LED Dome Lights
New BA9 LED bulbs to update the cabin lighting. Purchased LUYED BA9S 30-EX Chipsets 3014SMD from Amazon. 530 Lumens/bulb. Brighter & whiter light. Non-polarity bulbs made it easy plug & play!
The dome light cover was challenging to pull off. The drivers side clip retainer got cracked, although I’m not sure that happened during this removal. Note to self, use pry tool at each front corner next time.
Driver Side Intake
I opened up the driver’s side engine intake cover to remove a plastic screen that was blocking half the intake. Why did Toyota add this screen on the intake that feeds the engine air filter? I used the BGB and checked some YouTube video’s to confirm it’s removal.
The blocking screen was simply held by two plastic push pins. Easy mod. Taking the panel out was where all the work was. I had to jack the right rear wheel to get space to remove a couple nuts in the wheel well. I also unbolted the drivers seat belt to get access to remove another nut in the body. Easy, just took a bit of time. I cleaned everything after I opened it all up.
August 5, 2019
Fire Extinguisher Mount
117,128 km
I picked up the MR2Heaven Passenger Seat Fire Extinguisher Mount. It’s a 5mm aluminum bracket anodized black. My 5lb. fire extinguisher was wedged behind the drivers seat and I thought it really should have a more accessible & secure mount. it’s pretty cool that its visible & easily accessible in front of the passenger seat.
I purchased it with mounting hardware but found I needed another washer under the spacer to get just a bit more clearance. The anodizing appears to have been done before the bracket was bent to shape.
9" Intercooler Fan Upgrade
117,067 km
I swapped out my 7” intercooler fan & fan shroud with a 9” unit I purchased from mr2heaven.com They had the best price at $62. USD. The 7” fan shroud blocks or misses some cooling fins on the intercooler. The 9” shroud utilizes all the fins of the intercooler! And the fan simply covers more area and moves more air. The 9” fan & shroud should be standard on this intercooler. Period.
The 7” fan & shroud. You can see how the shroud doesn’t utilize all the fins.
The 9” shroud fits perfectly and utilizes the entire intercooler.
Installation was theoretically simple. But the top front bolt was a huge pain to get access to and thread the bolt. It took forever due to the shroud partially blocking the bolt, the position of the intercooler in the bay and working on a mid engine bay is just harder.
Since the new 9” fan had bullet connectors, I soldered matching bullet connectors on the harness side of the wiring.
Advan Center Caps
116,9xx km ?
I pulled the trigger on Advan Racing Flat Center Caps from Nengun (Japan). They were costly at $46. CDN each. Yes they’re high quality aluminum caps.. but still pricey.
I chose Flat in Silver Alumite, but also considered Black, Hyper Black and Bronze. Bronze was the suggested match for my Racing Gold Metallic RGIII’s but it was still Bronze and not Gold. Flat has 2mm clearance under the cap. My rear hubs needed this clearance. Full Flat would be nice but they are -3mm under the cap.
Yokohama Advan!
116,346 km
New Yokohama Wheels AND New Yokohama Tires. Advan’s all around!
Advan RGIII wheels 17x8 +38, 17x9 +45 (+40 w/ spacer), shod with:
Advan Fleva V701 in 215/40R17, 245/40R17.
Total weight mounted & balanced? 37.6 lb front, 42.8 lb. rear.
For reference:
- 16x7 with 205/45R16 weighed in at 37.0 lb. Current Dunlop tire in this size is 20 lb.
- 16x8 with 225/45R16 weighed in at 40.8 lb. Current Dunlop tire in this size is 23 lb.
- Rota Grid Racing Front rim/tire combo was 41.8 lb.
- Rota Grid Racing Rear rim/tire combo was 43.4 lb.
Picked up my hubcentric wheel spacers. 5mm 60.1 to 70.3. Ordered from eBay.
Went for a nice drive to Point Roberts to pick them up from TSB Shipping.
Also picked up Muteki SR48 lock nuts. Black. 12x1.5
$39. from GarageFive.
215/40R17 S.drive on the left compared to Advan Fleva
Advan Fleva V701
Yokohama Advan Fleva V701 for the new Advan Racing Wheels! I initially went to source the Yokohama S.drive but was told by KalTire that they are discontinued and replaced by the Advan Fleva V701.
- 215/40R17 front
- 245/40R17 rear
I’ve upgraded from 235 to 245 for the rear. Comparison:
235/40R17 S.drive
weight: 24 lb. section width: 9.6” tread width: 8.4”, diameter: 24.3”
245/40R17 Advan Fleva
weight: 24.5 lb. section width: 9.7” tread width: 8.3”, diameter: 24.6”
*Yokohama web specifications
Yokohama Wheels
Going back to Japanese Wheels… in a serious way. It’s only been three years since I got the Rota Grid Racing.
Advan Racing RGIII in Racing Gold Metallic
- 17x8 +38 (17 lb.)
- 17x9 +45 (17.8 lb.)
Sourced from Garage Five.
New tires are coming too… more Yokohama.
Interior Update
Back in August 2017, I ordered GARNISH, FR DOOR LWR... commonly referred to 93+ Tweeter Covers.
- 67492-17041 (Left)
- 67491-17041 (Right)
Ordered from parts.mcgeorgetoyota.com for $16.91 USD each.
I don’t remember when I actually installed these.. August 12 is simply the date I have photographic proof they’re in the car.
Sound Update
When I removed my alarm siren last year in prep for my engine swap, i opened up the rear interior panel to access the wiring. I left it open even after reinstalling the siren as I decided to replace the stock speaker.
I found 4” Infinity Reference speakers from Crutchfield.com for $79.99 USD to match my 6.5” Infinity’s in the door. At crutchfield.ca they were C$149.99. With exchange, I easily saved $40.
I used the existing speaker wiring, de-soldering the wire plug from the original speakers and soldering it to the new speakers. Plug & play!