My 2004 Red Edition (Heidi)

[househead]

So I've eventually got around to creating a reader's ride thread Some of this is a copy pasta from my "Welcome" thread. I hope you'll all excuse me that!

I bought my 2004 Red edition for my birthday in the first week of May 2019. I'm not a hugely experienced driver or car owner but I wanted something in addition to my sensible car for Fun and smiles (first and foremost!), to learn more about cars and maintenance and to join an owner community of proper enthusiasts. The name of the car is somewhat strange ... the Missus came up with that one based on my reg.

I have to say I am super happy with the car Such a joy to drive and mine appears to be in immense condition due very much to the previous owner who has really taken care of her! I've barely driven my boring hatch since. Had a family mechanic who lives 250 miles away take it for a spin and poke his head around the engine bay. It won't surprise any of you that after giving it the clean bill of health (engine bay cleanliness had him salivating) and a boot on the B roads that he is now looking to buy one himself I'm also happy to say the car smashed the drive up there and back like it was eating breakfast!

Spec and facts on purchase

- 2004 Red edition (Sable grey)
- 95k miles on purchase (almost 98k now)
- I am 8th owner
- Replaced red mohair roof (3 yrs old) - looks almost new!
- Power coated refurbed wheels - looks brand new/immaculate job
- Tein springs (30mm lowered)
- Replaced OEM shocks
- Very new Avon ZV7 Tires (pressures at 28/32 from previous owner)
- K&N panel air filter
- New front fogs
- Cylinder compression tested at 190 - 200 PSI recently

Mine still had the stock manifold with pre-cats and heat-shield. I've since added an aftermarket (Toyosports) stainless steel manifold. Upon inspecting the pre-cats after removal I am happy to say they were in perfect condition.

Mods and jobs done already...

- Toyosports exhaust manifold
- Markiii air inlet elbow pipe (Ding day)
- Alarm move (Ding day)
- Snellbard corky reproductions breastplate
- Midship runabout front bumper badge
- double DIN Sony XAV-AX1000 CarPlay headunit
- Upgraded stock component speakers to Kenwood KFC-E170P
- InPhase USW10 Subwoofer (mounted behind passenger seat for now)
- Sound-deadened doors with flashing tape
- Brodit Pro-clip iPhone mount
- replaced leather gear knob with the nice chrome spherical one
- switched out interior map light for an LED and the clear cover
- Black interior heater trim piece (mine was silver but rest of dash is black - red edition thing but I no likey)
- Widermuller HVAC knobs (DD auction)
- Rover Armrest
- StuC Kickplates
- New wiper blades
- Fixed brakes which were making a clunking sound - was a loose calliper part plus a fluid leak on NS-front
- New instrument cluster bulbs

Mods and jobs planned

- Radiator / coolant replacement (top of the list!)
- JDM Toyota Chrome door handles (item acquired)
- Hamish DRL Fogs (item acquired)
- Carolyn and David front strut brace (item acquired)
- Dev's door bushings (waiting for delivery)
- Speedsource cable bushings (item acquired)
- Battery isolation switch (item acquired)
- Lockwood sill protectors (came with the car in a box)
- TRD Quick Shifter (if I can find one!)
- New gear stick gaiter (red stitching - item acquired)
- Restore headlights (got all the kit, need to find the time)
- Aerial switch mod (passenger window lock button)
- Purchase a hardtop and fitting kit
- Fit a subtle spoiler
- Spats and skirts
- Sports shocks or coilovers
- Paint engine cover
- New brake discs and pads (when current pads run out)
- 2zz swap (eventually - will enjoy the 1zz for a bit first!)

I'll get some pics up soon and update on my mod progress!

[househead]

Original ad on carandclassic (includes a few decent photos)...

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1102787

[shnazzle]

FYI a poor man's TRD shifter is easily achieved with a hacksaw, thread die, mallet and vice.

[Carolyn]

FYI a poor man's TRD shifter is easily achieved with a hacksaw, thread die, mallet and vice.

You are encouraging ineffective butchery, you heathen.

[househead]

FYI a poor man's TRD shifter is easily achieved with a hacksaw, thread die, mallet and vice.

I can see how that might work but I wouldn't trust myself to make a good job of it! Will hold out for the real deal or potentially give one of the cheapo ones a go.

[shnazzle]

FYI a poor man's TRD shifter is easily achieved with a hacksaw, thread die, mallet and vice.

You are encouraging ineffective butchery, you heathen.

It's very effective! It's been done. 

Mr @jaworjawor was quite successful

[househead]

So, a few updates for my RR thread.

Firstly, I've installed the barbarian racing short-shifter. Not a huge job to get it done, the only tough bits were removing the cup bushings from the shifter rod without damaging them and removing the rear pushnut/ star washer from the assembly, again without damaging it. I did manage to rough up one of the cup bushings but I cleaned it up with some sandpaper. Imo those selling short shifters should provide them with these to save you having to swap them and potentially damage them.

First impressions of the shifter were that it was rather stiff. I did grease the moving bits inside but possibly not enough. Went back in there with more grease and some wd40 spraying in the levers etc in the engine bay. After a few days of use it did improve. I'm still on the fence as to if this will stay on. In the meantime I picked up a spare shifter assembly from Dean@rutland for about £20. Came with cup bushings too!

Edit: Although this is for a different shifter, I found this write-up on SpyderChat very handy...

https://www.spyderchat.com/threads/mrw-short-shifter-and-solid-base-bushing-install.52122/

Ok so now onto my brakes. These had been making a clunking sound during braking and after inspection from a local garage, worn/corroded slider pins have been identified as the problem. Ordered a kit from eBay for about £20 inc pins, lube, and some rubber things. Will update on that when they arrive and I get a chance to fit them.

Last but not least, my rad has packed up. Car temp went through the roof and could hear whining noises. Pulled up somewhere safe, checked for leaks and saw the obvious and tell-tale sign of leaking coolant at front N/S. Let the car cool down, topped up with water and got her home (150 meters down the road). As usual, everyone here has been really helpful and all the kit is on order to replace the rad and coolant. Will update here when we begin that. @1979scotte has kindly offered to help with this this job which by all accounts is not a nice or easy one!

Couple of photos of the damage/fallout (tried to embed these in the post but it doesn't work, not sure if it's imgbb problem or ours - one for me and Patrick to solve!)...

https://ibb.co/SBLwqyQ
https://ibb.co/yR2j5bR

[househead]

Shopping list for radiator fix...

• CoolpartsUK Radiator (eBay) £35
• 2x Autochem ARD005 Red Longlife Concentrated OAT Coolant 5l (eBay) - 2x £15 (not yet purchased, gonna check bricks and mortar price down the road)
• 6mm x 2.5mm O Rings (eBay) - £5.12 for 100 (plenty spares!)
• 40-60mm Stainless steel Jubilee Clips (eBay) - £5.99 for 10 (more spares!)
• 2 x Radiator lower mounting support bush (mr2Ben) - £33 delivered (potentially cheaper elsewhere)
• Other tools and bits not specific to this job but "needed anyway"

Member help/diagnosis etc here ... https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=67836

And for the brake slider pin kit (ebay) £17.99 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Toyota-MR2-MK3-1-8-W30-2x-Front-brake-caliper-guide-slider-pin-kits-S7007AJ-2/332076538177

[househead]

While all this was going on I also won an ebay auction for a hardtop. It's the wrong silver (and has a go-faster blue stripe) so will need a respray. Cost me £265 collection from West Sussex (not too far from me). Came without the de-mister cable (picked up from Dean@Rutland for £17) and without the fitting kit/blanking plates. yet to purchase these as they seem expensive for what they are and I'm looking for sub £200 (including blanking plates ideally in right colour).

In order to save space (and potentially relationship!) I've found a garage for rent locally to store it (and other countless boxes of crap) whilst it's not on the car. The garage has a dodgy door that needs fixing so the agent is onto that before I "move in". Will give me somewhere to put the car itself in winter too.

[househead]

Ok just one more update before my thread becomes a monologue

Purchased a moman clocks set from Poland after seeing them in another members' thread. (Just got the dispatch email which reminded me to add it here)

They will look awesome at night!

https://moman.pl/en/home/465-683-toyota-mr2-3gen-design-1.html

Sounds like a little pain to get the needles right (I took the small hole version which requires needles to be taken off and replaced)

[Chriss]

I was going to order these but I do not want to mess with my needles as they are perfect at the moment.

[StuC]

I had something similar, when i actually had it in Banana it wasn't great. Ended up selling it on.

[househead]

I had something similar, when i actually had it in Banana it wasn't great. Ended up selling it on.

What didn't you like about it?

[househead]

So, bits for the radiator job started arriving today...

• Coolant bought from Euro car parts, 2x 5l of concentrated OAT red stuff + 2x 5l DI water (got concentrate as I have decent facilities for mixing)
• Radiator
• Bottom mounts from mr2ben (lucky I got these as they do look like they've dissolved!)
• 16l fluid catch pan arriving later today

Still waiting on the O rings and jubilee clips

So I went and took the frunk plastics, alarm and fan assembly out and took a few pics. Rad looks like a bag of nails.

Few pics...

https://ibb.co/k18jqRs
https://ibb.co/jbxkmZK
https://ibb.co/S7187Fc

Got a few questions which I'll post in my other thread as it seems more apt there and will be seen by more members. They relate to removing the front nappy and draining the system of remaining coolant. Cross-link...

https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?msg=803771

While I was there I noticed a buildup of rust both on my power steering pipes and my front ARB. I will have a think what to do about those.

[Carolyn]

A bit of input:

No need to disturb the nappy.  You can get at the drains with it on.  The drains are in the coolant pipes just below the front bulkhead.  Careful with the drain plugs - don't want to shear them off. Soak with plus gas and (if they are stubborn) heat them up a bit.  Use a bit of teflon tape on the threads when you put the drain plugs back.

Wire brush every rusty bit you can find, while you've got everything out of the way.  Treat with your favourite rust treatment, then coat it all with zinc primer and then paint.  It'll be good for years.

[househead]

@Carolyn you are my hero at the moment! Thanks.

[StuC]

I had something similar, when i actually had it in Banana it wasn't great. Ended up selling it on.

What didn't you like about it?

Just the overall quality of it when it was lit. Was far from the OE quality of the stock unit.
Was just a bit pants. Lol.

[househead]

So these weekend with the help of @1979scotte , we replaced the radiator and refreshed the coolant and got Heidi operational again which I'm super pleased about. Also got my first substantial job on the car under my belt. Couldn't have done this without help so a big thanks to Scott as well as Carolyn and others for the advice.

The main coolant drain plugs came off an absolute breeze, so that suggests they've been used before to drain the system. We didn't jack all of the car up, just one corner providing enough clearance to get a drain pan under. Around 5l of murky (but not terrible) coolant drained from these. That suggests I'd dumped a fair bit, though there could have been some small amounts still in. This was done with both bleeder valves open and the cap off the expansion bottle.

The bottom rubber mounts for the rad were pretty shot, though in a pinch could possibly have been used again. This would make little sense imo and I'd bought replacements so we switched those in. We also replaced the O rings that came with the rad with some 6x2.5mm eBay specials.

My jubilee clips hadn't arrived in time so we reused the pinch clips on the main hoses. These were in reasonably decent condition. When the clips arrive I'll add them anyway. Belt and braces huh.

Filling and bleeding was a bit of a faff, and takes the majority of the time of the job. Was a case of fill, wait, Rev engine, squeeze hoses, watch some bubbles and repeat until the level stays consistent and no more air is coming out. Just under 9l went in so either I'll need to top it up after some use or we had some left in there. Inevitably some squirt out of the bleeder hoses whilst we were bleeding and massaging hoses etc.

Have not yet had a chance to take it for a proper drive as I had guests over in the afternoon, but I did take it round the block a few times whilst it was already at normal temp, and it stayed at operating temp so I'm fairly confident it's a done deal but I expect I may need to top it up. Will take it for a proper drive soon and make sure it's happy. Engine sounds and feels as it did before so think I got away without any lasting damage.

Bit of a dirty job and takes a while with the bleeding, but I'm very happy to save the cash on taking it to a garage and also learning something in the process!

[househead]

Time for another update!

Completed my first oil and filter service. Nice and easy by following the guide @Carolyn created in the howto section. Reused the existing sump plug washer as it was metal and in good condition. Putting the nappy back on was a bit of a pain. It was already using zip ties and I lost another couple of bolts. Also my drive is crap for jacking because it's soft ground with pebbles. There is a metal grid cover though so I can get one end jacked and on axle stands if I park it in the right spot!

Also have now fitted the C&D Front Strut brace and Dev's door bushes. The brace definitely tightens things up a bit more. Not had much chance on the twisties as yet to make a proper evaluation on either the door bushes or the brace. Speed bumps are much nicer tho. Putting my hatchback to shame in that regard. Not totally happy about my job on the frunk plastics. Tried to clean that up today with the Dremel and a sanding bit.

Also In other news, I've managed to scratch my back bumper on a wall parking. It's quite a nasty scuff and scratch. Cut into the plastic. Been watching some videos on self repair but probably I'll take it somewhere or have the mobile scratch repair.

[househead]

Few updates to my ride over the last month or so (some extra info elsewhere - especially on "what did you do to your mr2 today" thread)

- Front and back bumper scratch repair done, looking almost perfect (front bumper in general is a bit tatty)
- K&N panel filter cleaned. Another MAF clean
- Replaced spark plugs
- Headlights "restored" twice. 2nd attempt using wet and dry 400/800/1200/1500/2500 grit then sprayed with Meguiars restoration coating. Think I've got yellowing on the inside of one of them so will replace that and keep the other.
- Possible timing chain / sensor issue (P1349 error firing now and then). Could be related to stretched chain, wrong timing when put back after valve clearance adjustment, a dodgy sensor, or something else. Car runs and feels fine. Engine sounds lovely. More investigation to be done
- Cleaned engine bay. A very satisfying result!
- Bought spoiler, spats and skirts. Needs some prep and painting before they can be mounted.
- Added some other interior bling bits (pics to follow).

[househead]

Also ... I'd forgot to add that she passed the 100k milestone weekend before last on an epic trip to Saddell Castle, Kintyre. My word do they have some fun roads up there for a blast.

[mr9]

Headlights "restored" twice. 2nd attempt using wet and dry 400/800/1200/1500/2500 grit then sprayed with Meguiars restoration coating. Think I've got yellowing on the inside of one of them so will replace that and keep the other.

Are you worried the new one will just make the other one look worse?
I have restored mine but not happy. Would be good to see a restored vs new one.


FYI - midship garage in the US have found someone to make just the lenses - as part of their fancy DRL project. No word on price yet.

[househead]

Headlights "restored" twice. 2nd attempt using wet and dry 400/800/1200/1500/2500 grit then sprayed with Meguiars restoration coating. Think I've got yellowing on the inside of one of them so will replace that and keep the other.

Are you worried the new one will just make the other one look worse?
I have restored mine but not happy. Would be good to see a restored vs new one.


FYI - midship garage in the US have found someone to make just the lenses - as part of their fancy DRL project. No word on price yet.

Yea, more than anything I just want them to look the same (ideally non yellowed!). The decent one is probably decent enough that you wouldn't notice next to a brand new one, but without a brand new one to test I can't be totally sure on that!

Definitely would be interested in just the lenses, so I'm keen to find out how that develops. Judging by the interest on a full set of new headlights I reckon we could easily get group buy numbers together here for some new lenses to be shipped across if that comes to anything.

[househead]

Couple of pics I just took after some small appearance based mods. Split over a few posts due to massive iPhone photo files sizes and per-post restrictions!

First up, the headlights...

The decent one...

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The less decent one...

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[househead]

Sable sprayed binnacle with chrome rings (thanks @wotugonado )

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