GDII's 1990 G-Limited

[4CylinderSpecial]

I've tried a bit of plastidip on a bit of the front side trim, but it isn't glossy enough to pull it off, unfortunately. I've got a few scratches on the passenger door that I've been trying to get out, tried turtle wax scratch remover but nada. So will give meguairs a crack. I used Turtlewax rinse free wash and that tended to leave no water spots, but I have definitely found that using just a wash then applying wax is the best way to go.

[Benckj]

'Tyreshine' works great on the mouldings and other black plastic/rubber parts on car including interior. Can get on sale at SC for about $2/can.

[GDII]

I put black vinyl over my side stripes as mine were faded and patchy. Works quite well, just takes a bit of time and effort with a sharp scalpel to get the edges nice.

I've got a few deeper scratches that I can't get out and with the thickness of my paint I don't want to try. Also, doing a car by hand with a clear coat is very very hard. The soft paint on the early MR2s is a lot easier. Machines only with clear coats or hard paint.

'Tyreshine' works great on the mouldings and other black plastic/rubber parts on car including interior. Can get on sale at SC for about $2/can.

I used to use that for most black exterior parts, still use it on the black rear light trim and front window cowl but I found it lasts 2 days and also collects dirt far too easily.

[ToyMonsta]

For the black trims around the car I use CRC tire shine. I have put black vinyl over the black stripe around the car due to it being very faded and impossible to get back to factory condition without buying new ones.

My window trim was pretty badly sunfaded, but I found that using plastidip has worked very well in making it appear new again, especially since it has a rubber texture similar to the trim. I'll be picking up some of that meguiars ultimate compound soon, I didn't know about the was & wax though I've always had a few water spots that bug the hell outta me. The ceramic paint protection sounds cool, but judging from their clientele it'd probably be cheaper to wrap or dip the car than It'd be to get the protection.

I can get the ceramic and apply it, if you were in chch.
I would usually charge arround $1K that's including a 3 stage paint correction before application.
My work charges arround $1,600 per application.

[ToyMonsta]

'Tyreshine' works great on the mouldings and other black plastic/rubber parts on car including interior. Can get on sale at SC for about $2/can.

I would be using Auto Glym Plastic and Rubber solution to get a long lasting and deep black effect.
tyre shine is just too week.

[ToyMonsta]

A few shots taken by a mate prior to the June 5th run.

Very nice shots of your MR 2

[GDII]

For the black trims around the car I use CRC tire shine. I have put black vinyl over the black stripe around the car due to it being very faded and impossible to get back to factory condition without buying new ones.

My window trim was pretty badly sunfaded, but I found that using plastidip has worked very well in making it appear new again, especially since it has a rubber texture similar to the trim. I'll be picking up some of that meguiars ultimate compound soon, I didn't know about the was & wax though I've always had a few water spots that bug the hell outta me. The ceramic paint protection sounds cool, but judging from their clientele it'd probably be cheaper to wrap or dip the car than It'd be to get the protection.

I can get the ceramic and apply it, if you were in chch.
I would usually charge arround $1K that's including a 3 stage paint correction before application.
My work charges arround $1,600 per application.

Thanks for the offer but the paint on this car isn't in the right condition to apply a permanent thing like that. Only after a proper respray and getting the paint perfectly flat would I even think about something like this. It's cool to know there is something out there like this though.

[ToyMonsta]

I've tried a bit of plastidip on a bit of the front side trim, but it isn't glossy enough to pull it off, unfortunately. I've got a few scratches on the passenger door that I've been trying to get out, tried turtle wax scratch remover but nada. So will give meguairs a crack. I used Turtlewax rinse free wash and that tended to leave no water spots, but I have definitely found that using just a wash then applying wax is the best way to go.

If you have some deep scratches I would recommend using 3000 grit wet & dry sand paper, apply water to the serface using a spray bottle (like a empty multi purpose spray bottle).
have the sand paper soke in a bucket of cold water then wrap it over a sanding sponge block.
rub the paper over the scratch lightly until a white paste forms then wipe clean (make sure no grit is on the sand paper or paint surface before repeating)... buff the area until the shine has come back... rinse and repeat until you're happy with the result.

[GDII]

True. That's a good way to fix up some stuff. What I really want to fix is the clear coat someone sprayed on the right quarter panel and drivers door. It's pink but hard to get off. It sometimes peals off but I think it needs sanding off to remove it. the paint under it is perfectly fine so not sure why it was painted. I suspect it was done to try blend in the bumper when it was painted but its only on the drivers side, nothing on the passenger side.

[ToyMonsta]

True. That's a good way to fix up some stuff. What I really want to fix is the clear coat someone sprayed on the right quarter panel and drivers door. It's pink but hard to get off. It sometimes peals off but I think it needs sanding off to remove it. the paint under it is perfectly fine so not sure why it was painted. I suspect it was done to try blend in the bumper when it was painted but its only on the drivers side, nothing on the passenger side.

Wet & dry sand paper might do the trick, you will have to feather the clearcoat to the base coat.

[GDII]

Turns out the TRD springs are not the ones in the photo below from Phothog but are infact the springs that Alsw20 bought for his 11s or bust project back in 2011. As you can see on the bottom photo the date is 2011 where Phothog bought his in 2006. The thing that gave it away was 1. the date and 2. the location of the sticker on the springs didn't match. With help from the owners of the cars/springs it clears up exactly why they were different.

A set of second hand OEM Bilstein Blacks with some TRD soft springs with approximately 78,000km on them. The springs were bought new by Phothog for his Blue GEN3 turbo back in 2006. This car was then purchased by Reuban then went on to Clawnz who I bought the setup from. Thanks Clive.

Photo borrowed from Phothogs thread. The front spring still has it's Toyota NZ produced sticker on it from the original purchase.

[Alsw20]

This is them when they arrived from Mark, on the Thursday before Christmas 2011.

[GDII]

Omnomnom!! Thanks Al

[GDII]

Last Sunday I decided to install the TRD springs.

I had disassembled the struts that had the TRD springs in them as I wanted to use my own Bilsteins. I couldn't do this on my own as the top hats just kept spinning so I got some help from Dixon with his air compressor and rattle gun. 3 came apart easy but one needed a breaker bar and a crowbar to hold the top hat from spinning. Once the main nut was loose it was easy to pull them apart.

I spent a bit of time cleaning all the parts to pick the best pieces to use. I ended up using a combination of bits from both strut sets to make one good set.
For the front I used my Bilsteins, the 'new' top mounts with the bearings, mine were very rough, my new bearing dust gaskets from when I installed the new Bilsteins, my top hats, 'new' rubber isolator for the top, 'new' TRD springs and 'new' rubber isolator for the bottom. That made one good front set.

For the rear I used my Bilsteins, the 'new' top hats and 'new' TRD springs. The tophats are from the 1991/12 - 1993/11 cars. I had the older ones from the 1989/12 - 1991/12 car. It made sense to use the newer ones as 1 they are newer and 2 they have a newer design which appears to be stronger with a deeper skirt at the base.

I used the new bump stops but didn't use the dust boots. When I disassembled the struts there was a ton of dust in the boot and on the piston rod so all they were doing was holding in the stuff they are meant to hold out. I keep the car clean and can just chuck the hose up there when washing the car.

Here is a before and after shot along with all the parts used.

30mm drop all round which is low but not too low.

Before 1990 Springs


After TRD Springs


After RS*R Ti 2000 Springs


When I had these in 4-5 years ago.
These springs went down quite low and make the car rake forward which I'm sure is good for getting the car to oversteer more but it was just too low for being practical.

Front strut parts


Rear spring setup


Rear top hats with the longer skirt at the base. It would be nice to get 1993/11+ top hats but not really needed. I think they have longer studs.


Springs removed and cleaned up.




Standard ride height with my tire and wheel setup from the ground to the guard front and rear is 650mm. All 4 corners now sit at 620mm.




Front struts installed and at full extension


Rear struts installed and at full extension


Fronts at sitting compression. There is only one coil doing all the work with the TRD springs but the standard springs are similar.


Rears at sitting compression. The top half of the spring becomes a bunch of dead coils so they are only there to make up for the lowering and to allow the spring to be captive at full extension.


A few bonus shots of how it looks now.

[ToyMonsta]

Very nice mate!
Can you still get the TRD Springs?