The 1.5 - Back to the future.

[Paul Woods]

This is the swap that started the whole Mk1 engine conversion craze for us and also spawned the need for Nik to create TB to give us a place to discuss our unique cars. I thought it would be fitting all these years later to build myself another 1.5 to celebrate our club relaunch. I'm also keen to own all three marques in heavily modified form and as you know have been building a 2gr SC TRD widebody for some time, alongside that I also have a Mk3 with a 3s-gte hanging in its bay which will get its own build thread soon.

So, on with the show.... I had to trawl through some prehistoric folders on my PC to find this pic, as this car did not actually have a build thread, there was no forum to put it on! This is the car that started it all, the goal was to create a mini monster Ferrari themed Mr2, so all bodywork was handmade by me (tastes were somewhat different back then so please don't judge me too harshly, it looked awesome for its time).



So, the 2017 model won't look like that, more of a wide n low JDM theme, featuring my bolt on arches, deep dish Watanabe style wheels, Nurspec exhaust, lowered to within an inch of its life, and of course a rev3 turbo motor.

This is the donor, a Mk1a I picked up 6 months ago that had been left in a garage for ten years, pretty solid but a few cosmetics to deal with later, it came with a seized fuel pump and rotten brakes, all of which have since scored 2 points with a well aimed bin shot.



She's in timewarp condition inside, in fact the whole car is pretty unmolested..... so it's time to molest it.

My wheel weapon of choice..... they don't get much more JDM than that.

As you can see it is sitting too high, I have already fitted D2 coilovers to it with custom spring rates, but haven't adjusted them down yet, I am going so low that roll centre adjusters will be needed to keep the arm geometry right.



The plan is to keep the body simple, not even sideskirts or a front lip, all Mk1a just with my bolt on flares covering the wheels.

Inside the engine bay, this is the before shot, a perfectly good running 4a-ge, which is now out....



By the end of today the new mounts should be in, there is a lot of work to do, but should be pretty good.

I have seen an upturn in the number of 1.5s being built for customers, I think they are making a bit of a comeback!