My GT-Four A - *stroker being put in*

I have found from experience that the major $$$$ involved in having a shop do paint and bodywork isn't the cost of materials (unless you're using that $1,000 a pint chameleon paint), it's the time and labor. Many times you can cut the bill by half or more by doing simple rudimentary stuff yourself. Removing trim is a major time saver for them, as well as sanding down the existing paint with 600 grit if you're just wanting some panels repainted that don't need bodywork. On my friend's El Camino, we took off the bumpers, trim, wipers, doors, tailgate, hood (he was doing a complete color change) and block sanded all of the major body panels, leaving the complicated door jambs and such for the bodyshop. All told, by doing all of that (took one hectic and VERY dirty weekend) we knocked off over $800 from the final cost of the paint job and bodywork.

txironhead":ya0bdeks said:

I have found from experience that the major $$$$ involved in having a shop do paint and bodywork isn't the cost of materials (unless you're using that $1,000 a pint chameleon paint), it's the time and labor. Many times you can cut the bill by half or more by doing simple rudimentary stuff yourself. Removing trim is a major time saver for them, as well as sanding down the existing paint with 600 grit if you're just wanting some panels repainted that don't need bodywork. On my friend's El Camino, we took off the bumpers, trim, wipers, doors, tailgate, hood (he was doing a complete color change) and block sanded all of the major body panels, leaving the complicated door jambs and such for the bodyshop. All told, by doing all of that (took one hectic and VERY dirty weekend) we knocked off over $800 from the final cost of the paint job and bodywork.

Click to expand...

I think I'll do something like this. I have a friend who has stripped a few gen5 celicas before at a body shop he worked at before and is willing to help me. He doesn't paint so I think we'll strip and wet sand it and tow it to a good shop for the body work and paint.

I was really considering putting a Pakfeifer body kit, minus the ugly supra spoiler even before my mishap, so I may save up and get that installed and smoothed in when it's painted as well. Doing the wet sanding and stripping the parts myself should save a healthy chunk of the body kit part price.

Timmey

looks nice!!

Nice mods Timmey!

One Q about the HE.

I tried to fit a ST205 HE, but my powersteering cooler and tranny cooler were in the way. Did you have this problem also, and how did you solve it?

Well,

The Fluidyne was really lucky. It exactly fitted between the bumper and all that stuff (ps/oil cooler/rad). Like I mean exactly, so no I didn't have any problems, but my HE is mounted as far towards the bumper as it can go.

The st205 wasn't designed to be right against the bumper and is different dimensions, AFAIK. It mounts closer to the radiator then the bumper right?

Maybe try some custom mounts to move it forward into the bumper. I didn't have any issues though, sorry. Just made custom brackets and went from there.

Timmey

Thanks Timmey.

It is not a bracket thing, the HE fisicaly doesn't fit with the ps-cooler and tranny cooler in the OEM location.

I'll try and resolve it a different way.

Hmm,

I'm sorry to hear that. I'd look around on the forums, I am certain I saw someone who did a full st205 IC setup on an st185..

Good luck!

Timmey

Yeh, but I'm keeping my stock CS HE, just wanted to add the ST205 HE.

Thanks.

Update:

No new mods as of yet, about all I've done recently is add a stainless ABS cover.

What is new is my front-right tire blew yesterday and nearly killed me.

It was a (only) 14-month old Bridgestone RE960AS Pole Position, which was supposed to be the best all-season tire on the market, or at least the best Bridgestone makes.

It was leaking about 7 PSI every 3 weeks or so prior to this and I just kept it filled but never got around to fixing the leak due to being short on cash. Although I should have had the leak fixed, I am kind of amazed that it cause a complete failure of the tire. I checked numerous times when it started to leak about 10 months into having them, and saw no nails, holes, gashes.

I bought my set of tires from tirerack.com, saving myself about $300 Canadian vs the price I'd pay at local shops. What I didn't realize is when you buy tires from tirerack and live in Canada, you have no warranty. The rumor I've heard before and now believe is Tire Rack sells old tires that have sat around a while but are still "new". It could be coincidence, but I think that one tire was old or defective but will know for sure when I get my new one in a few days.

What I wanted to ask about was my other 3 tires have about 12,000 - 13,000 kms on them, of pretty quick driving. Should replacing one tire be ok, you figure?

Cheers,

Timmey

Hey guys,

So yesterday I installed an old HKS FCD from my dyno, which was today. I used the FCD instructions from this URL (http://www.alltrac.net/mods/FCDwiring.htm) only to find my car was running like crap, and the fuel cut remained at 12psi, regardless of what adjustments I make. Turns out the "91 MR2" wiring harness diagram DOES NOT match our car, and I actually ended up plugging the FCD into my knock sensor pin which is the pin the diagram says is correct for our car. I am really thankful this didn't damage anything, and I will never mess with my ECU wiring again for some time! :doh:

After some road tuning of my Manual Boost Controller, and my FCD, I had what I thought was 14 psi of boost. After connecting up to the Dyno Dynamics dyno at my tuner, Zensport, the system said I was actually running 12psi and I ended up dyno'ing at 12psi, in FWD mode due to the rush the guys at Zensport were in with their Dyno weekend (20 something cars a day).

The results:

187hp (FWD), 195.8 ft pounds of torque at a very consistent (thanks to the WTA IC) 12 psi.

My few mods:
st205 wta IC with mustang H/E
ATS TB Inlet
MBC at 12 psi
HKS FCD
Air box delete, K&N cone.
HKS silent hi-power 3" catback, rest is still stock

So not bad for a mostly stock st185 I guess, I was hoping for more but knew I'd be disappointed. At least I beat all the MR2s that showed up, I think there was 2 or 3. The top 4-cylinder HP was 363 on a severly modified and turbo'd (GT35 or something huge) 99 Honda Civic. I'll have the charts up sometime this week, only have a printout right now.

Now all I need to do is put in my KO T3/T4, SARD 800s, SARD FPR, AEM, Wolfkatz, Walbro, 256/264 cams and see if I can nearly double that number!

Cheers,

Timmey

those really aren't bad numbers considering that your car is pretty much stock other than slightly higher boost + the WTA I/C, HKS cat-back & air filter.
i wouldn't be too terribly disappointed, it gave you a baseline number to improve upon.

please be sure & post up your charts & info in the dyno sticky thread in the power & performance section for others to see

on a side note, how do you like the 205 WTA vs. the old A2A TMIC?
we're starting to work on getting 205 WTA setup in Vadar this week & was just interested to hear your thoughts

Yeah,

I guess I couldn't of expected much more really, but somehow I am disappointed. It seems like I have done so much to this car, but when I list the major HP-affecting mods...I really don't have much at all.

But yea, all things considered, thats basically a stock st185 dyno, and the beginning of a long path to some good power! At least I have been hording (and have already paid for) the majority of my parts to make a big jump in HP for the next Zensport Dyno Challenge in July! In fact, my SARD 800cc side-feeds arrived yesterday from RHDJapan.com. I managed to get them 10% off with their SARD spring sale (Ends tomorrow!!). Only $115 Canadian an injector shipped !

I am really enjoying the WTA IC, how is your's darthripley? It's really neat seeing the dyno graph of the PSI it puts out - It is an absolutely straight line, you could almost put a ruler up to it. It maintains an amazing consistent boost throughout the RPMs. I'll see what I can do about getting those up online tonight. My only concern is a kink in my rubber hose for my WTA near the bottom of the H/E, which I plan to figure out when I do my straight intake when I get an AEM. I may concider putting in an st205 starter too, how did yours work out? There is still coolant flowing, but it's slightly restricted at the kink I speak of and I don't like restrictions!

For now I take comfort in the fact my stock st185 killed the MR2s with $1,000s sunk into them :shoots:..lol. Dyno charts to come! Thanks guys,

Timmey

we're working on getting brackets & stuff fabbed up to get the 205 WTA installed, so it's not in just yet.
i had just slapped on the old stock A2A TMIC to get Vadar where he could be driven for awhile & i have to say the ARC TMIC did more than i gave it credit for lol
suffice to say the stock tmic really is a huge restriciton & although i can feel the other things we did, i think the car will pull more like it did before hopefully minus some of the heatsoak. :shoots:

the 205 starter has been working like a charm - no probs whatsoever.
i highly recommend picking one up as it is smaller & makes routing the WTA lines much easier. it even weighs less too which is always a plus!
i can't think of any reason to not go to a 205 starter personally, that along with the 205 tranny actually. it's really a nice difference.

Yeah this is quite a difference from the A2A. When I first put it in, before I went for a test drive, my big friend (6'4", 290 lbs) got in with me for the first test drive and I noticed a faster response and "a bit" more pull.

When I got back I put two and two together and went out without my huge friend and noticed a big difference! lol. The initial pull is much harder, and whips the car forward, but also the boost curve seems much longer and straight. As your pushing the pedal, the boost continues to pull all up the RPM range, and doesn't start to diminish with more boost, it just keeps pulling. And I am talking about a stock ceramic CT26 here..lol. I noticed with the A2A that you would have to give more gas up the RPM range as the heat exchanger looses efficiency with the heat, with this you more keep the accelerator in one position as the car pulls. Two things that questionably help as well are the ATS TB (I hear in some cases +7-10hp but I put this in at the same time as the IC so not sure) and also Redline Waterwetter with my W2A coolant.

After a long drive I can open my hood, and hold my hand on the top of the W2A IC for about 5-6 seconds, around then it feels a bit hot to be touching, but very impressive! This is without any insulation or heat reflective tape under the IC, which I plan to fix soon. Another thing I am getting concerned about though is my ST205 pump, since a few weeks after I put it in, it's been making loud clicking sounds that you can even hear with the motor running and the hood open. I am getting a bit worried that a bearing or something is going, so I potentially have more life in this W2A setup if something is going wrong with the pump. Do you know if the pump needs oiling periodically, or any maintenance? I might just replace it. Does your pump make any noise? I can get a cellphone video or something if someone can 'name that bad sound'...lol

Cheers!

Timmey

And here are the graphs:




:shrug: meh...

Cheers,

Timmey

Again, I don't think it's that bad for an old motor + a stock ct-26.

I haven't tested our 205 pump yet - when I do I can see what kind of noise it makes if any.
According to johndgt4 the stock pumps can be rebuilt. I'm not sure if info to rebuild it is in any 205 BGB's but he discusses the pump extensively in this thread at the bottom of the 2nd page:

http://alltrac.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php ... p&start=15

Thanks for the WTA review - now I know I have something to look forward to once we get our setup going!

that is a very good number for a "reliable" stock motor. all the things you've done to eliminate factory restrictions and weak points are great and if this was mine i'd be very happy. 180's at the wheels is great. considering the stock is what 200-225 at the crank, you've certainly added quite a bit from bolt on's. wait till you get the other stuff on there.

Thanks!

I can't wait to get my new stuff in there. I am starting to worry about my head though seeing I plan to run 17-20psi on my KO T3/T4, and maybe you guys can help me.

Do you guys think ARP head studs and an aftermarket head gasket (I was thinking 0.8mm TRD) would be enough to hold my head down with 17psi until I can afford to build the head (I was thinking MCS motorsports), do retainers, shim less buckets, porting and cams? I hear it's strongly discouraged to run over 14/15 psi on a stock head and really don't want to be mad at myself for not being careful after I blow a head.

Thanks!

Timmey

ATS says that porting and polishing the head will have little gains. You'll see the big gains with cams and cam gears.

They say a PnP job is only good for big horsepower cars. You're head will have no problem with 17psi. The thing it can't handle is going beyond the rev limiter.

Its not the head you need to worry about, its the block.

bccentaur3":ufp07r44 said:

ATS says that porting and polishing the head will have little gains. You'll see the big gains with cams and cam gears.

They say a PnP job is only good for big horsepower cars. You're head will have no problem with 17psi. The thing it can't handle is going beyond the rev limiter.

Its not the head you need to worry about, its the block.

Click to expand...

Huh..didn't know that.

I guess I assumed the head is what need the work seeing I hear much more about cams/cam gears/timing vs work on the block. Makes sense though, I guess all the head needs is to be held down (ARPs or good studs) and sealed and the pistons and rods are the next point of weakness.

I might just buy a rebuild and sell my current motor stock, with everything. Not sure which is the better route. Somehow I see building up my current stock motor as more expensive seeing many people build up their motors and then decide to sell it for cheap or for a further upgrade.

Anyhow, I am looking for about 400whp thats reliable, and isn't risking breaking anything being pushed hard. I'm thinking 2.2 stroker (maybe just the stock 2.0), JE pistons, stock rods probably, 264 cams, new timing belt, new cam seals, cam gears, shimless buckets, retainers, Cometic HG, ARP head and main studs and an AEM.

I hope I win the lottery...

Timmey