MotorWeek | Flashback Friday

A nice review when they were first introduced.  Never really knew what the stock performance on these cars were, until now.

Toyota MR2 hybrid

I'm not much into drag racing, but when I do, it will be in a Honda engine stuffed into a Toyota MR2.  Just won't take it to TORC.

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Gymkhanna MR2

I really like this mr2.  Moves with quickness and finesse of a water strider.  Simply a beautiful piece of work. Though the driver needs to work on his finishing move at the end.

Doing it his way.

photo by Joey L. @ The Octane Report

People try their hardest to get it JDM with a bit of fast and furious, sinking all kinds of money to get their ride on the media circus. The former neighbor Mark E. does the complete opposite and gets the former lemons car on The Octane Report. Go figure.

Here's the link to the article.

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07-07-07

July 7, 2007 was the first 24 Hours of Lemons outing in the MR2.  I found a youtube video created by one of the team members Wesley H.  Brings back alot of great memories.  Building the car on a budget and a prayer, we didn't know what to expect.  Many of the teams were very well prepared bringing a spare car and lots of extra parts.  Trailers eqiupped with lots of tools and even a one with a lift.  Later learned that some of the teams had some form of professional motorsports experience. Even through all that we did pick up a 11th place finish from a list of roughly 80 cars.  Not bad for a group of rookies who did the best with what they had.   I think it's time to get another group together.

pic by joey leh from octane report

Though I think another car is in order.  I'm not sure how much is left to cut up.

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4 six or 8?

If you own a mk1 Toyota MR2 they'll cater to any number of cylinders your heart may desire.

3sgte MR2

Supercharged 1MZ  (Toyota V6)

Audi V8

They are truely mad.

Autocrossing Hollywood Park

Roughly around the mid to late 90's I tried my hand at driving around the cones. I've heard of autocrossing and visited 1 event a while back but never participated. After enjoying my drag racing phase, I decided going in a straight line wasn't much fun. Unless you have enough dinero to go make your car go into single digits. And since I was working at shop that built lots of Toyotas, and was surrounded by these guys who were in to autocrossing. That time there were quite a few Toyota enthusiasts in the auto x scene.


Moto M. in his super charged coupe.


Alan with his TE27.


Jay S. and his very clean MR2. He still owns this thing.


Me in my RX3 ripping up the course. Really sucked my first time out. But I had a great time.


Satan in da house.


Sunbeam Tigers prowling for some cones.

It's hard to believe all this was over 10 years ago. I began scanning quite a few photos from back then so i'll be putting up a couple more in the not too distant future.

Here's the link to more of the old pics.

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The day after

Since I mope around more than drive, the neighbor invited me to the Slide Assassin's "Day after event". Since I didn't go to Formula D on Saturday, I'll watch drifting here. It was slow and laid back the whole day. But a tad on the chilly side.


The neighbor brought out former 24 hours of Lemons racer turned drift beater out for some fun. He pretty much laid down the law , riding the walls like it was a wave. No one even came close to the stuff this guy was pulling.

Yes he is a Lakers fan.


A nice GTO came out and smacked the wall on it's second run. Much props for bringing out the beast. Hopefully you can buff it right out.


Cyrus M. he's famous in the 951.


Though by the end of the event, the MR2 went for broke. And break it he did.

I missed out on that cause it got too cold and I wasn't prepared for it, so I left early. I really need to get the car up and running so I can run this place. Everyone had just too much fun.

Link to the rest of the pics

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AE86 Tip #86-2: Clutch Install

I'm sure most people have seen this trick, but if not read closely. Loosening and tightening the flywheel bolts and pressure plate bolts can be a real pain if you don't have the correct tools to hold the flywheel. Rather than buy some trick tool from Snap-On or questionable from Harbor Freight, here's 2 i've used with good success.


One way is to use a transmission bolt and a 17mm socket. Setup as shown in the above picture. Note that the socket in this position will loose the bolts. Position the socket on the other side to tighten up the bolts.


Another method would require a custom part. What i used here was from an old 4AG flex plate. Cut a piece of it off and drill a hole.


Attach as shown above, you may need washers to space the flex plate correctly. Once properly position it works like a charm.
All these cost nothing and are very easy to setup.

Easter Madness

Easter a holiday that has been commercialized with a rainbow colored eggs and a bunny rabbit. For the some christian religion, it’s the celebrated day that Jesus rose again from the dead. But for us car guys, it’s an excuse to hit the track. Hours after I arrived from Arizona, for Nopi qualifier, I loaded up my gear and headed out to Horsethief Mile for some open track fun. I actually thought I wouldn't make it there I so tired. Eventually I made it safely, second only to the Megan team which also traveled to Horsethief after Arizona. What the hell is wrong with us.

Met alot of old faces I rarely see at the track anymore. So it was like a reunion. Lots changed since then.

Taka and Yoshie were rocking their competition cars, getting some practice time before the upcoming season, which is about to start April 12^th @ Long Beach. Hiro was sporting his JZX 90 Chaser, which used to be really cool when he first got it, but now looks like crap. It was so ugly I couldn't post it up pics I was afraid the computer may crash.

Alex P. traitor traded his AE86 for a real 180SX. Matt with the white coupe in the background, which was formerly owned by Hiro with the ugly Chaser.

Andy Y. brought #2 the sparkling poop colored coupe for a romp around with us. Amazingly enough it was his first time there, but he drove like a pro.

Geoff drove Naoki’s old kouki coupe, which still retains the original paint. Still looks shiny after 20 years. Did I mention it has the original red paint?

Then there’s the newer peeps I’ve been going to the track with lately.

Steve in his silly green hatchback. He got frustrated with the RA-1’s and decided to man up and get some Hankook racing slicks for the next event. Damn that means I need to get some.

Mark and Noemi with the nawwzz fed corolla and the lemons mr2, yes it does stretch it's legs every now and then. And me parked right beside them. Were like neighbors and it sucks.

The Drift Association crew parking it like they were at a car show.

Random Volkswagen, I think one of the Drift Association staff. Sorry don't know who you are.

I didn't take many pictures due to fatigue so I missed some people like Charlie (just drift) and Naoki (drift association) and 3rd place Nopi Qualifer and license holder Cyrus M.
It was a really laid back event, wish there was more like these, and I enjoyed myself even though I was really tired.

Lemons: The Beginning

I wasn't planning to put up pics of the team's first Lemons adventure, which occured July7,2007. But might as well share. From the first day our MR2 was acquired and the actual race weekend. Not much in between. A group of eager drivers not knowing what lies ahead of them. Only reading about the hooliganism that is the 24Hours of Lemons. So let's begin shall we.

Vehicle as delivered blown engine and all:
All body panels straight, doesn't look too bad.
The only really noticeable damage.


The engine was didn't crank, but the previous owner wasn't sure what's wrong with it besides seeing parts of the engine on the road once it croaked. Later examination of the engine revealed the engine had a rod punching a hole out the block. Yes the can of soda was included with the sale of the car.


Interior ain't too bad, but it's being gutted anyways so it didn't matter much.

Aftermarket glass sunroof, missing but not missed.

Don't have any pics of the build itself, or anything else until race weekend. The pictures are not in any particular order. In other words, I don't remember which day I took them.


Arrival in Northern California, we didn't have time to apply the decals until we took the car to the track. The car looks so clean from this photo, it will be the last time.



Car being prepped and decals applied.

Our team working like a well oiled machine.
Well sort of....


The breakfast of champions.


Team leader giving pep talk and discussing strategy.

Wesley at the helm in the morning, but he's not drifting. This was a pre race test where drivers must navigate through a slalom course in reverse and avoid hitting a cut out of Jar Jar Binks. Wesley brought home the gold with a first place time with seconds to spare. We were awarded 10 laps even before the start of the race.





Here's some of the damage that occurred over the course of the weekend. Every side of the car had damage. Rubbing is racing.


The people's curse receiving it's punishment by way of bobcat and sledgehammer.

A few of the cars at the 24 of Lemons:


Cadillac speedster FTW


Motoring J Style represent with an MR2


Representing the country Japan, 1st geneneration RX7


Team Holy Rollers

Random pics:

The Wheel of Destiny don't be an ass or you'll be sorry.

Cute camera girl.
Can't break the tire bead? Borrow a Super Duty.

Yes, it was hot that day.

Only the French


That was one hot and awesome weekend. One of the most fun/ ridiculous things i've done in a long time. I've got a bunch more pics on my Flickr site click here for more.