1988 MK1 MR2 Lightweight build

Hey Adam,

I like the sound of what you're going to be doing to this car.

I too have just 'come back' to MR2's after 9 years away from them! Must be something about them??

I recognise that car - it was for sale in Brislington, Bristol. How do I know? I test drove it! Seemed to drive really nice and was certainly better than some of the other MR's I'd looked at.

Where are you based? Might be interested in some bits off the car if you're stripping it down? If near Bristol, we might be able to help each other out on the builds?

Anyway, best of luck getting it sorted and I look forward to seeing the progress....

Bruce.

Hi Bruce, I like your thinking! All of the interior will be going, all panels in both boots, tool kit, spare wheel, etc etc all off too; so I should have plenty of parts available.

I'm based in Aylesbury/Oxford, I'd love to give you a hand with any work you'll be doing - so I'm sure we can sort something out. I'm often going to Devon (folks) and Wales (brother at university) so I often find myself going through Bristol.

Ditto on the build - I can't wait to see how yours progresses (you are starting with an unfair advantage though )

Speedle, I hope to have engine cover, rear boot, sunroof panel headlight covers and possibly the front bonnet and wings in composite by the end of the project. Luckily the panels are very flat and simple to replicate. The odd panel is available (bonnet, wings for example).

First job is suspension - I'm thinking of having some struts made up by GAZ; I've heard good things.

Ah! Apologies, the forum was dying on me and didn't appear to post. Rectified!

I'm trying to stave off the temptation to go all out on weight removal; as it's currently my daily driver.

looks like a sound project has inspired me to dig out my mr2 mk2 from the back garden and start sheding some of its weight will start a thread if i get some decent pics at the weekend mines a h plate 90 so one of the first and has more rust than yours but I'm interested in what weight can be shed. Mine has the same huge removeable sunroof. Are you going to keep yours in I utltimately want to use mine as a track day and may replace wieght by cageing it and am thinking of welding some sheet steel in and respreying the roof in a different colour.

Take the kit off so it looks like an mk1a, not only will you be saving weight, it will also look so much better, oh and lose the spoiler...

It's a daily driver and the first thing you chuck out is the radio?! Congratulations, that is truly hardcore and I take my hat off to you. I'd be interested to see some kind of performance test done before and after the weight reduction as well, like a 0-100 or skidpan test.

I often have dreams of ripping out the interior of my Beetle in the quest for lightness but I'm unsure how much actual difference it would make to the performance, given I'm probably around 8-900kg anyway to start with. It would be interesting to see, for example, how many seconds per circuit lap/quarter mile or whatever you save per kilogram. Not to mention that you also save on fuel, tyre and brake wear, etc. I wish you luck in your project in any case, a lighter car is a better car!

Finished off removing various bits from the boot today. Removed the horrible aftermarket electric aerial and plugged the hole. Removed the remaining boot panels, and started on the intake pipe removal (after picking up a k&n on the 'bay last night).

Weights as follows:-

Air pipe A - Rear offside quarter 0.31
Air pipe B - Rear long pipe 0.75
Air pipe C - Rear offside water trap 0.3
Air pipe D - Rear small pipe 0.2
Electic aerial box 0.7
Rear boot panel brackets + bolts 0.3
Rear boot panels 2 0.4

I also picked up some 1mm thick carbon fibre sheet, for fabricating a cover for the engine bay to boot hole, and a cover for the ECU (as it is now exposed in the boot).

Hey ghost, where did you get the carbon fibre sheet? Did you buy it as flat sheet already made and cured or are you laying it up yourself from mat and resin? It seems that carbon fibre material is difficult to get hold of at sane prices.

Also, lol at the bio-tuning! I certainly know that I could probably lose a significant amount of weight from my car/driver combo by losing the "spare tyre".

Beautiful weather here today - what better excuse to work on the car!

After deciding to remove the speakers (no stereo, and never will have) - I also thought that I might as well remove the associated panelling.

At the back this leaves, the bare metal looking like this:-



After a bit of polish, the interior painted metal came up looking really good. The speakers I found in the car aren't actually too bad:-



4" co-axial Pioneers in the front, 3.5" co-axial Alpines in the rear. Perfect for anybody else looking to improve upon the standard paper-coned pap. Let me know if you would like them.

The removed panels, came to this pile:-



Weights at the bottom.

I also received my carbon fibre sheet:-




From Xs Sport on ebay. 1mm thick 2x2 twill. This will be used for various things, making a quick cover for the ecu, capping the air-intake route from boot to engine bay etc.

Last weekend I also removed some panelling from the front boot, and had a peek:-



Pretty clean, you can see where brake-fluid over-fill can corroded the paint a tad though.

So, weights in kgs are:-

Sunroof cover 1.4
Sunroof mount front boot A 0.2
Rear interior panels 1.4
Speakers 1.3

Total lost to date = 18.89