Front Lip Refresh and Gauge Cluster Update

After a few years of use and a poor initial installation, the front lip on the car was in need of some serious help.  It wasn't mounted using the correct OEM brackets, and the paint was coming off.  So I sourced all six brackets from Toyota and got locking nuts and paint from the store.  I also imported a set of aluminum rings to go around the gauges in the instrument cluster as well as an LED set to replace the old incandescent bulbs behind the gauges.  They both really give it a more updated look.  Check out the big improvement for both the gauges and the front lip.

Upgrade the stock radio with OEM Toyota Double DIN unit

My car came with an old crappy Kenwood CD player which looked too flashy and out of place.  Here is a cheap alternative to buying aftermarket CD players which also retains that clean factory look.

Georgia Summers (T-Top Replacement Knobs and Clips)

Being in the south, Georgia's summers can get pretty hot. When I bought this car, it did not have the sun shades which latch onto T-Tops.  Nor did it have the catch on the T-Top glass to receive the latch from the shade.  Unfortunately, Toyota no longer stocks the plastic knobs or catches and no one in the aftermarket reproduced these making these pieces highly desirable and almost worth just as much as the shade itself.  Therefore I had to do some research.  I bought a set of great condition black T-Top shades and after a tip from pyrotoxin on MR2OC.com, the solution was as easy as a trip to a NISSAN dealership!  It turns out that the same knobs and catches which are used on a older Z car are still stocked by Nissan and actually work on the MR2 as well.  A long standing and widespread problem in the MR2 community has now been solved!  Details after the jump.

Georgia Showers (T-Top Leak Fixes)

     Most MR2s came with T-tops.  In fact, an MR2 with a sunroof or a plain hardtop is actually somewhat rare and highly sought after.  I thought the T-tops would be a neat feature to have in the car.  I found myself removing them for my daily commutes up the interstate to work.  Little did I know they would cause some problems. 

Surprise!

During the process of repairing the door wiring, I discovered that the fog light switch needed at least 2 wires repaired and I also found this little guy.  What is it?

Driver Side Door Lock Light Ring Upgrade

This is a How-to that I originally posted on the MR2OC.com forums. I am sorry for the blurry pictures, I could not tell that the camera had not focused correctly until after I was done. I'm not sure if I called this the right thing but basically I changed out the stock green light that shines on the outside driver door lock. Its a faint green and I will show you how to put in "super" bright led. I put this in the interior sections because its along the same lines as the ignition light ring.

Back to stock

So after perusing the aforementioned websites I started to realize that the setup of the engine created by the previous owner was somewhat risky. Specifically the 550 supra injectors and the NEO-AFC. The reason being because of the MR2's hybrid ignition control system. The MR2 uses a distributor to fire off each spark plug but the ECU can advance or retard the ignition timing also. A problem arises when piggyback style tuners are added into the equation. Piggyback tuners "trick" the ECU into doing what it wants. Because of this, situations can arise, if tuned without this knowledge, where the AFC tricks the ECU and into altering the timing and inadvertently causing detonation inside the cylinders which will break the ring lands off the pistons and then you are in a world of hurt because you engine needs to

                                                                                       be removed and opened up to repair.