Prepping for the Engine Drop

Today I started prepping for the engine drop.

This involved sorting out electrical connectors on the loom and ECU and also removing coolant pipes, fuel pipes, vacuums etc... and making sure the engine is free to drop.

As I have started this you find individual things with your car, be them 'bodges' or bonus's.

* Bodge.... the bracket holding the air intake had broken, so there was a bad weld on it to repair it.
* Bonus... found an aftermarket intercooler on the car. Cant tell what it is until I get it off though.

I've been using the below as a guide so far to dropping the engine.

http://turbomr2.com/MR2/HowTo/Engine_Upgrade/Removal/Removing_the_3SGTE-01.htm

I now need to clean the garage a fair bit, I'm working in a small space and want to move the car forward and have a clean area to work dropping the engine, so once its dropped I can keep it behind the car.

Recent work...

Not much to report on with pictures.

I've stripped out the hand brake cables now and also the gear cables. I've got replacement bushes as well which will make gear changes feel smoother.

In taking off the rear suspension I found one piece was bent properly from the initial crash a long time ago.

I've sourced a replacement but can't check to see if there is any damage on the sub frame until I get it off.

First Wiring Loom tidy up

So yesterday and today I stripped out the loom, the one I removed was in the cabin. Now I won't wire in a sound system till after the IVA and also not with stock wiring. So I wanted to remove the wiring, all the wires in the below pic behind the seats were for audio or door shut sensors, other than 1.



2 hours later and alot of patience...



I was going to remove all the aircon wiring as well, but decided against it. Wiring isn't my area and I don't want to fiddle too much, all I've removed so far I know can't cause an issue in the running of the car. You can see how all the rear wiring has been removed, but also how the centre part at the front has become less cluttered due to the removal of the headunit plugs.

Reason for removal... Weight, it's the cheapest way to increase acceleration and also keep reliability.

First loom out

The electronics were the next bit to be removed whilst I wait for my car dollies to arrive. So I started work on the interior

Labelling, I cant stress how important, just number either the connector and device or both connectors so your sure where they go.

When I knew I wouldn't be putting that electronic bit back in i noted what it was, for instance door Control system, Audio cables etc... The reason i did this is, is because i need to make a decision will I open the cables to strip out unwanted cables to reduce weight. I will do another post soon on why this is so critical and an important decision.

So as I started to strip and label this is what faced me after a bit of time;

bit daunting to say the least but the labelling may well be my saving grace. The biggest thing I've learnt is its annoying how they bundle looms together whether that be taped, tied or in plastic. It makes it very hard to remove...but I guess it was not designed to be removed.

Below is the loom laid out, how it came out of the car, I got a lot of the relays in the cabin still attached and as well that it all labelled up well, the wires to behind the seats seems to just be for audio, so i may break apart this loom and strip it out, it will be a good weight save and make fitting easier otherwise i will have to feed the back part of the loom in as well and secure it of course.

Once it was out the inside is nice and neat and has some space. I have not bothered packaging up the nuts and bolts from inside the car, there is no point as they are not torqued high and all have the same purpose I will just collect them from inside the cabin at the end of the stripping process.

New Bushes

The bushes I ordered have arrived. 1 front and 1 rear kit.

Remember a rev1 mr2 has different front suspension to later rev's so the right kit is needed. This was another bargain off eBay for £60... It's easier to get the bargains when your not rushing!

As well as that the new lower ball joints arrived, front and rear.

Electrical wiring...AAHH!!

I had to start the work on an area I wanted to wait to do...wiring, but it seemed appropriate to finish the front end area. So I have been pulling the front loom through it includes;

lights, ABS, Aircon, wiper jet pump, power steering and a couple other areas of wiring.

the dash has now been removed as well as the heater unit and the labelling of all the connectors has started. I will take a picture as it looks a mess!

I do have to tidy the loom up a bit, wiring has been stripped or poorly repaired in places. I also want to strip out unwanted weight, the radio / speaker wire loom ive already pulled out, i'll wire my own high quality wires later. I will probably remove all the aircon wires as they are not needed (complete afterarket system will be purchased which is smaller and lighter), all wiring to the doors is not needed any more either, its going to be a big task!

But I will just label and remove for now and save that till the winter when its raining and I can then do that inside in the dry.