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Thread: MR2 Fan's Ongoing MR2 Restoration Thread

  1. #1
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    MR2 Fan's Ongoing MR2 Restoration Thread

    The Story So Far

    Quote Originally Posted by MR2 Fan
    Total price for the car: $1,200

    1991 Toyota MR2 Naturally Aspirated






    The motor mounts are definitely needing to be checked, as when i accelerate or let off I'm hearing a crash behind me.


    One thing I noticed is the radiator seems relatively new and the fan is REALLY loud.

    These pics are BEFORE the wash/wax:








    Update:

    The person who bought my first MR2 from me owns a performace shop in Tampa called BOLD Performance. He does a lot of MR2 work now and was doing a massive donation/giveaway, so I went over on Friday, picked up a few things, stock exhaust (much quieter than the extreme can that's on there now), replacement trunk carpet, a few interior bits and pieces I was missing, a brand new set of spark plug cables and some other things I needed. I could have come out of there with a LOT more stuff but I'm still figuring out what the car needs.

    Anyway, here are pics after I tried to do a wash/wax/polish last week....paint still looks crappy. Also put in clear corner lenses..........THEN I said, what the heck, I'm going to try to plastidip the side moldings....didn't come out too well, red didn't match at all, and as I was peeling off the painter's tape it took some plastidip off with it...oh well, it was just for fun anyway.

    Pics look better than real life. I've decided I'm just going to go ahead and get the car repainted after sourcing a new bumper and front hood...perhaps from the same shop I just got those other things...he has a nice black MR2 that he's parting out.

    (YES, I know there's a lot of wax residue on the front bumper....it doesn't matter because its in crap shape anyway)







    Edit:

    I've never been a big fan of Crimson Red anyway....would much rather get something like Super Red from the 93+ MR2 or Mazda's True Red......SOOOOO much nicer

    So I decided to go back to my friend's shop today since I have the day off....I decided I need a replacement front bumper and hood, and trunklid...since I'll be repainting it anyway, his black MR2 that spare parts are coming off of will be perfect, just need to go pick up the stuff later.

    He also offered to give me the black 17" wheels of some kind from the car if I give him the 14" crap stock ones from my car.....DEAL!! I just have to get my car on jack stands, etc.

    Anyway, here's some pics from his shop.


    And here's just a few of the things now gracing my garage waiting for install:





    The exhaust is a stock n/a one....only problem is, the aftermarket header that is on the car has a 2 bolt flange, and this one has a 3, guess its going to need to be welded. Hopefully once this is installed the car won't be so loud...its fine if the car is fast, but it isn't....loud and slow just doesn't work.


    Here is why I got a replacement trunk lid...looks like someone had been trying to get into the engine bay with a crow bar at one time

    I ordered distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, to go along with the wires I got last week.

    Still need a battery I think, haven't had the chance to test it, but it doesn't seem to be getting enough of charge. Speaking of which, I was looking for the cost of batteries and they seem to be getting a lot more expensive to me (??). I couldn't find any under $100.


    Meanwhile I'm also painting the dash (just the plastic steering, vent and radio surrounds) in silver...I did that on my old car and it looked great...will post results shortly.

    Ordered shift boot, drivers door handle surround and a few other things for my car, trying to get everything interior done so there's nothing missing.

    I'm still waiting to pick up the wheels, front hood and front bumper from my friend, but the holidays are getting in the way.

  2. #2
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    Update:

    Dash is painted, bought shift boot, but didn't realize it wouldn't come with the bracket correctly, so it's just kind of sitting there right now. Shift knob was a donation from a co-worker who owned a 240SX.

    I seriously need to get those AC controls fixed/replaced next...they look really bad








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    Wow, huge improvement! Nicely done!

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    Update, finally got the wheels and tires:





    I think I'll get plastidip wheel paint and repaint them silver....but they were FREE so I can't complain.

    And nothing like black wheels to show off how dirty and rusty your brake rotors and calipers are!

    SUV stance also needs to be fixed.

  5. #5
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    Wheels painted

    I got aluminum look Plastidip ordered from DipYourCar.com, wheels came out really well so far. Yes, there's some that got on the tires but that's ok, I can get that cleaned off.











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    That's pretty cool - any really close up pictures of the finish?

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    I'll take more pics this weekend.

    Also, I'm picking up a hood (Without hood pins), better condition front bumper and drivers side door this weekend (rust-free)

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    It's coming along -- will look worlds better when the suspension is sorted.

  9. #9
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    Ok, no pics this time, but I picked up a front hood (black) front bumper in mint condition (black) and a replacement driver's side door (red).

    My car is going to look very odd until it gets painted, but oh well.

    My big problem is getting the bottom part of the hood pins off that look like they're welded to the frame...trying to decide the easiest way to do it.

  10. #10
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    Angle grinder!

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