Clives Second MR2

[clawnz]

As I am sure some of you know I won the auction for this damaged 1992 MR2 SW20 GT-S.
It has done 112,000ks and in general has been very well loved.
The last owner did relate to me how he did the damage. This was a classic case of over reaction and over correction and car trying to swap ends.
I have read about this being the case with these cars and will try to respect that.

Anyway I decided to drop the 1990 project and put it in the too expensive basket. As I consider without compliance and the mess the wiring is in it will never be worth any real money.
So when this other one came up and it was only 4 0r 5ks away I went and looked at it.
I understand the panel beater did not want to go any further with investigating the damage and assumed there could be chassis damage.
Where this is the case or not I do not 100% know just yet, but have beaten it around a bit and on inspection do not think there is any damage to frame. Only a wheel alignment will tell. The back end as per picture was pushed in and popped the inner guard. Serious crease was in that, but it came out well. Not finished by a long shot but it will do for now, until I get a quote to sort.
Front. Changed guard, took off nudge bar/frame. And offered up my old one. Hum! 3 to 4mm out, (folded in) on the chassis rail and only on the very end.I could not see any crease. A quick fix. And then front bar bolted up. Again I could not see any real issues here. It has been in an accident in the same front corner before though.

The popped guard.


Front corner.

I fitted up my wheels.
Fitting my stereo and speakers.
And fitted the new exhaust that arrived from USA. I know there was some negative comments. I am not modifying the motor so it is standard. The AW11 aftermarket is the same diameter pipe to the muffler, and as there are four pipes out they offer much less restriction than the standard one. I.E. 2x 60mm tail pipes =120mm. 4x 40mm = 160mm. To my mate and myself, we feel it is breathing better, pick up seems to have improved and sounds good. And to be honest I like the sexy look of having 4x pipes out the back.
It took a little messing around as everything is closed over the hols, so it is a make do with bits I had laying around. But all I had to do was make a short pipe (90mm) with a flange on each end. Managed to pick up one mount on all four bolts and weld hanger on exhaust. The other side I only managed to pick up two bolts to frame. Then welded the hanger to exhaust. Used two fairly standard rubber mounts to couple together.
If I change my mind it will not take much to fit up to an AW11 as I did nothing more than chopped the hangers.

[85AW20v]

Just be aware that a wheel alignment might not point out a bent chassis. In the Integra rally car I co-drive in, we hit a big hole a couple of years ago which bent the front subframe. That was replaced but the car still didn't handle the same way prior to the hit. We had a spin and nudged a bank in the South Island Targa in 2014 and when the car went in for repair, the panel beater found old chassis damage from the hole we hit.

Our wheel alignments always came up spot on as wheels are aligned to themselves and not specifically to a fixed point on the chassis. If a chassis rail is bent the wheels can look and measure up right but the suspension geometry can be wrong, which is what happened to us. You'd need to get the car onto a chassis alignment machine to get it properly checked.

See ya
Simon

[clawnz]

Just be aware that a wheel alignment might not point out a bent chassis. In the Integra rally car I co-drive in, we hit a big hole a couple of years ago which bent the front subframe. That was replaced but the car still didn't handle the same way prior to the hit. We had a spin and nudged a bank in the South Island Targa in 2014 and when the car went in for repair, the panel beater found old chassis damage from the hole we hit.

Our wheel alignments always came up spot on as wheels are aligned to themselves and not specifically to a fixed point on the chassis. If a chassis rail is bent the wheels can look and measure up right but the suspension geometry can be wrong, which is what happened to us. You'd need to get the car onto a chassis alignment machine to get it properly checked.

See ya
Simon

Doesn't say much for the so called panelbeater who was meant supposedly do the first repair.
In the Mt. Roskill Panel Shop (where I used to have sole charge of the paint shop and help out in the panel shop due to my qualifications) we had a car in like that. When I started to strip it down we found a few things that were not fitted up right, It had been in a bad prang before and it came close to being written off due to the fact that the first repair had been so bad. Just a cover up job. When it went out it was fully restored. I think if safe to say with the amount of panel work I have done here and in England it is possible I have a few clues on what to look for.
There is always some clues to bent chassis. For ever action there is a reaction. You cannot bend a chassis that effects handling and have correct wheel alignment. You maybe able to jimmy things to get the wheels aligned. But that is a matter of opinion. As if it is bent and someone did actually manage to get the wheels somehow aligned the body would not be going down the road looking right. We used to call it crabbing.
My opinions only.

[clawnz]

Well the brown stuff has hit the fan.
I bought this as a registered car that only needed a warrant.
Not so it has been deregistered. So will need to be inspected and complied.
It was not dereg'ed with chassis damaged, which is a bonus, as that would of been an added complication and cost a lot more.
As it is I think it will be the best part of $1,000 to get it back on the road.
Depending on if they decide other work needs to be sorted.
And at least the seller has been reasonable about it and we have agreed on a new price.
Will up date costs after it is back or wrecked.

[Benckj]

You're not having much luck finding a decent 2.

[clawnz]

It is booked in and should know when soon. I am told this is going to be sometime in the next week or two.
Wonder if they will make me fit up the old exhaust? The rest of it should be close to good.
I did have to fit seat belts as the guy took them. But that was all good as Zebra U Pick only charged $25 per set complete.
I could not hook up seat belt wire. But am hoping if it does not come up on the dash they will not say anything.
Same goes for spot lights. I will not fit them as yet. Then I will not have to worry about alignment.
I have repaired the front bumper and refitted that.
Hoping to have in primer before it goes in.
Back guard will have to wait until after though.

Turbo timer is up and working.
Took some time going over hook up.
Nobody came to the rescue on that, so had to research myself. But got it sorted in the end.
Had voltage issue, from blown 7.5 fuse in engine bay. That had me very worried. As I could not get 12v and with fuse blown the volts were dropping when you reved the engine. Nice One! Not.

[Benckj]

Glad to see your making some progress with the new toy. Generally if you have items on the car which do not function (ie fogs or belt light) they will pull you up on it. Even if these items are not required they must be working if fitted. The way around this is to simply remove.

I'm sure several of us would have helped sort out the fuse and turbo timer issue if asked. Electrical problems can be hard to diagnois over the net especially when the problem can't be explained clearly. Most people even lack the essential tools such as a multi meter so it even gets harder to check circuits.

[clawnz]

"Generally if you have items on the car which do not function (ie fogs or belt light) they will pull you up on it. Even if these items are not required they must be working if fitted. The way around this is to simply remove."

Question: Are the spots aligned by the switch on the dash? I mean I do not see any other way they can be a adjusted. I have not hooked one up and tried to see if the motors work in them at all.

I have to get COF for the truck. So know all about what they can be picky about.
Like there has to be water in the screen washers and they have to work.
Same as wipers. I Never use the truck when wet and nearly every time I go for a COF the rubbers are not as they would like and they have to be replaced.

One thing that does worry me is rust. 'Been there done that' and it does not have to be any more than stupid surface rust spot.
I got all the lights working yesterday. Bits of plastic to find fixings for. They are a bloody pain.
I feel it is better to give them something to pick up on, then fix.

As for the Turbo Timer I did ask, but most likely in the wrong place.
One of the guys who came for parts was switched on and had, had the same trouble with the fuse.
Multi meters! I have just got a new one as my other is about as random as our weather. Works well enough, but display does a bit of ghosting with random numbers until you hook it up to something. The one before that used to read high. which caught me out with a battery a few times before I figured out why a battery showing good voltage would not start my diesel. That went in the bin. The other I will keep as it is OK doing resistance. And handy to have a spare to check one against the other on the odd occasion. Like when you want to check the battery in your multi meter.

[GDII]

Question: Are the spots aligned by the switch on the dash? I mean I do not see any other way they can be a adjusted. I have not hooked one up and tried to see if the motors work in them at all.

There is a little screw hiding on the front in the black surround. This adjusts them up and down only. The switch on the dash, if it has 3 positions will allow them to turn the internal lenses with the steering wheel or lock straight when on.
If the screw doesn't work then the adjuster mechanism in the back of the light is stripped. You could adjust it by taking it out and putting it back in.

[clawnz]

I should know what is what by Wednesday.
Then I will have 28days to complete whatever they ask to be done.

I have some good news!
I have found some staggered rims. 7x17 fronts and 8x17 rears complete with centric rings to suit MR2. they should be with me by Wednesday night.
Found two BF Goodrich tyres for the rear. And likely to buy new for front, as they seem harder to find in 205 or 215x40x17.

[Swampy]

Found two BF Goodrich tyres for the rear. And likely to buy new for front, as they seem harder to find in 205 or 215x40x17.

The type you usually see on muscle cars? On my tyre searches they look like some of the best offerings in 225/60R14 though if you go looking through slightly smaller sizes/profiles you can find Toyo semi-slicks. Anyway do they make Radial T/As for the fronts? I asked Charlie and he reckons they aren't that good, only good for burnouts.. but hey fit the best you can and if they're better than the others in 14 sizes at keeping the car planted round twisties then it's all good.

[clawnz]

Thanks Swampy.

In putting out feelers to see what or who can cut me a good deal, I may have found a contact or two.
But I maybe limited to these name brands.
A: GT Radials. Which do not seem to have a great name for performance. but unknown what models were being commented on.
B: BF Goodrich. I need a few model numbers.
C: Toyo. But doubt I can get too good a deal on these. Again model numbers please.

The two tyres I got for the rear are BF Goodrich RE040.

Will the car be driven hard? Not around town, but out of town most likely, if the chance is there. Not going round a track.
So looking for something that will return a fair mileage, give a fair ride in the wet if need be.

Still on edge about how compliance will go.
Nothing I can now except wait, which is something I do not do well.

[GDII]

I wouldn't touch GT Radial tires. Not the street stuff anyway. BF Goodrich, not sure as I haven't look into them but they can't be too bad, just make sure you get a good sticky compound rather than econo tires. Bad tires on an MR2 are usually the reason why they get crashed, and the driver.

I've found Toyo T1R to be very good but then I think Bridgestone RE003 would be another good choice. Don't be cheap on tires, you'll regret it. Personally I'd rather pay more for a good tire that doesn't last as long than a cheap tire that doesn't grip well. I've got 18,000km on rear tires and 36,000km on front tires so for a car I don't drive heaps that's pretty good at $800 a full set. If you aren't getting these high performance tires at close to $200 per corner fitted you aren't getting a good deal.

[Alsw20]

Price should be secondary with an MR2's tyres IMO. For the sake of maybe $200-$300 a set more, it may keep your car on the road in the wet.

The fronts on a 7" wide rim really have to be 205/40R17. There should be plenty of choice of quality rubber for that size as it's very common.

For the rear you have three choices. 225/45R17 (this is the tallest tyre of the three) 235/40R17 (closest to stock rolling diameter) 245/40R17 (probably the limit on width on an 8" rim, but still a shorter tyre than the 225/45). You have loads of brand choice at really good prices with the 225. The 235 is a bit niche, there are quality tyres in this size, they are just a little bit spendy and limited in range. The 245 range has a load more choice, better priced than the 235s.

Dunlop Sport Maxx, Yokohama A Drive R1 or Michelin Pilot Sport 3's would be my pick if you wanted matched sets.

[JasonFriday13]

I've also found Toyo T1R very good, I'm running rears at the moment. I've also heard good things about Bridgestone RE003 tires, but I haven't run them on my car.