Anshuman's AW11

[lazy]

Exactly two years and 81 days from today, on the 24 July 2013, I drove home my project 1986 MR2 Supercharger.

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I didn't have much history with cars prior to that. I learnt to drive in a 1996 AE110 automatic Corolla. In 2009, I finally purchased my first car: a 1996 EL53 Corolla II in 5-speed MT that is still in the family today. Still uninitiated to automobiles, I upgraded to my current 2000 NZ New ZZT231 Celica in 6-speed MT. This move sparked an interest and curiosity into the inner workings of the four-wheeled machine that I was perusing on a daily basis.

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By this time, I had just a couple of years of maintenance experience including a few engine oil changes, a gearbox oil change and coolant change. But I found I lacked the freedom to break things and experiment in general as I needed the Celica to get to and from work. Therefore, project car.

Why AW11? I can't remember. I like Toyotas, especially '80s Toyotas. I recollect missing out on a KP Starlet. I wanted a RWD project since I had only experienced FF cars till that point. AW11 MR2s were within my budget and I like how they look.

My plan was to learn and gain some mechanical experience from working on the MR2 and drive it, of course. Also, the MR2 could get me to work when doing anything more than basic maintenance on the Celica. However, circumstances changed and I was not able to devote as much time to the project as I had anticipated. Fortunately, the daily has not required much attention apart from basic maintenance yet.

Anyway, the car as I bought it:
Road legal AW11 Supercharger in rough condition. I did want something that was far from perfect. I would rather not ruin a good example and felt there would be a lot to learn from something that needs to be "fixed up".
Colour "8E3" -- the closest colour I could get to the '89 Super Edition.
Factory wheels.
Manual transmission.

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Some unidentified twin pipe exhaust.
Lowered. Previous owner mentioned "cut springs". I couldn't confirm at the time and I still can't identify springs that have been cut.
Leaky T-top. Had been sealed shut by the previous owner.
Missing front wing. Apparently, ripped out due to it scraping everywhere. Front grill gone walkabout too.

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Black interior with some pre-facelift bits.
Cruise control "Auto-drive" or part of it anyway.
Manual wind-up windows with holes in the door trim that come for free.
Note that the interior shots are recent. Most of the interior is in the state I bought it except for

• Speaker covers and stereo surround trim that I've deleted
• A boost gauge that resided in the driver side vent that I've removed
• An aftermarket stereo I don't have the unlock code for that I've taken out

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Pod filter. No factory air intake in sight.
No boot trim. Mostly missing "frunk" trim.

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Missing centre storage box, missing trim, missing jack and tool kit, missing bolts and a lot of other things are absent. Rust, however, is not absent and neither is accident damage; damage that I incorrectly believed to be OK to pass a Warrant of Fitness. I found out otherwise.

My aim is to tidy this car up to close to factory specification or rather as close to it as I can reasonably get.

[Mike n Rochelle]

Looks like you have a bit of a parts list to come. Its a good start if its rust free, how is the motor and box?

[mickeyduck]

Main concern is rust. Have a look at my Gallery pics of where an AW can rust and give your car a good close look over.

http://mr2.org.nz/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=1

That said, the midnight blue AW's tend to rust a lot slower than others, because the paint heats up in the sun and dries the car out.

Give it a really good look over for rust first after examining my Gallery pics.

[Spykerwolf]

Looks like a difficult task ahead man, but I'm sure you'll enjoy the car at the end.
Best of luck