1989 Toyota MR2 Mark 1
Discussion
Breadvan72 said:
Photies of other old MR2 s welcome.
Don't need to ask me twice 
My first, bought in 2009 for 600 quid or thereabouts:
It's still going somewhere having undergone a light restoration.
...And my second, a JDM import (deep breath) MR2 Supercharger Super Edition. Had the roots-charged 4agze with pulley kit running at about 190bhp, and a factory LSD, plus fancy Recaros, mirror polished wheels etc etc. A lovely thing which I deeply regret selling.
BigMon said:
Are you back from your Caribbean jaunt then BV?
If so welcome back, and good work on 'investing' your ill-gotten gains. Always liked these but yet another car I don't fit in.
I am still based in the Caribbean but am back in the UK every eight weeks or so, and could not resist a cheapo buy on eBay. I did resist buying a Scimitar GTE. If so welcome back, and good work on 'investing' your ill-gotten gains. Always liked these but yet another car I don't fit in.
You seem to know exactly what you are doing OP, so I doubt I can offer you much advice. First proper sports car I owned. Found it in a field about 5 years ago and spent a couple of grand bringing it back to life. Looked lovely once done - T-bar, leather etc. Lovely throaty engine and a joy to be in. I do trackdays now and on reflection wish I had taken it onto Brands or similar, but I sold it beforehand in favour of a Z4 coupe so it certainly started me down the road of sporty cars.
Rust was something I was always looking out for, as you know. Most noticeably around the windscreen and behind the front bumper but nothing terminal.
I also replaced the clutch after a year of ownership and the car was *so* much more eager to pull after I had done so, even though I didn't consider the old clutch to be slipping too much. Worth thinking about as it felt like a different car after I had done this. I sold the car with 144k on it inside of a year.
Everyone else seems to be hijacking your thread with images of their own cars...something I am not above.
Just after restoration:
Covered in dust at a very hot Le Mans in 2014. I don't think I could have got a packet of Rolo's into the cabin once we had all our kit crammed in.
Rust was something I was always looking out for, as you know. Most noticeably around the windscreen and behind the front bumper but nothing terminal.
I also replaced the clutch after a year of ownership and the car was *so* much more eager to pull after I had done so, even though I didn't consider the old clutch to be slipping too much. Worth thinking about as it felt like a different car after I had done this. I sold the car with 144k on it inside of a year.
Everyone else seems to be hijacking your thread with images of their own cars...something I am not above.
Just after restoration:
Covered in dust at a very hot Le Mans in 2014. I don't think I could have got a packet of Rolo's into the cabin once we had all our kit crammed in.
Edited by paulyv on Monday 26th November 15:47
Breadvan72 said:
A question: are the sidelights supposed to work without the pods popping up? Mine don't. Precious moments of twilight aerodynamicism missed!
Nope - headlights will pop up on later cars (like yours) when the sidelights are on. I think there's a pretty straightforward wiring mod you can do to change it though, but I never got round to doing it.
Breadvan72 said:
A question: are the sidelights supposed to work without the pods popping up? Mine don't. Precious moments of twilight aerodynamicism missed!
Small children LERVE it when the lights pop up. I was going to say that I flash small boys at zebra crossings, but I thought better of it.
Popups do come up when sidelights are on, which is dumb. As previously mentioned there is a fairly simple mod for that is well worth doing.Small children LERVE it when the lights pop up. I was going to say that I flash small boys at zebra crossings, but I thought better of it.
Stuff that happened: MR2 ate its water pump while I was away in Norfolk one weekend in the spring. Low loadered back to Oxon. Pump replaced after a bit of faffing. Garage bloke wants to buy the car for his daughter, but says it needs some welding. This I knew. Wheels not changed. Original spec wheels in shed. Car also in shed, probably being eaten by mice.
I am next in Blighty in early Nov, and I hope to give the car a blast down to the west country for a posh country house hotel weekend with a recently acquired FWB. No doubt the posh hotel (one of those places that always has some posh motors on the gravel forecourt) willpark the car out by the bins.
The valet parking guy will probably resign on the spot. I will say "Yeah, mate, but it still corners better than that POS Audi/Porsche/Bentley/whatever modern Spaffbox over there", before flipping him a tip, 1989-stylee (50p).
I am next in Blighty in early Nov, and I hope to give the car a blast down to the west country for a posh country house hotel weekend with a recently acquired FWB. No doubt the posh hotel (one of those places that always has some posh motors on the gravel forecourt) willpark the car out by the bins.
The valet parking guy will probably resign on the spot. I will say "Yeah, mate, but it still corners better than that POS Audi/Porsche/Bentley/whatever modern Spaffbox over there", before flipping him a tip, 1989-stylee (50p).
Edited by anonymous-user on Tuesday 22 October 12:50
Breadvan72 said:
... à chacun son goût!
There's a bit of a max power mk1 scene, generally involving fitting a v6 or turbocharged 2 litre. I looked at that, but trading nimble handling for straight-line speed goes against the whole MR2 philosophy IMO.On the other hand, extracting more power from the NA 1600 is fair game.
I've piggybacked on BVs Nissan thread to say more, since he did ask for JDM pics there.
Breadvan72 said:
The MX5 got the credit for reinventing the real Lotus (long before the Elise did that for Lotus). The MR2 should maybe share that credit. Light weight, small engine in middle, mega handling. Likeage!
According to wikipedia, there was a Lotus engineer (Dan Becker) working with Toyota on the original MR2 suspension design.That would not surprise me. Lotus also helped on one of the Supras IIRC. Some incorrectly allege that a Lotus Excel is a Supra in drag. In fact the Excel has a Lotus engine and chassis and body, but Toyota drivetrain and brakes. That is why an Excel may be one of the best Lotuses ever.
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