View Full Version : Yay! *bounces*
Tonight I have mainly been driving back from Scotland with a shiny MR2 in tow!
Pics to follow when I don't have to be up for work in 4 hours and light is falling from the sky!
Ooooh what type of MR2?! Cool choice - jap cars rock! :D I'm not going to bore you with rear wheel drive/powerful car stuff because I know you know all that stuff. All I want to say is, HAVE LOTS OF FUN! :D:D:D
Justsomebloke
26-08-2007, 08:40
:( Always the same you find out after the poxy event.
My mate has a Classic MR2 for sale cheap. An Original UK specced Mk2 in White, a proper future classic as the early UK specced ones are pretty rare in original condition. This is that uber early one that doesn't even have the spoiler.
Enjoy yours anyway I love the look of the Mk2's they have always reminded me of the little Ferrari Dinos' :cool:
Its a very, very late Mk1, bought 2 months before the Mk2 came out. Its on a G plate with 120ish thousand miles.
I have a box (!) full of paperwork for it, going back a very long way so I am going to have a read through that later on, but it looks very much like the car has by and large wanted for nothing over the years.
Yeah its mid engined and rear wheel drive but its hardly a powerhouse so although wary, I'm not expecting too much drama!
http://www.statichiss.co.uk/DSCF1027.JPG Clicky for a photo the previous owner sent me :)
Anyone want an immaculate Mk1 Mondeo? One careful owner, never thrashed? ;) :p
I love the MK1 MR2's, they look like they're built out of Lego :cool:
Congrats on your new purchase and welcome to the RWD club :D
Flibster
26-08-2007, 10:53
Mmmm.... Pink. ;)
Love the Mk1's
Simon/~Flibster
I like that, it's how an MR2 should look.
Yes! Congrats :D Lovely very cool car.
Justsomebloke
26-08-2007, 11:31
Run the mop over that with some T cut/colour restore & that'll look sound :cool:
Toyota paintwork comes back Good ;)
Fantastic condition considering the age!! They are great fun round roundabouts - a friend had one, love them!
Run the mop over that with some T cut/colour restore & that'll look sound :cool:
Toyota paintwork comes back Good ;)
That's what I was thinking - Get it like this.. (Fire Engine Red is my favourite car colour)
http://www.ukrm.org/feek/mr2.jpg
Blackstar
26-08-2007, 12:18
*cough* Barbie car *cough* ;)
Blackstar
27-08-2007, 11:14
It's called Barbie, i've named it.
Nice one DRZ :D
I'm slowly converting everyone :p
It's called Barbie, i've named it.
Making DRZ Ken? :D
You won't convert me! Hell no I won't go... :p
I do really likes them though :cool:
LOL @ Ken! :D
Blackstar
27-08-2007, 11:41
You won't convert me! Hell no I won't go... :p
I do really likes them though :cool:
LOL @ Ken! :D
My dad says i should get an MX5 as my next car because they are better :p , looked into insuring them and at the moment i can do it for around £800. Think i'll keep the Vectra for another year, i like having the massive boot too much.
I don't think Martin makes a very good Ken, it's called Barbie because it's pink and really small. Reminds me of a barbie car i had when i was small.:D
He wanted to call it the MR2 of win.
nice one DRZ - glad Sakura convinced you :) I personally prefer the early ones to the late ones but tbh if it has been well looked after and has no bodywork issues then who cares about the minor details.
Ypu're gonna have so much fun with that bonnet - I could never get Phils red ones bonnet to stay red :/ Want to borrow our Porter Cable? :D
You're gonna have so much fun!!!
Might I recommend the MR2 Mk1 Club as a very good source of information? £21 per year for membership. :D And if you need any spares.... you know where to come.
Do you have some spare front calipers? If you do, how much would you part with them for?
Weighing up the cost of these vs just getting a rebuild kit.
Unfortunately the car which is our main source of spares is an early one. The later cars had thicker discs so the early calipers don't open wide enough to fit them :/
If you want, you can put early discs on too, but its probably easier to just get a set of late calipers from somewhere. Stick a wanted thread on IMOC as there are loads of people that have even more cars and spares than we do, so someone is bound to have some!!!
First up is/was getting it through an MOT. It had failed on rear ARB droplinks, inefficient rear handbrake, front brake imbalance (37%), headlight aim too high, nearside repeater not functioning and was advised that the brake pipes were inadequately clipped.
Thankfully, the previous owner had bought the droplinks (I wouldnt have bought the car if these werent sorted) because as the mk1 ran out for the start of the mk2 production run, they had started to fit rear ARBs (something that was dropped after 1986 at the end of the mk1a). This means that a handful of very late mk1bs have ARBs (mine is one of those) but they are completely undocumented and in any case, only Toyota stock the parts and they aren't cheap!
So with that out of the way, my attention turned to the brakes. No pictures of this but basically the rear caliper is a bastard to sort. The self-adjusting mechanism is built into the piston, meaning that its difficult to reset and get just right. Thankfully, the guy that last changed the pads probably went through this and merely forgot to tighten up the adjustor under the middle of the car. 5 minutes later and I once again had a handbrake (within MOT spec at least) - sorted.
Front brakes were shagged. The calipers need looking after on these cars and these ones had seen better days. Refurb calipers are £70+vat per side but you can get rebuild kits yourself for £20ish per side - this is what I chose to do.
As you can see here, the problems were down to the rubber boots perishing and allowing dust into the sliders. I had to put the calipers into a vice and hit them with a hammer to get them to come out...
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00012.JPG
Once this was done I put it all back together and waited to get the pads in. The old pads here vs the new ones:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00010.JPG
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00011.JPG
Once we'd got the brakes back together and verified all was well it was time to move onto the lights. The repeater was a simple fix - the contacts were corroded! I cleaned them up and straight away there was light. Good start!
The headlight bulbs were dim to start with and could have been contributing to the beam pattern issue so I took the opportunity to change the bulbs. As I was working to a time budget I headed down to the local Halfords and bought some Super Brilliance bulbs. Not as bright as possible (I really want brighter) but I am scared of melting the reflectors, so for now these will have to do.
Getting them in is done in one of two ways - removing the black plastic surround and then removing the lid or removing the chrome trim and then removing the whole headlight. I went for the former option because that way, I wouldn't have to tackle so many rusty screws! The offside went fine and I got that done in about 15 minutes but the other side proved to be more tricky.
This was the last, most stubborn bolt:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00004.JPG
It was too rusted for a screwdriver and too rounded by the rust for a socket to do the job. First up, mole grips:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00003.JPG
No dice.
Right, out with the only tool known to work on every job, no matter how small - the angle grinder!
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00007.JPG
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00008.JPG
Ground off the head and drilled out the rest. Sorted!
Tomorrow morning she goes back for a (free) retest. Hopefully she will pass :)
Blackstar
31-08-2007, 00:04
First pictures of work i've seen. Hopefully she will pass this time :)
as the mk1 ran out for the start of the mk2 production run, they had started to fit rear ARBs (something that was dropped after 1986 at the end of the mk1a). This means that a handful of very late mk1bs have ARBs (mine is one of those) but they are completely undocumented and in any case, only Toyota stock the parts and they aren't cheap!
Not sure where you got that from, could have been a US site as not many cars out there have ARBs. Most UK mk1s have an ARB of some kind at the back although there are about 2 or 3 different thicknesses. Getting droplinks isn't as bad as it used to be either as there are a few people who do aftermarket ones (I used to dabble in this myself actually).
The headlight bulbs were dim to start with and could have been contributing to the beam pattern issue so I took the opportunity to change the bulbs. As I was working to a time budget I headed down to the local Halfords and bought some Super Brilliance bulbs. Not as bright as possible (I really want brighter) but I am scared of melting the reflectors, so for now these will have to do.
Standard headlights are crap. What you need are some of these:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/lights.jpg
http://www.tcbparts.co.uk/lights.htm
This was the last, most stubborn bolt:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/DSC00004.JPG
That's properly knackered, they're really not meant to look anything like that.
Pretty sure I read that on the owners club somewhere, but I have been doing loads of reading so it could have been from anywhere. Thanks for clearing it up anyway :)
There are several bolts on this car that are not meant to look like they do. I think the previous owner has tried to do a few bits and bobs for himself and obviously has never heard of penetrating lubricant. Thankfully, so far, its only been minor stuff like that - the brake bolts etc are fine...
MOT PASSED! :D:D
It was raining on the way home, so I decided not to go home and go for a hoon instead :D
Today was brought to you by the chemical symbol H2O and the word "sideways" :D
Sideways is fun innit? ;) :D
They look a bit of an odd car! But w00t for you! :D
I don't think I'm massively big on speedy looking cars (though jag coupes are another thing altogether - and yus Will, your ride was uber funnage!) I think I'm a bit of a plain Jane with cars... (hence the toyota thread!)
Picky wants a ford fiesta ST and a ford capri to play with. I've promised him the ST when I'm uber rich.... (not said nowt about the capri though ;) )
Alrighty!!
Today I save spent pretty much the whole day outside working on the paintwork. Really, really backbreaking work to get it looking as good as I wanted it to but on the panels that haven't been sprayed by a f**ktard with a spraycan, its looking good. There is hope for some of the rest but in other places, a respray is going to be the only option.
I didn't take a before pic because I am a fool but here it is looking shinier:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00005.JPG
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00006.JPG
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00007.JPG
Its not pink any more \o/
I also did the boot lid and spoiler:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00008.JPG
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00009.JPG
And the doors arent looking too shabby either:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00010.JPG
So, I just have the stonechips to sort out:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00011.JPG
and also where the weld on the arch is starting to come through rusty again:
www.statichiss.co.uk/MR2/polished/DSC00012.JPG
That last one and the other little bits of rust are going to be taken back to bare metal, rust sorting out and then smoothed, primed and painted properly.
In the flesh, it looks so much better for this and with the few little bits sorted out around the body its really going to look stunning!
Looking good :) Sounds like hard work but it also sounds like you are enjoying it which is the main thing.
You really need some Raybrig headlamps like the ones in Phils post - they make the world of difference.
I'd also recommend a Jimi bracket, which replaces the big spidery thing on the engine!! (Throttle bracket) It takes a lot of the play out of the throttle cable, and looks better too! Its the bit that says MR2 in it in this pic:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/engine1sml.jpg
Another thing I would recommend is an air filter - purely cos it makes the car sound nicer :p
Spent enough money for you yet?
Wouldn't be an MR2 thread without some rust. Took my carpets out yesterday ready for when Mister Two goes away for his bodywork and respray.
Kind of makes it obvious why I need this work doing...
Drivers Side Sill:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/DriversSill.jpg
Drivers Side Footwell:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/DriversFootwell.jpg
Passengers Side Footwell:
http://www.kaiowas.co.uk/images/mr2/PassengerFootwell.jpg
Scared Yet DRZ? :p
Blackstar
01-09-2007, 17:50
Scared Yet DRZ? :p
I doubt it, I am though. The last thing we need is a money pit.
It does look nice polished up though.
I hope the paintwork keeps its look - My old Cavalier had the faded pink look, I had it mopped and a load of work done on it and it shone like new.
For about two weeks.
Then it just faded back to how it was :(
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.