Russ' 1994 Hardtop 2GRFE V6 MR2

[immorality]

Continued!

This will eliminate the tee that I had in the heater core lime that ran up to the original plastic filler neck (which will now be removed).

[immorality]

Now the big deal that I've been waiting on... Some new (to me) seats! I've been waiting a while to find something that I liked that was also reasonably priced and this is what I found, some Recaro SRD's. These are the same type of seats that came in the Integra Type-R's, black suede with cloth center and red stitching to match my shifter and e-brake boots. I have a set of Bride super low low rails that I've had for well over a year now, that I will use to mount them.

[driftingsw21]

Is it just me or the seats seem faded on the sides. BTW how is the power steering working for you. That's a fairly high priority mod for me.

[immorality]

There's some slight fade, but they are used seats after all. I think the flash makes it look worse than it is. It's dark in the car so I don't think it will be very noticeable. I can always try and die them if it bugs me.

I still need to install the sensor behind the wheel, so I can't tell you if the power steering works. The car has been off the road since October. With any luck it will be driveable again late Feb, early March, and then I'll be able to get some shake down miles in April before we leave for Toyotafest.

[immorality]

These are the bride "low" rails that I picked up a while back,



Once the rails were mounted and the old seats out, I thought I'd take a look to see how different the rails are from the oem seats;

[immorality]

[adam]

Great looking seats, Russ.

How much of a pain is it to get in and over the side piece on the seat bottom? It looks pretty high.

[m_b]

The Recaros look great Russ!

[immorality]

Honestly Adam I only tried it once, and that's before bolting it down. It was a little awkward with the seat moving around. I still need to find a nut to be able to bolt the seat belt buckle to the rails and then I'll actually bolt the seats in. I think that it might be awkward at first, but I'm sure that I'll find a way to get in and out quickly without squishing that hip bolster.

[immorality]

An update for you Adam. I managed to get some bolts to put the belt buckle on, so I was able to bolt the seats down and jump in. The seats are a little more awkward to get into with the big thigh bolster, but doable. I think that in time I will perfect the in/out procedure. From just trying it a couple of times, putting my left hand on the side sill makes it easier to get low and rotate my lower half into the seat. It also seems that it might be easier to tilt the wheel up when I get out. All that said, time will tell, ask me again in June.

[immorality]

I finally got the valve covers off. All I wanted to do was clean them up and change the gaskets, but god damn, they were a bitch to get off. There was one little bolt under the VVT oil control line on the rear head that I could barely reach with my ratcheting wrench, and then I could only move it one click at a time, so that took forever. Then, both of the VVT oil control bolts were tight as all hell. The rear one has reasonable access, but the front one is underneath the rear window and pointing straight backwards, so while I tried my best with a flare nut crows foot and extension I suppose it was almost inevitable that it would get rounded. Needless to say, many hours and much swearing later it was persuaded to leave the premises....

[adam]

An update for you Adam. I managed to get some bolts to put the belt buckle on, so I was able to bolt the seats down and jump in. The seats are a little more awkward to get into with the big thigh bolster, but doable. I think that in time I will perfect the in/out procedure. From just trying it a couple of times, putting my left hand on the side sill makes it easier to get low and rotate my lower half into the seat. It also seems that it might be easier to tilt the wheel up when I get out. All that said, time will tell, ask me again in June.

Nice. Are they the exact same shape as the confetti ones that came in the Japanese cars?

[adam]

I finally got the valve covers off. All I wanted to do was clean them up and change the gaskets, but god damn, they were a bitch to get off. There was one little bolt under the VVT oil control line on the rear head that I could barely reach with my ratcheting wrench, and then I could only move it one click at a time, so that took forever. Then, both of the VVT oil control bolts were tight as all hell. The rear one has reasonable access, but the front one is underneath the rear window and pointing straight backwards, so while I tried my best with a flare nut crows foot and extension I suppose it was almost inevitable that it would get rounded. Needless to say, many hours and much swearing later it was persuaded to leave the premises....

Powdercoat!!!!

[immorality]

Nice. Are they the exact same shape as the confetti ones that came in the Japanese cars?

I believe the factory Recaros are the SR3 model and these are the SRD model. The only difference that I can tell, from pictures (other than fabric), is that the harness openings in the SR3's are a little larger.

[immorality]

I was quite busy leading up to our trip to Toyotafest so I'll have to come back and update this thread, but while I was down there I met up with the great Matt Farah of The Smoking Tire for a "One Take" review: