Quote from: Captain Vimes on December 14, 2019, 22:05I recently discovered this thread and read it from the start. Thoroughly enjoyable, keep the updates coming.

Cheers Captain Vimes (is Nobby Nobbs on here as well?)! Glad you've enjoyed this so far - as long as the things keep breaking, I'll keep posting!

Quote from: Topdownman on December 15, 2019, 08:49Have you tried cleaning the wiper blades with wd40? Its supposed to make them last for ages.

I haven't (I buy those cheapy Aero VU ones from eBay which work well, cost pennies and are surprisingly hardy), but sadly I don't think it would have solved the issue I was having. Speaking of which...

The weather, for those living in these (not very) fair isles, has been somewhat wet. Very wet in fact. So wet that travelling a few miles has, for some, taken hours of their lives. Basically it's been next-level soggy. Not great if your wipers are clearly not in the best of health.

The previous week, I'd stripped down the scuttle panel and removed the old motor. Cue grim picture of a lesser seen part of a Roadster;



Once the linkage was removed from the motor, I tested it again to see if the linkage or the motor was the culprit. It was clear that the linkage was fine and the motor was proper grumpy. Clunk clack crunch.

With nothing to lose, I stripped down the motor. First the brushes;



All looks good, so on to the windings;



All clean and looking good.... So on to the...uhhh....motor cage? Sorry, I'm not so hot on the names for stuff...



Ah. Yes that doesn't look right. So basically one of the magnets on the motor cage had come adrift which explained the racket - this was shifting around and sticking to the winding, hence noise.

I ordered a second hand motor from  Mr. Sloan which arrived a few days later, but of course it rained, deluged and then rained yet more.

But LO! Yesterday dawned dry and because of this, I wasted no time at all in getting out to the bucket with a spanner and a smile. Due to the removal of the motor being an arse to do, I was expecting it to be a pain to refit, but it took me less than 20 mins to throw back together, which included time to give the scuttle a quick clean up to remove 20 years of crud. All done, tested and working and the silver bucket was once again ready for the worst of the English weather.

As if to mock my achievements, it was dry today, but I took the old banger to work and once again affirmed why I love this car. Had a great time blatting around the countryside!

It's become a tradition over the festive period - the bucket gets to do the miles in the grim months. Long may it continue!

And yet again Lee, brilliant work!

Loved the archbishop's write up. I noticed it's got Aircon! Thankfully mine doesn't. Don't see the point. My rear subframe was just surface rust on a 2005 model, but anything attaching to the body was so flakey. All brushed down and I went silver hamerite colour after painting it all first in rust cure.. I paid £1550 for a 68k red edition 3 months ago. Well done for paying a third of that!

I think £1550 seems very reasonable for a Red Edition with that mileage.

Great write up, enjoyed the read!!

Quote from: Lancsman on January  3, 2020, 18:58Loved the archbishop's write up. I noticed it's got Aircon! Thankfully mine doesn't. Don't see the point. My rear subframe was just surface rust on a 2005 model, but anything attaching to the body was so flakey. All brushed down and I went silver hamerite colour after painting it all first in rust cure.. I paid £1550 for a 68k red edition 3 months ago. Well done for paying a third of that!

I'd say what you paid for a low mileage special edition in the best colour is far better value than a moon-mileage early car with MOT failures in an unliked colour!

Got yourself a bargain there!

The Aircon works really well on the yellow car and makes it far more usable when the weather is scorchio. I'm happy for the trade off of more difficult accessibility if I'm honest. Doesn't work on the silver car though! Still very tempted to get a recharge done on it. The bits and bobs all look in good order, but it comes down to how the seals have survived.

Hey there. Just wanted to say hello and thank you for the amazing blog. I read it all in one go and immediately re-joined MR2ROC! I've recently bought an MR2 MK3 for the second time. Love them that much it's the only car I've ever bought two of!

Hope you keep up the blog as it's a fantastic read, not just informative but also very amusing and inspiring.

Cheers!

Will

Wakey wakey, rise and shine!



With today dawning lovely and sunny and, thanks to having quite a bit of time on my hands all of a sudden, I thought it'd be good to add a splash of colour to the driveway and drag the Custard Tart out of it's Winter slumber.

It seemed like the ideal opportunity to make a start with some thing Mrs. Arch Bishop had been complaining about - namely the absolute pap standard stereo that comes as standard in the face-lift cars.



To be honest, I was inclined to agree as it's a horrible period ugly old beast that sounds utterly woeful to listen to. Compare this with the rather magnificent Sony jobby that comes in the early cars, and it's clear that it was an effort to keep costs down.

Having previously fitted a rather excellent and inexpensive Kenwood DAB double DIN to my then daily Subaru Forester, I had been keeping an eye on the price of the updated DPX 7100 model on the net, but had never gotten around to it. However, at the start of this week, I'd done a search on the ever-ruinous Facebook marketplace which, as luck would have it, turned up a second-hand one at less than half price. After exchanging a few messages I set off for the short trip down to Brighton to collect it.

On reaching the very nice seller's house, we stood the required distance away from each other (because of social distancing and also because I'd just eaten a very fierce chicken Kiev) and he explained that he'd recently had his pride and joy VW camper rear-ended and written off. Having decided he'd like to repair it he considered buying it back, just before, in his words, "the end of the f**king world happened.' He's self employed and the COVID-19 crisis has hit his income very hard. He'd taken the insurance payout to help keep the family afloat and removed the stereo before the camper was taken away.

Needless to say I didn't haggle.

As an added bonus, he also gave me an album sleeve because he'd forgotten to eject the disc. "You may as well have this - it's my band's album and I've got loads of them. Hope you like Space Rock!" I'm wasn't  sure if I liked Space Rock, but said I would give it a listen.

Back home, here's what I have;



The lighting in that photo makes the front look like it's been scrubbed with an orbital sander, but it's actually in pretty good nick!

I started stripping out the old stereo this afternoon which, other than a few reluctant screws holding the cage in place, wasn't so bad.

Because I hadn't really done any planning, I was hoping to get the old stereo out and call it a day then go shopping on eBay for a Toyota to ISO patch lead. However, while searching through my box of bits, found exactly the correct lead sitting at the bottom of the box... I have no memory of buying this. It's a genuine mystery.



Anyway, with fortune favouring me, I pressed on.

I removed the brackets from the old Toyota stereo and fitted them to the Kenwood in the only way they would. After fitting this and a bit of the trim around it, it became clear that it was all out of alignment leaving ugly gaps. It was also a mystery to me how I was meant to fit the PFL Sony surround plate (that I knew was needed to fill the gaps) to the stereo.

After a bit of moping and grumbling, I retired back to my box of stereo oddments and dug out the now dead Sony unit from the silver bucket, and the penny dropped - I needed the brackets from this for a non-Toyota double din to sit in the right place;



After removing this from the Sony head unit and transplanting it onto the Kenwood one, it all lined up and as an added bonus, they have the fixing holes to mount the PFL surround plate. I probably should have read up on this before I started but...well I didn't.

Everything screwed in, clipped on and tidied up and I had a working and neat install.



Yes, I know I need to set the time and date.

Even set it up to match the MR2 lighting which is a bonus as it messes with my noodle if the stereo is blue when the car instruments are green or orange!



So all done and I can safely say that it sounds superb after the thin reedy mess of the standard stereo. The Tart seems to have had Vibe door speakers and tweeters fitted at some point which helps a little.

The only thing I will need to do is order and fit a DAB ariel in the near future. I should be able to get to the back to connect it without removing everything again so should be straightforward.

And the Space Rock wasn't too bad as it happens. I'll be giving it a proper play through when I've actually got somewhere to drive to.

Looking good Lee, well done.  Lovely looking 2 that.

@HereComesTheWife is about to pull the trigger on that exact same stereo. Would you recommend then? It looks great

Couple of questions:

How much did you pay?

How was the Space Rock?

Quote from: shnazzle on March 22, 2020, 08:57@HereComesTheWife is about to pull the trigger on that exact same stereo. Would you recommend then? It looks great

I think I would recommend it yes. It's a bit glitzy but packed full of features and, importantly for me, isn't a touchscreen. It looks at home in the dash too.

Quote from: Carolyn on March 22, 2020, 10:42Couple of questions:

How much did you pay?

How was the Space Rock?

£66 (he didn't have enough change and I'm not fussed about the odd quid) and the Space Rock, having had a little listen this morning, is really very good!

Boyd on by the successful stereo fitting and with things going down into further lock-down in the UK, I thought I'd make a start on something that I'd been looking to do for a while.

This happened;



Which left me with this;



And this;



Rust not too bad - a quick rub-down and a bit of rust killer+paint.

But the reason for all of this was that I'd bought some supplies for doing a proper job on the headlights. They always look pretty good in the photos, but to the naked eye, they were yellowed and scabby.

For the materials, I'd bought a number of grades of wet & dry and a can of Upol's finest lacquer in a can - Clear #1 which I've seen used with excellent results on headlights. It's also meant to be highly UV resistant which is a bonus.

With the headlights on the bench, I started with a 240 grit and lots of water;



I got rid of any remaining coating until it was a uniform level of dullness with no yellowing showing.

So far, so good...

I followed up with thorough passes of 400 grit then 600 and then masked them up and cleaned everything off very carefully.

Finally, it was time for the fun bit. The bit where I spray them and then look aghast at the crystal-clear results of new looking headlight covers for the price of a few pints.

Right?

Well no, I was left with this monstrosity;



Now I've never been great at spraying paints or coatings, but this time I put in some serious prep and followed the instructions. Still failure.

It looks like the lacquer is basically drying immediately upon hitting the surface rather than flowing together, but I'll be stuffed if I can work out why.

I tried the other headlight making more careful passes, but still the same (if not worse) results.

I've gone so far as to rub down the first headlight ready for another attempt, but if there's anyone who can offer advice as to what I've done wrong here, I'd be abnormally grateful!

I've seen this done on countless vids and they all seemed to just whack it on and it worked.

Help please!!!

@The Arch Bishop
600 grit I believe is much coarser than anything I've read about on here and elsewhere for "polishing" plastic lenses. A clear lacquer won't make a translucent material clear.

Quote from: Joesson on April  3, 2020, 09:19@The Arch Bishop
600 grit I believe is much coarser than anything I've read about on here and elsewhere for "polishing" plastic lenses. A clear lacquer won't make a translucent material clear.

Correct.

You really need 1500+ before you start getting mirror shine.
I'd finish on 2000 before getting the polisher on it.
Don't give up. They actually look like they're going to come out really well

Two things from experience that may help

1) Echoing shnazzle I worked my way up to 1500 the last time I did mine.  It left them looking a terrible mess even after polishing.  I found that I had to polish, then immediately after apply the lacquer/clear coat otherwise they were a hazy mess. 

2) DAB - turns out after swapping to a proper 12v dashcam (rather than a 5v with a cheap chinese USB 12v to 5v stepdown) that the cheapo stick on 'Pioneer' DAB aerials for a tenner off eBay work a treat in these cars.

I agree as above. Keep going but using finer grades of wet and dry.

The first coat of lacquer should be from slightly further away than the rest to give something for the following coats to stick to and lessen the chance of runs. The following coats should then be closer to get the effect you want of the lacquer looking "wetter" and giving the clear finish. If you do them all too far away, you will get the effect you seem to have there.

Even if you did get a run, you could sand it out so you are unlikely to do any irreversible damage!

Thanks for the replies all! Very much appreciated!

Regarding the grade of rubbing down, most of the advice I've heard about doing this says to not rub down below 600 grit (indeed, the Upol advice is 800 as a maximum) as otherwise the lacquer has nothing to key into and tends to crack and peel after a few months.

The other headlight (still a horror show) did at least have a few spots where it had gone on OK-ish and it was very clear, so I think the lacquer does the job of filling in the swirls and is meant to sort of self level.

It just seems to pretty much dry before it hits the heaadlight!

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on April  3, 2020, 14:37Thanks for the replies all! Very much appreciated!

Regarding the grade of rubbing down, most of the advice I've heard about doing this says to not rub down below 600 grit (indeed, the Upol advice is 800 as a maximum) as otherwise the lacquer has nothing to key into and tends to crack and peel after a few months.

The other headlight (still a horror show) did at least have a few spots where it had gone on OK-ish and it was very clear, so I think the lacquer does the job of filling in the swirls and is meant to sort of self level.

It just seems to pretty much dry before it hits the heaadlight!

I've got both a Holts and an Aldi kit in the garage, both came with grades up to 1500.  As above I thought I'd well and truly knackered them as it kept coming up cloudy through the process last time, but it seemed to come down to application of the sealer/clearcoat.

To be honest, the best result I got was with a cheap drill foam pad attachment and some Autosol, I then thought I'd make things better last year using these proper kits, and it went about as well as you'd expect - d'oh. I have visible swirls and such but the lights are at least clear.

Have to say unfortunately none of the above are a patch on a new set of lights from Mr T, but then again, you're talking £10 vs £350

Just making sure... You are aware that 1500 is a much much finer grade than 600 right? As numbers go up, it becomes less coarse.
600 is quite rough indeed. 1500 paper barely feels like sandpaper, it's that fine.
Using a polishing compound after that is like 2500-3000 grit sandpaper. But I dare say results on plastic might be better at 1500 and then letting the clear lacquer "fill" the gaps.

Firstly, thanks for all the replies everyone. Lots of info!

Quote from: shnazzle on April  3, 2020, 23:09Just making sure... You are aware that 1500 is a much much finer grade than 600 right? As numbers go up, it becomes less coarse.
600 is quite rough indeed. 1500 paper barely feels like sandpaper, it's that fine.
Using a polishing compound after that is like 2500-3000 grit sandpaper. But I dare say results on plastic might be better at 1500 and then letting the clear lacquer "fill" the gaps.

Yeah, I'd started very rough indeed and worked up to the 600. But I thought I'd give your suggestion of going finer a crack and went in stages up to 2000 grit. Once I'd flatted it all down, I cleaned everything off and had another go. Same result sadly. It's just sprays on in rough Matt like texture. No problems with adhesion (it's taken me hours to sand it back after each failed attempt), it's just the way it goes on. Starting to wonder if I've got a dodgy can or something!

It is driving me mad though....

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on April 14, 2020, 18:38Firstly, thanks for all the replies everyone. Lots of info!

Quote from: shnazzle on April  3, 2020, 23:09Just making sure... You are aware that 1500 is a much much finer grade than 600 right? As numbers go up, it becomes less coarse.
600 is quite rough indeed. 1500 paper barely feels like sandpaper, it's that fine.
Using a polishing compound after that is like 2500-3000 grit sandpaper. But I dare say results on plastic might be better at 1500 and then letting the clear lacquer "fill" the gaps.

Yeah, I'd started very rough indeed and worked up to the 600. But I thought I'd give your suggestion of going finer a crack and went in stages up to 2000 grit. Once I'd flatted it all down, I cleaned everything off and had another go. Same result sadly. It's just sprays on in rough Matt like texture. No problems with adhesion (it's taken me hours to sand it back after each failed attempt), it's just the way it goes on. Starting to wonder if I've got a dodgy can or something!

It is driving me mad though....

Well yes the quality of the can definitely matters. But even with a crap one, you can usually still get a satisfactory result. Try applying more and a bit closer. Did you give the can a good shake?

Quote from: shnazzle on April 14, 2020, 18:46

Quote from: The Arch Bishop on April 14, 2020, 18:38Firstly, thanks for all the replies everyone. Lots of info!

Quote from: shnazzle on April  3, 2020, 23:09Just making sure... You are aware that 1500 is a much much finer grade than 600 right? As numbers go up, it becomes less coarse.
600 is quite rough indeed. 1500 paper barely feels like sandpaper, it's that fine.
Using a polishing compound after that is like 2500-3000 grit sandpaper. But I dare say results on plastic might be better at 1500 and then letting the clear lacquer "fill" the gaps.

Yeah, I'd started very rough indeed and worked up to the 600. But I thought I'd give your suggestion of going finer a crack and went in stages up to 2000 grit. Once I'd flatted it all down, I cleaned everything off and had another go. Same result sadly. It's just sprays on in rough Matt like texture. No problems with adhesion (it's taken me hours to sand it back after each failed attempt), it's just the way it goes on. Starting to wonder if I've got a dodgy can or something!

It is driving me mad though....

Well yes the quality of the can definitely matters. But even with a crap one, you can usually still get a satisfactory result. Try applying more and a bit closer. Did you give the can a good shake?

Oh yes, a very good shake indeed! I've had enough to attempts to try differing amounts and distances. The result is always the same though! The stuff I'm using was recommended and pretty pricey. It seems to just hit the headlight and dry rather than flow.

Forgot to ask; when  you're at 1000+ grit, are you wet-sanding?
If so, the only thing I can think is to spray more aggressively. Not to the point of runs but a good coat

Quote from: shnazzle on April 14, 2020, 20:34Forgot to ask; when  you're at 1000+ grit, are you wet-sanding?
If so, the only thing I can think is to spray more aggressively. Not to the point of runs but a good coat

Yes, I've been wet sanding at each stage. I've had a go at really laying it on, but the finish is always the same. Only way I can describe it is like it's drying before it hits the headlight. I've tried spraying very little distance too.