Discussion
Get yourself on the waiting list for a new roof from jack the trimmer in swansea if you are going to keep it. They are lighter, more modern and use your original glass. J-Spec is the breaker to go to for bits which may be the one you are already using. I bought one of these in late 2022 for some fun and its now my daily.
These turned up today. The excitement in the Heaveho household is obviously unbridled.........
The guy made me a choice of decals, 2 with the thin grey lines running through them and 2 without, as he wasn't sure which were right, which I thought was a nice touch. Plus free sticky pads. In theory, to be period correct I should screw the plates on but b
ks to that.
Not much going on with things this week, as I'm doing the unthinkable and working for the first time in a while. Nearly 2 years of ongoing stomach issues and a damaged hand from a few weeks ago after a punch up with some knobhead trying to break in has made gainful employment something of a fond memory until yesterday.
Playing the ebay waiting game for various extravagances at the moment. While I was on there I went rogue and after a chance encounter to a link, found and bought what is becoming a rare mongoose stainless exhaust for my Mk1 MR2, something I'd been looking for for ages. More in hope than expectation I clicked on an offer to get a discount, entered the code and got more than £40 off!
Back to the Roadster. Wheel swap on Saturday in theory. That will hopefully start to see the car well on the way to the standard external appearance we're seeking. Plus, I get to drive the thing a decent distance to do the swap, something I'm really looking forward to.
Still got to figure out what to buy to gently recolour the leather on the seat bolsters, although they really aren't bad. Then a trip to Sheffield on Monday in the van to collect the " new " engine cover ( was up for £100, offered £60 and paid £80 ), which will be another step in the right direction as it will not only facilitate the deletion of the rather strangely located spoiler but also eradicate the rust problem it's caused.
We set off for Scotland on the 16th. Notice I said " set off ". It's as much a reliability test as anything else, so who knows how far we'll get. However, on a positive note, I'm looking forward to sensible fuel consumption and what I imagine will be a very different driving experience to the Evo I usually go in.
The guy made me a choice of decals, 2 with the thin grey lines running through them and 2 without, as he wasn't sure which were right, which I thought was a nice touch. Plus free sticky pads. In theory, to be period correct I should screw the plates on but b
ks to that.Not much going on with things this week, as I'm doing the unthinkable and working for the first time in a while. Nearly 2 years of ongoing stomach issues and a damaged hand from a few weeks ago after a punch up with some knobhead trying to break in has made gainful employment something of a fond memory until yesterday.
Playing the ebay waiting game for various extravagances at the moment. While I was on there I went rogue and after a chance encounter to a link, found and bought what is becoming a rare mongoose stainless exhaust for my Mk1 MR2, something I'd been looking for for ages. More in hope than expectation I clicked on an offer to get a discount, entered the code and got more than £40 off!
Back to the Roadster. Wheel swap on Saturday in theory. That will hopefully start to see the car well on the way to the standard external appearance we're seeking. Plus, I get to drive the thing a decent distance to do the swap, something I'm really looking forward to.
Still got to figure out what to buy to gently recolour the leather on the seat bolsters, although they really aren't bad. Then a trip to Sheffield on Monday in the van to collect the " new " engine cover ( was up for £100, offered £60 and paid £80 ), which will be another step in the right direction as it will not only facilitate the deletion of the rather strangely located spoiler but also eradicate the rust problem it's caused.
We set off for Scotland on the 16th. Notice I said " set off ". It's as much a reliability test as anything else, so who knows how far we'll get. However, on a positive note, I'm looking forward to sensible fuel consumption and what I imagine will be a very different driving experience to the Evo I usually go in.
Busy few days for the MR2. And me. I collected what turned out to be a very decent engine lid in the correct colour last week, a collect only ebay buy for £80, about 120 miles away in Sheffield. Various pressies arrived from ebay, rear bumper grilles, floor mats, clips, etc.
Then a timely look on an FB forum last Thursday led to an agreement to shoot over to Carlisle on Saturday to have fitted what sounded like a very good condition used roof from a well known one man band, a semi retired guy who assured me that any time was fine and to just text him with an ETA. And he was as good as his word, supplied a used but excellent roof and fitted it in 90 mins.
In the process of doing so, he pointed out that our car had some apparently hard to source hard top brackets still fitted from a previous life and after we had also agreed to take a working electric aerial which he fitted, a complete blank key with working transponder and a drivers side headlamp to replace the fogged up one on ours, he gave us these items in exchange for the hard top parts. So, including supplying and fitting the roof, £275 all in. Very happy with that.
We swapped the wheels over with a guy who agreed to do a straight swap with our mint OZs for his undeniably slightly tatty standards.It wasn't ideal, but we knew we wanted to put 4 new tyres on, and finding a set of mint standard wheels with good matching tyres looked like an impossible ask so it was a compromise. The tyres on the OZs were crap, although the car drove ok on them. His tyres were more crap and it made the car feel awful on the drive back. But the standard wheels are an inch smaller than the OZs, so the ride at least was better.
After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, we settled on a set of Toyo Proxes, at a total cost from two different suppliers of just over £220. We specced the rears in the correct size of 205 50 15, but opted for a slightly wider than standard195 on the front on the advice of forum members, as it apparently takes the edge off any understeer. Between us we had a set of new wheel nuts from our days working at the dealer.
The car has had a two day cleaning session, involving de-hazing both headlights and restoring some shine to the indisputably dull paintwork with an orbital polisher and a selection of products I had lying about. I also unblocked the passenger side washer jets, fitted the supplying dealer replica number plates and rear window decal, programmed the transponder for the new key and fitted the new drivers side headlamp and rear grilles, as well as the genuine floor mats. The whole thing looks generally very presentable in the pics, but I'll be doing a wheel refurb, a caliper and hub repaint, employing the services of a dent guy, and just cracking on with getting it as nice as possible. There's a very minor rust bubble on one rear arch to address.
It cost us £900 to buy. It now stands us £1700. With the £800 spent on parts so far, we've bought a standard airbox and replacement MAF sensor, side and rear bumper vents, floor mats, which came with a variety of other parts we don't need and will sell on, number plates and rear window decal, an engine cover, 4 tyres, a replacement roof, aerial, headlight, key and swapped the wheels. And put fuel in it. My mate who is in with me on the car fitted the tyres and 4 wheel aligned it at work.
We have a stainless TTE replica style ( roll ) bar to sell as well as a genuine TTE rear spoiler. With the rest of the bits we don't need, we'll probably recoup between £250-£300.
We taxed the car for 6 months, but will cash that back in before the end of this month. Insurance was £215 for both of us fully comp with protected no claims and windscreen cover. We"ll transfer this from car to car if our plans to do a few in a row work out. There may be someone waiting in the wings with £3k for the Roadster after we do our Scotland NC500 trip starting tomorrow if we keep it in one piece, so hopefully we'll come out of this car with a drink each. It's a great car to drive, very engaging. I'll be sorry to see it go, it's been an extremely enjoyable and rewarding 3 weeks of co-ownership so far, and seeing it gradually improve aesthetically is a great feeling.
Then a timely look on an FB forum last Thursday led to an agreement to shoot over to Carlisle on Saturday to have fitted what sounded like a very good condition used roof from a well known one man band, a semi retired guy who assured me that any time was fine and to just text him with an ETA. And he was as good as his word, supplied a used but excellent roof and fitted it in 90 mins.
In the process of doing so, he pointed out that our car had some apparently hard to source hard top brackets still fitted from a previous life and after we had also agreed to take a working electric aerial which he fitted, a complete blank key with working transponder and a drivers side headlamp to replace the fogged up one on ours, he gave us these items in exchange for the hard top parts. So, including supplying and fitting the roof, £275 all in. Very happy with that.
We swapped the wheels over with a guy who agreed to do a straight swap with our mint OZs for his undeniably slightly tatty standards.It wasn't ideal, but we knew we wanted to put 4 new tyres on, and finding a set of mint standard wheels with good matching tyres looked like an impossible ask so it was a compromise. The tyres on the OZs were crap, although the car drove ok on them. His tyres were more crap and it made the car feel awful on the drive back. But the standard wheels are an inch smaller than the OZs, so the ride at least was better.
After a lot of to-ing and fro-ing, we settled on a set of Toyo Proxes, at a total cost from two different suppliers of just over £220. We specced the rears in the correct size of 205 50 15, but opted for a slightly wider than standard195 on the front on the advice of forum members, as it apparently takes the edge off any understeer. Between us we had a set of new wheel nuts from our days working at the dealer.
The car has had a two day cleaning session, involving de-hazing both headlights and restoring some shine to the indisputably dull paintwork with an orbital polisher and a selection of products I had lying about. I also unblocked the passenger side washer jets, fitted the supplying dealer replica number plates and rear window decal, programmed the transponder for the new key and fitted the new drivers side headlamp and rear grilles, as well as the genuine floor mats. The whole thing looks generally very presentable in the pics, but I'll be doing a wheel refurb, a caliper and hub repaint, employing the services of a dent guy, and just cracking on with getting it as nice as possible. There's a very minor rust bubble on one rear arch to address.
It cost us £900 to buy. It now stands us £1700. With the £800 spent on parts so far, we've bought a standard airbox and replacement MAF sensor, side and rear bumper vents, floor mats, which came with a variety of other parts we don't need and will sell on, number plates and rear window decal, an engine cover, 4 tyres, a replacement roof, aerial, headlight, key and swapped the wheels. And put fuel in it. My mate who is in with me on the car fitted the tyres and 4 wheel aligned it at work.
We have a stainless TTE replica style ( roll ) bar to sell as well as a genuine TTE rear spoiler. With the rest of the bits we don't need, we'll probably recoup between £250-£300.
We taxed the car for 6 months, but will cash that back in before the end of this month. Insurance was £215 for both of us fully comp with protected no claims and windscreen cover. We"ll transfer this from car to car if our plans to do a few in a row work out. There may be someone waiting in the wings with £3k for the Roadster after we do our Scotland NC500 trip starting tomorrow if we keep it in one piece, so hopefully we'll come out of this car with a drink each. It's a great car to drive, very engaging. I'll be sorry to see it go, it's been an extremely enjoyable and rewarding 3 weeks of co-ownership so far, and seeing it gradually improve aesthetically is a great feeling.
Well, it's been to Scotland. 2 tanks of fuel, £130 spent in total on petrol, 650 miles or thereabouts. Zero oil consumption, which was a pleasant surprise given the reputation these have liking to drink the stuff.
Before......
During.......
After......
On the basis that I've needed all of them at various stages in the past on these trips, I wanted to take tools and jump leads, Then I looked at the available space. Hmmm. The newly invented game of Roadster Jenga was played out for the next half hour, with my bag of clothes etc also needing to be considered. Plus the passenger and his kit.
These went in first.......
....followed by this on top........
....squashed into here.......
....with a box of screwdrivers and jackets above on the shelf.....
......tools in the frunk along with a litre of oil.....
Two casualties of the trip. Anyone spot what's missing from this pic?
And this came on 30 miles after setting off......EML light.
It's been on before, we've got a reader, the car has an aftermarket cat. Pretty sure it's that. We've got a factory one so that's going on this week. The car runs fine with no discernible issues, so no big deal, but it can't be sold without being resolved and it will be.
The fly in the ointment is that I don't want to sell it! I've been around Toyota products all my life, but until this one came onto the radar, I'd never given them a second glance. Largely because I didn't really like the look of them. I do now. It's wierd how much your perception of a cars appearance can change when you realise how great it is to drive. I think it's a better car than my 3.2S 987 Boxster to drive.
When we set off on Thursday, the tyres were brand new, no miles, and the weather was appalling. The car felt slightly vague for the first half day, turn in not great and not especially stable in a straight line. I lowered the pressures from 30 in the fronts to 27 and from 33 in the rears to 30, just experimentation really. Then the tyres seemed to key in, and the whole thing came together. We got to our overnight at Plockton, I'd driven all the way there, and had gradually been leaning on the handling more and more on the way there as I started to trust it.
We were talking about it that night over beer, and I said I'd passenger the next day. Friday dawned with more crap weather. We set off with me in the death seat, and despite damp roads, the car was awe inspiring, really hanging on in fast damp off camber bends with the rear loaded up more than I would have thought it could deal with. I've never had a car on Toyos before, from what I'd read, I expected them to be as good as they were in the dry, but they're a really good wet weather tyre. We didn't bother changing the pressures again, it seemed fine as it was.
We landed in Blairgowrie at the Angus Hotel an hour or so before we could get in the rooms, so left all our stuff in the car and buggered off for a pint at the Weatherspoons over the road, as we're fond of a treat. This turned into a 10 hour session, and the rest of the day is a vague memory. Apparently food was consumed at some point and a band watched, but as far as I'm concerned that could just all be lies!
A late night followed by a long lie in meant we were understandably last in for breakfast, and checked out very late feeling fine but tired, and the drive home was a largely dull trek back down the M90 with only a brief foray into top speed territory followed by an unexpected but amusing opposite lock moment exiting a roundabout at the top of the A1 to liven things up for a minute or so. Back home mid afternoon with a filthy and weary looking car to bath.
Great trip, but the Toyota was the absolute star of the show. It's a credit to it's designer, much much better than I ever thought it could be, and has left me baffled at how little you need to spend to get a sensational driving experience. I'm so unhappy about selling it that I'm wondering about selling the Boxster instead, and if the Porsche wasn't as well sorted as it is, I'd probably really seriously consider it as an option. However, I think I'll find it easier to find another good MR2 in future if I decide to look again.
Before......
During.......
After......
On the basis that I've needed all of them at various stages in the past on these trips, I wanted to take tools and jump leads, Then I looked at the available space. Hmmm. The newly invented game of Roadster Jenga was played out for the next half hour, with my bag of clothes etc also needing to be considered. Plus the passenger and his kit.
These went in first.......
....followed by this on top........
....squashed into here.......
....with a box of screwdrivers and jackets above on the shelf.....
......tools in the frunk along with a litre of oil.....
Two casualties of the trip. Anyone spot what's missing from this pic?
And this came on 30 miles after setting off......EML light.
It's been on before, we've got a reader, the car has an aftermarket cat. Pretty sure it's that. We've got a factory one so that's going on this week. The car runs fine with no discernible issues, so no big deal, but it can't be sold without being resolved and it will be.
The fly in the ointment is that I don't want to sell it! I've been around Toyota products all my life, but until this one came onto the radar, I'd never given them a second glance. Largely because I didn't really like the look of them. I do now. It's wierd how much your perception of a cars appearance can change when you realise how great it is to drive. I think it's a better car than my 3.2S 987 Boxster to drive.
When we set off on Thursday, the tyres were brand new, no miles, and the weather was appalling. The car felt slightly vague for the first half day, turn in not great and not especially stable in a straight line. I lowered the pressures from 30 in the fronts to 27 and from 33 in the rears to 30, just experimentation really. Then the tyres seemed to key in, and the whole thing came together. We got to our overnight at Plockton, I'd driven all the way there, and had gradually been leaning on the handling more and more on the way there as I started to trust it.
We were talking about it that night over beer, and I said I'd passenger the next day. Friday dawned with more crap weather. We set off with me in the death seat, and despite damp roads, the car was awe inspiring, really hanging on in fast damp off camber bends with the rear loaded up more than I would have thought it could deal with. I've never had a car on Toyos before, from what I'd read, I expected them to be as good as they were in the dry, but they're a really good wet weather tyre. We didn't bother changing the pressures again, it seemed fine as it was.
We landed in Blairgowrie at the Angus Hotel an hour or so before we could get in the rooms, so left all our stuff in the car and buggered off for a pint at the Weatherspoons over the road, as we're fond of a treat. This turned into a 10 hour session, and the rest of the day is a vague memory. Apparently food was consumed at some point and a band watched, but as far as I'm concerned that could just all be lies!
A late night followed by a long lie in meant we were understandably last in for breakfast, and checked out very late feeling fine but tired, and the drive home was a largely dull trek back down the M90 with only a brief foray into top speed territory followed by an unexpected but amusing opposite lock moment exiting a roundabout at the top of the A1 to liven things up for a minute or so. Back home mid afternoon with a filthy and weary looking car to bath.
Great trip, but the Toyota was the absolute star of the show. It's a credit to it's designer, much much better than I ever thought it could be, and has left me baffled at how little you need to spend to get a sensational driving experience. I'm so unhappy about selling it that I'm wondering about selling the Boxster instead, and if the Porsche wasn't as well sorted as it is, I'd probably really seriously consider it as an option. However, I think I'll find it easier to find another good MR2 in future if I decide to look again.
Went to a funeral on Monday. Pallbearer. One of the saddest and most unhappy days of my life. Left the MR2 outside my newly rented garage. Got back home to this.
Some clown has thrown open the communal door into the building with enough force to do this. I wouldn't have thought this possible, but I found traces of the missing paint on the edge of the door. Great neighbours, nobody has owned up, despite everyone knowing it's my car. bds. Just spent half the morning looking through CCTV footage, but it'll take a few hours to watch it all. I'll likely be on a homicide charge if I find out who did it.
The pics are deceiving, before I took them, I moved the car as far as possible across the garage entrance to try and prevent it from happening again.
A replacement wing in the right colour is currently available on ebay for £95 delivered, it'll be cheaper than having this repaired.
Some clown has thrown open the communal door into the building with enough force to do this. I wouldn't have thought this possible, but I found traces of the missing paint on the edge of the door. Great neighbours, nobody has owned up, despite everyone knowing it's my car. b
ds. Just spent half the morning looking through CCTV footage, but it'll take a few hours to watch it all. I'll likely be on a homicide charge if I find out who did it.The pics are deceiving, before I took them, I moved the car as far as possible across the garage entrance to try and prevent it from happening again.
A replacement wing in the right colour is currently available on ebay for £95 delivered, it'll be cheaper than having this repaired.
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