MR-S in Yellow, Japan to Belfast to Aberdeenshire

Started by Enjay, July 21, 2017, 12:33

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Enjay

I just felt like collecting a few photos here.  Nothing much new over what I have posted elsewhere but I wanted to keep things in one place that I could update as and when I want to.

Background
I had been looking for a MR2 Roadster for some time.  I had owned a red Mk1 years earlier and I always liked the Mk1 and the Mk3 the best.  An MX5 MK1 (actually a JDM Eunos roadster import) was my introduction to top-down motoring but I found the driving position a bit cramped.  So I decided to move on to an MR2 which has a bit more room.



I'm a big fan of yellow cars.  As a student I worked all the hours possible one year to raise enough to buy a specific 1973 Daytona yellow Capri that was being held for me.  I owned that car for over 20 years and only had to give it up due to the impracticality of me keeping and running it at the time.  Much sadness.  s:( :( s:(   At least it went to someone planning on restoring it.  



I currently own a yellow Nissan Juke and have had a variety of other yellow cars (including a much loved VW Beetle).





Getting it
So, I was specifically looking for a yellow MR2 Roadster.  Unfortunately, after a few months of looking I hadn't found anything nearby so I decided to cast my net a bit wider.  I found a yellow MR-S at a dealer just north of Belfast at a very good price.  I used to work in Stranraer in south west Scotland so I knew the road to the Belfast Ferry from where I live (Aberdeenshire) very well and so a trip to Belfast didn't seem like that big a deal.  



So, off I went with my wife and we made a weekend of it.  We drove to Ayr in her car, spent the night in a hotel, drove to the ferry in Cairnryan, went across to Belfast on foot, bought the MR-S (even cheaper than anticipated - after pointing out a few faults), stayed a night in Belfast (really nice city), came back on the ferry the following day and then drove back to Aberdeenshire in a two car convoy.

MR-S parked in Belfast the morning after buying it:



and on the ferry.



The car wasn't in particularly good condition and I could tell the the engine needed some work too.  That's OK, I wanted the car as a hobby as well as something to drive.  I had never planned on it being a daily driver that I needed to rely on in all weathers etc.  That being said, as you can see, I was at the front of the queue on the ferry and was more than a little concerned that it might not start and thereby block everyone leaving the boat.  However, all was fine and it was a fun drive home on a nice August evening/night.

One thing that surprised me was that taking the car from Northern Ireland to mainland UK means a shift from DVLA(NI) to DVLA(Swansea) and, effectively, going through a cut-down version of the importing process.  There was a tiny bit of hassle with the paperwork (no big problems though) and I got to keep the NI-spec number plate which is kind of cool.  I'd be interested to hear what other MR-S owners have their cars registered as because this was a point of confusion for the DVLA.

Once Home...
As I said, the car needed quite a bit of TLC in a few places and I got the chance to pick up another roadster (with a shot engine) cheap that I could use for spares.  Having a hulk of a car sitting on my driveway for months would not be acceptable here so I took what I could and passed it on.  I'd rather have kept it longer but I did get some useful stuff that more than covered the cost of buying it (a 'new' soft top, a hard top (plus fixings), headlamps, bumpers, rear lamps, seats, some UK spec trimmings etc etc).  Unfortunately, since getting rid of it, there have been a few times when having a spare from the other car would have been really useful but, like I said, I got my money's worth at least.

I also had the immobiliser looked at to ensure that it was up to UK insurance spec and I got new remote lock/unlock system grafted on to the central locking (the old one didn't work).



So, I spent quite a bit of time scrubbing and cleaning.  I replaced a few bits, got the hard top and bonnet painted, swapped out the soft top and we were starting to look much better.



This year I got the engine swapped out.  I considered a V6 upgrade (and maybe it will happen one day) but I went with a standard like-for-like change.




(hey, there's a sign growing out of my seat  s;) ;) s;)  )

[Funny how the different lighting makes the car look quite different colours.  The real colour is somewhere between these two to my eye.]

I still have to get some paint work done.  Both bumpers need a bit of work (the front one is a bit damaged underneath) so I may swap them with the blue ones from my donor car and get them painted.

Future plans?
I think I'll get the seats re-covered.  I'm using black leather ones from the donor car and they are not too bad (a bit of bolster wear) and I also have the cloth ones that came with the car.  So I might get one set trimmed in a black/yellow leather theme.

I fancy doing a stereo upgrade too.  I'm currently using a Pioneer head unit that I took out of another car I owned but it's still just using the stock speakers in the door.  I think a new HU, new door speakers and something built into the rear luggage boxes for some more ooomph will be the way to go.

The dash is a little weird and I need to investigate that further.  As mentioned, the car is an import so the dash was converted from the JDM kmh speedo.  It isn't well lit at night, only goes to 110mph (not that I need more), and the odometer is still in km.  The only thing that really bothers me is the night time lighting but I have the UK spec dash from the donor car and I'll see if that can plug in and work (been meaning to do that for a couple of years now  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  ).  If it can, then that might be the problems solved.

Enjay

#1
Quote from: "Enjay"I'd be interested to hear what other MR-S owners have their cars registered as because this was a point of confusion for the DVLA.

That will probably get lost in the above post but I really would be interested to hear what other import MR-S owners have their cars registered as.

When I bought mine in Northern Ireland it was just listed as a Toyota (no model).  When I first registered with DVLA Swansea, it was the same.  I got back to them and the new documentation lists the make as "Toyota MR2 MR-S" and still nothing in the model/type.  Again, I went back to them but they explained that Toyota had not released a code for this model and so adding the details to the "Make" field was the only way that they can deal with unusual registrations.  So, there we have it; I have a car made by "Toyota MR2 MR-S" with no specific model.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:   It hasn't caused me any real problems.  Entering my registration into online forms (e.g. the Amazon one to try and identify your vehicle for you) doesn't work but insureance, tax, MOT etc have all been fine.

1979scotte

#2
Nice write up.
You aren't allowed to put a V6 in it.
I have the only yellow MK3 V6.
At least I think I do.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Free Ukraine 🇺🇦

Enjay

#3
Quote from: "1979scotte"You aren't allowed to put a V6 in it.
I have the only yellow MK3 V6.
V8 It is then.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

To be fair, it's unlikely to happen and, if it does, it will be a long way off.  Your unique status is safe for the foreseeable future at least.  s:) :) s:)

mikek

#4
Quote from: "1979scotte"Nice write up.
You aren't allowed to put a V6 in it.
I have the only yellow MK3 V6.
At least I think I do.

Take no notice of Scott, his car is black
2zz by Rogue. Se7en cams. BMC CDA. Competion clutches lightened flywheel, Megillian Racing Exhaust. TRD sportivo suspension and ARB\'s. TRD braces. TRD quick shift. TRD dash kit, Matts brace. Getting there but not sure when it will stop!

Enjay

#5
Quote from: "mikek"Take no notice of Scott, his car is black
According to his thread, it's not even that.  It's just a big dial with 100% on it.



Photobucket strikes again.  s:? :? s:?

Enjay

#6
I finally got around to trying out my UK spec dash cluster in my car and... it worked without any problems.  

All lights/warnings seem to be working.  The temp gauge rose to the correct temp, the fuel gage is reading where it should be and the revs seem about right too.  Also, the speedo is much better lit than the one in the old cluster.  I can actually see all the numbers in the dark.

I checked my speed against my satnav and the speedometer was generally reading 2-3mph above what the satnav was and I know that's pretty typical (other cars that I have access to are much the same) so I'm fine with that.

The odometer is also accurate in miles (the old one was in km).  I went on a run and checked the distance with the satnav.  Odomoter and satnav agree with each other very closely.  The mileage is stored in the odometer rather than the ECU so that means my car is now showing the mileage of the car the instruments came from.  It's actually close-ish to what it should be (about 5000 miles too high) based on converting the old odo value from km to miles using google.  I'm not sure how this will go at MOT time because the last tester put the odo km reading in as miles.  So the number will have dropped significantly for the next MOT.


If I could get a bit of help please: I just want to check that I have identified all the lights properly.  Most of the warning lights seem to be inside the unit (presumably they are LEDs on the circuit board?)  So, I think the only ones that are actual bulbs are as follows (remember, it's from the back so everything is back to front):



1 = dash illumination
2 = indicators
3 = main beam light
4 = hole (no bulb present in either the new or the old cluster).  Might be for the little panel in auto-transmission cars?

Is that correct?

And, just for completeness, my weird import dash:



There doesn't seem to have been anything done to it to alter the electrics.  There were no odd-looking components attached to it anywhere.  It seems as if the conversion from kmh to mph was done by changing the face of the speedo and nothing else.  I suspect that's where the dim-light problem came from too.  My guess is that the face plate simply isn't as translucent as it is meant to be or (perhaps even worse) it was just stuck on top of the original kmh speedo (my Eunos roadster was converted like that - the numbers were almost invisible at night until I fixed it).

Anyway, I've now got a UK spec dash in my car, it seems to be working exactly as it is meant to, it looks much better at night and, if I want to, it's the right layout for upgrading with an electro-luminescent dial or whatever (may or may not do).  s:D :D s:D

Enjay

Ummm...




I don't know.

Trying to work out what to do now.  Medium to long term I can only keep one but, for the moment, I'm enjoying having two and tinkering with both.

Anyone recognise the body kit on the new one?

jvanzyl

Quote from: "Enjay"Ummm...




I don't know.

Trying to work out what to do now.  Medium to long term I can only keep one but, for the moment, I'm enjoying having two and tinkering with both.

Anyone recognise the body kit on the new one?
That'd be the TTE body kit..

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

StuC

2?

Deffo a big welcome to the UCC! [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]
URBAN CUSTARD COLLECTIVE FOUNDING MEMBER

Enjay

Quote from: "jvanzyl"That'd be the TTE body kit.
Thanks.  Good information to have.  I thought it might be TTE but an image search gave me conflicting results.

Quote from: "StuC"2?

Deffo a big welcome to the UCC! [emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3][emoji3]
I feel so honoured.   s:D :D s:D  


Much like car #1, this one involved quite a journey.  I got it just outside Bath, Somerset.  Train down, drive back last week.  I have a friend who lives in Bristol who I had been meaning to visit so it all tied together quite well actually.  The car has a double stainless exhaust that's pretty loud so things were very noisy at times powering up the M6.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

The car is a UK-spec PFL of similar age to my other one but the previous owner has put quite a few FL bits on: rear bumper, rear lamps, air intakes and a few other bits of trim inside and out.  It's running very well so far but I haven't taken it too far (other than almost the full length of the country of course  s:roll: :roll: s:roll:  ) but I did go out for a few hours around the Scottish highlands today.  It seems to have been reasonably well looked after.  I mean, it has the kind of wear and tear that you might expect of a 17 year old car with 85 000 miles on the clock but, so far, nothing has really caused me any great concern while looking over it.  The only major thing that is obviously missing is the heat shield over the manifold and that's not really that "major".  Perhaps it came off when the exhaust was fitted and never replaced?

Like I said, I don't really expect to keep both long term but I do like tinkering with cars of this kind of vintage and it's quite a bit of fun digging in to some of the details and comparing import to UK spec cars.  So, I'll have fun with that and eventually sell one on I guess.  s:? :? s:?   I would keep both but I am already in trouble from "the boss" for another (much more expensive and equally impractical) 4 wheeled purchase this summer.

delhusband

You're a lucky man! good roads nearby, and now a daily and a project  s:) :) s:)  have fun
Hate pointy animals

1979scotte

TTE side skirts for sure.
That bumper doesn't look so TTE to me.
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

Free Ukraine 🇺🇦

Enjay

#13
I got some subtle tints put on my rear lights:


Not too obvious in that pic, but they do look smokier than standard in the flesh; not enough to dull them down when in use, but they now look a bit more consistent with the black/yellow theme of the car.  I didn't want to go darker purely from a functionality point of view.

As you might be able to see from the above pic, the high-level stop light also got some attention:

A black vinyl top put on it and also tinted.  The picture makes it look a bit rippled but it's not.  It's nice and smooth.  It was a weird, bad lighting day and I think most of the ripples are actually reflections of tree branches.

And, to finish off, the headlamps got a little bit of black added too.



Reasonably subtle, given that the underlying plastic beyond the lens is black anyway, but I like the effect.  Again, the lighting makes things look a bit weird.  The driver's side one almost looks grey or matt.  It's not, it's shiny black and reflecting the typical grey Scottish sky above.

I also swapped out the DRLs that I put on some time back.  These ones are a bit bulkier but seem to be far better made than most of the DRLs that can be bought on Amazon and the like.  The previous ones were quite slim but one started failing a month or more ago so I got these ones instead.  They have a metal housing versus the plastic of most of the other options that I found.  It was an easy swap-out because all the wiring was already done.  These seem brighter and have already been out in far worse weather than the previous ones were and so far, so good.

[edit] Oh yeah, and new numberplates (old ones were showing age-related damage) and number plate holders. [/edit]

I think that's probably me done with the black/yellow theming of the car now.


In entirely other news, I also sold my other custard a few weeks back.  I said it would have to go sooner or later.  I simply didn't have the room on my driveway for all the cars we have (7 in total at the time - 4 drivers in the house).  So it made sense to let the least-used one go.  Given that I still have one of the same type and colour, it's not the greatest sacrifice to practicality I've ever made but I was still sad to see it go because I'd had it for a few years and it was significantly improved over the car that I originally bought.  I got a fair price for it though.

Enjay

Just dumping a few pics here for posterity/future use.  Nothing to see here.  Move along. ;)


















jvanzyl

Nice pics [emoji3]
I do think the one thing that is out of place is the red calipers... If anyone has an excuse to make yellow I think you do...

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Enjay

I agree.  The calipers were red when I got the car and after one needing to be replaced, 3 are red and one is silver.  I plan on addressing the caliper colour issue at some point but I'm not sure when I'll get around to it.

cptspaulding

Do you have a link to those DRLs?

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Former owner 2003, 2zz conversion.


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