Toyota MR2 GTS Revision 2

[danjama]

Hi everyone, I sold my much adored Revision 3 NA one week ago after 1.5 years of ownership:

IMG_2991 by danjama, on Flickr

I actually decided to sell the car as I'd moved in to East London and my insurance rocketed. I planned to go and buy a Corolla to mooch about in, but then my insurers gave a very curious Daniel a very reasonable quote on a GTS and I couldn't resist.

Although I got a bit of dust in my eye as it drove away, I was happy with the condition of the car when it left me and I am sure the new owner is a proper enthusiast, and so I looked forward to finally picking up my own MR2 turbo! The owner was kind enough to hold the car for me without a deposit being left, and exactly one week later, true to my word, i picked it up with cash in hand.

It was not my intention to get another red '2, but I knew from the test drive that this red tintop was my turbo. Been enjoying it so far, done 250 pleasure only miles since Wednesday, including an entertaining night blasting about Essex with some friends in their Jap turbo-mobiles. I'm in love with this car.

The bodywork needs attention (paint peel on front passenger wing) but mechanically it is spot on. It has recently had the ct26 turbo reconditioned, a new clutch and new cambelt. It drives brilliantly. I can't believe the difference in power compared to my old NA. It's ballistic and quite addictive! So nothing needs doing right now, but the rear tyres are almost on their limit so I will be replacing them asap.

In terms of mods, not many. A Greddy intercooler, a Kakimoto exhaust (with bung thank god) and some tatty Sparco 16" alloys that I will have refurbished when I get sick of looking at them as they are now. The interior has the factory Recaros with the fishnet headrest, and a stylish Momo wheel and gearknob.

Only two pictures so far i'm afraid, been too busy playing! The first picture is immediately after arriving home from pickin it up. Was a late one as went down to Brighton after work.





Very fking annoyingly some fking fk scraped their stbox along my car while I was enjoying a fry up in a cafe on Good Friday. Was almost in tears when i got back to the car and saw it. No note left of course. So i spent much of yesterday afternoon trying to remove the scratch. It's much better now, but still noticeable up close. These people make me sick. I'm just glad the car already has bodywork issues. If it was my NA I would have been livid, as the bodywork was perfect.

Not wanting to end on a negative, so I will say that I am looking forward to owning this car. It's a sublime experience. I'm hoping to make a eurotrip and some cross country trips this year, and hopefully it will stay reliable and healthy. And on that note I'm taking it for a health check and a service on Tuesday. I will see you all at the May South East Gathering!

Thanks for reading.

Edited by danjama on Saturday 19th April 20:13

[danjama]

Well, the engine developed a blowing from the turbo area yesterday so replacing the turbo gaskets is the first job

Previous owner recently installed the turbo...

[danjama]

No interest or advice at all!? Where's all the petrolheads?

[danjama]

Tell me about it - it really does seem like yesterday. And it seems to go faster as you get older!!

And cheers - can't wait to get the exhaust blow sorted. Probably going to fit a decat at the same time. Apparently gets the ct26 spooling a lot easier.

[danjama]

D4MJT said:

Do you have any current pics?

Get the turbo sorted out?

I love the SW20, great looking cars.

Yeah they really are one of the best looking cars imo. And the tintop look is really growing on me.

I'll get pics when I'm sorting the turbo gaskets.

[danjama]

Cheers Ant I do miss my NA but once I got a quote on the turbo to match the NA the writing was on the wall. I was a bit tempted to keep it after refreshing the rad but the wheels were already in motion...

Now im like a kid who's been told he can't play with his toy, as I'm not using the car whilst it has an exhaust gasket leak!

Will give you a message about a drive then. I do enjoy Essex roads mostly. Got any pics of yours?

[danjama]

TheRealFingers99 said:

Nice car -- I prefer the tin tops and sunroofs to the targa tops. Have a Rev 1 Turbo as a daily runner myself (but the bodywork is much worse than yours!).

Cool any pics? How long have you had it?

[danjama]

Glad to hear you are looking after her and that is a great price!! Well done. My alternator went on my NA - i think they are very prone to dying from rain water.

Think I will also replace bushes. Also found one of the front dampers leaking yesterday when i had it up on a ramp, so will need to do something with the suspension soon. Don't really want coilovers to be honest. I actually quite like the ride as it is so may just replace the front two units with brand new...

Forgot to check my cancer bars so will make sure i do over the weekend.

Here is a pic of the rear end, showing off the Kakimoto single exit exhaust with bung fitted. It is extremely loud without the bung. Great around tunnels but not so fun on the A13.

I've decided I will be fitting a decat next week at the same time as replacing the turbo gaskets. Probably a Berk one as it has a built-in flexi. Apparently this gets the turbo spooling easier.

MR2 Turbo by danjama, on Flickr

[danjama]

I would love to go for a Berk - i have until next week to persuade the girlfriend that it's a required purchase. I shall start by buying her a pair of shoes

[danjama]

The difference is night and day - i didn't believe it could be so different. Apart from all the new noises, it accelerates much more rapidly, and feels very dramatic when you put your foot down. It has new pads all round which need bedding in but they feel nice and progressive. I haven't had a chance to push it on a nice twisty B road yet, but it feels great on the 16" wheels with 45 profile tyres. Much better than the 17" 40 on my NA. Feels planted at high speed even though people say they become floaty. And the Recaros are really comfortable and hold you well. The steering has a nice weight and is pretty accurate.

One of the nice things is it will accelerate well in most situations, compared to the NA where in some situations it took a bit of time, for example in 5th at 65-70 you can accelerate to overtaking speed in a really short time thanks to the turbo.

I can't wait to sort the exhaust blow and take it to my favourite B road.

The important question is - where do I put the PH smiley which has just arrived?

[danjama]

Here are some pics of the interior, which has the factory Recaros and a Momo Champion steering wheel:

Untitled by danjama, on Flickr

Untitled by danjama, on Flickr

Have a friend from the owners club coming over in the morning to try and trace which gasket is blowing.

[danjama]

This is as far as I got with it today

Untitled by danjama, on Flickr

I really think the rear light clusters could do with freshening up. Any ideas how to do this?

[danjama]

TheAngryDog said:

Quite like these, nice car Dan.

Cheers AD, how you been?

Just checked out your garage - £350 for 2 tyres!!

[danjama]

TheAngryDog said:

Good thanks pal, enjoying London and Bucks, how about you? Never got round to that pint haha.

Any plans for it powr wise etc?

Sorry to hear about the scratch, that kind of thing pisses me off!

Yeah, and that was cheap! I need to buy 4 New cam sensors for it at £486

Taking the car off the road though next month so that I can get everything sorted and get the bodywork done etc

Glad to hear life is good then

Power wise, the decat will improve things a little, and then i'll install a proper boost gauge and see how it's performing before deciding anything else.

Running an M5 is really as expensive as they say! Just saw your other thread about a cheap runaround - you can get MR2 NA's for around £700 and they're about 80% of the fun of a turbo

[danjama]

Spantney said:

Such a nice looking motor With regards to the rear light clusters what about fitting some rev 3-5 ones? I personally think they look nicer than the earlier ones but that's just me.

As for mine, its a '94 G Limited, I don't think you can have more fun for such a small amount of money (I think car + repairs/servicing + upgrades has cost less than a grand!)

Give me a shout sometime and I'll do my best to keep up! Ant

Cheers Spantney, when I first bought it the first thing i wanted to do was the light conversion, but the retro square units have really grown on me. I'm still considering it though. An imoc member recommends t-cut and polish to bring the clusters back to life so i'll see how i get on with that.

Your mr2 looks great - i remember your thread well. Lovely colour. Where are you in Essex, roughly?

[danjama]

CtrlAltDelicious said:

Can't believe you sold that beautiful rev 3

Good luck with this one!

Thanks, I know, but you can't keep one car forever, and I always said the turbo would be my next move...

[danjama]

Just had a visit from an owners club friend and now have a little list of jobs to get on with

Now sure how to prioritise these, but probably like this...

1. Replace head to exhaust manifold gaskets, manifold to turbo gasket, and turbo to downpipe gasket.
2. Decat pipe will be installed at the same time.
3. Turbo hoses are all messed up by previous owner, should be easy to sort out.
5. Replace rear tyres
4. Service and replace ignition components - water leaking into distributor cap.
5. Replace cam cover gasket.
6. Check condition of cambelt and check pulleys.
7. Refresh suspension - either new standard units or coilovers.
8. Replace nsf wing for a tidier one.

Edited by danjama on Sunday 27th April 10:52

[danjama]

cologne2792 said:

Very nice indeed !

Is their a huge difference in handling between the Rev 3 and Rev 2 ?

Thanks, it's hard for me to say to be honest. The main difference seems to be between the 17" and 16" wheels. Very noticeable improvement in general. But i think the Rev 2 already had the suspension/geo improvements that the Rev 3 also benefited from. Obviously, as this is a turbo it has I think black Bilsteins but at the age these components are now it's too hard to notice any difference.

[danjama]

TheAngryDog said:

Cheers! Did you sort things with your Mrs in the end?

Seems way too sensible for PH . I have a mate back in Hull who is running his MR2 Turbo at around 500bhp.

Yeah they aren't cheap. When driving through London I am lucky to stay in double figures MPG wise, but you don't buy one of these and worry about the bills!

Sadly the MR2 is too small. I am still moving stuff from Hull down here so need a decent boot. Plus the gf only has a twingo with a tiny boot, so I really do need something bigger

No haven't had anything to do with her since and all the better for it

Good choice on keeping hold of the M5 though - rare beasts and will always be worth a good amount I think.

[danjama]

Spantney said:

Thats a nice list of jobs to be getting on with! Should make the car all the better though!

I'm down near Southend airport mate.

Bit more than i'd like to be getting on with to be honest - but knowledge is power...best to jump on these things and then enjoy the car for summer.

The gaskets are proof that you should do your research and don't go cheap if possible - all the gaskets were ebay specials. A bit of research shows that these blow after a few months.