My (so called) vacation - nothing to do with MR2

Pic is taken somewhere between Gap and Sisteron in France... my (so called) vacation was about 1900km of driving through western europe.

Some highlights were the viaducts before Geneve and hilarious "Your route is being recalculated due to traffic problems" from navigator, about five times in row.

The scenery in the alps where we ended with the "avoid toll roads" settings is also worth of mention, and the hailstorm with +6C temperature just few kilometers outside Nice (Saint-Martin-du-Var, I think) was something I wouldn't have expected...

A small hint: if you're going to drive from Nice to San Remo, TAKE THE TOLL ROAD! The locals drive like assholes on the Italian side and roundabouts are obiviously too complicated for them.

Otherwise, the scenery again... wouah. Cote d'Azur, truely.

Thanks to my co-driver Thoron!

96666km - 11. April 2009

I have a thing for symmetric numbers :)

Plugs -result

Honestly, this picture is bit useless. New plugs are there somewhere, under the cover. Everything else is in order. Runs smoothly.

Wires are dirty.

Plugs

The first picture: old Honda plugs installed (they actually performed well enough)

Second one: one old plug removed. The color is ok and the model number is BKR6E. Funny how nicely the Honda plugs fitted to Toyota engine, even the heat range was correct. Nice!

Third: all plugs removed, everything looks ok. Color is nice and there is nothing unusual.

Fourth: new plugs installed, still without the correct torque

Plugs -beginning

Nardi day was followed with removal and reinstall of plugs

Nardi Day! -result

Ready in one hour!

I think it feels just great, the looks are WAY better and the whole thing feels like it was made for this car.

Nardi Day!

Some installation pictures, not much to say.

I loosened the nut keeping the old boss attached to the steering axle, then vigorous yanking, pulling and cursing, and suddenly *pop* -> the old steering wheel got a one way ticket to the nearby ditch.

I carefully installed the new boss to the axle, tightened it as much as I dared and then attached the wheel with six hexagonal bolts. Finally, the steering wheel was crowned with a Nardi horn.

The steering wheel is now closer to the driver, which is nice, because I had this bit annoying problem of hitting my knuckles to the whiskers.

Nardi Day! -beginning

Okay, what I had was this butt-ugly red leather steering wheel, which was hideous, impossible to have a good grip and generally just bad.

I've had a nice black Nardi steering wheel for two years, but no boss hub to attach it. So, I ordered one from Maladar and here it is :)

Ignore the Micra floor mats, I had to borrow those.

ARC Cooler cap

ARC cooler cap installed, it's giving 150 prancing horses (ponies) more and lots of street cred.

The spillage on the tubes was from the last time, when I opened the cap and spilled some coolant around the engine bay.

New parts and pictures

Aaaah, new plugs and new brake lines for MR2!

Maladar got me a set of NGK iridium plugs and WedsSport brake lines, and (as usual) I'm looking forward to install these.

Both sets should be for AW11, though I'm bit baffled with this plug heat range thing. N/A AW11 uses heat range 5, SC uses heat range 6 but HKS had heat range 7 plugs for SC.

Some kind of performance plug this HKS thing, I presume. I'll go with number 6, thats safe, at least :)

Present for myself

Last month, I visited the beercapital Dortmund in Ruhr, Germany.

Friend of mine, Mika, announced that he needed something for his son, and we found a small toy shop from downtown Dortmund, on Westenhellweg. I wasn't looking anything special, when I noticed a shelf full of metal Porsche models, and in the middle, this R34 Police model with Omiya plates.

(My MR2 had Omiya plates back in Japan) :)

The model was a 1:18 scale, a bit bigger than most metal models and bit more expensive, but after few minutes of intense thinking, I decided to buy the model.

Resurrection of March - first year of MR2

Maladar wanted to raise the dead today, so we headed to our underground hideout.

Resurrection started with open wound surgery, added with insane amounts of electricity and water!

More pictures and a short clip of once again living March (insert evil laughter here) in Forward March blog.

edit: I just noticed, that this post is kind of anniversary post, as I started this blog about a year ago.

It's been a joyride, I can't say anything else. Now I know a lot more about cars in general and even more about this little old car.

I have to thank Maladar, Widric and Beldin for every bit of help they gave me. Greetings go to Vili, Choppaa, Richardo of Ferrari, Setä & Täti Koponen and Masaki. Greets to JDM Kongo too ;)

Parts 2

Rest of the parts, waiting.

Hmm, the Blitz oil filter box should be empty, or did I put some screws in it?

And what is that box "handmade in GERMANY" doing there? :D

edit: as Maladar pointed out in the comments, the GERMANY box is for Rainbow Audio speakers

Parts 1

Parts waiting for installation:

The long-waited thermostat and seal. At last. I feel like a marathonrunner. It's finally there. I can install it anytime I want, and after that I'll have that unbeliveably nice engine sound all the time.

Then, ARC cooler cap, shiny shiny nice shiny and mine! Mine! Mine mine!

Can't wait.

Sakura (or spring)

Too cold! Way too cold! I couln't use the heater at all and I was freezing in the car... thermostat is sitting in the garage with the seal and waiting for installation.

-5C