My SW20 - Dandism-life

Post by **Swampy** » Tue Nov 15, 2016 1:53 pm

GDII wrote:The wheels look awesome! What size did you get the S001 in for the front?

215/40R17. Theyre a tight fit but I love em.

Post by **Joel** » Tue Nov 15, 2016 3:18 pm

Interesting wheels, they remind me of 348 wheels, which isn't a bad thing.

Post by **Swampy** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:41 am

I have spent a long time working on this Border front bumper I scored from a club member for cheap, when I got it it was pretty rough with a bunch of cracks and chips in it but I've gone about sanding it down, bogging up a lot of the chips and cracks and getting it nice and flat.

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It's not perfect but I think it will be better than what is currently on the car.

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I even got some mesh for it too. I'll cable tie that in and put the Toyota badge right in the middle of it, because I wanna copy most things about the 348.

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I guess next time I do something like this, I'd make an MDF 'border' for the mesh and then it would look much better.

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And there's me masking it up, I painted the lower section black and then covered most of the black areas with vinyl wrap til I ran out. I need to go and buy some more but a later post will show that's not really a priority right now. I painted the lower section black because even though you won't see it there's bound to get stone chips cuts etc and it will look stupid with exposed red primer. I have some colour matched paint and 2k stashed away so no more two tone SW20...

Post by **Swampy** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 12:56 am

Got the WOF sorted out beginning of Jan, work done included:
- cut out C pillar rust and weld in replacement (450.00)
- correct alignment of front lights, disconnect fog lamps due to part that changes their aim broken, replace rear brake bulb (150.00)

Got a proper sized battery

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Bought some detailing gear

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Added some Speedhunters stuff because I wanted to pay a little homage to those who got me into cars, the others being this club and Mighty Car Mods...

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Painted my mud guards gloss black

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Tightened the bolts on my rocker cover, as oil was leaking and was causing a tiny bit of smoke.

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Post by **Swampy** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:15 am

Then I had a big accident which sucked. Ended up in a bank, with the car resting on its RH side, whilst a chunk from my LHF rim rested further back behind me. That tyre had come loose from the rim, with cuts on the inside sidewall as well as rubber shaved off the outside sidewall and a neat cut running through the tread.

I did plan on having a bit of a road trip after that run to Whakatane, so after Clive kindly took me back to Auckland in Blue, I had a rental and was on my way:

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That day I learnt quite a bit, and will be getting full insurance next time round.

Got it towed back to my local panelbeater who told me that there was no chassis damage fortunately, but that it will cost me easily what I paid for the car and likely more than that. I'm gonna give repairing it a shot as I will only need a RH and LH fender, new RH door, rear quarter glass (it's smashed), RH mirror, and panelbeating done to the rear quarter of the RH side as well as the RH A pillar which is dented.

Rims will require restoration too, with a set of front ones brought in from Japan.

Then the front suspension will need to be looked at, as the LHF is clearly buggered. LHF rear fender is pushed in and causes tyre rub and also unable to turn wheel at full lock, whereas RHF looks like its been pushed back and has a bit of tyre rub. Steering will also need to be checked out.

I have a few suspension bits lying round so that helps.

Plan is to get this one back on the road and then possible sale, because I want to build my dream SW from a t-top base.

And I am going to purchase another car in the meantime!

Post by **knuckles61** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:33 am

Sorry to hear about the car, you were making nice progress. Glad to hear you're okay though.

Post by **DravidDavid** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 2:58 am

knuckles61 wrote:Sorry to hear about the car, you were making nice progress. Glad to hear you're okay though.

Definitely the main thing here. Every time I hear about an accident in an MR2 my hairs stand on end not because of the car, but because I know short of a seat belt there are zero safety features and nothing up front to cushion the blow.

Post by *84vvt » Sun Jan 22, 2017 8:09 am

DravidDavid wrote: Every time I hear about an accident in an MR2 my hairs stand on end not because of the car, but because I know short of a seat belt there are zero safety features and nothing up front to cushion the blow.

You mean there's is no "engine" to be pushed back in the the cabin space to pin you legs at the front.
Same at the rear there is "space" to fill before things start to move in the the cabin.

Post by **mickeyduck** » Sun Jan 22, 2017 1:23 pm

*84vvt wrote:
DravidDavid wrote: Every time I hear about an accident in an MR2 my hairs stand on end not because of the car, but because I know short of a seat belt there are zero safety features and nothing up front to cushion the blow.
You mean there's is no "engine" to be pushed back in the the cabin space to pin you legs at the front.
Same at the rear there is "space" to fill before things start to move in the the cabin.

I tend to agree with Colin on this one. The front has tons of crumple zone without an engine in it to mangle your legs. The back has a boot for crumple zone before it thinks about shunting the engine into your back. And the rear window and pillars act like a roll cage if you roll or flip. From what I have seen in a number of cases over the years the MR2 is a very safe design. Of course this does NOT hold true for the MRS / ZZW30 spyder, with its lack of roll-over protection.

I have even seen an AW that cartwheeled end over end three times and then rolled repeatedly after crossing a ditch and a fence after losing it on a metal road near Edgecumbe. The guy walked away with one compressed vertebrae in his neck and the need for a dozen stitches in his scalp. But he walked away.

We've seen a number of cases where an SW has rolled / flipped / crashed and the driver has walked away unhurt, both on the road and on track. I would post a pic of an SW T-top after a roll but sadly the guys that posted the pics did so by linking to their Photobucket etc and those links have since died, making the thread here on the forum meaningless.

(I hate that).
http://mr2.org.nz/phpbb3/viewtopic.php? ... h&start=30

There was also an SW that flipped on a track a few years ago and again there were good photos and the driver walked away, but I can't find the thread.

Very often if you lose it in an MR2 you will hit something travelling backwards which is usually a good thing as it can prevent a serious neck injury. I have only heard of one case where an MR2 driver lost it at high speed, hitting an immovable object while travelling backwards at over 100kmh and didn't walk away. In his case the force was so great that the boot of his AW was stoved right in and the motor was shunted into the back of his seat which broke his back and killed him. That's the only case I've ever heard of where the forces were too much for the car to soak up and the driver did not walk away.

That said, if you try hard enough you can kill yourself in any vehicle. If you drive an MR2 and have a head-on contest with a Nissan Patrol I imagine the battle-truck will win. Then again, I have seen a large 4x4 that rolled and the entire roof collapsed leaving no room for the occupants' heads... So much for the battle-truck.

Anyway back on topic. James your panel-beater's assessment tallies with what I figured on the day - straight chassis but a lot to fix and the cost of having it done professionally being greater than the car's worth. What I would suggest is, if you are able to amass the parts required, perhaps we can have a spanner day and a few of us can rip into it and help you bowl a chunk of it?

As for bogging the rear quarter - if you use Epiglass resin and microballoons you will end up with a rear panel that's stronger than it was in the first place and done properly it will never fall out or crack. Just a thought.

More than anything we're all very glad you were unhurt mate.

Post by **4CylinderSpecial** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 8:30 am

mickeyduck wrote: Anyway back on topic. James your panel-beater's assessment tallies with what I figured on the day - straight chassis but a lot to fix and the cost of having it done professionally being greater than the car's worth. What I would suggest is, if you are able to amass the parts required, perhaps we can have a spanner day and a few of us can rip into it and help you bowl a chunk of it?

More than anything we're all very glad you were unhurt mate.

I agree with that. I would be happy to help to get the MR2 back on the road.

Post by **DravidDavid** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 11:35 am

4CylinderSpecial wrote:
mickeyduck wrote: Anyway back on topic. James your panel-beater's assessment tallies with what I figured on the day - straight chassis but a lot to fix and the cost of having it done professionally being greater than the car's worth. What I would suggest is, if you are able to amass the parts required, perhaps we can have a spanner day and a few of us can rip into it and help you bowl a chunk of it?

More than anything we're all very glad you were unhurt mate.
I agree with that. I would be happy to help to get the MR2 back on the road.

I can hold the torch and supply a healthy dose of sarcastic commentary and novice questions.

Post by **mickeyduck** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 9:48 pm

Nice!

The fun bit will be co-ordinating it so we can all be there!

Don't fix a date until we've been able to settle on one that works for us all James...

Post by **Swampy** » Fri Jan 27, 2017 10:02 pm

Sounds good to me. Cheers guys!! I will begin work soon and getting everything together.

There will be lots of food and drink on the house. If you need gas money that can be discussed too. I don't have MUCH room at mine so I will have to ask my mummy to move her car over.

Right now I am in the process of getting a car suitable for hauling parts... and looks like it may be coming from Glenfield... yes Glenfield... the same place where I got my SW from, and both sets of 17s from! I'm going to look at some cheap things with tow bars on Sunday, so I will let you all know with pics soon... I'll unveil it at the next run. And yeah.. it will be my run-attending car whilst the SW is getting fixed.