The SW20 "How To" Thread - Step By Step Guides

[hamgatan]

Thought it would be a good idea to have a dedicated thread for SW20 Modifications.

Post your Step By Step Guides and How To's as you do them so other SW20 Owners can have a knowledge bank to feed from!

[hamgatan]

Hi,

I decided to photoblog the work i did yesterday on the removal of the factory airbag system from my SW20 and replacing it with a Momo Champion steering wheel. I wasn't quite sure how this was going to turn out so i was being as careful as a bomb disposal or hazmat team as the last thing i wanted was a rogue airbag in the face.

Its also very important that you check with your Insurance Company prior to changing and removing your factory airbag steering wheel as well. Most Insurance companies will not allow you to do this. Mine however did and were more than fine with it and I've got it in writing. Make sure you get yours in writing in advance!

After asking a number of Toymodders, i found that generally there was a vague idea of how to do it correctly. Problem is i needed to know as i was hearing mixed reports and as mentioned above, the last thing i need on my christmas break was a broken nose from Airbag impact.. So here goes.

First of all, Prepare your tools. You're going to need -

- Flathead and Phillips head screwdriver
- Socket Set. I Actually didnt Use mine as i found my Wheel Brace worked the treat.
- 1/4" Torx Bit
- 10mm Spanner
- Soldering Iron + Wiring + Solder
- Wire Stripper
- Replacement Steering Wheel and Bosskit (Duh)



Okay first things first, Open the bonnet, take out the Spare Tyre and use the 10mm Spanner to disconnect the big fella first..



I should mention right about here if you have one of these little wankers..



Shut it off before you disconnect the battery. That is, provided you have the keys of course. To cut a long story short, The dealer never gave me a set of alarm shutoff keys with the car, and the previous owner didnt have one either.. Thus when i disconnected the battery, the alarm would kick in and not turn off even with the remote. So i had to go out and have the Siren unit rebored and a new key shutoff mechanism installed. Cost $55 from Ashley Electrical in Malaga. Kudos to them for doing this. Wasnt much dollarwise in the end, took all of 20 minutes.. but it was neccessary to do before i could proceed any further.

Now is the point where you wait. Step on the brake pedal, turn the lights on, turn on the radio. Do whatever you can to discharge any excess power from the system. However whatever you do. Wait for AT LEAST 90 Seconds prior to commencing work. Id heard mixed reports of how long you actually needed to wait, so i went and physically asked the mechanics at Scarborogh Toyota myself, and they confirmed that its 90 seconds.

Once the wait is over, Go inside and you will notice either side of the steering wheel there are two panels. Pop both open with the flathead screwdriver.





On the left of the steering wheel you will notice a bracket held on by a single phillips screw. Remove this. About now you will notice the funny looking screw underneath it. Same screw on the opposite side..



Here is where i stop for a second and mention in my ill-found wisdom what the hell this is. Up until this point id never seen a Torx Bit. I had no idea what one was. All i saw was this funny 6 pointed star centred screw and the thought racing through my mind "oh fuck, don't tell me i need a SST for this? Surely theres a WST for it or something". After going to two Toyota Dealerships i finally was told what the hell it was, so don't panic! If you dont have one just head up to your local Repco and get one for about $7. This will save you a genuine hour and a half of fucking about if you dont know what it is as well and you're in the same boat as me.



After you have your Torx bit ready, unscrew the torx screws on both sides of the wheel. Do it from outside the car on the drivers side and in the passengers seat on the left side just in case BOOM! Once both screws are out, then gently pop the Airbag module out of its place and remove from the vehicle.



Next unclip all the horn wiring. This is the blue wiring obviously running to both horn buttoms and back into the base of the wheel (duh)



Now use your socket, Or in my case the wheel Brace which worked far better than the sockets IMHO to loosen and remove the centre nut that locks the steering wheel in place.



Continued Next Post..

[hamgatan]

Give the Factory Steering Wheel a good Tug and rock it from side to side a little if you have to. Its in there blimmin tightly! That doesn't mean theres something still holding it there.. Just keep tugging and it will come free but dont do it violently as you may wear off the teeth on it if youre not careful.

Next thing we need to hook up the wiring for the Horn as this is obviously the most important part of the job. Go underneath the steering column and remove the 5 screws holding the housing in place and remove both the top and bottom shroudings..



Next there are four screws holding the next bracket in place, remove all four screws and unclip the loom for the wiring on the bottom side of this bracket.



Fire your soldering iron up. You now need to run wiring from the wire circled below out to the steering wheel. You will notice this wire is already soldered onto a brass spring loaded pin that sticks out the other side of the bracket. To do a clean job its probably best that you solder onto the existing wire rather than onto the spring on the facing side of the bracket. Just in case you ever want to put the factory steering wheel back on its best to just run the wiring through. I bought additional wiring for this as it dawned on me that pulling the steering wheel on full lock was going to pull on the wiring. Thus more length should solve any tension problems on the wire. Solder and electrical tape up the Wire and put the bracket back into place, screwing it firmly down. Put the outside housing all back together and screw back together with the 5 screws you removed earlier.



Next place the bosskit onto the steering column without the rubber housing around it, aligning it so that there is a screw hole dead at the top. Obviously you would make sure your wheels were straight before doing this. Feed the wiring through the bosskit and then Screw the centre nut down tight with the Socket/Wheel Brace. At this point you may want to test screw your steering wheel onto the bosskit just to align it properly before you tighten the centre nut all the way. Pop the rubber shrouding in place over ths once youre done.



Now on the centre button cap you need to insert the metal conductor ring around the inside rim of the steering wheel, and then push the button into place. Taking the soldering iron once again, Loop some wire around the points as shown below and solder into place. You may or may not need some flux for this as it doesnt adhere too well to the metal conductor ring. Depends on your soldering skills/materials. Tape this all up and then put the button into place.



Then once that is all done, put the steering wheel into place and tighten it all up. Give the wheel a spin on hard lock in both directions just to test the horn wiring underneath and that its not going to snap or become tangled in anything.



And Hey Presto, Finshed Job.



Well that should do it. Pretty Easy actually. Hope this guide will save someone else time where i spent it unwittingly.

Now go upstairs and apologise to the missus that youve been ignoring her for the past three hours and give her some of her much needed Quality Time!

WARNING - Do not be silly enough as I was to do this in the midday sun with no sunscreen and wearing a blimmin singlet..

Cheers!

Chris

[sw20r]

The adventures of installing Apex-i AVCR

Finally finished Installing my Fuel controller unit as the wiring for an mr2 has to be extended to fit the rear mounted ecu. The entire job isn't hard at all - just takes time fiddling around.

So here's the write up for those interested.

These units usually retail from $450-$650 and suite most JDM cars (thought honda/mitsubishi drivers might like to try the v-afc variant) and can also be had second hand from $250-400.

Tools required - Vice grip, Scissors/Sharp blade, Soldering gun or Electrical tape.

Install -

Make sure study the wiring diagram first. Best to match the ecu pin out with the hardcopy this will give you an idea where to splice/cut/tap.

When wiring the power and especially the ground (2 wires) make sure they are securely insulated and mounted as directed by the book. atleast 1cm apart. This could cause an unstable voltage issue and worse fire.


Once installed and everything is double checked your ready to start the car and set up the functions!

tuning


If purchased second hand. It's best to Initialise the settings first.

Move into the "Etc". Menu and select the appropriate values for your vehicle. 4/6/8cly. sensor types etc (specific vehicle settings and menu described in the manual)


Once set
Go into "Monitor" mode display the basic functions such as battery, rpm, pressure/afm and knock. Make sure they all display otherwise you've wired something wrong.

Now you can take it down to your favourite garage/tuner or if you're going to attempt doing the tune yourself make sure you have access to an airfuel ratio meter (w/ wideband o2).


Based on your modifications - eg. boost/larger turbo, upgraded injectors, camshafts. It's good to have an idea of its characteristics before you try to tune the unit yourself so you determine where adjustments will be needed.

The SAFC-II unit has a built in knock sensor unit which does the job for home tuners simply adjusting the fuel -/+ 10. But if you don't have mechanical knowledge on what Knock, Detonation is please take it to a professional. Anything more then 20-25% on most standard JDM vehicles usually causes a ecu code error.

the finished product


Job rating - 7/10 (not too hard just make sure to follow the instructions and be prepared to spend 3-5 hours)

Hope you guys enjoy this little write up! If anybody would like some light advice or help on installation feel free to drop a line(but please don't take this all in as gospel). I'm writing this as a basic guideline do DIY. plenty more to come as the mods start rolling in.

follow up

Ok after been fiddling around and tuning the unit comes a sad conclusion for Toyota users.

It's a fact that if you do any negative -% fuel adjustments the timing will advance!

So if you were to lean out the top end becuase of a rich mixture.. your actually making it worse by adding more ignition which is very bad.

Though there is a positive cure - Adjustable FPR.

Eg. 3SGTE 2.0L w/ 440cc injectors runs at 35psi.
Detune the pressure to 30. Then tune with a postive fuel correction +% thus eliminating the risk of timing advance and easier tuning environment variables.

The next step is to either tune on a dyno or with a wideband 02 sensor if doign on the street. You want the idle fuel mixture about the 11-13 range for FI, and 13-15 for a stoich N/A. this is how I would tune the vehicle.

Keep in mind this is only a fuel computer and a piggy back at that. So you will need more then just this unit to get potential.

You can also mod the unit to adjust by boost instead of having a static map. Which is abit more complex but will be better as you wont chug up hills when you have a richer mixture down low.

None the less this product is very good and is worth the money once setup correctly. For those who can't afford full ecu's or dont find it feesable to purchase one with only bolt on mods (exhaust filter headers injectors cams).

Then the Apexi SAFC + Adj. Fuel pressure regulator. is for you :d

[sw20r]

The adventures of fabricating an MY03 WRX intake kit.. For SW20R MR2


Open up the BIG ARSE BOXES from Japan.


Filter core heaps tiny.. about 1/3rd of my Blitz SUS powercore



Fit gasket, Adapt Apexi Intake/Afm Adaptor, Block AFM sensor hole. Connect to original AFM housing with 3" intercooler hose.



Ghetto Wrap it with the Targa Glass Covers.. LOL




Assembled Wrx cold air kit will slot in.. just need to remove strutbar.




Final product!


Now cry about what a waste of money that was.. But how much better the car is willing to rev. It sounds better then the BLITZ SUS as it doesn't have the whistle airplane vaccuum noise. Performance wise.. It does work better due to being right at the intake vents for near perfect CAI.

rating.. 8.5/10

[sw20r]

El ghetto mod what todo with your old Intercooler fan?

his is what you get when you have a screw driver, zip ties and a spare fan

MR2 engine heat extraction!

First remove stock engine sheild for heat and weight reduction, then install fan, wire it up and walla! should help reduce ping

will post a video later. its not too loud! well with 2 extra fans im used to it. going to install 2 more later i have some spare radiator fans. hmm ill need a bigger battery! hahaha

Still gotta find out which way it works.. I got bored waiting for my friend so i did this in 15 minutes

[sw20r]

man i would never be game to removed the airbags! that just kills insurance worse then lowered springs!

[45aken]

i swear gettin rid of air bags if your car came out with then is one of the most illegal things you can do!
if someone die's in your car cuz the airbag wasn't fitted then ur GONE.

same as sw20r said, no matter how ghey the wheels looks i wouldn't be game to do that....

"i like u man, but ur crazy"! haha old skool

[sw20r]

i never said the wheel looks ghey! its nice but thats playing with fire at a petrol station

[hamgatan]

The Bathursts made in 1996 even though i think its documented somewhere that they all had Airbags as standard.. this is in fact crap, because i know of at least half a dozen that came without an Airbag as standard. Levos1 for example is one Bathurst that didnt have one..

I also verified this well in advance with my insurance company and they have said they i am covered, and i have it in writing. So yes, ive done my homework here fellas..

btw nice writeups above! keep them coming!

[Sparky]

Well since I dont have a digi cam and Hamgatan has taken a pretty good shot of it anyway I'll referance his (im guessing) photo of the battery. This is a very simple modification.

On the bracket that goes over the top of the battery you will notice a small piece of angle steel that catches the front corner of the battery. By drilling through the weld mark right in the centre of the intersection and using a hammer to gently 'persuade' the L bracket off you can now fit a larger battery to your car.

When I get my car back Ill tell you what size it is. 43 is a number I vaguly remember.

Dont forget to respray the bracket otherwise it might rust. I'm pretty sure it is steel as it felt much to heavy to be Aluminium.

A quick touch of Wet and Dry some primer and a top coat. Possibly top coat in your cars body colour.

You may need to grab a small piece of rubber to go between to battery and the bracket to take up some slack.

Side effects of this modification, The engine in my car starts much more easily now. But when I bought the car it did have the smallest car battery I have ever seen in it. (A little bigger than two Dolphin batteries lying on their side.) There is little movement of the battery with a decent amount of force. Adding the 6mm thick rubber (I got mine from clark rubber) has completly eliminated all movment anf made me feal much more at ease with the amount of pressure you will have on the battery to lock it in place.

A very simple modification that wont take much longer than 30mins to an hour to acheive. Depending on how perfect you wont to be with the paint job.

It took me an hour, and I'm an idiot.

[hamgatan]

actually its funny you mention that because i pissed that weak arse little 360cca battery off a couple of weeks ago and had to do pretty much the same thing. i replaced it with a big arse tuff as balls 600cca job and it fit snugly into the recess... but i needed to make a spacer to sit in between the L plate and the battery.

[Sparky]

It looks like you got what the guy in the shop told me was the new standard battery. They are about 2cm shorter than the older standard. I have no idea what the standards are called but anyone looking for a new battery is looking for the older slighly taller battery which fits under the clamp perfectly.

The battery that was in my car was smaller than what you had, Hamgatan.

[Lonewolf]

actually its funny you mention that because i pissed that weak arse little 360cca battery off a couple of weeks ago and had to do pretty much the same thing. i replaced it with a big arse tuff as balls 600cca job and it fit snugly into the recess... but i needed to make a spacer to sit in between the L plate and the battery.

You wouldn't know what the minimum CCA needed to start the 3sge is? I was going to put in a 240CCA drycell (car doesnt and wont have a sound sys) but got told it was too small, but the next size up is 400CCA(which i got). Battery weighs about the same but is WAY smaller (same length, half the height, 2 inches narrower) gotta fab up a bracket now to hold it in lol. To those with 3sge's with Map sensors, i'm making a custom intake up tomorrow when i go get my filter.

[3sgte]

Wow, that is interesting!

All of the Toyotas I worked on (in Canada) had electrically operated airbags.
I know that I am a bit late to this party, and please correct me if I am wrong, but are there no wires to that airbag?

If not, then be very careful not to jar the airbag either during or after removal. Do not use an impact gun/driver to remove those Torx bolts. A coworker of mine dropped a mechanically operated seatbelt pretensioner, that set it off (no-one was injured).

If anyone has the RM for this model, this is something I would be very curious to read a bit more on!