[Pumps04]

Over the weekend I purchased my wife a Silver 2004 MR2 with SMT. It has 115K miles and is in quite good shape. It was a one owner car and that owner was literally a little old lady. All the maintenance was done like clockwork it appears.

She is already looking at making some upgrades to the car and is why I have come to this forum. I am an owner of a 2007 Mustang as well, that I have completely modded out. Most of the knowledge for modding that car came from a forum (S197Forum), so I am hoping the same will happen here.

First on her list are wheels, so we will be buying some 15x6 F 16x7 R that she likes.

Most likely we will add an muffler system and cold air intake.

I am looking for two things at this moment and hope you guys/gals can assist:

We want to replace the header because of the pre-cat situation, but which one to get? The CHE seems popular, but somewhat expensive. Should I stay away from the lower priced Amazon or Ebay ones???

The second question is about the car in general, what should I make sure is done? I am above average at mechanics and can do most of the bolt turning type stuff.

I am looking forward to hearing from the board!

 

[OldMan]

Post Deleted

 

[Ken Branch]

Welcome, the stock exhaust manifold can just be gutted, just remove drive a large screwdriver through the ceramic and pull out the pieces. The ceramic inserts are surrounded by a cloth like fabric making it easy to remove the last pieces. I pressure washed the inside of mine and painted the outside with high heat exhaust manifold paint.
http://www.midshiprunabout.org/mk3/the-only-good-precatis-a-dead-one/
A cold air intake won't do much on this type of car, the stock system is pretty good (other members may have a different take on this) I would look into a brest plate from corky, it's probably the best mod I have done improving handling and eliminating a lot of "cowl shake".
http://corkyandcompany.net/FMB.php
This forum is pretty good, just search and learn.

 

[Narcosis]

115k miles on a smt? Personally I would save for a trani swap.

 

[Uncle Mush]

:welcome:

 

[Im_In_San_Fran]

115k miles on a smt? Personally I would save for a trani swap.

I never heard of an issue with SMT and high miles. Is there one? I had to do a relearn when I bought it at 90k, but it still rocks at 153k. Wow, I did a lot of S.F. - S.B. - L.A. drives to get that many miles. Now I am city miles only.

I think there are a lot of high mile SMTs.

 

[cyclehead]

... about the car in general, what should I make sure is done? I am above average at mechanics and can do most of the bolt turning type stuff....

I recommend changing the SMT system fluid. Buy a $120 can from Toyota, or use DOT4 brake fluid (see the threads for discussion). Suck the reservoir empty and fill with fresh fluid. Cycle the system and repeat the drain/refill a few times. Reservoir is located beneath the air filter box.

 

[Narcosis]

I never heard of an issue with SMT and high miles. Is there one? I had to do a relearn when I bought it at 90k, but it still rocks at 153k. Wow, I did a lot of S.F. - S.B. - L.A. drives to get that many miles. Now I am city miles only.

I think there are a lot of high mile SMTs.

I agree, that's why I added the personally. I don't know when a SMT decides to develop mysterious problems, and as far as it seems its really just luck of the draw, but I know when they do it can be a costly unexpected expense. I kinda like the SMT but I plan to swap it for a manual down the line. Time and miles catch up to things, does it affect the smt? I honestly don't know, but again personally I wouldn't wait to find out. "If it aint broke don't fix it", but I would just be prepared just in case. I would rather have the money set aside and not need it then need it and not have it.

 

[Pumps04]

I appreciate all the responses!!!!

I think its a good idea to change the trans fluid and probably the gear fluid as well since I am not sure those were done.

Do you guys believe in Royal Purple and AMSoil like the Mustang crowd that I am used to is??

Consensus says no need on the CAI, so I wont waste my time there, perhaps thrown a drop in filter....

To me, it seems just as easy to buy the $100 header, then to gut the existing ones. I know its false economy, but just seems more logical to spend the money on a new part.

Any more ideas???

 

[OldMan]

Post Deleted

 

[Narcosis]

Royal Purple is not very popular around here.
Cheap "headers" often burn-through and/or crack, and must be replaced. That won't happen with a gutted stock manifold.

+1 on everything oldman said.

You can search the oil chats on the forums but this was one of the first that came to mind. There are plenty more to look through though.
http://spyderchat.com/forums/showthread.php?42453-Oil-Analysis&highlight=oil

Logic says takes oldmans advice. you won't regret gutting a stock manifold, but you could very easily regret a $100 ebay purchase.

 

[MCquik]

There has been no documented proof of precat failure in 2003 and newer vehicles...might not be a bad idea, but not as necessary as if you had a 2000 - 2002 model.

Regarding wheels - that should make finding tires much easier than with the stock set up. I'm a fan of RE11s - just get 4 matching.

Welcome.

 

[Pumps04]

I have been doing so much reading on this forum the past few days and has been so helpful in learning the ins and outs of the car.

Like I said before, I come from a Mustang community and the mods seem endless, but here it appears things are much more simple, which I really appreciate.

First we are going to go get a breastplate as that seems to be the most popular upgrade. One of these days I will pull out the header and gut it, but doesnt seem as important since its an 04.

The other item that has peaked my wifes interest is changing out the seats. Right now she has the cloth and they are somewhat worn. I will look into the options there and go with something economical and easy to swap.

I do have one question and cannot seem to find the answer......What is that thing that is on the dash to the right of the ignition and left of the climate controls???? Is it a change holder??

 

[Narcosis]

Is it a change holder??

yes. but i've also read somewhere on here its a rain catcher, if it gets full with water it means you need to put your top up or something lol.

 

[High_Colorado]

I do have one question and cannot seem to find the answer......What is that thing that is on the dash to the right of the ignition and left of the climate controls???? Is it a change holder??

It is a sony memorystick duo pro holder. DO NOT try putting an SD in there, it will jam.

 

[Pumps04]

yes. but i've also read somewhere on here its a rain catcher, if it gets full with water it means you need to put your top up or something lol.

To me it seems upside down to actually catch rain (if you were being serious) or put change in it as the curved part is on top, not the bottom like you would expect. Maybe at some point someone turned it upside down......

 

[cyclehead]

Plastic thing is correct. Your new car is upside down.

 

[Narcosis]

Plastic thing is correct. Your new car is upside down.

lol +1

 

[OldMan]

Post Deleted

 

[midlyph]

Hey neighbor!

You might want to add these to your "must have mod list".

Shameless plug link