senna21

If it's just the rubber lip LEW has a write up on it. If you're talking about the full spoiler that houses the fogs and turn signals... that seems like quite a task. I agree DZUS are great but, they do have a tendency to pop out every now and again. Unless you plan on taking it off every other weekend I'd say just keep it the way it is and apply some anti-seize to your bolts if you do plan on taking it off a couple of times a year.

Here in Los Angeles we call that daylight. B) It comes form that big ball of fire in the sky. I know you guys in the dreary UK need to be reminded sometimes that it's up there. I know a lot of Red gets sprayed as a single stage paint. If you do desire the car to be red go for a two stage instead. Base coat and clear coat sprayed separately. It'll hold up much, much better in the long run.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, you're turning the bolt and on the other side of the mount the "nut" or cylinder is turning as well. Either way get your fingers or some type of clamp on the cylinder and keep turning the bolt. Often times all you need to do is keep the nut or cylinder from turning until it begins to shore up against whatever surface it'll be coming in contact with. Then (often but not always) the friction between the surface and nut/cylinder will keep it from spinning. If you can't get a good grip or your clamp of choice can't get in there, simply see if you can wedge something (i.e. screwdriver) in between it and another side surface to keep it from spinning. Out of curiosity, why did you remove the bolt and or engine mount?

How was this done? Did you use a Resonator tip(s) or just use a Megaphone style extension. If you used a Megaphone tip that may be your culprit. Ferrari had used this style exhaust on the 288GTO (factory labeled it as an F1 option) and from what I've heard makes the car sound unbelievably good and loud. A lot of the old Porsche 911s in the 70s used to run with Megaphone exhaust as well. http://www.burnsstainless.com/Megaphones/megaphones.html

I'm assuming these cars run into a lot of the problems that the Ferrari 308s do when it comes to prepping the car. The $7,000 paint job

If it hasn't had a rebuild then how'd they blue print the engine? Something seems amiss here...

You can get them through Demon Tweeks ( www.demon-tweeks.co.uk ). I used to get all my driving equipment, Sparco Suits, gloves, shoes, ect... when I was racing. Shipping isn't bad and they have world wide customer support. Exchange rate might get you though. As far as K&N goes you can get a filter for your car anywhere K&N products are sold. You'll just have to have them order it for you. That means you can go down to any PepBoys or AutoZone and order it. Just go to the parts desk and let them know what you want. On another note, I don't know much about ITG. I do know that foam filters in the past have tested VERY poorly for filtering dirt. Personally I wouldn't use one. Paper filters are excellent for keeping the dirt out of your engine. While the K&N isn't paper, it's gauze, it's the next best thing. I have one on my MR2 turbo and on our little turbo engines (2.0 3sgte w/ ct26 turbo) average gain is about 9-10hp with the FIPK unit. A drop in, such as you'll be using, is a little less. Also take where you live into consideration. Those living in England won't have to deal with the same dirt/dust environment as someone like me who lives in Los Angeles, CA which, contrary to popular belief, is the desert. I come out to my car an will find a fine layer of dust every morning on my car. I have to clean and reoil my K&N every 6 months. When I do it's filthy. You can also cause more damage to your engine by over-oiling the filter. A little goes a long way. Over oiling will cause poor filtration and excess oil will get onto your AFM (if you have one) gumming it up and leading to poor air flow readings. Some food for thought: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/newsletter.html

I recognize that car. It was listed on Ebay here in the States about a week or so ago. If memory serves me correctly it was located in Phoenix Arizona.

REDLINE is hard to beat. Another tranny fluid to take a look at is GM Synchromesh. That's right. I said GM Synchromesh. In the MR2 world the early Turbo trannys have a problem with 3rd and 4th gear synchros starting to "schunk" when trying to make a quick gear change. Many owners have found that the GM Synchromesh will actually cure this. Many others have found that it will reduce it. Having said that I have REDLINE 'Heavy' ShockProof ("provide a film thickness similar to a 75W250 grade, while providing the same low fluid friction as an SAE 75W90") in my personal car. Wonderful stuff. But, gear changes on cold mornings aren't as smooth until the box warms up.

Thank you both for your replies! So, obviously the wheel I posted isn

Ok, the GM switch gear doesn't bother me on these cars. Even Ferrari used to raid the FIAT parts bins for these kind of bits. New Lambo Gallardo... yea, you can see the AUDI stuff there too. But, why god why did LOTUS use the GM steering wheel? I haven't seen one in person but almost every picture I've seen the thing looks God awful. Off color and just a bit out of place. Then I'll see another pic and it looks like the color matches perfectly and it fits in fine. Then while cruising around the internet (I was working I swear) I came across the pics below on a car on Ebay and also read something about a "Daytona" wheel replacement that has an airbag in it. Is the steering wheel below the Daytona wheel? I can't make it out in the photos on my computer but it looks like the spoke in the six O'clock position has SRS embossed on it. Am I wrong? If so what can you guys tell me about this wheel and how much is it. Not that I'm in the market for one, or a car for that matter. It's just that inquiring minds (mine) want to know.

You're ECU may be pulling the timing back because it's reading KNOCK. If it is you'd better be careful. Here's the way our ECUs (Toyota MR2 Turbo) work in these situations and I'm guessing most will act accordingly. When you up your boost you're increasing the amount of air and fuel in the combustion chamber (I know you already know that). When you do so the charged air/fuel mixture goes into the chamber at a much higher temperature than at a lower boost. That higher temp air/fuel has a greater tendency to predetonate (knock). That's why if you're going to up your boost you should also be looking at some upgrade to cool your intake charge better. Boost usually doesn't kill engines... side effects of boost does. Specifically knock. Knock is what will lead to burning a hole in your piston, valve or killing piston rings. Because of this when the ECU reads knock (from your knock sensor- I can't imagine this engine doesn't have one) it'll pull the timing and also probably dump more fuel into the combustion chamber than normal in order to cool the combustion chamber down. Lean Air/fuel mixture will cause combustion temps to rise, and rich Air/fuel mixture will cause it to cool down. With the timing pulled and more fuel you'r going to get less HP and torque. No where in your list of mods have I seen any kind of intercooler upgrade. I'd say that's your next line of attack. You'll gain HP and reliability. If not I'd say you're heading for an engine rebuild somewhere in the not too distant future.

Random Technology IMO makes the best CAT out there ( www.randomtechnolgy.com ) They flow as freely as an open pipe (technology has come a long way) and although you cant get a direct application from them you can get a universal that'll fit. Any good muffler/fabrication shop should be able to cut out your old CAT and install the new one I'd think for no more than about $10 a weld. That's what Burns Stainless Steel charges for welding and they're the best in the business. Also a great site to learn about exhaust tubing and design. www.burnsstainless.com

Nice car. I'm a new guy (third post here) but from my limited reading so far I'd say check your cam seals. You should be able to get your hand (again from what I've read) in-between the engine and fire wall. Give a wipe with a finger underneath each cam sprocket. It should be dry under each. If not, well you've found an oil leak. I say an oil leak because you can always have more than one. Hopefully if you do find it, it's the only one.

Thank you all for the warm welcome... it doesn't take much to get you guys going does it?