Toyota MR2 '86

[Sillyhatday]

Well well. I haven't seen many if any of these on this forum!

I've been here a few months and posted around the place a bit. I've always felt that I don't have much to contribute. Well this week I feel that this has changed and this is my new favourite thingy ever!

I have daily driven a FN2 Type R for a few years and as much as I do love it, I have had an itch for something more, or is that different. I don't know. In any case, I feel you require pictures and such and such.



A description. Its a Toyota MR2 from 1986. It's got a Midmounted 4 Cylinder 1.6 Litre engine, the 4AGE bluetop. It has covered 32,300 miles. 2 owners. Piles of service history. Its Green, has 4 wheels and is generally like new. Mostly.

Well I've had it 5 days and so far has not done anything untoward. Which is nice. The journey back from the totally legit dealer I got it from was setting up to be a disaster. This car hasn't run much and after owning it for all of ten minutes, proceeded to get stuck on the A38 in dead stop traffic. This was from some genius totaling a Green flag van on the opposite carrigeway, thus screwing over the roundabout coming up with A38 traffic milling about. The car never wavered. It just behaved and drove right home. A joy!.



After work this morning, straight on with a full detail to my own standards. Wash, clay bar, hand compound, hand polish, sealant and then wax. A wheel arch scrubbing and some fresh plates. I've completely run out of elbow grease.

Well not all is prefect it is it. After all it's 30 years old. SO the list of major things, there's a million details I want sorting so lets get into major things. OK? Firstly there's an exhaust leak, which I'm fairly sure is coming from the manifold itself. They are fairly prone to cracking and the rest of the system is great for 30 years old. This is fairly fun though as driving with the sunroof open brings those exhaust fumes right inside with you, along with a petrol smell.
Next should be fairly obvious. Those wheels. Seriously why did someone do this? No worries, I got the original wheels thrown in with the deal. Score. But, as usual, they arent in the best condition, there's a few kerb marks and some paint peel on them. They also have no tyres. So thats a job. Generic picture following:



The next as you can't see is the cam cover is shedding paint and looks a mess. The same goes for the sump with some surface rust thrown in the mix.
Speaking of rust, the extent of rust on the car is light surface rust on engine mounts and suspension components. SO I've got some powder coating to do.
For now I'm enjoying the car as it stands. A few weeks and it'll be off the road for the winter and the work begins.

Really the car is completely original, as it left the Toyota factory and I dont want to ruin the complete originality of it. It's unbelievable and most importantly a total joy to ram about in, a real drivers car.

Thanks for looking. There will be winter updates on various repairs and weather permitting some decent quality photos. Any questions, fire away.

Edit: Since there is a few of us interested in these things, AW111 has started a thread to dump alsort related to the MK1 MR2 and general 4A-GE goodness. FInd it here http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=71&t=1621426&i=999999

Edited by Sillyhatday on Thursday 15th September 18:40

Edited by Sillyhatday on Friday 7th October 19:01

Edited by Sillyhatday on Tuesday 4th July 17:52

[Sillyhatday]

Cheers guys. I just fell lucky. I was actually looking at 80's fords and crying at the prices to S2000s and crying at the prices (not that this was any cheaper but it's such a rarity). For a long time these MR2s have been in the back of my mind, since playing Gran Turismo 2 about 16 years ago. This just came up and rest is history. Finding one that's not rotten and/or been modified is quite a challenge. As I say, lucky.

I do intend on showing the car and also getting onto a dedicated MR2 forum. This won't be until next summer and once those awful wheels are off it.

[Sillyhatday]

Squadrone Rosso said:

I drove on & wanted to buy one in 1988. Couldn't get insurance as an 18 year old so bought a new XR2 instead.

I keep looking for a red or white T bar. Would need to be mint though.

Great car op

That sounds bonkers to me with the reputation of the XR2. Thanks for looking

Quhet said:

I really like these and that two tone as mentioned is great!

Yeah, It's one of my favourite bits about the car. Just something you don't see anymore.

Freds said:

Great Car ! I had a red one from new, red mudflaps and all ! To this day I think the 4A-GE engine in the MK1 (W10) MR2 was one of the best engines ever built. I picked mine up in August 1985 from White and Lockwood Toyota in Huddersfield ,grinning like a Cheshire Cat, I swapped it two years later for a FWD Corolla GT with the same engine. Enjoy the car ! I'm suddenly feeling old........

Thanks. I've heard a few of these types of storys from various people, I 've not stopped smiling while driving it so far! I've even had a few random folk stop to say they had one or always wanted one. Yesterday while giving it a good detail a guy stopped walking back to the local campsite, he said he had a white one, how much he loved it and this one is superb. This is all new to me, classic motoring is fantastic.

AW111 said:

Love the two-tone and originality.

I have an 86, but swapped the engine and gearbox from a JDM Trueno.
I have just finished a full front suspension rebuild on mine - bushes, balljoints, rack ends, etc.


You may know this already, but one thing to watch out for - early MR2's (85-mid 86) had subltly different suspension, so ball joints, rear shocks, brake disks and a few other bits are different.
Most parts places don't know that, and only stock the mk1b parts.

Amayama is a great resource for OEM parts, and Toyodiy for parts reference, although they don't have the images any more.

The factory service manual is also available on-line.


Enjoy,

I was aware of some differences between models, particularly the brakes. I wasn't aware of suspension differences. I have the original service book stamped back to its first service in 1987. Thanks for the advice and parts sources, much appreciated.

TwigtheWonderkid said:

Brilliant. Let's have a pic when the original wheels go on, and some interior shots.

Today is looking like dry weather here, not particularly warm but dry. I'll see what I can do today and most certainly will be photos with the original wheels on, though you'll have to wait a while as this is a winter job. While the weather is good, the car is being driven. Thanks for looking.

Dave Hedgehog said:

I love these, I had a 4 year old g reg t-bar with leather in mica blue

SOunds sweet. Can't say I've seen one in that colour before. THank you for looking

CarlosV8 said:

Lovely car OP. Years ago I had a mk1a and my wife a mk1b and we still talk about getting another one day. Don't see many about any more though so looks like you found a good one.

Make sure you look after the engine and use good quality oil. The bottom end went in the mk1b and as we were on a budget we ended up sourcing a cheap engine from the owners club and swapping them over a few weekends. That was hard work! But the engine is an absolute gem when running sweet, definitely one of my favourite 4 pots!

Thank you. Go get yourself one now. The prices are on the up and there's already jokers asking too much for these. It certainly is a good one, the wheel archs are factory fresh!

I will certainly be looking after it and only restoring originality to the car. Is there any particular oil you would recommend? I only use quality oil anyway.

GravelBen said:

Great little cars. I prefer the Mk1 MX5 (different character rather than outright better or worse) and bought one of them instead, but enjoyed driving a mates MR2.

I toyed with the idea of an MX5 before this myself. Thanks for looking.

So hopefully there should be some picture updates later. This is probably going to be a slow thread, for a few months at least, and not as exciting as some on here. So subscribe if you want to!

[Sillyhatday]

Well thanks for all the comments. I seem to find a lot of people had these and had generally forgot they existed. Then again I went to show another mate today and he didn't even know what it was, plus he's twice my age, go figure.

I went out for a good blast out down my favourite local B roads today. The weather held up, thankfully. I must say it's no Lotus Elise but the mid engine handling character is fantastic, if a little unnerving right now. On one of my favourite sections there's a right corner and on the exit a sudden drop into a left hander, a real tight bit, feeling the weight transfer is obviously a little different to a front engine car and st scary. Also after pounding around in modern hot hatch by these standards, having no air conditioning, power steering or ABS, is a real workout yet so rewarding. So here are some really quick photos and interior pictures as requested.

B Roads by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

B Roads by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

B Roads by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

Steering Wheel by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

MIlage by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

Toyota by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

Two tone by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

My personal favourite interior part is the steering wheel with the exposed metal. No chance of seeing anything that that again

Edited by Sillyhatday on Sunday 21st August 19:54

[Sillyhatday]

samoht said:

What an incredibly cool car! Amazingly well preserved for 30 years old; nice pics, too.

You've done well to find an AW11 so unrusty I think. I wonder how the suspension bushings are? If they're original, I guess they could be past their best which might affect the handling ? Although if it's been garaged its whole life, maybe that protects them.

Great purchase, hope you enjoy it.

Thanks I really appreciate it.
I would not be surprised if the bushings are past their best. The handling doesn't feel untoward just different as I've hardly driven anything RWD and, other than a Lamborghini once, nothing Mid-engined. As I mentioned over winter the whole suspension will be coming apart for powder coating/paint, so they will certainly be inspected along with everything else.
It has certainly been garaged its whole life, MOT history shows about 100 miles per year since 2005.

2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:

Lovely!

I always liked the way Toyota was reflected on the rear window from the rear visor

Thanks, its another one of my favourite details about the car.

Does anyone know if there is any sort of piston heads meet near Doncaster any time? Looking to get more involved in the future.

[Sillyhatday]

XAF said:

Amazing cars, I've had two of them and desperately want another! Was this one on eBay recently? Can't be many of the two tones ones around to choose from and I only saw one exactly the same the other week.

Very jealous, it only I had the room!

Rust was always a killer, as well as the notorious rear arches and sills, check the bottom of the a-pillars, they often go there. If they haven't, spray so Waxoyl goodness in there ASAP!

It's possible it was on ebay. I think it was actually, but I found it on carandclassic. I actually can't think of the last time I even saw on the road. I remember passing one on my way to college each time, years ago. It was parked up and never seemed to move. It stuck in my head quietly since.

The A pillar bottoms do have some debris stuck in the bottom. I need to peel back the wheel arch liner and check it out. The rear arches are every ounce of the word mint. I've been in and cleaned every corner I could find removing all sorts of trapped dirt bringing it up a treat.

Waxoyl everything is on the job list. Thanks for the tip on the A pillars.

CABC said:

these cars would leave many a modern hot hatch behind in the fun stakes, if not in outright speed or grip certainly in feel and feedback. Worth getting the suspension properly checked/refreshed to enjoy it at its best. proper ph car, shame Toyota don't a modern mr2.

Without dribbling on for ages, I totally agree. My daily hot hatch offers higher speed thrills but on a sunny weekend, I'd take the Toyota without thinking.

Ilovejapcrap said:

Village called biggin Nr selby next Sunday I think.

Someone is organising a little meet type thing

Probs 25 mins from Donny

Thanks, I don't live in donny but about 20 something miles away. Selby isn't far. I'll check it out

[Sillyhatday]

was8v said:

Make sure you get the correct pre-2001 font, old cars with modern plates just don't look "right".

Car looks fantastic by the way, and should be a keeper. These have mostly rusted away or had a V6 transplant. Love the interior!

I'd thought about that but the ones on it were the modern font. They were also cracked quite badly around the fixings so just needed to get some new ones on it. There's a million details I want to sort.

Don't worry this is only going to return to its factory state. It's unusual to see one unmodified.

[Sillyhatday]

They did some interesting colour combos. I went to silverstone classic and saw a white and light blue one. I don't think you could get more 80s than that

[Sillyhatday]

tali1 said:

There's no less than 3 of these around my neck of the woods.I could tell yer something intriguing about your car

Do go on, so long as it won't make me cry

[Sillyhatday]

Diesel Meister said:

Lovely motor OP

AW11 = Car of champions - mine was a relatively unmolested if unoriginal (some wings, paint) 85. Now its a heinously molested example, - much as I love it now,it was pretty damned special with the original donk. That 4AGE just goads you to use a more expansive spread of revs and is decently torque-endowed for a 1600. Having the correct gearing for keen driving plus under a ton to motivate doesn't hurt either!

And the petrol smell will likely be due to both the lack of cats but also that AW11s vent gasses to the chassis from the factory. It can be mitigated little with a charcoal cannister if you're felling handy...

Another vote to keep the font correct for the plates

I guess it's just me not used to older cars. There is still an exhaust leak, but not why it smells so delightful

There seems to be a lot of want for old font style. The car came with the new font style on it, so I don't have any I can put on with the old font. If I'm at a show I don't want to look a pleb, so even though it doesn't bother me, I'll have to get some.

[Sillyhatday]

Wow, I had heard it was a rare colour. What I didn't know was, that it's the last of them that you could get in that colour. Super.

I have an original brochure, inside the first page is an identical looking car.

[Sillyhatday]

Do it! You'll not regret it.

Small update for the car, I've decided that the standard wheels aren't actually that bad. The money would be better spend elsewhere on the car. SO I'm looking for some tyres to put on the rims. Any ideas on a good grippy summer tyre in 185/60R14. Not surprisingly it's mostly budget tyres in that size.

[Sillyhatday]

davidexige said:

Be sure to post a thread on the car if you buy one!

Should have some tyres ordered next week. So hopefully that means pictures back with the standard wheels

[Sillyhatday]

I still haven't chosen tyres yet. The best so far just looking is a set of Bridgestone Turanzas. I've no idea what to expect but I really like bridgestones on my civic.

[Sillyhatday]

I just don't think that many people have them. Superb car you have yourself there. I've never seen one in that colour before. What colour is that?

Well yesterday I had my first good trip out in the Toyota. I decided to extend the bank holiday at the hope of at least a day of good weather. Well, the monday was spent giving the daily some love, its been looking sad for a few weeks since the arrival of the Toyota. So it got a reasonable detail and a slathering of my mates expensive HD wax

Tuesday came.
I'd sorted out prior with ovlov24 to drive up to Filey and meet up with some relatives at their caravan. So at exactly 10am or there abouts, I rolled the MR2 out the garage and ovlov24 turned up with the grand old 240.
The drive there wasn't all that good. The roads are just jammed full of lorries, caravans and sunday drivers who lost their calendars. We managed to drop off onto some twisty B roads as we drew closer to the sea, the MR2 is right at home there.

During the journey I learn't a few things about the car. I knew that fumes like to swoop in through the sunroof, but it only happens around 40 - 50mph, which also happens to be most of the journey. Towards the end of the journey the huge queue of traffic had had enough! We were all stuck behind a brand new Peugeot, so when the opportunity came an early 90s Merc went for a pass, so did ovlov in the 240 and so did I. New car drivers, bleh. It was quite amusing.

We got there without issue. Relatives were out shopping so we just laid about in some chairs as the day just continued to get hotter. Took about 2 hours on the dot to arrive. We just sat around chatting, had a BBQ with some fresh local fish and well seasoned rump steak. Afterwards we hoped that the sea front would have quietened down, but alas the British know how to make the most of any amount of sun and it was still packed.

We drove up to the carpark overlooking the sea.

Cliff Top by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

Cliff Top by Dan Simpson, on Flickr

After this just headed home. I messed up all the photos I took. I blame food and sun making me weary.

The drive home was much better. The lorries had all but gone and much less of the sunday drivers. We traced back over some of the side roads we took earlier in the day but, I was actually looking forward to the motorway stretch.

Once on the motorway the car and I settled into a rhythm. Dire Straits playing away, the sun going down to my right and a 4A-GE thrumming away behind my head. As the sun disappeared the pop up lights went up and drove home with a huge grin.

It's a good little cruiser!

[Sillyhatday]

Sorry I missed your comment earlier! Yes I totally agree that it is the answer to todays modern roads. I don't drive it too hard. Ive not found the red line in it yet, I'm being a bit gentle, she is a bit old after all Though sharp bends and roundabout exits are a ball

The fumes coming in could well still be the exhaust leak. I promised myself the only non standard thing I'll do to the car is some stainless steel exhaust system. I hope that will cure it as its either a crack in the manifold or possibly the flex joint, which could be coming out the engine cover vents and swirling back into the car. I really don't know.

Thanks for looking

[Sillyhatday]

Just for reference as to what Mica Blue looks like (because I didn't know).



Also I've decided on Continental Premium Contact tyres for those interested. I was thinking about getting these and while cleaning around the spare wheel today, I noticed the really old spare tyre is the same brand. That decided it for me

[Sillyhatday]

I'm sat here scratching at the bit.

I just had to fiddle with something on the Toyota...

I had to find out what sort of hack job was done. The one that is curled up cosy behind the naff headunit.

Que:



Yay, connector blocks, my favourite. I don't even like using them for temporary hack jobs at work.

So, I've got a few headunits laying around from days gone by (fun times). Nearly reinstated my trusty Alpine 9887 until I realised A; I dont need any of its features B, I'll never hear the sound quality benefit and C, It's got one hell of an output for a headunit and I'll destroy the 80's best dash speakers.

In goes other random lesser one.



This looks siht as well. Nothing that can't be changed in the future. At least now; A it sounds better than you would believe these vintage speakers could have sounded, and B I can actually hear my Dire Straits and Metallica albums.

Enough being silly, The reason for this one is that it has connectivity for phones by USB and Aux. There's an iPod connector in the back and I can use Bluetooth for answering calls, which is really handy. Most of all on the 100 mile or so steady drive back from Filey, even with the radio on quiet, I struggled to bear it. I'd rather deal with the tacky looks then poor audio, or nothing at all.

Jobs still to do this weekend after spending two days travelling around with the band:

1. Alpine aerial adaptor.
2. Replace the block connector with nice solder and heat shrink.
3. Reconnect the factory underseat subwoofer.
4. Find the microphone to use handsfree
5. Finish the hack job the last guy did and use the dam ground cable instead of just grounding through the chassis, just goes against me.

Tyres should be here by Tuesday. So if I pull my finger out I'll get the mobile tyre guy round here to fit them, and the standard wheels should be back on the car by the end of next week.

While I was in the shed finding tools, my actual wheels and not a generic picture as in post 1.



Next update, this weekend and hopefully no more wiring horrors.

Edited by Sillyhatday on Thursday 1st September 19:30

Edited by Sillyhatday on Tuesday 4th July 17:56

[Sillyhatday]

Update time.

I got time yesterday afternoon, before having to head out with the band, to fix up the wiring hack behind the radio. Hopefully this will be of some use for others in the internet world too, as I had to use instinct and a small amount of guess work to get the underseat subwoofer working again.

Here we go.

Well I got the old plug connector chopped off, as it was already half chopped so I wasn't going to make it any worse. Then just got soldering the chopped up iso connector to the chopped up wiring loom. Some heat shrink here and there. The purple and green wires were already protected with head shrink, so I just left them as they were. These are the rear speaker connections, of which I've no need. The blue cable which is also sleeved is the electric aerial signal, also I've no need. You can see the bullet connectors on the orange and green cables, which I'll get to in the next bit.



Hindsight is a bh, so looking now at my work I wish I had done it a little differently, but here we are and it's really not a problem.

I just continued wrapping the loom with black tape, as was done from factory, and now you can't tell it was cut up. The male bullet connectors are dead so shorting out isn't a problem. It would suck if your house sockets had live pins sticking out of them, so same principle here. Seems obvious to most.



The orange cable is the radio illumination dimmer. This radio is bright from memory, so as the car does not provide a signal for when your lights are on, I wanted it to be permanently dim.

The green cable. Now this caused me a little head scratcher. The Haynes manual says this connects to the underseat sub. Nice and simple, but there was two green cables in the factory connector. Bleeped out the one to the sub but I still don't know what the second one is for. So it got insulated and tucked inside the loom with the other spares. So educated guess told me that the sub is waiting for 12v signal to switch on. This works. Though for about an hour I didn't think it did as the subwoofer is so rubbish. You can't even tell its working until I got sat in with the doors shut, to which it just vibrates my bks through the seat.



I wanted to use the remote output from the radio for switching on aftermarket amplifiers, but I know that it doesn't support a lot of current draw. Right now so long as the key is in ACC position, the subwoofer is on and picks up some noise if the radio is off. I would like to measure the current draw for peace of mind and then do the above. I still need to put in the aerial adaptor that hasn't come yet, so it should get done.

I managed to change to lights to match the dash, so thats a thing.



Not that exciting I know but the good news is, the tyres have come. They would be fitted today but I'm still waiting for my dads tyres for his Type R, and I'm not calling the tyre fitter out twice. Next update should be pictures with its original wheels back on

Anyone want any wiring colours or anything, just ask. I got a bunch of notes and diagrams.

Edited by Sillyhatday on Saturday 3rd September 15:58

Edited by Sillyhatday on Tuesday 4th July 17:59

[Sillyhatday]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Up until I moved the business I had a client with one of these, she ran it daily and it always looked in pretty good nick. About 3 or 4 years ago it failed it's mot on rust so she got the garage to give it a full respray to sort it out, I do wonder if it's still going.

She must have had it since new, I always said to let me know if she was ever selling but when we moved the business she couldn't bother her arse to travel the extra mile to keep using us so no idea if it's even still on the road.

Always wondered how good these would be to drive these days? I loved my MK3 Spyder, such a sweetly balanced little car and yours OP, looks terrific.

Shame you don't know where it is now.

I really like the way it drives. I've had a go in a MK3 quite a while ago now. If I remember rightly the MK3 feels similar but a much firmer ride. Even though the engines are different, they have similar characteristics too.

I could daily drive the car, its comfortable and always a bunch of fun even at low speeds. Though I daily drive a FN2 Type R which most people hate, so make of it what you will.

You can really tell when they designed the car, the main focus was pure driving experience. It's not fast but probably was fast for its heyday. To me all the controls feel natural, not assisted and light but not heavy. Really makes you work for the experience!

It's really cool that they made a midship car that is accessible to the average person. Most being really expensive and you get 90% of the fun in this.

AW111 said:

OP, what offset are the original mk1a rims?

I had issues with the aftermarket wheels that came with the car fouling the guards at full travel : they are 15x7 et 38.

It now has MR2 mk3 front wheels (15x6 et 45) all round, which also made the steering lighter.

I've not had any issue with rubbing on the arches. These aftermarket wheels are not quite as wide as those you mention.

I'll go check the MK1a wheels in the shed for you later. Really late night last night, I'm being really lazy this afternoon :P