New member from Georgia(country)

First, I love a checklist. I have one for each vehicle I have and what I need, or want, to do to the car. From the basics (when I first got it) for cleaning everything, to random stuff like clear or smoked corners or a downpipe

Secondly - WELCOME.

dznela said:

hello guys
I bought 92 JDM MR2 GTS fully stock with 142k kilometers
what is basic maintenance i should do first
what is MUST upgrade i should do on second gen 3sgte
also i have bought some aftermarket parts (check mark is what i bought already and other parts are what i am planning to buy)
my goal is to make 280-290 whp on stock internals

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Basic maintenance: do you have any records of the car? Like, when I bought my recent one the PO had plenty of records, was an MR2 guy, he said he did an oil change a thousand miles ago...I believed him.
If no records or not completely certain of when things were done, do an oil change. Is it running well? Maybe a tuneup kit from PrimeMR2 or MR2Ben (since youre in Europe), and do rotor/cap/wires/plugs.
Any leaks?

As far as upgrades, youve already got the Intercooler and downpipe - installed yet?
What about intake?
You bought a boost controller,but not checked off on gauges: do you have a boost gauge (and I am NOT counting the joke in the dash)? I wouldnt mess with boost until you have a proper boost gauge.

I dont recommend the BOV on the gen2. I had one on my first (93) MR2 and it wasnt a good use of my money - the car ran WORSE.

I cant assist you on the hp goals, I dont know all the details of what is possible etc.
But I think that the next thing I'd do is proper brake pads and stainless lines (could get all four corners with QUALITY stuff for about 250 or so), and suspension.
Many recommend the Koni struts, I have them, they are great! Those with some quality springs (I have TRD) and you have a great start on suspension (I say great start as there are many other things you can get/buy like AlexW's geometry kit, maybe replacing worn out bushings etc etc)

Get the car stopping and riding well and it'll make everything else SO much better, a more enjoyable ride.

thanks for replay

this is list of what was done
car has leak from valve cover and i have new gasket to install

xxxboosted2xxx said:

I dont recommend the BOV on the gen2. I had one on my first (93) MR2 and it wasnt a good use of my money - the car ran WORSE.

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can you explain why? i dont know enough about this

boost controller is innovate Motorsports SCG-1

also what mls head gasket should I buy? thickness and bore size

dznela said:

thanks for replay
View attachment 85994
this is list of what was done
car has leak from valve cover and i have new gasket to install

can you explain why? i dont know enough about this

boost controller is innovate Motorsports SCG-1

also what mls head gasket should I buy? thickness and bore size

Click to expand...

So it looks like it's got a lot of maintenance stuff done recently. That's good! Especially the toyota Red being used, many wont stick to that

And upgraded suspension already too.
Nice score.

Ok, the BOV thing - those had a MAF (mass airflow sensor) just behind the intake filter.
Basically, it reads how much air comes in and adjusts the fuel from there.
Where the issue comes in is this (and Im going to do my best to explain this, apologies ahead of time! ha)

Air enters your K&N filter and gets registered to the computer, it starts supplying the appropriate amount of fuel for said air amount.
Lets say youre accelerating, intake is doing it's thing, fuel is getting dumped into the engine - then you get off the throttle (what I dealt with the most was coming to a stop, where I had the majority of my issues). When that throttle body butterfly closes, that air starts to reverse course and goes out the BOV (or, as you have now, a BPV which recirculates back into the system). So in that moment it runs very rich because all the fuel came in but not having the appropriate amount of air to mix with it. Runs rich and the car can/may/will/has-for-me dies.

Gen 3 and later are different, they use a MAP sensor and the recirculation of the air isnt as necessary. But my first MR2 turbo was a 93 with the gen2 engine, like yours. I put an apex BOV on it and while it looked clean (-er, than the original/stock part), it gave me fits.

I cant recommend a headgasket, hopefully others can and will chime in on that. But do you NEED to replace that at the moment? Im of the 'if it aint broke dont fix it' when it comes to headgaskets...and, well, many gaskets, honestly. Unless youre doing stuff in there, I might not mess with it at this moment. It may be needed later as you approach your horsepower goals, I dont know. But until then, just enjoy it, get all your basic parts in and installed.