is the very posh 4 branch manifold you get with it, some what better than that cast iron thing with a crack in it. The only problem is I will need a specially made center section because as you can see in the second picture the angles are different and also the mounting bracket is a different size, ho hum...
If you want to hear a sound clip of a 20V with no exhaust click here.
Fred Flintstone power
Date 02/03/02. I have just finished cleaning the engine bay for the reinstall, put the MR2 gearbox and Corolla bell housing on the 20v and I feel happy... then I out the corner of my eye I can see the mother of all wiring looms waiting to be spliced. *?%#!!!
The installation
Date 10/03/02. After taking off the throttle body air box and 4 branch manifold the engine is ready to install. It all went according to plan but it is quite a slow moving process.
Date 16/03/02. I have just managed to get the engine turning over which, in a maximum muppetry kind of way was very exciting. When I have sorted all the wiring out I hope to put a diagram on the net of roughly how to wire the 20v up to the original MR2 loom. Also today I went to the local scrappy and found a replacement header tank out of a Toyota Camary estate, you see with the 20v engine you either need to relocate the original header tank or get a slimmer one.
Date 17/03/02. This is going to well for my liking!!!, just rigged up the EFI relay and also fuel pump and circuit open relay. The only thing is it is a complete mass of wires going all over the place.
Date 30/03/02. This is the day that every thing came together, the engine started! albeit without an exhaust system, so it was loud, very loud.
Date 31/03/02. I had to make some adjustments to the Janspeed exhausts center section to get a sharper angle on the down pipe, this was just a case of cutting and bending it to shape. Another exhaust modification was to add the exhaust gas monitoring sensor to the back box..
"Buy a 20 valve, and buy one today!!!"
Date 14/04/02. Well I have now traveled over 400 miles with the 20v unit installed in the car, and I have to say this baby really fly's! I have taken out any thing from Alfa 156's to BMW 5 series and even an Aston Martin Vantage, and I bet they couldn't believe the way my 1987 MR2 picked up speed so fast. If you have got a MR2 MK1 I would strongly recommend changing the engine to a 20v, not only is it very quick, It doesn't really affect the fuel economy either. Plus its better than the supercharger (which I did think about for a long time) in the respect of the fact that the cars weight has not changed much if at all, so the excellent handling dynamics of the MR2 are retained. I've still got a lot of tidying to do i.e. the wiring and also I shall get some braded pipes for the fuel hoses.
Now I have got the basic engine running and every thing hooked up I will now give a list of all the major things you will need to think about if you are going to do this at home.
1. You will need to work out how you are going to get the engine down and out of the car, not that easy when it's in the middle and you ain't!
2. Unless you want to do a bodge job on the exhaust manifold and make it fit around the starter motor, you will need a Corolla clutch bell housing with the twin starter motor domes so you can use the starter motor in the correct place on the 20v block.
3. The 20v's exhaust manifold has a different curve and flange than the MR2's, so modifying the center section of your exhaust to suit both length and attachment will be necessary.
4. Modifying the cooling system to suit the 20v's one slightly different water entry point.
5. If you liked thing like MS-DOS or the Rubik's cube you will enjoy the wiring, if on the other hand like me you did not, you won't! No actually it's not that bad when you get on with it. Don't be put off by a few chopped wires you'll work it out, hey I did!
Other helpful things to know about (and I didn't at first) are:-)
1. The AFM flap when the engine is running runs the fuel pump, and before the engine has started the fuel pump is powered from the starter motor solenoid power wire.
2. Change the old engine's oil pressure switch over to the 20v block because if you leave the 20v's in place it won't work properly and the gauge will go off the scale.
3. Buy the Haines manual it dose help especially with the wiring diagrams.
4. If you do plan on getting one of these engines, don't buy it unless it has its original and complete engine wiring loom with fuse box, AFM, exhaust sensor and most importantly 20v ECU.
5. Don't panic!
6. Disco rocks!
power diagnostic rolling road
Date 29/10/02. I have finally got round to having the car put on a rolling road to see what the old bugger was pumping out BHP wise, and to be honest I wasn't that surprised with the figures.
Click on the image to see the full report. 
Not that good really! The geezer at the rolling road said that mechanically the car was as sound as a pound, but the problem he found with it was that it's running very lean. Hummm now what? Back to the wiring diagram?
Date 30/10/02. Just got of club 4 AG, and, according to some very reliable sources (Bill Sherwood, cheers mate!) all is well with the 146BHP output so I am happy again ;)
Times recorded so far with 146BHP Silvertop
0-100 MPH 20 seconds 0-60 MPH 7.5 seconds approximately, same as me bro's Alfa Romeo 164 3.0 V6 (very nice to!). MPG its about, I don't know work it out, err, 250 miles to the tank from full down to just as the light flickers.
Date 04/11/02. To combat the problem of the engine running lean I have installed an FSE power boost valve. Fensport where able to supply this for £108 inc carrage.
FSE
Valve
Sorted
On the top of the FSE valve there is a nut, under the nut is an adjuster screw. Turn the screw and you adjust the fuel flow to the engine. You can increase or lower the fuel pressure. I have to say I was very skeptical of this little geezer when I first saw it, but you know what, not only has it fixed the lean running problem it has made the 20v even more economical.
More sound, pictures, and wiring info to follow shortly
almost there... almost there... Well almost...
