"MRtwo" (MRtwo)
07/09/2015 at 12:13 • Filed to: None
3
20|
"MRtwo" (MRtwo)
07/09/2015 at 12:13 • Filed to: None | 3
| 20 |
Little big of background info first. The 2nd gen MR2 was sold in the USA from 91-95. In 93, it got a few revisions such as modified rear suspension geometry, electric speedo, and larger brakes. My car is a 91 non-turbo with a turbo drivetrain swap so as you can imagine, some parts are from different model years.
At the momment, I am finishing up some much needed maintenance repairs (ball joints, wheel bearings, tires, brakes, etc) so that I can DD my two. On Tuesday, I got my set of new rotors and pads in the mail. I left work a little early to have some more daylight hours while wrenching. I start with the rear, break lug nuts, jack car, remove wheel, remove caliper, pop rotor off with a swift hit of the hammer all in about 5ish minutes. Pull a new rotor from the box aaannndd lo and behold the rear rotors are too small. I though hmmm, I checked the front calipers to see if they were single or dual piston. Dual would indicate 93+ turbo calipers. They were in fact still single piston so I thought I had full early model brake calipers. I pulled out the measuring tape to verify which model year of rear brakes I have.
Turns out the previous owner upgraded ONLY the rears to 93+ turbo spec..... They use a different caliper and a larger rotor. Now I feel dumb for not checking the rear calipers as well. Anyways, I ordered the 93+ turbo front calipers and fresh OEM rotors with EBC red stuff pads. Who knows how long it will take to get a refund on my incorrect parts. I should be up and running next weekend though.
This time, assuming made an ass out of me and myself.
Here’s a shot of the rear rotor. It’s like it’s glowing while sitting still. (car sat outside for 3 years)
TheRealBicycleBuck
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:18 |
|
Isn’t this one of the reasons you never buy someone else’s project?
CalzoneGolem
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:20 |
|
These look comically small on this rotor.
Kanaric
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2015 at 12:22 |
|
Pretty much.
|
MRtwo
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2015 at 12:24 |
|
Absolutely. I definitely did not know best purchasing practices when I bought this car.
|
MRtwo
> CalzoneGolem
07/09/2015 at 12:25 |
|
Believe it or not, the car actually stops very well. At least when the rotors aren’t rusted to shit after sitting oustide for 3 years.
|
MRtwo
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2015 at 12:31 |
|
Here’s a short list of things I had to reverse from dear previous owner(s):
Apexi AFC + Supra injectors (a no no on these cars because of the “hybrid” timing system unless properly setup which I know wasn’t done due to the absence of an adjustable FPR. )
HIDs in original OEM non projector housings
Body Kit
Replaced chassis wiring harness with proper turbo model harness which was not used during motor swap (its possible to just repin the original NA connectors but a few things didn’t work and I wanted to do it properly)
Flea market stereo head unit and “sub” in rear compartment
Random keyless entry alarm that didn’t work
The aforementioned front brake calipers from this post
|
CalzoneGolem
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:34 |
|
I believe it These are the rears so they don’t do the majority of the work anywyas.
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:37 |
|
I feel your pain. I recently went to do the brakes on my wife’s Cavalier and ran into a similar problem. It turns out the Cavalier for that year came with two different size rear drums. I got the drum size right, but didn’t notice that the shoes I ordered wouldn’t fit. Turns out they weren’t that bad, so I didn’t bother replacing them, but man, what a pain. And shipping to send the shoes back was more than the shoes were worth. So now I’m stuck with a pair of brake shoes that don’t fit anything I own, and I feel bad just tossing them. I’m tempted to give them to a local parts store and say that whoever wants them can have them. No point in throwing out something that is completely fine.
McMike
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:40 |
|
This time, assuming made an ass out of me and myself.
That’s what sucks about buying a modified car (or someone else’s project)
It sometimes takes me a week to figure out what part to order for my ‘69 Mini (which is made up of parts spanning three decades).
Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:49 |
|
Why only do the back brakes? The fronts do the majority of the stopping anyway. What a half wit that guy was. Look on the bright side, you probably saved that car. Although I have to admit anything with a body kit would probably scare me away since whoever made the poor decision to do that was the same responsible for the rest of the maintenance
|
TheRealBicycleBuck
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 12:53 |
|
You have my respect. If I can get my hands on a Haynes manual and the right tools, I’m pretty fearless. Throw in a bunch of unknowns, like the undocumented SRT-4 brakes on my wife’s SXT Neon (came that way from the factory for some reason), and I quickly call in the professionals.
CKeffer
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 13:43 |
|
Wait, so the PO upgraded the rear brakes to the larger turbo model units, but left the front ones as the smaller N/A model ones? WTF? Why the hell would anyone do that? I’ve seen plety of cars with upgraded front brakes only, but never upgraded rears only, that makes no sense at all.
itranthelasttimeiparkedit
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 14:00 |
|
first off, obligatory “hrrrrng i want another mr2”
but what I really came here to say was you have balls for buying anything with a body kit
|
MRtwo
> CKeffer
07/09/2015 at 14:26 |
|
My guess is the owner who did the swap had a half cut of the donor car so only the rear brakes came with it and was too cheap to buy the front calipers and rotors to match.
Hiroku
> TheRealBicycleBuck
07/09/2015 at 14:37 |
|
I’m a bit like that as well. As an inexperienced DIYer I can generally do stuff well following the Haynes or Youtube tutorials, but once I start stumbling on “surprises” left to me by previous owners, things tend to get ugly real fast.
I found that doing your research thoroughly and trusting your instincts helps you get out of these situations. Experience is probably a big help too, specially if you’re used to working on a particular model.
|
CKeffer
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 14:39 |
|
Hmm, definitely a plausible explanation. Still if it was me, I’d have left the rear brakes alone till I had the money for the fronts as well, since I’d be concerned with the change in size only at the rear messing with the proportioning, and causing the car to become even more prone to oversteer. *shrug* Then again, there have been plenty of things I’ve found on my project car that have left me wondering what the hell the PO was thinking, so evidently my thought processes run a bit differently to others.
|
Hiroku
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 14:40 |
|
I spent nearly 6 months looking for a completely bone-stock specimen of the car I wanted, as everything in the market seemed to be poorly modded as you described. Yet, I still encounter unpleasant surprises in pretty much every work I do on it. No way I’d have the power to undone all the shitty work from previous owner(s) as you have. I admire your patience!
uofime-2
> Stapleface-Now Hyphenated!
07/09/2015 at 15:01 |
|
They did a turbo drive train swap, which would logically include the rear suspension corners, which would of course have the “turbo” brake setup.
It makes sense that the rear has them, what doesn’t make sense is that the front doesn’t, but you know the bone headed tuner mentality, power: first, everything else: maybe later.
|
uofime-2
> MRtwo
07/09/2015 at 15:03 |
|
If only the PO’s would have been nice enough to document all the work they did this wouldn’t have been so much of a nightmare.
So, you’re documenting all your work right? haha
DocWalt
> MRtwo
07/10/2015 at 14:26 |
|
Sub in the rear compartment? What a winner the previous owner was in the mental department.