My ongoing MR2 saga...
Discussion
I thought it about time I posted a Readers' Cars thread and this evenings events have prompted me to finally go through with it (more on that later...!)
In the past year I've had to finally admit to myself that I am utterly obsessed with mk2 MR2s.
I think I must have seen one as a small child and had it burned into my memory as it's the only explanation I can find for what really must be termed some sort of illness!
Though prior to the MR2s I had two Puntos, the saga began proper when I was 19. I had returned from a gap year-style stay in South Africa with my uncle who lives there, and while there with occasional internet browsing I set my heart on finally buying an MR2 when I returned home. I came back, got a job, paid back my debts and then saved my next few paychecks and finally, FINALLY, one day came home in this beauty
£800 saw me into it, an early revision 1 model, sure it had a big dent in the door and the speedo didn't work and the insurance was obscene, but it was mine, and by far the coolest car in my group of mates when the rest of them were still in Corsas and Polos.
I only had it a relatively short time but the seed was sown - had some nice memories with it too, including a jaunt to a French château with my then girlfriend (now wife), some frankly stupid teenager car park antics with friends - being as the rest of them were still in FWD cars, mine was a novelty! - and having a chav practically s
t himself in front of me when I had to drive it once with no backbox.
Times changed, I started at University, shacked up with my girlfriend and we had a baby so the two seater had to go. In its place came a Cinquecento, which was actually great fun though being 6'5 and not a slightly built kind of bloke I felt a bit of a clown getting out of it. But it worked well for our young family and we did many miles in it. Many motorway miles and barely audible conversations led us to swap it for a Vectra which did us for two good years, during which we had a second little boy, got married, and the now Mrs OwenK learnt to drive.
All during which I was secretly hankering for another MR2, and finally with much pestering (and a very understanding wife), I was to have one once again! Some of the money received as wedding gifts became mine to buy a project MR2 with, and so I set about trying to find the single cheapest example of one anywhere in the country. I had (have) a long list of modifications and upgrades to make to my car, and so with little actual income but a burning obsession, I planned to spend the next several years tinkering with the car to make it just the way I wanted it, a long term project.
This is it the day she arrived, the single cheapest T-bar MR2 available anywhere on the internet at the time: a revision 1, import model, automatic, leaky roofed, cloth interior, with a blown headgasket, stood-for-6-months-before-I-even-bought-it utter minger of an MR2 but it was mine to fiddle with and for the princely sum of £180. I think the only LESS desirable MR2 you could ever find, would actually be a Daewoo.
8 months later and it looked like this:
(note the little boy in the picture is the very same one whos birth meant the sale of my first MR2 - now big enough to help me wash one
)
Yes, it hasn't moved. In the end I only managed to get about two afternoons of work done on it, ever. Now it just looks even ropier than it did before, all the brakes are seized and the tyres flat. I have learnt my lesson from this: I will never get around to doing anything myself, and if I do, it'll turn out crap, so just get a professional to do it in the first place!
We came into some money this year, unfortunately under sad circumstances, but it has meant that we are more financially stable and so have been in a position to treat ourselves a bit, especially after three years of trying to feed a family with just my student loan. We got rid of the family Vectra and bought a facelift MG ZT 1.8T:
And then, as per usual, I swivelled the topic of conversation back to the MR2 department, with the aim of finally paying somebody to repair it for me so I can at least drive it. Ultimately though the Mrs one day made a good point: Why bother spending the £1500 ish getting my old one running again, when for the same money I could have one that already works, and wouldn't have to be automatic, import, leaky roofed, cloth interior etc! A very valid point and one that has led me to number 3:
My car was in the MR2 article in Classic and Sports Car magazine last month (albeit at the time still with its previous owner).
In the past when buying cars, I have generally tried to find the cheapest possible example that doesn't look too ropey - and I've always found it frustrating because they have generally turned out to be knackered. So this time I thought I would do differently - I bought the car from a very friendly owner's club member, for £1400 rather than as cheap as humanly possible, with promise of fresh MOT, many recently replaced components, and so on.
At this point MrsK also caught the bug and, bks to it all, we bought her one too 
(You appreciate that, having two children, a two seater sports car simply isn't practical. TWO two-seaters, though, is perfectly practical indeed)
Buying the cars was a truly epic mission: Both cars were located around 3hrs north of us, near Manchester. We didn't want to make the same journey twice, and we only have the two of us available as drivers, so what is the obvious solution?
-Drive oop north
-Collect MrsK's car, drive in convoy to Manchester (via Legoland @ Trafford Centre to placate the children!)
-Park MrsK's car at We Buy Any Car Manchester
-Drive all together to buy my car at the seller's house
-Drive my car in convoy back to WBAC Manchester
-Sell original car to WBAC
-Drive home in 2x MR2's
Though a terrifying embarkation with two children in tow and the knowledge that any single part of the plan not working would result in us being really quite buggered with no backup plan...
It actually went surprisingly well! though not helped by WBAC booking us an appointment for Tuesday when they do not in fact open on Tuesdays and you only find out about this 1hr before the arranged time. Fortunately the seller of my car went above and beyond the call of duty, meeting us at WBAC instead of his house, having to change the actual location he was meeting us at 3 times due to WBAC's screwups, and finally giving me directions over the phone when my satnav packed up!
One collected...
Two collected!
Finally home at 1.30am after a fraught last hour with two screaming from exhaustion little boys and no real method of signalling between the two cars!
We enjoyed the novelty for a week and went everywhere in both cars together then joined up with some local PHers for the convoy to Jaguar Sunday Service a few weeks ago.
All was well and good fun was had on the first leg of the journey (we had a rest break halfway there). It was while waiting to leave on the second leg that things started going downhill...
I turned the car on and left it running a while so the heaters would be blowing nice and hot by the time we were to leave. While sitting there with the little four-pot whirring away behind me I remarked to myself (and my wife) at the pretty patterns the wind was making of the steam from the raindrops evaporating off the engine lid. However they progressively got worse, and worse... until there was really quite a lot of steam and something was definitely going wrong... at this point the convoy was beginning to leave and so I adopted the standard strategy, "it'll be alright if I go a bit faster" - sadly this was not the case and eventually I couldn't ignore it any more, it was definitely overheating
Fortunately PH hero Steve (YesItsARover) hung about with me to try and get it sorted, after a water topup I hobbled it another half mile down the road before eventually admitting defeat and parking up in a farmer's driveway to call the AA. On their eventual arrival he topped up some more and couldn't really find anything wrong so I decided bks to it, might as well try and make it the last few miles to Gaydon, so we limped along in convoy all the way there and home again afterward.
After the overheating fiasco it was time for its MOT. The seller had originally offered to have it done but I was impatient and too trusting... never again! It came back with a fail sheet two pages long, and that's with no mention of the overheating... argh! So the car went up to MR2 specialist Pacific Works (which ironically turned out to be off the back of the truck stop our local area PH runs start from, see two pictures above). It stayed there for nearly two weeks and when it finally came back, £500 lighter, it was to have gained nearly-new Bilstein dampers with Tein springs all round, fresh pads and some drilled and grooved discs on each corner, a fixed overheating problem and even a working head unit, finally!
Things have been going well since the car came back and I've spent the time getting used to the absolutely rock-hard ride on the new suspension setup - if I'm honest, a little too firm for my tastes, but on a nice smooth winding road the cornering feeling is excellent.
It passed its MOT re-test today (after a second fail due to rusted headlamp adjuster screws - grrr). Tonight, though, I found myself unable to sleep at about 12.30am and decided to go for a bit of a drive, roof off, heater on, new CD in the stereo, just to clear my mind a little. After only about half an hour, coming round a roundabout, the ABS warning light came on... then the PAS... then the lights started getting dim...
It is at this point I remember that I think the alternator belt has been squeaking since the car came back and perhaps it hasn't been charging properly!
What followed was a steadily more terrifying drive back home along unlit dual carriageways and A-roads with the battery gradually draining. I didn't want to risk stopping as I didn't think it'd get going again and with luck I might be able to nurse it home and sort it out in the morning - no such luck.
As I got closer and closer to home everything started getting weaker and weaker, including losing the power steering, dash lighting, some of the gauges, and very very little engine power - including at one point driving on a NSL dual carraigeway in the dead of night with no headlights! Just to try and eke it back to civilisation. The poor car eventually coughed its last and I managed to coast it into a turn-off near to home - lucky I made it so far as there was no hard shoulder present and if it had died two minutes earlier I'd have been stuck on the A1M!
Once again fortunately I had my toolkit in the car and after failing to wake up MrsK with her phone, I elected to do the manly thing and just walk back, carrying the battery so I could charge it at home and hopefully get the car somewhere safer tomorrow. 1.5 mile walk carrying a 20kg battery at 2am - in retrospect it would have been easier to walk home empty handed, pick up the MG, then drive back to the dead MR2 to pick up the battery... I don't think I was really thinking straight
That brings me up to date on the MR2 saga and I think it may be time to admit I have a problem!
In the past year I've had to finally admit to myself that I am utterly obsessed with mk2 MR2s.
I think I must have seen one as a small child and had it burned into my memory as it's the only explanation I can find for what really must be termed some sort of illness!
Though prior to the MR2s I had two Puntos, the saga began proper when I was 19. I had returned from a gap year-style stay in South Africa with my uncle who lives there, and while there with occasional internet browsing I set my heart on finally buying an MR2 when I returned home. I came back, got a job, paid back my debts and then saved my next few paychecks and finally, FINALLY, one day came home in this beauty
£800 saw me into it, an early revision 1 model, sure it had a big dent in the door and the speedo didn't work and the insurance was obscene, but it was mine, and by far the coolest car in my group of mates when the rest of them were still in Corsas and Polos.
I only had it a relatively short time but the seed was sown - had some nice memories with it too, including a jaunt to a French château with my then girlfriend (now wife), some frankly stupid teenager car park antics with friends - being as the rest of them were still in FWD cars, mine was a novelty! - and having a chav practically s
t himself in front of me when I had to drive it once with no backbox.Times changed, I started at University, shacked up with my girlfriend and we had a baby so the two seater had to go. In its place came a Cinquecento, which was actually great fun though being 6'5 and not a slightly built kind of bloke I felt a bit of a clown getting out of it. But it worked well for our young family and we did many miles in it. Many motorway miles and barely audible conversations led us to swap it for a Vectra which did us for two good years, during which we had a second little boy, got married, and the now Mrs OwenK learnt to drive.
All during which I was secretly hankering for another MR2, and finally with much pestering (and a very understanding wife), I was to have one once again! Some of the money received as wedding gifts became mine to buy a project MR2 with, and so I set about trying to find the single cheapest example of one anywhere in the country. I had (have) a long list of modifications and upgrades to make to my car, and so with little actual income but a burning obsession, I planned to spend the next several years tinkering with the car to make it just the way I wanted it, a long term project.
This is it the day she arrived, the single cheapest T-bar MR2 available anywhere on the internet at the time: a revision 1, import model, automatic, leaky roofed, cloth interior, with a blown headgasket, stood-for-6-months-before-I-even-bought-it utter minger of an MR2 but it was mine to fiddle with and for the princely sum of £180. I think the only LESS desirable MR2 you could ever find, would actually be a Daewoo.
8 months later and it looked like this:
(note the little boy in the picture is the very same one whos birth meant the sale of my first MR2 - now big enough to help me wash one
)Yes, it hasn't moved. In the end I only managed to get about two afternoons of work done on it, ever. Now it just looks even ropier than it did before, all the brakes are seized and the tyres flat. I have learnt my lesson from this: I will never get around to doing anything myself, and if I do, it'll turn out crap, so just get a professional to do it in the first place!
We came into some money this year, unfortunately under sad circumstances, but it has meant that we are more financially stable and so have been in a position to treat ourselves a bit, especially after three years of trying to feed a family with just my student loan. We got rid of the family Vectra and bought a facelift MG ZT 1.8T:
And then, as per usual, I swivelled the topic of conversation back to the MR2 department, with the aim of finally paying somebody to repair it for me so I can at least drive it. Ultimately though the Mrs one day made a good point: Why bother spending the £1500 ish getting my old one running again, when for the same money I could have one that already works, and wouldn't have to be automatic, import, leaky roofed, cloth interior etc! A very valid point and one that has led me to number 3:
My car was in the MR2 article in Classic and Sports Car magazine last month (albeit at the time still with its previous owner).
In the past when buying cars, I have generally tried to find the cheapest possible example that doesn't look too ropey - and I've always found it frustrating because they have generally turned out to be knackered. So this time I thought I would do differently - I bought the car from a very friendly owner's club member, for £1400 rather than as cheap as humanly possible, with promise of fresh MOT, many recently replaced components, and so on.
At this point MrsK also caught the bug and, b
ks to it all, we bought her one too (You appreciate that, having two children, a two seater sports car simply isn't practical. TWO two-seaters, though, is perfectly practical indeed)
Buying the cars was a truly epic mission: Both cars were located around 3hrs north of us, near Manchester. We didn't want to make the same journey twice, and we only have the two of us available as drivers, so what is the obvious solution?
-Drive oop north
-Collect MrsK's car, drive in convoy to Manchester (via Legoland @ Trafford Centre to placate the children!)
-Park MrsK's car at We Buy Any Car Manchester
-Drive all together to buy my car at the seller's house
-Drive my car in convoy back to WBAC Manchester
-Sell original car to WBAC
-Drive home in 2x MR2's
Though a terrifying embarkation with two children in tow and the knowledge that any single part of the plan not working would result in us being really quite buggered with no backup plan...
It actually went surprisingly well! though not helped by WBAC booking us an appointment for Tuesday when they do not in fact open on Tuesdays and you only find out about this 1hr before the arranged time. Fortunately the seller of my car went above and beyond the call of duty, meeting us at WBAC instead of his house, having to change the actual location he was meeting us at 3 times due to WBAC's screwups, and finally giving me directions over the phone when my satnav packed up!
One collected...
Two collected!
Finally home at 1.30am after a fraught last hour with two screaming from exhaustion little boys and no real method of signalling between the two cars!
We enjoyed the novelty for a week and went everywhere in both cars together
then joined up with some local PHers for the convoy to Jaguar Sunday Service a few weeks ago.All was well and good fun was had on the first leg of the journey (we had a rest break halfway there). It was while waiting to leave on the second leg that things started going downhill...
I turned the car on and left it running a while so the heaters would be blowing nice and hot by the time we were to leave. While sitting there with the little four-pot whirring away behind me I remarked to myself (and my wife) at the pretty patterns the wind was making of the steam from the raindrops evaporating off the engine lid. However they progressively got worse, and worse... until there was really quite a lot of steam and something was definitely going wrong... at this point the convoy was beginning to leave and so I adopted the standard strategy, "it'll be alright if I go a bit faster" - sadly this was not the case and eventually I couldn't ignore it any more, it was definitely overheating
Fortunately PH hero Steve (YesItsARover) hung about with me to try and get it sorted, after a water topup I hobbled it another half mile down the road before eventually admitting defeat and parking up in a farmer's driveway to call the AA. On their eventual arrival he topped up some more and couldn't really find anything wrong so I decided b
ks to it, might as well try and make it the last few miles to Gaydon, so we limped along in convoy all the way there and home again afterward.After the overheating fiasco it was time for its MOT. The seller had originally offered to have it done but I was impatient and too trusting... never again! It came back with a fail sheet two pages long, and that's with no mention of the overheating... argh! So the car went up to MR2 specialist Pacific Works (which ironically turned out to be off the back of the truck stop our local area PH runs start from, see two pictures above). It stayed there for nearly two weeks and when it finally came back, £500 lighter, it was to have gained nearly-new Bilstein dampers with Tein springs all round, fresh pads and some drilled and grooved discs on each corner, a fixed overheating problem and even a working head unit, finally!
Things have been going well since the car came back and I've spent the time getting used to the absolutely rock-hard ride on the new suspension setup - if I'm honest, a little too firm for my tastes, but on a nice smooth winding road the cornering feeling is excellent.
It passed its MOT re-test today (after a second fail due to rusted headlamp adjuster screws - grrr). Tonight, though, I found myself unable to sleep at about 12.30am and decided to go for a bit of a drive, roof off, heater on, new CD in the stereo, just to clear my mind a little. After only about half an hour, coming round a roundabout, the ABS warning light came on... then the PAS... then the lights started getting dim...
It is at this point I remember that I think the alternator belt has been squeaking since the car came back and perhaps it hasn't been charging properly!
What followed was a steadily more terrifying drive back home along unlit dual carriageways and A-roads with the battery gradually draining. I didn't want to risk stopping as I didn't think it'd get going again and with luck I might be able to nurse it home and sort it out in the morning - no such luck.
As I got closer and closer to home everything started getting weaker and weaker, including losing the power steering, dash lighting, some of the gauges, and very very little engine power
- including at one point driving on a NSL dual carraigeway in the dead of night with no headlights! Just to try and eke it back to civilisation. The poor car eventually coughed its last and I managed to coast it into a turn-off near to home - lucky I made it so far as there was no hard shoulder present and if it had died two minutes earlier I'd have been stuck on the A1M!Once again fortunately I had my toolkit in the car and after failing to wake up MrsK with her phone, I elected to do the manly thing and just walk back, carrying the battery so I could charge it at home and hopefully get the car somewhere safer tomorrow. 1.5 mile walk carrying a 20kg battery at 2am - in retrospect it would have been easier to walk home empty handed, pick up the MG, then drive back to the dead MR2 to pick up the battery... I don't think I was really thinking straight
That brings me up to date on the MR2 saga and I think it may be time to admit I have a problem!
Great tale Owen!
The last bit is very familiar, as exactly the same thing happened to me a few years ago* in a Fiesta. I'd been to a party on the other side of town and when I tried to start it to come home, it wouldn't! A push start cured that, but on the way home the stereo started slowing down and the lights went a bit dim. (These things always happen at night don't they?) Then the car just died on me! Fortunately I was facing downhill so managed to get going again. Found that by running on sidelights and turning the headlights back on when another car appeared, I could eke out the battery. Later though it wouldn't even run on sidelights so I had to turn those off as well and put up with being flashed at by everyone. Luckily it was about 1 am and there were few cars around. I nearly made it - but about a mile from home there was an off-licence car park where a police car often lurked, so I slowed down to see if I could see him. He wasn't there in fact but it was too late. The engine died and that was it, so I had to walk the rest of the way home.
ETA - mine needed a new alternator.
The last bit is very familiar, as exactly the same thing happened to me a few years ago* in a Fiesta. I'd been to a party on the other side of town and when I tried to start it to come home, it wouldn't! A push start cured that, but on the way home the stereo started slowing down and the lights went a bit dim. (These things always happen at night don't they?) Then the car just died on me! Fortunately I was facing downhill so managed to get going again. Found that by running on sidelights and turning the headlights back on when another car appeared, I could eke out the battery. Later though it wouldn't even run on sidelights so I had to turn those off as well and put up with being flashed at by everyone. Luckily it was about 1 am and there were few cars around. I nearly made it - but about a mile from home there was an off-licence car park where a police car often lurked, so I slowed down to see if I could see him. He wasn't there in fact but it was too late. The engine died and that was it, so I had to walk the rest of the way home.
- - just looked it up in the diary; it was actually July 1989.
ETA - mine needed a new alternator.
Good story.
I like MR2s. I had a Mk1 ages ago, lovely car. I always preferred them to the Mk2, but I'd quite like one of those as well!!
The two cars together look great. I'd like one in black to go alongside my car. You don't really see many these days that haven't been ruined with huge wheels/chavtastic bodykits.
I like MR2s. I had a Mk1 ages ago, lovely car. I always preferred them to the Mk2, but I'd quite like one of those as well!!
The two cars together look great. I'd like one in black to go alongside my car. You don't really see many these days that haven't been ruined with huge wheels/chavtastic bodykits.
sarahcoles said:
Hii everyone.. Its Sarah Coles over here. M a newbie Superb car man.
Hello there! Superb car man. Thanks for the feedback guys.
Managed to get the car home this morning with the battery having been charged up from the plug overnight. When I got in I went to unplug the battery with the car still running, on the old theory that with no battery, the alternator should provide enough power to keep the engine running & if the car dies then it's probably the alternator. The car died Another bill coming up, then...
As I said I've heard the belt squealing a few times over the past week (though only occasionally) so it's my hope that perhaps the belt has loosened itself or something to that effect, rather than total alternator failure, but we'll have to wait and see - Luke my mechanic can't touch it until Monday anyway. We were due to go for a local PH run on Sunday morning that I was really looking forward to so if I'm feeling brave, I'll be armed with the MR2 and a breakdown policy(!) - and if I'm not, I'll have to be in the big MG. We will see...
Fingers crossed this is surely the last piece of maintenance it needs for a while. Surely! The clutch is on its way out but hopefully I'll get a few more months out of it yet. It'd be nice to spend some money on the car to get some nice bits, rather than just fixing broken stuff!
Managed to get the car home this morning with the battery having been charged up from the plug overnight. When I got in I went to unplug the battery with the car still running, on the old theory that with no battery, the alternator should provide enough power to keep the engine running & if the car dies then it's probably the alternator. The car died
Another bill coming up, then...As I said I've heard the belt squealing a few times over the past week (though only occasionally) so it's my hope that perhaps the belt has loosened itself or something to that effect, rather than total alternator failure, but we'll have to wait and see - Luke my mechanic can't touch it until Monday anyway. We were due to go for a local PH run on Sunday morning that I was really looking forward to
so if I'm feeling brave, I'll be armed with the MR2 and a breakdown policy(!) - and if I'm not, I'll have to be in the big MG. We will see...Fingers crossed this is surely the last piece of maintenance it needs for a while. Surely! The clutch is on its way out but hopefully I'll get a few more months out of it yet. It'd be nice to spend some money on the car to get some nice bits, rather than just fixing broken stuff!
6potdave said:
Great write up and hats off for buying 2 MR2's because you have 2 children - brilliant! I have a Rev 2 and absolutely love it. I would love it even more if everything worked at once but it's what you come to expect from an 18 year old car I guess!
Ain't that the truth! Oil leak followed by radiator leak, fluttering noise from engine at 2000 revs getting worse, broken 3 pronged locking wheel nuts, and the ongoing problem of the knocking right front brake. Still love it to bits at the moment though even if the oil leak has come back again yesterday!I got myself an early mk2 earlier this year and despite being the unloved non GT I'm loving it. It was a bit unloved when I got it but I've been busy getting it back up to scratch and it's a cracking thing to drive and add the lack of power it means a lead foot gets me in less trouble 
Your 2nd one looked about as pink as mine was when I got it but glad to say it's back to a nice deep red again now after some vigorous polishing!
Still thinking about getting rid of it soon to free up some funds for my long term 944 project which I'm hoping will be just as much fun. Just need to convince people the non GT isn't as bad as people say
Shame about your alternator woes but shouldn't be too bad. I got RAC cover when I got my MR2 and it's not let me down once (despite a cracked dizzy cap), my 3 year old Passat however has been an absolute pig to deal with since christmas so oddly a 21 year old previously destined for the crusher MR2 has been my reliable car.
Your 2nd one looked about as pink as mine was when I got it but glad to say it's back to a nice deep red again now after some vigorous polishing!
Still thinking about getting rid of it soon to free up some funds for my long term 944 project which I'm hoping will be just as much fun. Just need to convince people the non GT isn't as bad as people say
Shame about your alternator woes but shouldn't be too bad. I got RAC cover when I got my MR2 and it's not let me down once (despite a cracked dizzy cap), my 3 year old Passat however has been an absolute pig to deal with since christmas so oddly a 21 year old previously destined for the crusher MR2 has been my reliable car.
Update;
MR2 is back from the menders, again! Driven 50 miles in it tonight on fast A-roads and it feels a different car.
Dropped it over to Luke at Pacific Works seemingly ages ago now to sort the alternator problem. While discussing costs with him me and Mrs K got fed up with coming back for a new expense every two weeks so asked him to look over the entire car and fix or replace anything else that might break in the next 6 months! That also extended to a new clutch (which was not long for this world anyway).
Finally got it back today, all fixed. The alternator problem? Apparently, after much experimentation, they can only conclude ... *drumroll please* ... the plug wasn't clipped on properly
Luke said it was very loose and easily came off when he inspected it whereas normally they are a pain in the arse. After replacing it and giving it a good shove it was stiff and hard to remove as it should be. No problems with it since. So that's that then!
Clutch change also came with a gearbox oil change, and Luke also replaced a distributor O-ring that was slightly leaking oil, and replaced the reverse switch on the gearbox so my reverse lights work again. He also checked over everything major he could think of... so fingers crossed we can just do some driving for a bit!
Took it out tonight for a good drive and it feels transformed! Perhaps the clutch was more knackered than I thought, as stupid as it may be, the car feels faster! Changing gear is immensely satisfying, with an easier gearstick motion and a nice low re-engagement that means the change can be very fast and generally feels lovely. This in combination with the new brakes from last trip to Luke which are just bedding in now, and even the Teins don't feel as stiff as they did
Perhaps a part of it is placebo effect from knowing someone trustworthy has looked it over and didn't see anything expected to break soon, so I can finally start putting some trust in the car, who knows - either way it's a joy again
BUT we may have to be off the road AGAIN soon...
My long suffering wife has decided she's suffered enough of my whinging and pining, and so for my birthday present this year she's given me the green light to get the MR2's bodywork mods done
So I have some rather large packages winging their way toward me in the next two weeks, and hopefully into a spray booth within the month... more on that, later
MR2 is back from the menders, again! Driven 50 miles in it tonight on fast A-roads and it feels a different car.
Dropped it over to Luke at Pacific Works seemingly ages ago now to sort the alternator problem. While discussing costs with him me and Mrs K got fed up with coming back for a new expense every two weeks so asked him to look over the entire car and fix or replace anything else that might break in the next 6 months! That also extended to a new clutch (which was not long for this world anyway).
Finally got it back today, all fixed. The alternator problem? Apparently, after much experimentation, they can only conclude ... *drumroll please* ... the plug wasn't clipped on properly
Luke said it was very loose and easily came off when he inspected it whereas normally they are a pain in the arse. After replacing it and giving it a good shove it was stiff and hard to remove as it should be. No problems with it since. So that's that then!
Clutch change also came with a gearbox oil change, and Luke also replaced a distributor O-ring that was slightly leaking oil, and replaced the reverse switch on the gearbox so my reverse lights work again. He also checked over everything major he could think of... so fingers crossed we can just do some driving for a bit!
Took it out tonight for a good drive and it feels transformed! Perhaps the clutch was more knackered than I thought, as stupid as it may be, the car feels faster! Changing gear is immensely satisfying, with an easier gearstick motion and a nice low re-engagement that means the change can be very fast and generally feels lovely. This in combination with the new brakes from last trip to Luke which are just bedding in now, and even the Teins don't feel as stiff as they did
Perhaps a part of it is placebo effect from knowing someone trustworthy has looked it over and didn't see anything expected to break soon, so I can finally start putting some trust in the car, who knows - either way it's a joy again
BUT we may have to be off the road AGAIN soon...
My long suffering wife has decided she's suffered enough of my whinging and pining, and so for my birthday present this year she's given me the green light to get the MR2's bodywork mods done
So I have some rather large packages winging their way toward me in the next two weeks, and hopefully into a spray booth within the month... more on that, later
WeirdNeville said:
When the bug bites, it bites hard!
You should have got one of these:
Which, remarkably despite it's 120k miles and 22 years didn't break down on me once. I even tracked it a few times, and drove it pretty hard (in a respectful way) and it loved it.
Cracking cars!
Is that a factory colour? I've never seen one like that before...You should have got one of these:
Which, remarkably despite it's 120k miles and 22 years didn't break down on me once. I even tracked it a few times, and drove it pretty hard (in a respectful way) and it loved it.
Cracking cars!
Yes, Gunmetal metallic. It was one of only around 7 officially sold in the UK in that colour. I've only ever seen one other in the colour, a sunroof model. Mine was a T-Bar. It's getting more popular now, many people are opting for it on a re-spray. It does the car many favours IMO, and has dated much better than white or pink!
Anyway, back on topic... I hope Owen K gets his car back sorted! Funny, I always had the impression MK2's were more reliable!
Anyway, back on topic... I hope Owen K gets his car back sorted! Funny, I always had the impression MK2's were more reliable!
Mk2s in general I think are perfectly reliable - I think I managed to get mine at just a particularly unfortunate time! Still, the parts replaced are all bits I wanted to upgrade at some point anyway (apart from the overheating issue at the start).
To be honest I think the problems with mine have been overplayed a bit by spending a week with the mechanic each time - both problems were relatively simple issues in the end really. I've just gotten sick of trying to fix problems myself which involve 3 hours spent underneath the car trying to crack one persistent bolt, which ends up not really fixing it anyway, and not knowing what to look at next, so spending the entire ownership of the car walking on eggshells worried that it will break. I don't have the time or energy anymore, I'd rather send it to someone I trust so I can feel confident in it when it comes back.
Mrs K's MR2 has been perfectly fine the entire time, barring a blow in the exhaust (which gives it a rasp that actually quite appeals to my inner chav), a driver's window that sits about 5mm too low, and some blown bulbs!
She did indeed refurb her wheels, in the loosest sense of the word! They were in shocking condition when we picked up the car, and she hated the tatty look, plus preferred dark wheels anyway. So she gave them a really quick and dirty spray with a can of Halfords wheel paint - no sanding, just cleaned the surfaces with a wipe, no masking the tyres either - and it came out surprisingly well! It does look a little rough if you're looking right up close, but even standing next to the car it looks a fine job and a ton better than the nasty peeling look they had before. At the same time she touched up the stonechips with a touch up kit from eBay which also improved the car no end, all off her own back with no prompting or help from me - addagirl
To be honest I think the problems with mine have been overplayed a bit by spending a week with the mechanic each time - both problems were relatively simple issues in the end really. I've just gotten sick of trying to fix problems myself which involve 3 hours spent underneath the car trying to crack one persistent bolt, which ends up not really fixing it anyway, and not knowing what to look at next, so spending the entire ownership of the car walking on eggshells worried that it will break. I don't have the time or energy anymore, I'd rather send it to someone I trust so I can feel confident in it when it comes back.
Mrs K's MR2 has been perfectly fine the entire time, barring a blow in the exhaust (which gives it a rasp that actually quite appeals to my inner chav), a driver's window that sits about 5mm too low, and some blown bulbs!
She did indeed refurb her wheels, in the loosest sense of the word! They were in shocking condition when we picked up the car, and she hated the tatty look, plus preferred dark wheels anyway. So she gave them a really quick and dirty spray with a can of Halfords wheel paint - no sanding, just cleaned the surfaces with a wipe, no masking the tyres either
- and it came out surprisingly well! It does look a little rough if you're looking right up close, but even standing next to the car it looks a fine job and a ton better than the nasty peeling look they had before. At the same time she touched up the stonechips with a touch up kit from eBay which also improved the car no end, all off her own back with no prompting or help from me - addagirl Edited by OwenK on Sunday 8th May 22:03
OwenK said:
M
She did indeed refurb her wheels, in the loosest sense of the word! They were in shocking condition when we picked up the car, and she hated the tatty look, plus preferred dark wheels anyway. So she gave them a really quick and dirty spray with a can of Halfords wheel paint - no sanding, just cleaned the surfaces with a wipe, no masking the tyres either - and it came out surprisingly well! It does look a little rough if you're looking right up close, but even standing next to the car it looks a fine job and a ton better than the nasty peeling look they had before. At the same time she touched up the stonechips with a touch up kit from eBay which also improved the car no end, all off her own back with no prompting or help from me - addagirl
I'll chat with you about this on Sunday, seems like a good cheap way of tarting the car up!She did indeed refurb her wheels, in the loosest sense of the word! They were in shocking condition when we picked up the car, and she hated the tatty look, plus preferred dark wheels anyway. So she gave them a really quick and dirty spray with a can of Halfords wheel paint - no sanding, just cleaned the surfaces with a wipe, no masking the tyres either
- and it came out surprisingly well! It does look a little rough if you're looking right up close, but even standing next to the car it looks a fine job and a ton better than the nasty peeling look they had before. At the same time she touched up the stonechips with a touch up kit from eBay which also improved the car no end, all off her own back with no prompting or help from me - addagirl I love a good car story I can relate on the alternator tale of woe also - it went on my 106 Rallye, when we were about 300 miles from home on the way to the rally GB, quite interesting watching the rev counter play silly buggers on the M4 before finally dying in cardiff...
MR2s always remind me of an idiot mate of mine, who thought his FWD Mitsubishi FTO was so unsafe with its keraaaaaazy oversteer, he thought he'd play it safe and buy an MR2...
I've always quite fancied a Mk2, they're very similar to the MX5 but just seem a bit more manly
I can relate on the alternator tale of woe also - it went on my 106 Rallye, when we were about 300 miles from home on the way to the rally GB, quite interesting watching the rev counter play silly buggers on the M4 before finally dying in cardiff...MR2s always remind me of an idiot mate of mine, who thought his FWD Mitsubishi FTO was so unsafe with its keraaaaaazy oversteer, he thought he'd play it safe and buy an MR2...
I've always quite fancied a Mk2, they're very similar to the MX5 but just seem a bit more manly
Great story. Glad you finally got it all sorted, you can have some fun driving it now!
Considering a Mk2 MR2 myself at the moment, I just love the sound they make when you hit 5k rpm and the exhaust note changes! (a friend of mine has a N/A Rev 5 with a dec cat exhaust at a decent induction kit) One of the best sounding cars around in my opinion. I can't decide whether to get a N/A or a turbo though. I'd probably prefer the N/A as you can pick them up a bit cheaper and insurane would be less of an issue for me as I'm only 20 (soon to be 21). I'm struggeling to find any decent reviews and performance data on either of them though.
I'd want it to be a considerable step up from my previous car, - 106 GTI that do 0-60 in ~ 7 seconds,
135mph top speed and could do a standing quater mile in the low 15s. Have you any idea how the non-turbo compares to that i'm not sure it would be much of a step up. I may just have to save longer and get a turbo.
Really struggeling to find much info about them on the net - Is there any difference in power between Rev 1,2,3,4,5s etc.
Any info you have or links to websites with info would be appreciated.
Thanks, Liam
Considering a Mk2 MR2 myself at the moment, I just love the sound they make when you hit 5k rpm and the exhaust note changes! (a friend of mine has a N/A Rev 5 with a dec cat exhaust at a decent induction kit) One of the best sounding cars around in my opinion. I can't decide whether to get a N/A or a turbo though. I'd probably prefer the N/A as you can pick them up a bit cheaper and insurane would be less of an issue for me as I'm only 20 (soon to be 21). I'm struggeling to find any decent reviews and performance data on either of them though.
I'd want it to be a considerable step up from my previous car, - 106 GTI that do 0-60 in ~ 7 seconds,
135mph top speed and could do a standing quater mile in the low 15s. Have you any idea how the non-turbo compares to that i'm not sure it would be much of a step up. I may just have to save longer and get a turbo.
Really struggeling to find much info about them on the net - Is there any difference in power between Rev 1,2,3,4,5s etc.
Any info you have or links to websites with info would be appreciated.
Thanks, Liam
I've never driven a 106 GTi but it seems like the performance figures are pretty comparable. However I will add that the MR2 is loads more fun than any hatchback I've ever driven (not that I've had any particularly quick ones, mind) simply because of the experience of it all - low slung seating position with the engine whirring away behind you, back end out a little if you fancy being a bit over-eager on roundabouts, roof off if you get a sunroof or T-bar model - can't beat it in my opinion. The turbo is the same but faster, I've only had a ride in one once and remember it being rather rapid! I've also had a ride in a V6 converted car which was equally rapid AND sounded amazing.
There's a bit out there for everybody, I would recommend giving it a go. Despite my example it's not generally a highly strung car, and will lollop along for thousands of miles no fuss whatsoever. Don't listen to anybody about it being dangerous to handle or anything, especially if you get a rev3 or later which has some revised suspension, bigger wheels and wider tyres especially at the back - it makes it very controllable. My wife frequently gets the back end of hers out on roundabouts when we're on a run and before this she's only driven FWD hatchbacks (and never particularly quickly). And we're quite happy to do it with the kids in the passenger seats, because it feels that controllable.
There's a bit out there for everybody, I would recommend giving it a go. Despite my example it's not generally a highly strung car, and will lollop along for thousands of miles no fuss whatsoever. Don't listen to anybody about it being dangerous to handle or anything, especially if you get a rev3 or later which has some revised suspension, bigger wheels and wider tyres especially at the back - it makes it very controllable. My wife frequently gets the back end of hers out on roundabouts when we're on a run and before this she's only driven FWD hatchbacks (and never particularly quickly). And we're quite happy to do it with the kids in the passenger seats, because it feels that controllable.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff