I am very excited to see this one come together. It looks like this is going to be the year of the GRM passed around cars.
I am very excited to see this one come together. It looks like this is going to be the year of the GRM passed around cars.
In reply to nocones :
Welcome to the party!!
Since you’re here, I guess it’s time to reveal your part in this fiasco...
You're really giving me too much credit here. I have been enabled for years by the insanity all around us in this forum. I am merely a product of my environment 
So excited about the free GRM Europa! I had almost forgotten about it. We need to come up with some proper terminology for these hacked-up re-bodied semi-unibody car builds.
When I saw the design work Nocones was doing for his 360, I knew he had a special talent for design that I do not have.
So, behind the scenes I solicited him to help me with the designs for this car.
We are gonna push each other. Hopefully, it will lead to 2 different Nocones radical designs sitting side by side at the Challenge!
The holidays have slowed things down, but here is the initial reveal of Version 1 of Nocones’ design for this car:
The final version will be even more radical, but I’m really excited to have his help, and be off and running with this!
In reply to maschinenbau :
I’m gonna try to keep this one just this side of street legal, because I really want this car to have a viable after-Challenge life.
SVreX said:In reply to JThw8 :
Wait! You’re not in Jersey anymore??
Nope, I finally escaped this summer when an opportunity came up to transfer to our NC office around the same time my dad had a heart attack so it was all the motivation I needed to get closer to him. Im in Mount Olive NC now. Pickletown USA.
Well, this is just fantastic.
Don't forget, Lotus helped tune the chassis on the original MR2, so there's that, too. (I hope I'm remembering that correctly)
I've been noticing all the SVREX questions popping up everywhere. I'm still totally surprised. What else is there to say? 2020 is shaping up to be a heck of a year.
So, about that engine...
I spent a lot of time digging into MR2 swaps. Turns out the new hotness for MR2 swaps is the 2GR. It's found in the Avalon, the Rave, the Camry, and the Lexus ES350.
It hovers around 300 hp in it's OEM NA format. 
That's about 120 more ponies than can ever be expected from a 2ZZ. I'd take a weight penalty of about 164 lbs (with the trans), but its 300 hp!!
Several days after Matilda arrived, guess what came into my life?...
Its a 2016 rollover victim.
The smashed windshield was a match to Matilda, and the smell was just as horrible . A match made in heaven!
Maybe that’s what I’ll call it... “Victim”
OMG. 300 hp V6 Europa race car with box flares? This just keeps getting better.
Remind me to pay nocones to design some stuff for me someday. 
I put on gloves and a respirator, pried the door open, climbed into the glass and mold infested interior, ducked to clear the crushed roof, and tore down the street spinning the wheels the whole way. Great torque. Terrific kick in the rear. Ugly as hell. God awful stench.
I started imagining what it would feel like with a 50% weight reduction...
I drove it onto my trailer, and gave the man $600.
That rendering is just
I keep hitting refresh, come-on SVreX!
How does one roll a Toyota Avalon?
Honestly, I’m a little scared. There’s a lot happening in a modern car and it’s electronics. This may be biting off more than I can chew. But I do have the entire running car, so maybe I can piece it together.
I’ll be fitting the body to the chassis first so I have time. If a 2ZZ comes along I might reconsider... but right now, I’ve got 300 hp and gobs of torques!
I also have a preference for a manual, so I’m looking for an E-153, but auto will work if that’s all I’ve got.
Whew! I’m overwhelmed!!
Woody said:How does one roll a Toyota Avalon?
16 year old kid. SC drainage ditches...
Modern auto ----> manual for lots of things. Especially if you can keep it in 2 for autocross and you're going to be predictable for drags.
In reply to Patrick :
Yeah, it’s got a manual sport shift mode, so keeping it in gear should be easy.
This is gonna be good!
Oh! I forgot something important!
The 2GR-FE I've got... Guess what else it comes in??
Drumroll please...
...the LOTUS Evora and the Exige!
I'm so happy!! 
Anyone doing the math?
Budget:
Europa body $0
MR2 chassis $100
Drivetrain donor "Victim" $600
Total spent $700
Recoup potential ($700) easily
So far, it's a free car. $0. That leaves $2000 plus $300 in recoup to make it special. 
3.5L aluminum 60deg V6, DOHC, 260-300 hp, put in darn near everything in the 2000's...what a minute, this is just Toyota's VQ35!
...does it sound just a bad straight-piped? 
In reply to maschinenbau :
Yes, you're right.
Trust me. I've been re-reading your build thread carefully! VERY carefully!
"Disclaimer: Though some people think I am pretty talented at this stuff, the truth is I don't know E36 M3. I can't weld, I don't have a good shop, I can't do the math for decent suspension geometry, and I've never built an engine. I am just a carpenter. Nothing more. There is no reason I should be able to do any kind of automotive build. OK, I've had a few good $20XX Challenge cars, including a podium overall finish, and several top autocross efforts. But those cars were at least partly built by someone else. I've never built a significant build from beginning to end. So yeah... this will be as grassroots as it gets. "
After saying this you tell us your going to take a body off one car, the chassis off another and the engine out or a third, then add some fantastic body modifications. Sounds like the perfect project, I am looking forward to seeing this progress.
I think we need to have a challenge of the recycled GRM cars for 2020, since we are going to be redoing Stampie's old Q45. Your motivating me to get the team to think further outside the box, not sure we can compete with this but it would be fun to try.
As much as we still plan on beating this glorious project, anything we can do to help, we will be happy to help.
In reply to Fladiver64 :
Who says I’m gonna finish?? Anybody can cut up a car!! 
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