the blue dolphin - 95 GTS Toyota MR2 turbo

that'll be a new windscreen then -

2012-01-14T14:10:00.000Z

a fair sized crack just under the wiper arms, which is my excuse for not noticing it before :( I'll see if it survives til nearer the MOT time as I'm oging to try and get a few drives in this year so no point in a brand new windscreen til after then.

so it's that time of (almost) every cars life..

2012-01-14T00:52:00.001Z

.. when the cambelt / timing belt needs a bit of TLC and that time is now. 5yrs since it was last done and that means I've owned this car for nearly eleven years! That's a long time for anything to stay the same and I have to say while it's not as fresh as the first day I drove it, dammit it still makes me smile and raises the pulse whenever I want it to!

So I'm heading down to SBits in a couple of weeks for it to be done, 4yrs, 11 months and 2wks since it was last done.. at least Peter can't complain about the last person to do the belt change lol

went out for a wee hurl -

2011-12-18T16:52:00.004Z

couldn't open the drivers due to frost, managed to eventually get into the car through the passenger side. Trying to get over the centre console into the drivers seat so I could start the engine (and take it out of gear) was not the easiest nor most elegant of maneuvers lol.

Got car started and let it idle for a bit then cleaned off the ice from the windows. Drove off very carefully as the entire street was a sheet of ice..... should have given me a clue eh? Anyways, a wee run up by Strathblane and down via Drymen was completed at a very sedate pace as the although roads were mostly clear, they had about as much grip as a skid pan. 2nd gear + boost = wheel spin, repeat for 3rd and 4th and I never tried fifth lol. Anything like positive boost pressure and the rears just couldn't hold on so I gave up trying :) A nice wee drive in the sun nevertheless.

Stay safe out there folks

sunday afternoon fun :) -

2011-11-20T22:25:00.003Z

a wee run out with some friends in the typical Scottish November weather. Bit of rain, bit of sunshine and some fog thrown in just for that atmospheric feeling. Bend swinging behind a 01 plate 911 I'm thinking that handles quite well.... as I drift wide and generally have a moment! So with attitude adjusted I approach the corners a bit more focused. Fabby lunch in a typical country pub / hotel and then repeat the trip home.

On the motorway run home briskly pulled away from a roundabout and did everything right, no moments no under steer no drama. Got it nice and straight and then thought yep this is the time. Queue right hoof, 3rd gear, 16odd psi and as it pulls through 50 the back end starts coming round. Funny thing is the 2 cars in front of me were having exactly the same moment! Queue much swearing and opposite lock :) Fun fun fun

MOT passed -

2011-11-10T21:45:00.003Z

nothing needing work, no attention needed everything ok. Tester looked at brakes and was heard to mention, yep that'll work! woo hoo! 16yo motor 126K miles and still amkes me smile. Still drinks SUL like Oliver Reed on a mission though lol

a wee weekend drive away -

2011-08-12T19:17:00.004+01:00

ok so last weekend in July and a cheeky wee drive is on the cards

Friday kick off up through Glen Coe towards Fort William and it's tbars oot and on with the sun tan lotion

Somewhere north of Aviemore I find this strange character following me to Inverness - it is the Jaffa man

Due to leaving late afternoon and stopping off at Gaz's for a Chinese takeaway we were a little late in getting to Ullapool. So after getting the tents up we have a beer to celebrate a simply stunning late evening drive from Inveress to Ullapool and then legging it from the midges (no wind for once at the campsite = swarms of the barstewards)

Sunset at the campsite

Camp fire anyone - it actually didn't scare the midges off the little blighters

I cannot explain this picture though according to my phone it was 215am...

A couple of pics from the Saturday drive up by Durness and along to Tongue, tbars oot again :) A first for the club. A run with only MR2 turbos's, 3 tintops and 2 tbars (oot again and on with the sun lotion and shades)

some more bods arrive on Saturday evening but due to missed calls the tents were up in another part of the campsite however they were swiftly moved over

Another pic of the MX5, this was shot on Sunday after the pissing rain had passed and all the tents were down. Tbars oot again lol

As a complete aside, the car clocked up the 126k mile marker on the way home Sunday at Loch Lomond. Not bad going I reckon

car washed and polished -

2011-07-26T22:38:00.002+01:00

by me so a rubbish job but at least it's done. A wee run coming up this weekend so the Sun God is getting plenty of attention :)

has it really been so long -

2011-07-18T11:31:00.002+01:00

I've been remiss but to be fair naff all has happened! Weather has been shockingly bad so not driving anywhere and the final caliper from Japan has given up. Indeed the drivers side rear caliper has given up the ghost and has now been replaced. I have a working handbrake too which is nice. Car needs a good clean up and polish.

been a while -

2011-05-17T22:07:00.003+01:00

so a wee update. New alternator belt bought, hope it's the right one lol. On the off chance I asked if they had any oil filters in and would you credit it they had them sitting on the shelf. I think that's becuase it's the same one the Yaris uses lol. It's got 3S-GTE on the label so that'll do me. Handbrake is getting sorted same time so yay parking on hills again.

Haven't driven the car much but it still makes me smile when I hit the loud pedal.Had to purcahse a new 9v battery for the multimeter / intake temperature gauge lol

nice day out -

2011-04-13T20:20:00.001+01:00

went out for a wee drive on Sunday there, even managed to jet wash the blighter but after looking at it today dunno why I bothered. I also pulled the 3 ECU fuses, been ages since I done that and my goodness what a difference. Throttle response is much sharper and the boost is solid and it pulls like a train. This I from previous experience is normal, dunno why I've taken so long to do it but by 'eck what a difference. Usual Sunday drivers getting in the way, pah.

ah the joys of sunny Sundays -

2011-04-04T21:58:00.004+01:00

so I decided since Sunday was a sunny day I'd dust the car off, give it some petrol and a jetwash then drive up to Inveraray. Well, I managed to fill it with petrol as the rain started coming down.... so I gave up on washing it.

The drive up was yeah it was ok. Some nice driving moments with some boost but you know sometimes I think the car just isn't pulling like it should. A fuse reset is required methinks. The weather was the typical four seasons in one 90 minute period which made it interesting for sure!

The run down however was in dry weather and mostly bright sunshine and best of all... I got the run from Loch Fyne eatery to Arrochar over The Rest and be Thankful with no traffic. First time ever and the run down from the Thankful was amazing! Roads had dried out and the car was digging in, the brakes were getting hot what a feeling. Bloody amazing. Nice day out for sure.

it's a bit slippy out there -

2011-01-30T17:24:00.002Z

decided to check the oil, check the tyres and wash the car. Seemed only right to go a wee run to dry it of.....

Oil was fine, good colour and plenty of it. Tyres, er yes they needed blowing up ! Also bypassed the Charcoal Canister and plumbed the boost gauge into those lines and return the MAP sensor lines to straight and direct. Now whether that's made a change I don't know but the car did feel pretty good on the shake down run. Made me smile although the roads are pretty rough and ready. Roll on the warm tarmac days

double headlight failure! -

2011-01-24T15:38:00.002Z

and of course it happened at night, when else. So I drove home with the sidelights on with the very naughty front fogs in attendance. I figured better to be seen than to either be invisible or blind everyone with the main beam. Seemed an ok plan til on the expressway some pirck decided to

pull out in front of me into the overtaking lane and slow down

put his rear fogs on

crawl along near enough matching the speed of the traffic in the inside lane
brake test me while alongside said inside lane traffic

hog the outside lane after he'd eventually crawled past the slower (but only just) traffic

then as I undertook him (naughty I know but I really wanted past this prick) he pulled right in behind me and flicked the main beam on

Thank you very much you fucking prick I am fully aware I was breaking several rules with my lighting set up it wasn't like I planned it or had options but in no way did I endanger other road users. Look at your own driving standards before you act the prick. I place the curse of a thousand traffic wardens on your arse and a pox on your wife and kids!

Both bulbs replaced and I now have working lights. Thanks for reading

124,000 miles -

2010-12-27T23:50:00.003Z

honestly I didn't plan this lol. Was heading to parents tonight and turned on the lights and noticed the clocks. Can't get a better line up than that :) Here's to more miles motoring

merry christmas -

2010-12-25T23:35:00.002Z

been a while since I posted here. Nothing much to report except low profile summer tyres are not so good in ice / snow which isn't really a surprise lol. Have had some intersting moments in the recent cold snap but luckily I've been sensible. Boost controller turned off so low boost enabled and i'm almost getting the hang of heel and toe which is just fab for slowing the car down in this weather.

Stay safe out there, control the right hoof :)

PS - 124k miles and still counting

MOT passed 1st time -

2010-10-31T12:30:00.002Z

woow hooo advisory on the handbrake but the car was getting a service so that was on the list of things to do anyway. Another 12 months motoring ahead :)

must be MOT time -

2010-10-24T01:20:00.003+01:00

bought some new wiper blades... and discovered a puddle in the boot :( Cleaned out the puddle and hopefully sorted the leak source but I'll wait til the next rainy day. Should be along soon enough, it is Scotland after all lol

new radio aerial bought -

2010-10-21T22:33:00.000+01:00

yep the original is struggling a bit and needs a good oiling however I've never liked the way it ruins the lines of the car, makes it look like an RC! So new internal windscreen aerial has been purchased with a view to fitting it inside the boot panel next to the OEM version. Pic's to follow :)

sunrise over Loch Lomond -

2010-10-17T15:07:00.003+01:00

yep, got up at 630am this morning and drove down to Loch Lomond to watch the sun rise over the hills. I did take some (forgettable) pictures but until the hosting company sorts out the upload issue you'll just have to imagine being there. Very tired now lol

pics added below

MOT and service / wheel alignment -

2010-10-16T15:52:00.002+01:00

sadly that time of year again and I'm actually more nervous than normal this year. Worried about the sills esp the passenger side but if it fails not much i can do about other than fix it. Be intersting to see how the brake test comes out..... Need to check the back sides of the discs and make sure they match the outer. Oh and give the car a good run to clear out the carbon...

T bars oot cause the sun is er oot :)

2010-09-25T17:49:00.003+01:00

indeedy, took the tbars out and went for a drive. Was fun and even managed to get some spirited driving. Up to Aberfoyle and Calendar over the Duke's Pass and mellow back down through Drymen. Was a grand day out

it's finally happened -

2010-07-30T23:40:00.003+01:00

after 7 years and 60k+ miles of motoring, some easy and some a little bit spirited I have to report the demise of the temperature monitor battery. It showed me the way to not spending money when it wasn't required to be spent. How on the road intake temperatures on the std turbo were not high enough to warrant spending money on a fancy intercooler setup (we'll ignore the brief flirtation with charge cooling thank you) so spend it on petrol instead. It has served me well and the car faithfully through all this time but it has been dealt a death blow by my own hand. Indeed, I left the bloody thing on after last Sunday's little drive out and by the Wednesday night when I got back in the car the battery symbol was showing. Time to purchase a new 9V battery and in a fitting tribute I have shown below a picture of how the gauge looked in it's prime.

evening sunshine + time to kill =

2010-07-25T21:58:00.002+01:00

tbars oot drive because I could. Roads were pretty quiet though naturally some traffic was encountered where I couldn't do anything about it. No matter it was still a fabby run.

Car needs a clean, a real good clean as the trees have been dropping sap all over it.

weather is pants -

2010-07-19T23:13:00.001+01:00

I mean really pants. Chucking down with rain, can't be bothered even going out in the car however it did get badly jet washed at the weekend just there. Will give it a proper clean and polish soon.

Batch Watermarking protecting your pictures online -

2010-07-03T14:03:00.005+01:00

I've had it a couple of times where folks have linked to my website to get a picture or in fact lift text and not give credit where they found it. In fact one guy posted a picture of my chargecooler core and said it was the one he had just bought! Even had my fireplace in the background.

Now the way I used to add copyright marks in was to edit each picture individually which you can imagine isn't quick or even interesting to do! So I searched the net and as you do you find something that does the job. Easy Sector does a Batch Watermarker program that fits the bill nicely. It does a pile of things but I just use it for the easy marking of pictures I post online. Batch WaterMarker - watermarking your online pictures and much more I've added to the menu bar -> but figured a post about it would be nice too. You can get a trial version from their website and see if it fits the bill, if not just remove it. It does for me what I need so I think I'll be keeping it.

wheel and tyre size changes -

2010-06-22T23:00:00.003+01:00

we all know what it's like. You want to change wheel's get some bigger flasher or just plain old better wheels on the car and then of course the problems begin. What brand of tyres to get, what wheel size what aspect ratio and of course what width of tyre / wheels combo works with the speedo.

Having been down this road a few times I created a page that gave combinations of tyre widths that suited a criteria as entered. Since I own an MR2 the default was for that but in essence changing the starting values gave you whatever suited and changing the max size you wanted gave you every result in between. No more re-entering details when you realise that perfect speedo match isn't available in your fav tyre brand or just plain old doesn't exist.

The first version worked well but didn't account for having different sized wheels front and rear. So v1.1 was decided on and it took about 2 years to get finished, mainly because I'm crap at programming and also I just had other things to do. However, it's finished now and works nicely, clearly it's not perfect but as a guide it's close enough to not worry about.

Travel now to Tyre size calculator and marvel at how it allows you to get all those tyre and wheel combo's between stock and well whatever you choose. It also gives you the minimum width of alloy that suits the tyre width and aspect ratio, the max is approx 1-1.5" more than minimum but clearly checking the manufacturers website for accurate details is a must.

As an odd twist of fate the page now works in FireFox, Opera and of course IE-whatever whereas before it only worked in IE. Not by planned design this improvement more a forced path of progression due to actually having to write to a (better) coding standard.

Amazing weekend away -

2010-06-10T22:45:00.006+01:00

indeedy left Glasgow Friday 4th and headed up to Luss to meet the rest of the gang and then a wee convoy to Inverness via Fort William and on to Inverness then onwards to Ullapool. Weather on the Friday was stunningly nice to start with so car washed, bit of a polish then some breaky and onwards to the meet. Tbars out, cap on to stop repeat of last years burnt scalp, sun lotion on and off we go.

Wee shot of Rannoch Moor while waiting at the lights

with the guys getting into the way of the weekend quite early.

feet up on the dash, gotta love being a passenger!

Sunshine greets us in Ullapool putting up our tents. Was a bit rainy just outside Ullapool but then the sun came back out and it was fab.

Couple of the guys getting started on the refreshments..

taking a picture of Scott taking a picture

the line up (rogues line up?)

sunset over the campsite

sunny and bright (no idea where this taken far less why!)

Saturday was the drive from Ullapool over to Skye via Loch Carron, no Applecross this year didn't feel the need after last years stunning trip up there. Set up at a new campsite as Torvaig doesn't cater for groups, which then buggered us completely til we found a replacement campsite at Sligachan which we later foundout was locally known as Midge Basin!

Calum checking we are not in Midge Basin hell ( at least if he had we would have packed up there and then!)

Great views but didn't prepare us ( me especially ) for what was going to happen later that night and morning time. I got utterly chewed on and now I'm on Steroid tablets for 5 days to try and clear the hundreds of bites I have

Sunday and a wee run round Skye to the graveyard at Quiraing

Shots from the Quiraing overlooking the graveyard, stunning cliffs you have to see except I er forgot to take pics, Google it!

A shot of Graham taking a pic of his car

Ready for the off back to the mainland

All in all a fantastic trip away and bites aside it was pretty near perfect as you can get in our hallowed country. Great roads, great weather and fantastic company made the trip up to be a very memorable trip, thanks to all that were there.

Feedback: The new brakes were just amazing, utterly utterly breathtaking in their power and consistency and feel. I did some real hard braking efforts and not once did I feel like the brakes were not up to the job. So confidence inspiring knowing I could pass people and then brake to pop in behind someone. The harder I pressed the middle pedal the closer my face got to the windscreen. Great mod, worth the money and effort / pain so far

sun's up -

2010-05-08T15:59:00.003+01:00

Spark plugs changed - once you accept you have to take half the throttle body apart it's really a quick job!

Car put back together checked then off for a quick wash. Visit the parents, cage some lunch then tbars out and off we go! Woo hoo. Stunning wee run today, nothing quick about it as the roads were a bit busy but dang I had fun. Brakes are fab, car feels great and the exhaust note sounds mean! No idea why it's changed but a mate commented on it too, a certain attitude to it, not loud or anything it just sounds right. I like it a lot. Today's run reminds me why i have the car. Even stuck at 40mph, tbars out the sun is shining and do you know what? Life's not all bad if you grab the opportunities when they are gifted to you.

Take it easy out there

Car (partly) serviced / brakes checked -

2010-05-04T22:36:00.003+01:00

indeedy neither Diizy cap nor spark plugs turned up but the oil was changed and the brakes inspected. No movement in any of the bolts so we're good to go. Rest of parts have arrived today so will hopefully get fitted this weekend coming.

Calum road tested the brakes and he's impressed lol. I guess they work then

oh my giddy aunt -

2010-04-24T22:24:00.002+01:00

went out this evening for a wee run when the roads were a little quieter. Not for speed like but for pushing the brakes harder and harder and harder and harder and er harder. Now I've noticed the rear brakes have had a blotching to them almost like fluid marks and the handbrake isn't the best either. I was concerned the rear brakes weren't doing much but I knew we hadn't adjusted the handbrake after doing the rears so mmm.

Jet washed the car as it was filthy then went for a run.. Started pushing the brakes a little harder and the pedal a little further. The rate with which the speed is being scrubbed off feels amazing! As I pushed harder and harder I could feel the front of the car planting itself into the tarmac and it feels stable too although broad front tyres do tend to tramline, mind you skinny fronts would just melt! I got the brakes really working and yeah pedal travel does seem a fair bit but certainly no further than before and I actually do have working brakes now. I could feel the car really slowing down on each brake application so I decided to pull over and inspect the discs. Fronts looked same old and so did the rears. The blotchy look wasn't altered BUT all four discs were cooking hot so they are definitely being worked and from touch test evenly worked too. A few of my brake tests really worked the tyres and I could feel the fronts begining to skip over the surface undulations so they are controllable up to the ABS coming in. I may have to up the tyre width on the fronts hehe.

Strip down and check of the brakes to be done this coming weekend

big brake kit fitted -

2010-04-11T23:17:00.003+01:00

I'll update later but my goodness they look huge behind the wheels, in fact the wheels now look small lol. I'm running the risk of not being cool enough for the car however it's still in testing phase so a few things to do before it's pronounced working.

Kumho KU31's -

2010-03-28T17:52:00.002+01:00

I was impressed with these on my wee jaunt North. I was leaving bite marks on the drivers seat but the tyres gripped in the wet no problem even with steering corrections mid corner they gripped well. I still have the F1's up front and the car is fairly well balanced.

Run oop north -

2010-03-27T17:07:00.004Z

had some time off and decided to head away for a couple of days to get some fresh air in me lungs. So headed up to Fort William and then across to Aviemore via the Newtonmore road. Was kinda damp with patches of sun and ended up having a play with a de-badged 5 series. Was good fun and very safe (not much other traffic on that road anyway) but er the brakes are giving some grief now hehe. After that a wee run up the A9, very boring but dear god do some folks try and do daft things to spice it up!

After a fuel stop in Inverness it was onwards to Ullapool and yet another BMW, 3 series this time decided to have a go. At this point the roads were just a little on damp side so i was pretty cautious however Toyota 2 BMW 0 hehe. Booked into the Arch Inn and kicked back with a shower and a rest. A few beers in the bar then off for a chippy (an in joke but funny nonetheless) then some more beers and some sleep. A couple of pics of Rannoch Moor covered in snow

Up early the following day and onto the Gairloch road and that bloody front drivers caliper decided it wasn't going to let go of the disc grrrrrr. However I had a cunning plan. A picnic on Little Gruinard beach, on me own ( all together now.. aaaawwwwwww ) but sod it what a beach! Just kick back and think happy thoughts

Off down the road and another stop to allow the smoking brakes to cool down, just past Achnasheen roundabout heading towards Loch Carron

back home the day after but not before lunch at a picnic area just outside Fort William heading south towards Glasgow

sun's up!

2010-03-07T12:06:00.002Z

indeed was out yesterday looking for new brake pipes and on the way back via the parents I had the tbars out. Wasn't exactly warm but the sun was shinning and that's all that mattered. I must get a video with decent sound of the induction kit / turbo spooling through the Clyde Tunnel. It did sound very nice :-)

new dash bulbs ordered -

2010-02-21T13:43:00.002Z

got some red ones coming, was kinda hoping they'd be here in time for this weekend but alas not. It's a bit cold to be working outside on the car so actually I'm not that bothered but I will need to get it down soon. If I don't it won't be dark enough to test they all work!

dashboard light - pah

2010-02-15T22:47:00.002Z

LED under the temperature gauge has gone. Well, when I say gone I mean it blinks a lot and occassionally stays on but then trips out. Think I'll replace with std bulbs, might get red or maybe blue but defo bulbs and not LED's

not a lot

2010-02-11T18:49:00.001Z

happening. Weather has been pants, work has been pretty heavy but now getting back to normal. Front brakes are er stuffed but hey ho another set of plans are happening

120k miles and counting -

2010-01-13T23:22:00.000Z

indeed the car has pulled over to 120,000 miles and how did I celebrate this milestone. 17psi 3rd gear pull from 30mph to the top of 4th. Pulled pretty quick.

Other news - brake upgrade scrapped and new direction sought. Needs to be quick as the brakes are on last er legs :-)

it's cold outside -

2009-12-30T16:16:00.002Z

it's ruddy cold outside and I've noticed a few things and below I have gathered together a few of these musings..

an MR2 isn't terrible on snow / ice it's just far better than me
ABS is quite happy to lock up all 4 wheels in snow on ice and ignore the car itself is still doing 20mph!
gearboxes and heel and toe gearshifts work better in snow than brakes
the above does require a tap on the brake pedal otherwise the guy behind gets one hell of a fright!
sideways in your works carpark doesn't always upset the security guard - he now thinks I'm 12! Generous of him I say lol
bolt together modifications very rarely are that :( more money down the pan

Take it easy out there folks

disc's ordered -

2009-11-29T13:42:00.002Z

indeed have ordered the new 315x28mm Lexus LS400 discs so hopefully they'll be here soon. Also got some standard caliper bolts from Toyota but alas they are too short to fit through the adaptor bracket into hub / new caliper's. So will need to source some M12 x 1.25 x 30mm 12.9 screw bolts just to make things a bit more secure. Can't have the brakes bolted on with a wing and a prayer. Seems to be the season for brake upgrades though I'm doing it the hard way

Not going to be able to fit all this together til Feb at the earliest, got a few things on with work so no time to do anything else.

cold slimy roads + 2nd gear at 16ish psi =

2009-11-29T01:31:00.002Z

wheelspin and the tail sliding out. Mmmm I won't be doing that again with quite the same free and easy not paying attention attitude. This was in a straight (wasn't so straight afterwards) line lol. A quick feather of the throttle and it came back into line. Funnily, the beemer behind me stayed a lot further back from then on. Ho hum

Messenger Live Multiple logins at once -

2009-11-07T11:46:00.003Z

having been forced to update to Live Messenger I started the trawl round the internet to find how to get more than one login running. Turns out MS already provide a way to do this without using third party software. Perfect! All that's needed is a registry hack.....er ok I can do that. It is very simple and I found it on this blog and yep it works. The steps are listed below but check out the blog for more info. Obviously you need to have more than one login account otherwise why would you need to have more than 1 messenger running :-)

Run Registry Editor (regedit).
Navigate to the following registry key:
KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Live\Messenger

For 64-bit (x64) OS, go to following registry branch instead:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows Live\Messenger

In the right pane, right click on any blank space, select New on context menu, and then click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the new registry value entry as MultipleInstances.
Modify the MultipleInstances and set its value data as 1.
Start as many Windows Live Messenger windows as you want from Start Menu.

MOT passed -

2009-11-04T18:11:00.003Z

brakes still feel a bit funny but it's pushing me to get the bits for the BBK together and then in the new year get it fitted. Got a bit on over the next 2 odd months with work so messing with the car isn't an option. That and the pish weather we have!

Kumho KU31's? yeah the 255x40 certainly are sitting good on the wheel and do fill the arches. Obviously haven't had a chance to push them yet but will bed them in nicely and see if they rub with cornering load. Not likely in this weather though at least I have a full tread to lean on!

excel tip for changing month text to integer -

2009-10-31T14:24:00.003Z

indeed found this little gem to change Jan into 1 and it goes like =month(1&A1) where cell A1 has Jan in it. Full acknowledgement and explantion found on this website . Has a nice description of what that code is doing and why and we all like to know why something works!

MOT time -

2009-10-31T13:50:00.003Z

er it failed lol. Rear tyres on / below legal limit which is fine I have no complaints about that at all. Coming into the winter with on the limit tyres is plain dumb and it's forced me to actually pick a tyre brand / model! So after much deliberating and trying to find someone with tyres I've plumbed for a completely new brand to me but recommended by folks running the same car as me.

Choices were for widths

245x40x17 - I know they'll fit without rubbing but waste of a 9 inch rim
255x40x17 - now you're talking and it **shouldn't** rub - note the use of shouldn't

Uniroyal Rainsport 2 - couldn't get them in any size I wanted
Goodyear F1's D3 - not impressed with the last set I had
Hankook RS'2 - not on sale anymore
Falken 452 - got good feedback from folks using them

Kumho KU31 - again good feedback from folks using them and I know someone running them

Bridgestone SO2 - Porsche fitment with the real aggressive tread wear

So I plumbed for the Kumho's in 255x40x17 so hopefully they'll be good - usual new tyre warnings apply - they'll grip like a wet bar of soap on lino til they wear away the mould releasing film!

Steering gaiter split and front brake balance dangerous. Ho hum, all getting fixed as we speak. Bloody cars

amazing day out! -

2009-10-17T23:18:00.004+01:00

was such a sunny day I had to go out for a drive. Jet washed then polished car then drove it for 180 miles. 100 of which were in brilliant sunshine though not always warm, that's what the heater is for eh! Bunnet and sunglasses were used, I must have looked some state hehe. The drive back was in the dark, car behaved perfectly throughout the trip, ripped past traffic when asked and gave me one hell of a ride. The A85 from Tyndrum to Dalmally is an amazing stretch tarmac

Some pics below
on the road to Crainlarich

beside Loch Fyne

front fogs have been refitted, front end looks great

some pics -

2009-09-17T21:57:00.004+01:00

taken from the caravan after the rain in Inveraray

after a jet wash and polish

rain X and sun -

2009-09-13T17:32:00.002+01:00

before the IMOC drive I put some Rain X on the windscreen and boy was it fabby. Really makes a huge difference to when you need to put the wipers on. Weirdly the slower you go the more likely you are to need to put the wipers on. Go faster in the rain and it's all clear. Reality 1 logic didn't

Been sunny today so I went for a wee drive. Loved it. Jet washed car, wee run stopped up and gave the car a quick polish. Then drove home hehe. Sad but I enjoyed it

on another note -

2009-09-09T01:15:00.003+01:00

seems like some people like linking to other websites pictures and claiming them to be their own, or at least own the item in the picture. Due to this I've had to add some copyright info to the pics and that's a real bind. I don't have the software to make it neat or tidy or even quick so it's all manual. I am however tempted to change the pic that's being leeched to something off the scale. Any suggestions, keep them clean but Carry On style most welcome....

And all because folks don't credit the original source, pah

Trip to Inveraray -

2009-09-09T01:08:00.004+01:00

just before I did the IMOC run I spent some time in Inveraray. Usually I chill for a bit then head into Oban one day and the other head to Crinan. This year I decided Oban and Keillmore, except the road doesn't go to Keillmore. it kinda stops before it but how was I to know. Anyhow, it was a sunny day out which was nice and I took some of the usual dodgy pics, see below

trip to Ullapool and Skye -

2009-09-07T23:18:00.003+01:00

a wee trip away to the sunny delights of the North of Scotland. First off meeting the guys at the Carnigorm carpark which of course was shrouded in mist pretty much all the time we were there but I got some pics, usual disclaimer - I take crap pics :-)

a three drain of water from the mountain

the 2 miles away in the carpark

After a run to Ullapool, put the tents up and then went to the pub. Woke up in the morning to this view, darn it was pretty with the sun cutting into the day

A beach on the coastal! road to Applecross

Applecross beach

er no more pictures as I kinda didn't take any. Bad me, but I had a great time away and as usual the folks from IMOC were a great bunch to hang out with for a few days.

valeted and polished - weather pants

2009-08-22T20:52:00.004+01:00

been a while since I posted updates but that's because the weather has been so pants I haven't done anything! Anyhow I decided to get the car valeted and I've even treated it to a polish. Scary I know. My camera skills are still rubbish but I'm sure you'll be able to appreciate how clean the paintwork is, apart from the usual scrapes and city dings. Full set of pics can be found at the usual website but I've included a few below. Car feels good, really good since I changed the dizzy car and rotor arm. Boost heh heh

I will be removing the wiper arms taking the rust off and giving them a paint as they really bug me! I can see through the screen

new number plates added -

2009-06-17T23:06:00.002+01:00

the rear which was lost in action has been replaced, looks near enough the same as before lol. The front has been replaced with a more er obviously legal double lined plate. Still only 13" wide and not the 20" UK style but then I have an Import Officer. Hopefully the fecker will stay on as it does hang down a fair bit past the holder. Darn having a full length number plate with full width lettering. Grrr

Trip to Skye May 09 -

2009-06-06T21:13:00.004+01:00

hubba hubba. Weather was perfect, I mean perfect. Scorching hot weather for 3 solid days, clear blue skies ( hehe ) and bone dry roads. T-bars out first thing in the morning and only back in when we parked up for the night. Stunning stunning stunning. So anyways, on with the story.

Left Friday am and drove to Portree via Tyndrum and Cluanie Inn, where we had to stop for a lager shandy, it really was that hot. Stopped in Portree for the night, had a chippy by the harbour. Bloody brilliant. A couple more beers then off to bed.

Some photos of the friday

THE pint at Cluanie complete with condensation on the glass. Ahhh

Up early for breaky then over to the Applecross. Stunning stunning, first time I've done it in clear brilliant sunshine and it's awesome. Worthy of a special trip in anyones holiday.

then onwards to Ullapool via Gairloch

All in all, just fabby. Burnt me scalp as I didn't wear the cap I took with me. 2 days of sunshine, realised I was burnt then wore the cap on the 3rd day. Now as I type this I have flaking skin from my head, nice mmmm you like? No I didn't think so :(

fugging brakes! -

2009-05-22T00:00:00.002+01:00

sigh, the front calipers are giving me some grief. Front passenger one is sticking which is er not so handy. Both fronts getting stripped down and rebuilt this bank holiday monday so hopefully solve the issue for a while. Plans are in motion for er upgrades........... Should be interesting to see how the ABS works that lot out lol

ignition all fixed - for now at least

2009-05-08T23:48:00.002+01:00

indeed a temporary fix until I can source a newer coil ignitor. Original one was well dead as below. Cheers for giving up your Friday evening Calum, as ever a star.

Just to fix the brakes

a funny thing happened on the way to dinner -

2009-05-04T13:58:00.005+01:00

was meeting a friend for dinner and was driving there, nice evening for it so was happy enough. Was stuck behind some slower moving traffic so first chance I got to power past I took it, er then it all went a bit funny..........

Down into 3rd, pull out and nail it 17psi. Got past the first car then a huge POP / BANG then the dash lights up.......... then nothing. So I dip the clutch and the revs just drop to zero. Clutch back up and the car just kinda farts and not a lot else. Clutch down turn over starter, nada nothing zip neit. So with that, I look over my shoulder at the car I just overtook and thought right I'm clear so I pulled over and flicked on the hazard lights while trying the get the darned thing to fire up again. Nope, it was dead :( Kinda embarrassing and the guy I overtook didn't look too happy either. Not like I planned it pal! Lucky I had enough momentum to get some distance and going by the pops and bangs from the exhaust he'd have known all was not well.

Single carriageway back road no laybys but at least it was on a straight section. So I get out and check under the car - no leaks, no oil and no shiny broken metal bits either. Try to start the car, just spinning over so I know the batteries fine. So after a bit I realise it's electrical but something serious. All fuses check out then I smell burning - then I see smoke

So I phone my dinner companion and explain the situation, phoned a friend for advice / options and then AA. AA man turned up in about 40 minutes and yeah the ignitor has gone = no spark no go fooked. So car gets towed back home, the shame of it all. Hopefully it's just the ignitor that's died in a very smoky fashion and not something else that's caused it to check out. Hopefully get it sorted this week but yet another expense just when I'm looking at new toys...........

and that fecking passenger front caliper is still sticking.

car manky - had to clean it

2009-04-18T14:51:00.002+01:00

then went for a wee drive. No banging from the rear of the car, front brakes felt nice and strong though a tad juddery. Front discs still looking a bit marked but hey ho. 17psi is bloody strong lol, cars feels really good and peppy. Need to get the front fogs in and then undertrays on. Also need to keep checking the rear tyres, they are wearing down fast but then it can't be helped with the power going through them.

exhaust fixed - kind of

2009-04-11T17:29:00.001+01:00

turns out it wasn't the exhaust banging on the subframe. It was the passenger rear caliper moving around on the top pivot. As it happens the bottom bolt that locates the caliper onto the pads and carrier was er missing. The clunking was the caliper moving about on the carrier. Ho hum. It's now sorted and no more banging.

Sunny day so got the t-bars oot. Bliss

front brakes now actually work -

2009-03-29T22:42:00.003+01:00

indeed pressing the middle pedal seems to make the car slow down, a lot easier and quicker than before. I still really need to clean up the discs as they are not fully polished like they should be. A wee back road trash should sort that out nicely. Need to give the car a good run to clear both it's and my cobwebs out.

Must also fix the banging exhaust! It's hitting the subframe, bloody thing

front brakes looked at -

2009-03-28T16:14:00.002Z

inside passenger pad and outside drivers side pad jammed solid in carrier. So with a file I removed some metal from the pad edges and now they move freely inside the carriers. Once the retaining springs are in place they are snug, but still movable. Nothing left over after putting it all back together again, I'll test the brakes tomorrow - was too hungry to do it straight away.

Looks like the S02 plan all round for replacement tyres is no go on the fronts, they just won't fit. The rears still should but what the heck do I put up front?

horn works -

2009-03-22T14:24:00.003Z

and it's a bit loud. Far better than before. Going to have to look at the front brakes, something not right there :(

115k completed -

2009-03-21T14:07:00.004Z

er that's it lol. Lots of miles on the car but it still scrubs up nicely.

Been looking into tyre choices as I'm not really happy with the F1's. Goodyear just aren't making them like they used to and I'm not the only one to feel this. The new Asymmetric or however you spell are not lighting many fires either and the old GD3's just well aren't cutting it. So the current thinking leads me to Uniroyal Rainsports 2 which have an excellent set of reviews for dry and especially wet road holding / Hankook RS2's a track based tyre but is pretty good in the dry or the daddy of road tyres Bridgestones very own S02. With a little massaging of sizes I could get these puppies on the car again and motoring heaven should be returned.

When I talk about S02's I mean these beauties, the Porsche OEM N3 KZ

I had a set of these on the mr2 when I bought it, previous owner fitted them and dear god did they grip. Wore down pretty quick too and even today they are not the cheapest of tyres but they grip like sh1t in the dry and aren't shabby in the wet either. But they stopped making them for the std 15inch wheel size so I eventually went to Goodyear F1's. See 1st paragraph for circular discussion lol.

It's not an issue at the mo because the current fronts are really not looking used (clearly I'm a straight line junkie with no corner speed ) but the rears, well they could be finished by end of summer. Straight line boosting does wear them down lol. So who knows, might even buy new wheels for them heha

not much news -

2009-03-16T23:05:00.002Z

er weather's been pish, roads are slimy and the brakes are squealing now. Might actually need new pads! Decided on a 2nd gear pull to see what boost it was after turning down the Gain on the EBC - got a bit squirrely but bugger me it was feeling quick . Nothing like modern cars though, old and clunky

fun fun fun -

2009-03-03T22:09:00.003Z

so I had a new passenger sill fitted and painted to replace the bubbling old one. Turned out the underseal on the car had trapped some water against the sill and we all know what happens given enough time after that. Pah

Also had a wee play with the boost controller as it didn't seem to be spooling as quickly as I'd like it.

Pre change:
Gain : 18
Ratio : 35 => ish 13psi
Ratio : 58 => ish 17psi

The above settings held a steady boost and all was good but watching the boost gauge you could read the boost as it came in like 10, 12, 14, 17 psi. Which is fine but loses out that instant hit not to mention midrange acceleration. After some playing I now have

Post change:
Gain : 40
Ratio : 35 => ish unknown - never tested it
Ratio : 58 => ish 18psi certainly hold high 17's

I think I may have to turn the Ratio down but bugger me does it hit that boost level real quick. 10, 17, 18 lol I think 16 or 17 should be enough for a 115k mile motor. Besides, now it's snowing lol. First week of spring too

had a wee run oop north -

2009-02-17T19:16:00.001Z

sun was shining, it was still 0DegC but boy was it nice. Clutch held, mate's PVR not a success. Happy days, :)

boooooooooosssssssssstttttttttttttttt -

2009-02-04T23:06:00.003Z

wow, today I managed to hit a whole 17psi. It felt good, real good. Been over 6 weeks since I tried that. Sadly with the weather being what it is I didn't hold it for very long. However a few points were clear

* the clutch held at moderate revs - still need to test 4krpm +
* the BOV pipe held and isn't too loud on lift off, which is nice
* the intake kit is more vocal than std - expected and it's fine
* the er farting habit of the std BOV is louder - tubby owners know of this habit lol

Got a quote to repair the bubbling passenger sill so I'll have that sorted in March. Even saw some nice wheels the other day.................

BOV pipe fitted - just

2009-02-03T15:42:00.001Z

not due to diameter issues. That was perfect. I just cut it a bit er neat. Darn near had to cut another length but it's fine. Unless I blow the fecker off of course lol

proper sized BOV pipe has arrived -

2009-02-03T11:58:00.001Z

but weather is crap so it's not getting fitted today :( I can't even cut the pipework until I measure it. Pah pah

pipe arrived -

2009-01-29T23:43:00.002Z

and it's the wrong size :( Turns out the pipe I used as a guide wasn't a pipe at all. It was a coupler meaning it's bigger than the big that bears the mark. Ho hum. Builders merchant at weekend.

I did hit boost even with the crapo VTA setup, felt good. Very good.

BOV recirc pipe on order -

2009-01-24T20:52:00.001Z

was hoping it would be here for this weekend but alas not. Pity as the weather today was cold but very dry. Ah well, always next weekend I suppose.

Have driven car once since clutch change, yep it worked fine. Going to add some boost soon....................

Clutch - Day 2 - finished

2009-01-19T18:34:00.008Z

OK, I've updated Day 1 with pics and some video, Day 2 as below.

Now I have to confess, I was veggin in front of the tv all morning while Calum and Larry were working on the car. I got picked up around 130pm as there was nothing I could do before then. My spannering skills are well known, ie I hold the spanners cause when I use them I break stuff. Anyhow on with the story.

Day 2

All torque mounts nicely tightened up so that part is ok.

Induction kit nicely fitted but er at the mo it's Vent to Air as the existing Recirc pipework is too short. One wee trip to B&Q coming up in near future.

Oil Pan No 2 changed and new non rusting unit in place. New oil filter in place too. A point of note here, even after draining the oil there was still about 0.5Litres of oil sitting in the sump. Turns out to remove it all you'd have to jack the front of the car and just the right rear corner up to clear out the oil pan. Of course, no one ever does.

Gearbox very nearly had to come off again as there was an issue with a plate that sits between the box and engine block. Fortunately this was dealt with by just slackening some bolts and then the problem bolts went in ok.

Once front bumper was removed I then set about removing the old chargecooler pre rad. Broke the horns as well so another job in the near future. All chargecooler pipes removed, pain in the butt that was. Will re visit the chargecooler theme in the future but not this year.

Sheared bolts from the old front fog lights removed from the bumper bar. Sadly I don't have video of Larry getting all personal with the angle grinder. Sparky 2....

Clutch slave cylinder refitted and removed then refitted. There was a bolt that was missed on the gearbox so er remove and try again.

Starter motor refitted - question is would the blighter work!

There were some issues with the gear linkage bushes, basically one was gubbed the other had a fair old slack in it. One was awkward to fit one was okish. Something for future replacement but ok and connected at the mo.

Drive shafts refitted after some cleaning of the suspension struts.

Both rear brake pads and carriers cleaned up, sliders copper greased as they were both er solid. That explains why the handbrake was so crap.

All under trays fitted after the removal of the chargecooler pipes. Yup that took ages as more bolts had seized and snapped. Ho hum.

This was quite late on in the afternoon so it was time to start refilling the coolant system and the gearbox and the oil. Much gnashing of teeth and bruised knuckles it's all ready to fire up.

First start, check for leaks, gearbox, engine and coolant. Once we were happy nothing was leaking we then topped up what we could and Calum went out with the car to ensure everything worked as expected. Of course, we left the exhaust off as it would get removed should any problems have been found. Must admit, it didn't sound bad at all. Oh, the starter worked as well :-))

No leaks were found so exhaust refitted. Should point out here much cleaning was done of the mating surfaces and yeah I ain't looking forward to that being removed in the future.

The coolant system was then properly bled and that took forever, as it always does. That and a huge 13Litres of coolant to fill the blighter.

Exhaust ready for intermediate pipe

Larry checking nothing is amiss. Can't fault his attention to detail

The clutch is quite low to the floor and the aforementioned shifter bushes have made the gearchange a bit notchy. However, Kenny had dropped by and suggested a slight adjustment on the clutch pedal as it had some slack. Hey presto clutch has slightly more travel and no slack thus gearchanges are really smooth now. The clutch feel itself is very light so no doubt I'll stall it a few times til I'm used to it again.

All in all I'm very happy with the job and I can't thank Calum and Larry for the time and effort they put into it. Cheers guys, I'll get a round in this year at some wee drive ;)

Clutch in and working -

2009-01-18T23:47:00.002Z

car re-assembled but I'm too tired to type it all up tonight. Calum and Larry are stars however, fantastic amount of work done to get this all finished. Mention also to Kenny who provided a tip on clutch pedal height, now much better thanks!

Will hopefully the complete Sunday write up done tomorrow and post some pics

Change of clutch -

2009-01-17T22:06:00.006Z

progress update.

Day 1 in the workshop:
Taking the exhaust system off proved unexpectedly complex and tiresome. The intermediary pipe decided it wasn't going to come off.

Nicey nicey

1hr lost persuading it to split resulted in much swearing and WD40 brute force and some praying. After that Calum got really hacked off and got out the angle grinder. The pipe was mere moments from hitting the ground, or so we thought...

Prepare to be ground!

Calum getting his favourite garage toy out, the angle grinder. The exhaust bolts did not fair well out of this at all.

The exhaust however still held on with only paste. Good stuff that.

Eventually we got the darned thing off but it held on well which didn't bod well for the rest of the day.

Airbox and gubbins removed in prep for access to gearbox bolts

Look at the space in there! An MR2 engine bay with space? Some mistake officer?

Larry had joined us at this point which meant Calum had some real help with the heavy stuff about to start. Good timing sir!

The driveshafts, they came out ok, some issues with suspension bolts but nothing major. Suspension struts were changed just over 4.5years ago so it was expected they would come off easy enough. Mind you, the exhaust has been on less than 2......

Starter motor would not budge for love nor money nor the hammer nor even the pry bars. This resulted in having to remove a water pipe from the main coolant system to free up the gearbox. So now a coolant change is being carried out too. Eventually the gearbox came out. This is now 6 hrs after work started. Ho hum

Clutch removed from flywheel. Some meat left on the friction plate but also some heat marks on the flywheel indicating possible pressure plate failure as opposed to the clutch failing. Either way, new clutch required. Hopefully the new clutch will bed in nicely, flywheel face smooth, no roughness nor visible scoring. Just the heat marks.

Old clutch, not bad for 114k miles on a turbo'd motor. I clearly drive slower than Miss Daisy :(

Pressure plate, mm some heat markings on there

The flywheel showing heat scoring. It will be fine..............

Starter motor removed from gearbox. Mating face given a good talking too and sanded for good measure. Next time the blighter will fall out when the bolts are removed.

Gearbox input shaft and general area tidied up, however will give a nice light clutch and fit all back together again.

New Exedy std clutch as below complete with release bearing and clutch cover plate. Nice and meaty but not too heavy on the leg

New clutch fitted, gearbox bolted up and mount attached. Clutch cylinder installed and gearbox linkages attached.

End of Day 1.

Still to do.

Torque mounts still to be attached and er torqued..........
Gearbox oil to be refilled <- note: this is not optional on an empty gearbox.
Reverse switch and speedo drive to be re-attached.
Re-attach all boost piping removed to facilitate gearbox removal.
Remove leaking flexing Oil Pan No2 and replace with no leaking / flexing unit.
Change Oil Filter and then refill sump with oil.
Install induction kit in place of standard airbox and resonator chamber.
Re-fill engine coolant <- note: this is not optional on an empty cooling system
Try clutch and gear selection, not sure of placement in order of this.
Remove front bumper and then remove chargecooler pre rad.
Fix horns while there - meep meep just doesn't cut it. Never has, never will.
Possibly re-attach front foglights.
Start car and go through nightmare bleeding of coolant process. This is dependant on the starter motor not in a huff after the pounding it got being removed
Re-attach exhaust and do road test.

Will update after tomorrow's work. This being dependant on success and pub visit.

why I don't program -

2009-01-11T15:43:00.002Z

cause I'm really really bad at it! Spent some time messing around with a web page I have that gives you tyre sizes / profiles and what size rim it will fit. Usual stuff found on many pages except I wrote mine so it returns all valves between whatever limits you set. Saves a lot of typing, select max width and wheel diameter you want, fill in your std wheel data and then hit the button and hey presto, results including speedo error are returned.

So I thought I'd modify this so you can get both axles done at the same time. Except I wanted it to use the same function to do both results. Well that requires a wee bit of savvy and I'm found lacking again. Ho ho, though I think I've solved it now it's not as neat as I'd prefer. Pah, not like anybody reads the sh1t anyway!

happy new year -

2009-01-01T14:02:00.002Z

I hope your hangover is no worse than mine! Was a great night so I have no complaints. Not gonna be driving for a while either lol.

There's been some loud talk about the drivibility of V6 mr2's v turbo units so when my new clutch is fitted I decided to give it some testing. Usual in gear increments and might even do some through the gear punches.

Right now, got some dave pearce on and chillin - if that makes sense lol

new clutch has arrived -

2008-12-21T22:17:00.003Z

fitting in early January. I ended up buying a stock replacement item from Exedy as I'm unlikely to be exceeding the torque limits of the std style unit.

Still to fit induction kit, replacement oil pan, fix the bumper strips maybe even do the undertrays. Who knows lol

clutch gone :( -

2008-12-08T17:52:00.001Z

now to pick a replacement. Ho hum

funny old world -

2008-12-05T22:47:00.001Z

so two films I wanted to see this week that were listed in the TV guide turned out not to be on. Was something else. I was a bit hacked off and shouted at the crappy tv guide. Then I read the date - 12th December. Turns out last Saturday I bought next weeks TV guide. What a dumbass

4 hrs and 100 miles later -

2008-11-29T16:37:00.002Z

a very pleasant Saturday afternoon drive. Took me 30 minutes to check the wheel nuts and blow up the tyres <- really need to do that more often :(

4th gear + 17psi + WOT = wheel spin. Er yes it's a bit lacking in grip out there but hey ho it was a nice slow drive after that. Either that or it was clutch slip :((( I tried again in 2nd and defo wheel spin that time.

Washed the car, only a shampoo and rinse but at least most of the grime is off of it.

sunny day -

2008-11-29T12:19:00.001Z

think I might go for a drive, just to top up the battery you understand......

Internet up and running, seemless changeover most unexpected. Nice though ;-)

not a lot happening -

2008-11-24T19:50:00.002Z

weather is rubbish, car is manky and has almost no grip on the roads. Must be winter eh?

Changing internet provider so that should be an interesting experience....

MOT -

2008-10-29T23:26:00.002Z

passed!! woo hoo Mucho happiness. Suppose I'd better wash it this weekend again. Bought some polish to get it cleaned when I was at the caravan, never stayed dry enough to even think about doing it.

a wee trip away -

2008-10-28T22:22:00.003Z

indeedy I decided a trip oop North to the parents caravan was in order just to clean the cobwebs out of me hair. It rained pretty much non stop but I just chilled and had a very relaxing time. I've included some pics below, don't be fooled it was cold and wet lol. Click on any of the pics to be taken to the main pic page.

boost pipes -

2008-10-19T12:45:00.001+01:00

tightened previously and now I'm getting 15psi a whole 1krpm sooner. Car feels a wee bitty quicker lol. Shame I never thought of checking that before. Weather is the usual rubbish so no real driving fun to be had. More's the pity.

I am however very happy the car is behaving as it should. Roll on next summer....

boost pipes -

2008-10-15T12:30:00.002+01:00

I have tightened up a couple that tbh were not tight enough but it's always a worry when tightening around an ali pipe. Too much pressure and er cracko! Can't be bothered to drive the car today but will check it weekend. Back to back testing with another car being done then too.

aww balls -

2008-10-14T22:32:00.002+01:00

most of Monday spent at the garage trying to discover what's up with the car. No joy, tried a few things but nothing really made any changes. No error codes, ignition timing and cam timing spot on. Next stop, compression check (though no mayo on recent oil change) and check the plugs <- could it be that simple?

Also noticed the boost is taking a bit to come on song so going to check all pipework tomorrow if the weather stays good.

Some thieving pikey tried to steal the car last week, lucky they didn't damage too much but it does make me wonder whether I'd be happy if it got nicked. I guess only if I get to kill the fecker that tries it, yeah that would do it.

Sump pan, well specifically the No2 Oil Pan Assembly is leaking quite bad, it's also er flexing so that's needing changed ASAP. That and oil stains under the car look bad. Hopefully be sourcing a 2ndhand one from the MR2 site as Toyota want silly money for it.

oh boy -

2008-10-05T13:02:00.000+01:00

car got serviced yesterday and most things are ok. Porus sump which is a pain but a common fault. Seized alternator adjustment bolt, nice one. A few other minor things but nothing serious.

Did a rolling road after it, er pish! Really bad power figures but they do back up what I was feeling on the road. Things to do, check the compression on the engine, check cam timing then check ignition timing. Then pray :(

sad, sadder and the man is just amazing -

2008-09-28T14:23:00.003+01:00

sad news - I'm getting fussy about the jet wash I use - I now recommend the BP on Maryhill Road just at Canniesburn Roundabout........ Where's me coat....

sadder - er Just washed the windows of the flat and the car with some Vinegar and Water mix - so clean you'd swear there wasn't a window there

Rossi - what can you say about the man that hasn't been already said - 6 times Motogp World Champion, 1 x two stroke WC, 5 x 4 stroke WC's on 2 different makes, 2 different engine capacities. Stunning. Now imagine if we'd have 16 Laguna Seca's or 16 Assens from last year or 16 Malaysia's from a few years back. That's what we all want to watch. Rossi win, that's nice but we want a battle for it - actually I'm not really bothered who wins just the battle and plenty of tyre smoking

IMOC Skye drive Sept 08 -

2008-09-27T15:27:00.004+01:00

awesome awesome fun. Left Glasgow at 7am - taking the longest / slowest route out, dunno why I did that and headed up to Aviemore via Tarbet, Tyndrum, Fort William then Spean Bridge -> Newtonmore, Aviemore. Hop up to Inverness then along to Drumnadrochit for lunch. Head to Skye via Invermoriston then into Portree for camping.

Weather up on the Friday was stunning, utterly sublime I took my t-bars out at 10am ish at Spean Bridge and only put them in for lunch briefly then back on at 6pm in Skye after a days driving. Some pics of the run up

Tarbet at sunrise

The run across Rannoch Moor

Loch Laggan on route to Newtonmore

A terrible day in Skye..............

A well earned drink by my fellow camper, was soo warm on Skye that we were sweating putting up each of the tents! Unheard of and most unexpected by very welcome, as was the beer. Torvaig Camp Site, stunning views

The road to the pub from the campsite

The view from Cafe Arriba that was our breakfast stop Saturday and Sunday, well recommended

Atmospheric hills on route to Uig

All in all a great weekend, I haven't got many pics of other days simply because they were mostly crap! Bad use of camera lol

another day another set of scratches [sigh] -

2008-09-07T16:30:00.002+01:00

yup drivers door scratched on lower panel like someone has dragged a sharp edge bag between my car and the one next to it. I swear if I ever catch someone damaging my car they'd better be bigger than me or have plenty of friends with them.

Have a wee run this weekend coming so hopefully the weather will be good enough to get some driving done, I have me doubts though :(

been a while -

2008-08-17T16:04:00.004+01:00

since i updated this here place or did something that could be put up here lol. So, some car news and some pc news.

Car
Did a wee away run but yet again it rained, drizzled for most of it. It was still fun but would have been better if we had been able to push the cars a bit. It was still a great time away though a coach decided to overtake where he couldn't see and nearly killed myself and Lee. I kinda decided there and then, brake upgrade time over the winter. Likely change Master Cylinder too. Might go 4 pot calipers and 300+ mm discs. Need somewhere to make up caliper brackets for me. Watch this space

Also going to get another tent, this single skin business in Scotland just does not make sense. I'm going to get a double skinned jobbie but torn between getting a 2 - ie one man, tent or just going nuts and getting a 4 - ie 2, man tent. In some cases the same price or near enough. Just depends on the space they afford, certainly they don't alter much in overall packed size.

PC
yup, killed it with some hooky software. Tried Hijack This, Adware and something else but it was no use. PC was well infected and nothing was going to sort it short of rebuild. So I have pretty much spent the weekend rebuilding the pc and it's now up and running but with a whole lot less software. Will add as required.

First problem, XP pre SP1 only recognises 130MB drives, not the 250GB puppy I have internally the now. How I got round this first build I just don't remember however I managed to sort it with a great wee freebie from Easeus called Partition Magic and er yup it's magic lol. Sorted it out great so now XP see's the full 250GB drive.

SP3 requires Zone Alarm 7+ something to work, real pain in the butt but hey ho. Typical errors are limited Network Connection or just plain none. Certainly no Internet connections which has been reported by others.

Files and Settings Wizard is soo not perfect but lucky I kinda didn't trust it and had copied my entire My Documents folder to my spare machine before the wipe process.

So now I'm just building the software back as I need it

AV wise, using Avast! on recommendation from a mate so we'll see how it goes. I would have used the new Nod32 but the last 'upgrade' I did caused machine reboot faults which were a tad annoying. This is also reported on the net so hopefully Esnet will fix it cause Nod32 is a great program when it's working fine.

first inspection of repair -

2008-06-29T22:22:00.002+01:00

and it looks good. I mean I checked it before I left the body shop but the guy had done a good enough job for me not to look too closely. Well I looked more closely today between rain showers and yup it's looking good.

Funny thing I noticed was the inner brake light coming on instead of the indicator on the drivers side. Took the rear cluster out looked at the wiring and thought that aint right? The indicator holder was in the inner brake position so a quick change round and the lights all work fine. I will need to check all 4 brake / tail lights as I have me doubts.

Found another ding in the passenger side rear wing. Ho hum

car back from bodyshop -

2008-06-28T21:24:00.003+01:00

yup it's back. First inspection, in the rain was very good. Looks the same as the passenger side. Sweet. Paintwork looks very nice and overall I'm pleased. I will however need to check it out properly in the dry and see how it looks. Will need to jet wash the car as there is sanding residue on the wheels / hub. Guess he had to use filler after all then :-(

Also collected the trim for the front wings / bonnet and er they look the right colour. Of course they didn't come with the mounting nuts required to hold them in place but lo a std metric nut I had lying around fits perfectly. First time for everything.

Going to organise a wee trip soon and get some good time miles on the car. Likely bin it on route.........

car in bodyshop -

2008-06-23T22:31:00.002+01:00

will be a strange moment to get it back. Will the paintwork match, will the dent still be there so many questions so many possibilities. Find out 28th.

Still no sign of the parts I ordered...

parts delay and confirmation -

2008-06-13T17:03:00.002+01:00

indeed the parts are on back order so should be here next friday BUT it's been confirmed they are the UK style trim parts so no stupid indicator lens in the middle. no idea on the mounting nuts - hopefully be std and I can buy them anywhere

another day another quote -

2008-06-11T21:29:00.003+01:00

indeed I have a quote for 170GBPounds to fix the damage which is a fair old bit different. The garage is recommended by a mate in work so that's always a nice place to start from. I just need to buy the corner lens for the rear but that's a clip in part so no problems there.

I've also purchased some new front wing trim tabs using the licence plate details instead of giving the parts guys the numbers. Yup, I'm nervous as I know it's going to go pete tong. On the bright side, these trims should be fully painted so just bolt on. Providing their the right colour and come with the mounting nuts. You just know it's going to go wrong somewhere.

repair cost - est 500notes :(

2008-06-03T23:08:00.001+01:00

yeah, thanks for the nice bill ya twat. Cheers for wrecking my summer plans

another bashed panel -

2008-06-01T17:11:00.002+01:00

indeed some arsehole of a driver has stoved in the rear bodywork just at the bumper / rear wheel. No note left of course so I'll have to pick up the tab myself. What pisses me off the most is that it was either a local, ie neighbour or it was someone visiting a local. They've just reversed out of the space and smacked my car on the other side of the road. That's what mirrors are for you fcukhead. Next time leave a note / contact the police with your details. Just when I thought I was going to have some money to get stuff for the flat I've got to spend money fixing someone else's mistake.

Thanks for that

t bars oot!

2008-05-25T20:02:00.002+01:00

indeed the sun was splitting the heavens today so I went out for a wee drive with the t-bars out. Drove to Loch Lomond, Rowendennan and it was fab. Shades on windows down no stereo. Sadly the usual Sunday drivers were out in force so I never had the opportunity to blast the car through the gears but it was still an immense day out. The exhaust seems louder but then I guess it would be with the t-bars off. A grand day out though no pics as the car is manky. I'll wash it later in the week.