tw2's mr2 - the journey to a clean 2

[tw2]

Just picked it up today from a member in Wellington. In pretty good condition but any car of this age is always going to need some work. My main concern was decent interior as this is not easy to replace. Most I have seen have had ripped seats which usually makes rails and aftermarket seats the most viable (and expensive option). The other was rust, in particular none of the suspension mounting points have any rust. The worst I could find was in the bottom of the frunk. No money shots yet, just cleaning it up and working out what needs replacement.

Amazing what some tyre shine can do for a car. Already has brand new potenza RE003's I will get the front bumper resprayed at some point and maybe a couple of other panels too.

I won't post before photos, lets just say a lot of vacuuming was involved. I am a bit of a clean freak. I will take the seats out at some point and get the carpet cleaning guy to give the seats and whole carpet a good going over.

[tw2]

For some reason it jumbled up all the pictures, duplicated and overwrote them and deleted text. I can't see how to edit the post so I guess I will try and tidy it up later.

[GDII]

For some reason it jumbled up all the pictures, duplicated and overwrote them and deleted text. I can't see how to edit the post so I guess I will try and tidy it up later.

Good buy. I didn't know the member down here was selling this. Awesome TOMS CR wheels and quite fresh RE003 tyres.

I found when posting things would jumble. I'm sure there is a method to not have this happen. You'll need to become a paid member to edit.

[tw2]

Thanks, yep just paid up a couple of hours ago, I expect my status will be updated next week. I saved the original post in word in case this happened.

He PM'd me when I posted in one of the for-sale threads, not publicly advertised. My shopping list is embarrassingly long. I will have to sort out what is best sorted locally and what will come from twosrus, primedriven or mr2heaven. Is there still a contact for discount toyota parts? I remember we used to use northshore toyota.

First thing though is to find the AVS alarm and disable it until I can get to a shop to make it work how I want it, ie not auto-arming after 15 seconds unless engine is on.

[mknz]

Thanks, yep just paid up a couple of hours ago, I expect my status will be updated next week. I saved the original post in word in case this happened.

He PM'd me when I posted in one of the for-sale threads, not publicly advertised. My shopping list is embarrassingly long. I will have to sort out what is best sorted locally and what will come from twosrus, primedriven or mr2heaven. Is there still a contact for discount toyota parts? I remember we used to use northshore toyota.

First thing though is to find the AVS alarm and disable it until I can get to a shop to make it work how I want it, ie not auto-arming after 15 seconds unless engine is on.

As soon as confirmation is gotten I'll change your forum profile.

Yes, NST is still great and probably about the same price as aftermarket

Get POR15 for the rust

[tw2]

Thanks for that. I forgot about POR15, I did my gt4's fuel tank with it years ago. I will try just doing a few photos per post.

Mr2018.jpg (271.44 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

A new air filter is on the list. New iridiums, leads and valve cover gasket is also coming soon.

Mr2009.jpg (340.3 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

Mr2010.jpg (217.36 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

[tw2]

Rotor and distributor cap too...

Mr2012.jpg (247.73 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

Every car has had this happen...

I guess I know why the aerial won't go up. Someone has removed the two bolts and nuts that hold the motor on, I found them behind the carpet, also the motor cover but no signs of insides. Does anyone know what the best option is to seal the hole the aerial sits in to make it weatherproof? Toyota doesn't have a part for the seal on top, or is the seal in the body underneath rather than the top of the spoiler?

Mr2006.jpg (222.93 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

Aerial.JPG (288.38 KiB) Viewed 6228 times

[tw2]

Cleaning continues bit by bit.

Mr2017.jpg (279.72 KiB) Viewed 6227 times

Mr2020.jpg (283.33 KiB) Viewed 6227 times

I will be getting new upper mounts when I attack the suspension.

Mr2019.jpg (277.15 KiB) Viewed 6227 times

I went to Hamilton Toyota this morning and priced up heaps of parts, they were great to deal with. I will start with the most critical parts. Unfortunately a lot of the suspension components will need to come from overseas as it is a lot cheaper. They were happy to do the mr2oc club discount.

[Jabeo]

Oh cool you live in Hamilton, should come to club fest with us on June 2nd. Hopefully i see you cruising around some time

[mickeyduck]

Thanks, yep just paid up a couple of hours ago, I expect my status will be updated next week.... Is there still a contact for discount toyota parts? I remember we used to use northshore toyota.

As soon as confirmation is gotten I'll change your forum profile.

Yes, NST is still great and probably about the same price as aftermarket

Whoops, sorry Michael, I updated Thomas' forum status as I know he'll be SWeet. Goes back a long way, good bloke.

Nice to hear Hamilton Toyota are doing you a good deal Thomas. Nick at NST supplied me with most of the parts for an AW engine rebuild cheaper than I could get the bits after-market. Can't complain about that!

Regards the aerial, maybe hunt down a rather large blanking grommet...? On our '92 SW we used a circular bit of aluminium tape. Looks a bit odd but keeps the water out.

Is yours a '92? Does it have the later longer rear trailing arms and narrower rear cross-member?

Our 92 na is just an auto but it handles real well.

I hope those RE003's are significantly wider on the rear than on the front? I'm using T1R on the 92 with 205 front and 225 rear. What size are your Potenzas mate?

[tw2]

Thanks Charlie, it is a 91. 205/50/16 front 225/50/16 back, no power steering to leak but does have ABS. Not sure about the cross member.

I took it for a slightly spirited drive today. The steering doesn't feel as tight as I think it should be so I will get some new tie rod ends + alignment and see if that helps. Maybe get one of you guys to take it for a spin next time I am up and compare. And of course a proper steering wheel. Otherwise feels pretty planted. Polyurethane kit will be on order too. Blanking grommet is a good idea, I will look into that.

[tw2]

Oh cool you live in Hamilton, should come to club fest with us on June 2nd. Hopefully i see you cruising around some time

Sounds good. I will certainly try and make any waikato and maybe BOP events.

[GDII]

I think this is a G model hence not having power steering. It would have had a low spec stereo system. Like the NZDM models but they were called GTi-16.

What year is it? Looks like a GEN1 based on the black side stripes and rear grille so it would have the short suspension arms in the rear. Makes for a bit more fun I hear. Even though mine is a 1990 it had the 92+ subframe when I bought it so never experienced the short arms handling characteristics.

[mknz]

As soon as confirmation is gotten I'll change your forum profile.

Yes, NST is still great and probably about the same price as aftermarket

Algoods, I figured.

If you're in the south or central of Auckland one day or if a run passes through/near I can drive and tell you. You can just take out the outer tie rod ends and steering rack ends as one piece and either see which sides of each has play or just replace all of them because they're pretty cheap.

Things that affect steering feel:
-Tyres: RE003 is great
-Tie rods in good condition
-the rubber in the steering shaft where it collapses in accident should be in good condition
-steering wheel diameter (angular displacement is constant but you feel the distance tangentially which proportional to diameter)
-steering rack bushes (internal and mounting)
-general suspension being in good condition e.g a wheel bearing doesn't have axial play, wheel nuts aren't loose etc.

[tw2]

I think this is a G model hence not having power steering. It would have had a low spec stereo system. Like the NZDM models but they were called GTi-16.

What year is it? Looks like a GEN1 based on the black side stripes and rear grille so it would have the short suspension arms in the rear. Makes for a bit more fun I hear. Even though mine is a 1990 it had the 92+ subframe when I bought it so never experienced the short arms handling characteristics.

Yes it is a G, 1991. I had a 90 G limited followed by a 94 turbo quite a few years ago. This time I wanted a very basic sports car for throwing around. I wanted the most basic stereo, I will replace the head unit (has a fusion one currently), door (not sure what they are) and B pillar speakers (definitely look stock). I never liked the stock "sub" behind the passenger seat but I really liked the storage. For some reason although the turbo was much faster I didn't like the powerband and how the torque came on or the threat of needing further mods. My other car is fast enough so I figured I would go a different way with this one.

I know they did a suspension revision but I wasn't aware it was a huge issue. I have always assumed that whatever speed you go into the corner you will need to exit the same speed. I have only had a couple of times in the past where the front wheels started sliding. I plan to get some koni's, eibach springs and both whiteline swaybars sometime in the future. Should I be going a different route?