The Rebirth

[Blane525]

AAAAUGH now the pressure don't you know ... i don't like to try it under powered i already know that it sucks having a 100hp P.O.J. this will be my promise the stout gets moved outside and i get the 3.4 done in the runner so that i have my 4x back. then an all out motor search will begin. signed BEVIN LANE. I promise :)

[BigMike]

Sorry for the lack of updates. It can only mean one thing: I've been having too much fun driving my MR2!!!!


June 7 Updates

Ok, today I had an appointment with the state referee @ 12:50pm. I left work and showed up about 15 mins early (on purpose). It turned out they were on lunch break so I had to wait for them to get back. They got back around 12:55 and didn't come out to start the paper work with me until it was already about 1:10pm.

1st pic: Me sitting in my car waiting for that roll up door to open

2nd pic: My car under inspection

[Sirdeuce]

So, 2010 tags?!

[BigMike]

So I waited across the parking lot for about 20 mins and then I heard my car start up and the reverse lights turned on. They backed the car up onto the smog dyno and I was thinking, "Great! They are gonna smog it now, boy I hope it passes!!".

But the car kept moving. They backed onto the smog dyno and then continued off of it and proceeded to reverse out of the garage and back into the parking stall.

I was thinking, "OHH NOES! It failed the visual inspection OH MAN! "

So they wave me to come over, and it turns out that they "ran out of time" because they couldn't find the computer!! I was like, ".... Ummmmm WHAT?"

Here was the dialog:

Smog ref Rick: "We looked all over the interior and couldn't find the ECU."
Me: "The computer is located in the trunk."
Rick: "Well the trunk doesn't open, so go fix that and then reschedule an appointment to come back"
Me: "Ohh, sorry, I forgot to mention that the trunk cable has frozen from sitting so long, so you have to use the key"
Smog assistant: "I used the key for the trunk and it didn't open"
Rick: "Ok, like I said, please fix the trunk and then come back"
Me: "It's not broken, here watch" and I proceeded to use the key to open the trunk, and then pulled back the carpet to expose the ECU.
Smog assistant: "See Rick! I told you the ECU was in the trunk!"
Rick: "Oh, well great, now we found it let me write down the ECU numbers. Is this the original ECU?"

So that was the story. He apologized for the fact that they only have a "40 min window" to inspect each car and that they ran out of time so I have to reschedule.

He also said, quote,

"It looks like you know what you are doing, and if everything else looks as good as what I've seen so far, I'll pass you in about 15 more mins"

I was very pleased to hear this, but too bad I had to reschedule... So I called the referee program and rescheduled for 3:40pm Wednesday (June 9th).

Here is the picture of the first smog inspection result:

[BigMike]

June 9th Update: Referee Visit #2

So I get off work around 3:20p and head back to the referee. When I got there everything was shut down and all the student workers had gone home (since this is at the City College Auto Mechanic campus).

They came out and Rick told me that he ran the numbers on the ECU and it matched the 1988 4A-GZE (I was thinking, "well no duh").

So they drove the car back into the shop and I proceeded to walk to the far side of the parking lot once again. It seemed to take forever (really only took about 15 or 20 mins) and they fired it up and backed it out and waved me over. While I was walking over, I was thinking..... Ok, 2 possibilities: Pass or no pass. I was really nervous, I almost didn't want to ask, and before I could inquire, he said, "Ok! Everything looks great! Thank you for giving us an easy job!"

SA-WEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!

He said that it was nice that I had every required sensor and component in exactly the location where they are supposed to be, and that everything looked great. We talked for a while and he told me that some people will show up with wires not even loomed with butt-connectors and bad grounds and that sometimes it can be a real rats nest of a mess. He was glad that I had done a complete job so that he just had to run down the check list to finish it.

Also, another thing is that they no longer smog the car. He said that on engine conversions, all they do is a comprehensive visual test and then the car is released to go to a normal smog shop for that. When they did my truck, they also smogged it, but not anymore.

Additionally, there is NO CHARGE. I was thinking this is strange. I guess it just comes out of our tax dollars. They should at least charge $5 or something? Anyway, I was really glad that was over.

1st pic: Passed the visual check.

2nd pic: $0.00 total charge.

3rd pic: The new state approved sticker! :)

[BigMike]

After that I headed straight to our friendly smog guy, Bee, who is also a long time customer of ours. He is an awesome guy and I HIGHLY recommend you taking your car to him to get it smogged. He is the coolest guy, and started his own smog garage and really needs the business. He is an honest, hard working Hmong guy with a family and a Land Cruiser and we take all of our trucks there for smog. You couldn't ask for a nicer guy. I can't say enough great things about him.

1st & 2nd pics: My baby on the smog dyno at Bee's

[BigMike]

When he first started, I showed him the Referee sticker and he said,

"Hey, this sticker doesn't show that the engine is Supercharged and I can't smog it"

I WAS LIKE, WHAT??!!?!?!? なに？なんでこれ！きみはほんとうじょうだんでしょ！！！！！おまえ！！！くそくそくそ！

So I told him that if you look at the "Comments" line it does indeed show "4A-GZE" and he said, "Oh really, hmmmmmm................" and he pulled out this H-U-G-E C.A.R.B. rule book and started looking all through it for a good 5 mins and then said, "Ok, as long as the sticker includes the engine identification it is okay".    WHEW.

So he proceeded with the smog test, and the first run it failed so bad the computer wouldn't accept the test. He asked me how old the cat was and I said I have now idea and I probably need to buy a new one. しまった！ He said, "Well, let's try it again" and he revved it at about 4,000 RPM for a good 3 mins and then restarted the test. This time the computer monitor responded really quick through each test and it PASSED!!

I know that the Cat has to warm up to work, but it was strange because the car was idling for at least 10 mins while he was checking the engine timing and testing the pressure of the fuel and EVAP system. So I figured it was good and warm, but I guess at an idle there isn't enough unburned fuel to warm the cat up. Man I am glad I didn't need to buy a new cat.

And get this, this is the CLEANEST car I have ever owned. Just look at the numbers:

[Sirdeuce]

 Nice to be LEGAL again! Time to mod it! Need to start thread on the smog program. Talk about our nightmares.

[BigMike]

Unfortunately at this time AAA had closed so I couldn't get it registered until the next day

June 10th

Went to the DMV (at AAA) after work to finish the job.

The lady said, "Okay, it will be $193"

(I had already checked a couple weeks ago if the car was on non-OP, which it was. To tell you the truth I do not remember non-OPing it. I had feared it would be like $600 had I not non-OPed it, so I was happy to pay $193. )

I asked, "does this includes the cost of the vanity plate?"
lady: "Yes"
me: "Okay, then I'd like to release interest in the custom plates and just assign whatever random plate" (obviously "20V PWR" no longer has any meaning to this car)

I was thinking that this would save me the $30 or $40 of the vanity charge. So I filled out a couple forms and surrendered my rear plate (I told her I lost the front plate during the 6 years of storage).

Then she says, "Ok, that will be $67 please"

WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!! So apparently they were charging me the $30 or $40 charge for all the back years I had the car on non-OP, so once I release the plates that charge disappeared. SA-WEET.

So there it is: My new plates with my nice new "2011" sticker :D :D

To tell you the truth, I think I will keep it this way. It goes very well with my sleeper look.

[BigMike]

Nice to be LEGAL again! Time to mod it! Need to start thread on the smog program. Talk about our nightmares.

hahaha I already did over on the Marlin forum. Clicky for a good time: How to Pass Smog


So that is it, the car is state approved, smogged, insured, and registered. :D What a relief.

[Sirdeuce]

Fantastic! Might bring back the HI PSI later?

[BigMike]

It is a possibility...

I was thinking about a "6SPD GZE" because one normally wouldn't find a close ratio gear box behind a wide torque banded supercharged engine, so this would point to the fact that I prefer windy roads instead of straight roads.

[Sirdeuce]

There is a reason for wide gears and wide powerbands, as is narrow gears and narrow powerbands.

[BryanH]

Nice. :)  That's quick progress to get the car back on the road and registered after it's been sitting for so long.

However, if you want to see a clean MR2, I have some numbers for you. :D



All the tree huggers love my MR2 Turbo.    Too bad they don't sell ULEV stickers.  I'd totally buy some and stick them on the windows. 

For reference, my 2004 Honda put out almost identical numbers on the smog dyno.

[BigMike]

That is super clean, those NOx are amazing. Looks like they made it more strict for the MK2 also.

blane525's 2003 2.7-liter Tacoma 4cyl in his 1984 Hilux truck smogged nearly that well. That's really great