My 1995 MR2 Turbo

[l1ca]

Hey all, ive been a member of the forums for a long time now, but never got round to posting.

My name is Dave, 34, been a bit of a petrol head for as long as I can remember, feeling a particular (if entirely unoriginal) pull towards the older 'JDM' stuff, owned a few interesting cars and one day i'll end up posting a bit of a history, but for now i'd like to introduce you all to my little money pit...

A 1995 Toyota MR2 Turbo - "Tina"



However, she didn't start out like this and that's the story id like to tell.

I picked up this car about 5 years ago whilst admittedly being a little bored with what I was driving, at the time I think I was "in-between cars", and had a 1.2 8v mk5 Fiesta 5 door hand-me-down which, truth-be-told was a reliable little steed but I hardly got the butterflies walking up to it.

Anyway, I saw this car in the classifieds here and always fancied having a pop at RWD and after owning several GT-Fours the past I did also fancy another 3S-GTE in my life so here we are, the usual phone calls were exchanged and I went to get her.....London, from Blackpool, bit of a risk with me never had seen the car before but I liked the look of it, seemed solid, decent priced with quite a few nice bits already. Thankfully it turned out alright and got the car home.







Brief Spec (from memory)

• Toms Style engine bay scoop
• Veilside style rear bumper
• TRD rear spoiler
• Toms Sideskirts and Winglets
• (poorly fitting) 18 wheels, no idea what brand (check out the rear "stance") #barf
• Border front bumper
• Profec SBC Boost controller and a few other bits, subwoofer and what not.
• Some crazy rare Bomex rear lip that I let go for far too less! #hindsightSucks!

And yea, this was fine, I liked it, despite the ball breaking ride, never put an mr2 on 18's with 35 profile tyres. Awful!! But, this is how it stayed for a while, it was quick, handled reasonably well and made the right noises and over the time ive had it I grew quite attached. Was keeping to cars double the value, for me the MR2 turbo was a little hidden treasure. Especially for the price it sits at. A two seater, turbo, mid engined, RWD sports car with flippy headlights thats quite reliable.

However my tastes did change and this fast and furious-esque styling no longer suited, and since id always wanted to have my own project I thought what the hell and started pulling off and replacing bits...

• TRD Spoiler - Replaced with the period correct Rev3 spoiler
• Veilside Rear bumper - Replacing with a TOMS
• Wheels - Replacing with some much better fitting Desmond Regamaster Marquis Promada 17" 8j ET35 / 9j ET38
• Toms rear Scoop - Standard engine bay inspection panel
• Border bumper - Standard oem front with Aeroware lip.
• Headlining and visors replaced with black items
• Seats replaced with Recaro fishnets
• Triple pillar pod housing three dials, boost pressure, oil temperature and oil pressure.
• Dark sidelights replaced with later spec Rev5 clears
• Calipers fully refurbished, new seals, pistons and painted Red
• Repainted in Honda Championship White,
• Wheels being refurbished in Fiat 750f Marrone Vulcanico, the closest colour I could find to Rays Bronze.
• Suspension changed from the stock rev3 units to rev2 Koni adjustables

First, the strip down:














Then the repaint:














Refurbing the wheels:







Then onto the rebuild:













Finished! (or so I thought...)




Loads more to come...

Edited by l1ca on Thursday 27th December 18:01

[Harryst500]

Looks like a great example, any engine/drivetrain upgrades?

[Butter Face]

Looks ace. A tidy MR2 Turbo is a special car.

[danllama]

Lovely looking thing, every single change was an improvement, I really really need to get my OEM bumper on i'm beyond sick of the border front. Your shell looked ultra clean come repaint time. Here's my not so clean one.