Am33r's Inferno Roadster

[am33r]

Wheel Well Mod

This is the ninth week of the build It is dedicated for Great Steering Capabilities

With the front-end lifted and no wheels are on, the steering wheel on the MR2 can turn 1 and 5/8 of a turn Left, and 1 and ½ turns Right. (It turns more left because in the US we make more U-Turns turning left so those car accommodate a bit more).

I am using 18x9 Fronts with 0 offset rims, and high profile thin tires on them, I also I have two sets of spacers I can use on them 1.5” and 2.0”.  With the new setup I can only turn the steering wheel one whole turn and the tire will rub on the wall of the wheel well behind it.

It seems no one has dealt with this!!!

I had no warning of how far inside are the wires behind this wall, so we cut a set then we soldered them (: and heat fixed them properly thanks to radio shack

I had to cut the area and go back into the wall (Which is enforced with 3 layers of metal and cross bars with circular holes/slots in them).  I now have 1 and ½ turn capability again on both right and left turns.

I will spray it with under-coating later

[am33r]

It was 100 degrees outside so I needed to install a new AC condesor in the elise - took much of my time lol but much needed its too hot and I need an ice cold ac and it was leaking

Then got some time to work on the inferno (:

Brushed my door frames and tack welded a few points on them and painted them.  They are perfect for the spring, the hinge, the latch, and the metal mesh can support a window mechanism.  They also have two holes to mount to the fiberglass door structures.

[am33r]

Hey lance - hope all is well.

I first had to remove the Wiper motor because it will be hidden under the kit's dashboard and no longer accessible. So I removed that and the oscilating bars that connect to both wipers on the MR2.

I knew before that this setup is just too much work and that this motor was made to move the bars not the wipers so I decided on a motor tha twas meant to work stand-alone on a wiper connected to it and shoukd bolt to the Kit itself easily without having to add suppot if i dont feel to be neccessary. To my understanding, any rear hatch window wiper system should work fine as lons as it swings wide enough, but I found out that the ups trucks windshield's motors work independently So I chose that one (:

[lance345]

Nice, always like to see progress

I moved my fuse box just to the other side of where it is and fabricated a new bar to hold it in. Where are you moving yours?

Was there a reason you didn't want to use the original windshield wiper motor? Just preference?

[am33r]

Thanks ikr  I didn't know much when i started - but at this point my mechanic and I can put the car back on the road with a kit soft-mounted on it in half the time (3 weeks).

So here is the MR2 lowered. And the pic showing the top of the Strut with the damper/camber control and the old Windhsield wiper mechanism gone. I didn't take a pic of the moved fuel box.

... I should be back to working on it this weekend:

Building a Frame, installing the windshield frame & door frames, and hinge everything.

[italianknightrider]

Congratulation on your build, it,s moving fast , the plan of not being 100% accurate is smart because you can continue to move without waiting on OEM over priced parts ....looking good ,very wise choice of parts selected. Keep it going....... like we say ,if you get the chassis drive able with the rims and tires installed , you will more than likely make it to the finish line. Even if you don,t have the body yet ,it,s enough information on here to have your chassis drive able and ready !!   

 
IKR

[am33r]

Regarding lowering the car using the coil overs - it can be done with after market lowering springs & shocks (don't heat the springs like CKI suggests - and avoid cutting them too if you can so you don't shift the stress all onto the shocks). The coil overs are $700 - $2000 in range but they all lower the car just as good - the price difference is for independent Damper & Camber adjustments and for Brand Name & Extreme Capabilitis. I bought the ones with all options at around $1000.

[am33r]

Finally at my PC and I am posting the things I finished before I took a break from the build. Lowered the car on coilovers (I didn't have to change their hight I installed them and it was already lower - I can even lower them 2" more but not needed). Removed the old windhsield wiper mechanism and the new one installs to the kit itself or a bar I can place where needed.  What I didn't mention earlier is that I had to trim the wheel well less than an inch behind the front wheels so I did that. I also moved the front fuse box near the right front wheel more inside the front trunk so i can access it when the body kit is on again.

[am33r]

From a ups truck

Lol ingenious, and what wiper arm will you attach to it?

  I haven't gotten that far yet. However, recently I've come to the conclusion that if we can chop cars and rebuild all these crazy things that were never meant to fit on them, then we can fit anything on anything lol I should try my elise's wiper arm on it since it's single blade too or the mercedes single blade arm...

[LamboJayso]

From a ups truck

Lol ingenious, and what wiper arm will you attach to it?

I always wondered why windshield wipers needed a wiper transmission mechanism just to produce the oscillating action to the stub that connects to the wiper arm.

[am33r]

From a ups truck

[autopro]

For some reason the picture of the car  doesn't seem to work for me?  Never mind, it works now.

Where did you get the wiper mechanism?   

[am33r]

Adjustments during the Soft-Mount Period

Placing the kit on the donor was an encouraging milestone so I took a whole week off from this project. I need to finish a few things on the donor that I had to wait to know the level of adjustment which needs to be done.

First I had to change the Speakers in the space behind the seats (there are 4 speakers, two are at the corner of the floor/firewall and two are headrest height on the side panels. After I placed my kit on the donor I noticed it is wise to keep the oem inside panels of the MR2 behind the seats without covering them - the speakers reside there so I got new ones - along with the other two speakers. Pictured are the speakers that fit the OEM used speakers.

I knew already I needed to lower the car because the kit will sit too high above the wheels I just didn't know how high (credit to MitchMurcy he mentioned 2-3" in spring hight change though he had different wheel sizes). Of course I had to wait till I soft mount the kit on the donor to know the exact height that I like.  I want to mention that if I were to contionue to trim the body a bit further then it might rest another inch lower in the front and another inch in the back resulting in the possible need to only lower the suspension just 1.5" in the front and 1" in the rear to get the car to look nice when another 500lbs are added to its weight via doors and other parts and two passengers. In essence Coil Overs ARE NOT A NECCESSITY and spring/shock change would do just fine to lower the entire car 2" is all that is needed - however, I went for coilovers for ride comfort and because I one day want to lower it all the way down

Then today, the Dual-Speed, Single-Blade Windshield Wiper Mechanism arrived - it will replace the oeriginal dual wiper mechanism on the MR2. That whole mechanism will not be accessible once the kit mounts on which is why it needs to be removed at this stage allowing for proper size mechanism to be placed at the proper place in the front trunk area now that I know exactly where it should mount. Basically, the same with the suspension strut tops above, one must do the trial fitting of the kit to know what exactly need to be done and do it before the kit is fully mounted.

[am33r]

Looks good. What are you planning to do about the MR2 frame in the middle of your front trunk?

I will be interested to see what you do with your windows.

Is that a Lotus sitting in front of your house?

Thanks man! I'm proud of my team - they kicked some kit-a$$ in the past 6 weeks.

I have 3 Function-Related ideas for the MR2 Frame in the middle of the front trunk. Relocate the Fuse Box because now it's under the top of the fender, House a new spot for a single windshield wiper, and assign two Performance Fastners for my hood aside from having the hinges on the other side. I dunno how much space will be left but I will carpet it nicely - I might just install that subwoffer there  wait, I also need space for my two HID conversion kits cause am33r's car has no regular lights! only LED's and HID's (Besides the Two OEM murcy light, which I will look for a way to make them LED)

I still haven't gotten to the windows issue - I might use Mark's if no one needs them to deter theft from their passenger cabin. I will find me a window later and reshape the door opening to make it look nice. If anything looks legit I will share it here.  I will need to do that step right because right after I mount the body properly I will make a soft top for it and it has to work right with the windows.  I am not building an OEM so I can do whatever that works... Speaking of that I don't think just because it is not OEM it will have a less resale value if I decide to let it go.

I had that lotus for over six years now - this build will be my second car and it will finally give my lotus a little deserved rest every now and then

 

[BigPines]

Looks good. What are you planning to do about the MR2 frame in the middle of your front trunk?

I will be interested to see what you do with your windows.

Is that a Lotus sitting in front of your house?