Haven't been doing many updates lately, but I've been putting in at least a few hours every weekend, keeping the projects small for now.
Finished installing the front 6.5" JBL component speakers and 5.25" Polk subs:
The slightly updated Toyota head unit in the car (I think late 90's vintage?) has a definite crackle at times when driving hard. It also does it when changing the balance/fader/bass/treble settings, so I'm guessing it's some loose connection inside. On top of that, I have two young kids, and all my neighbors also have young kids, which is enough reason for me to get a new aftermarket headunit so I can run a backup camera and also run an aftermarket amp since the stock 93+ Premium amp is pretty weak. I'll run a 4 channel amp to the fronts and the two 5.25" subs. Then I'll let the head unit directly power the rears, which I'll probably update to some 3.5" aftermarket speakers with rubber surrounds.
Overall the goal with the stereo is just to update it with speakers that actually have intact surrounds, and get some modern conveniences with the head unit without it looking too much like a Transformers lightshow. I like the OEM stereo look, so I'll make it very easy to reverse things and go back to an OEM stereo and OEM amp if there's ever the desire there in the future. But overall I think I'll enjoy the car more with a Carplay capable head unit and a rear camera to put my mind at ease when backing up at the house.
I installed a rear TRD replica strut bar. It *really* contacted the IC cold pipe that came on I think a typical generic eBay GReddy style SMIC kit. I had the straight hump hose stressed out at like a 15 degree angle, and it was still contacting on the bar. So I got a 30 degree 2.5" to 2.5" coupler and it works much better after a little trimming to keep things compact:
Hump coupler next to it to show what was there before. Things fit well now. Really don't need the nylon wire covering I ziptied to the bar there to keep wear down on the IC pipe now that there's a little clearance, so I might snip that off soon.
Future MR2 driver banging some gears:
Installed some Autopal e-code headlights. The car came with some Sylvannia sealed 6504's, and they weren't exactly the best. I don't see myself doing an HID or LED setup in them now, I mainly just wanted the better beam cutoff and light dispersion. I kinda like the halogen look now, since it fits with the era of the car. It's really strange that a '93 car feels so vintage when driving it, but my daily is a 2018 Chevy Volt, so the MR2 is so strikingly different in so many ways that it's kinda fun to keep that theme.
Also trying to install a ~2000 Celica (6G?) steering wheel on the car. It's in worse shape than was described, but I figure I can install it and see if I like the size etc. I managed to pop the wheel loose of the column last night which was way harder than I thought. I've usually gotten them from with a little tugging/torquing of the wheel, but this thing wasn't going anywhere. So I built a removal tool to use 2 M8 tapped holes on each side of the column, with the tool part being 1/8" thick 1" A36 angle iron. The freaking angle iron was totally bent over and I was cranking on the wheel for all its worth with nothing happening. I gave the tool one final tightening and tried again and it popped loose like a shotgun thankfully! Never had a wheel be on that tight, but now that it's off I'm going to change the resistors in the cruise control stalk and toss it on the MR2 and see how I like it.
Tool:
Driving time is running out in Seattle before it's in the rainy winter season. My plans are EFR 6758 twin scroll on the stock manifold, and most likely doing the clutch with a lightweight flywheel.
I can't decide if I'm going with a Southbend Stage 2 daily or Stage 2 endurance clutch. I want it easy to drive on the street, but to hold the power with a decent margin. It sounds like the Endurance disc engages not much more aggressively than the daily all organic disc, but it's A LOT of work to change it after the fact, so I'd rather not go aggressive if I don't have to. Need to maybe drive a car with one installed to make up my mind...