A blog of my mr2 of sorts

[dori dori]

Guess this would be the right place to start one of these, anyway back end of July after my saxo crapping its gear selector arm on the gearbox and me loosing much motivation with it that got stuck in the corner for a while. Decided needed a new daily that was more reliable, did better mpg and had a better turn of pace than my then mx5 which I was using as a daily as fun as that was I just wasn't in a position to do the things I wanted to do with it so sold it on and got my mr2.

It's a pfl car on y reg when I got it had done 73k miles came with full service history 12months mot and tax till april 2014, added bonus was it came with the hardtop. As with every car it wasn't without it's problems noticed a rattle within a week which was diagnosed to be 1 big end being foobar luckily got money back from the dealer towards full costs of repairs but ended up being cheaper than first thought as the garage that did it for me had done so many 1zzs in the past this job was an easy one for him.

After that got sorted then came the incident of contaminated fuel killing fuel filter bag and slowly killing the pump, a week or two of head scratching later and some help from here everything was sorted. So that pretty much brings us up to date have done around 2200miles in it since end of july with no issues checking the oil weekly and seems ok so far not burning any but I do need to reseal the sump again as it is weeping from there.

So plans for this in next month or so will be mainly general service items

discs and pads all round, with handbrake adjusted
new tyres all round haven't decided what to get yet as I got pretty much a big choice due to my local tyre place being pretty good, would like something that is good in wet weather but good in dry to the wanlis and tirangles on at the moment should frankly be banned!
another oil, oil filter change along with air filter and rocker cover gasket, sump will get resealed at same time.

In terms of mods going to keep it more on the handling side of things as doing anything engine related is just to much for now, after doing a bit of research and help from sonner I have got some oem front and rear braces on way which I will try fitting this week. Other than that will be getting one of Matts mid braces and eventually an upper front brace, an after market front member brace and probably the rear one to, although looking at the ultra bracing stuff wouldn't be to hard to make my own some Tein springs will be added to the mix to unless one of the other used brands on here can be found.

Few pics of the car when I first got it, will get more up to date ones on weekend as needs a clean

[dori dori]

This lot came in the post thanks to dean who is breaking his 2004 smt, big thanks to him for sorting out fast delivery and good service in general. This bundle consists of oem front and rear braces plus engine lid stay which is welcome again although the breaker bar was doing a good job to! Will get these fitted if it stops raining at some point and since I'll be under the car I will probably get new bolts for the rear nappy/engine undercover plastics



decided today that I'm going to get all the bracing sorted out before getting springs for it which will be the last I thing I do once I've sorted my small list of things out.

[Sonner34]

Very nice mate, good shout on the oem bracing please advise us on the forum of how the post fl bracing changes the feel of the car, I myself am considering a mid brace once my teins go on, at the moment I'm not 100% convinced of it's necessity on the later cars which are more rigid anyway, so if you fit the eom bracing making your car similar to a post fl car, then drive it for a bit then do the mid brace and report back,

Good luck with the work, and please keep us all updated.

[Sonner34]

P.s. Love the vts! Wanted one for years and years, the only car may I used to read was performance Peugeot so i like to think I knew my way around the vts well! I feel now they are getting on a bit and the mr2 is a better car to drive!

Still, wind the clock back a few years and I would have loved a vts! Always had impressive speed and running costs for a car of the price.

[dori dori]

Very nice mate, good shout on the oem bracing please advise us on the forum of how the post fl bracing changes the feel of the car, I myself am considering a mid brace once my teins go on, at the moment I'm not 100% convinced of it's necessity on the later cars which are more rigid anyway, so if you fit the eom bracing making your car similar to a post fl car, then drive it for a bit then do the mid brace and report back,

Good luck with the work, and please keep us all updated.

will do thanks for advice so far on this, just need to wait for the front brace panels to show up which I've sourced off a breaker on ebay who I think may be a member on here as well. I'm unsure how far to go with the bracing as reading the links in the other thread I made asking about fitting the rear brace bars it does look like all the under bracing makes a nice diff.

P.s. Love the vts! Wanted one for years and years, the only car may I used to read was performance Peugeot so i like to think I knew my way around the vts well! I feel now they are getting on a bit and the mr2 is a better car to drive!

Still, wind the clock back a few years and I would have loved a vts! Always had impressive speed and running costs for a car of the price.

cheers it's good for what it is, can't complain with it really has a decent turn of speed, does good mpg and as you say cheap to maintain all round but you are correct in saying it's getting old now, mr2 is 100% a better daily as I've found no questions but with the last few winters we have had I need to keep a fwd car just simply for getting to work easier

[dori dori]

got this lot today, won't be able to fit until I've fabbed up some brackets for the front as the pfl cars well mine doesn't haven't the provision for them all the others are present and fine though, although if someone could confirm that the fl cars had brackets at the front? and pfl didn't?

[dori dori]

have concluded will need some brackets fabricating and welding on the front to fit the above but no hard ship. Didn't think Id be buying coilovers but looks like I'll be buying brads BC racing coilovers!

[dori dori]

child at christmas springs to mind

[brad82]

Excellent glad you got them all ok. Have fun with them  s:) s:)

[dori dori]

thanks for the quick turn around brad, couldn't really say no to the price really  s:) s:)

[dori dori]

So the saxo should be going tomorrow to make way for a much lower mileage a nicer 106 gti which I will be using as my new daily drive, the MR2 in that case means it will be getting a mini winter refresh and being honest since I'm still getting used to it only going to use it on decent days over winter.

List winter refresh consists of

resealing sump
new rocker gasket
another oil and filter change
spark plugs and air filter
fit the later 2006 style under body front bracing panels and bracing plus the rear braces
fit bc racing coilovers

fitting the under body bracing to my PFL will require brackets fabricating on the front so the brace panels can bolt on, otherwise everything else is as it should be. Will also sort out the eml light which is a high chance of being the heater circuit being dead or a lambda, this will be getting done over next few weeks will probably be getting new tyres sorted as well the likely hood is I will be getting falkens as I can get them for 180 fitted in 195 50 15 & 205 50 15, different on the front as bit cheaper and one of the few makes that can get same tyre as rear. Not keen on the toyos myself as have had them on a previous car wasn't bad but wasn't to great either other recommendations welcome.

[dori dori]

So the saxo should be going tomorrow to make way for a much lower mileage a nicer 106 gti which I will be using as my new daily drive, the MR2 in that case means it will be getting a mini winter refresh and being honest since I'm still getting used to it only going to use it on decent days over winter.

List winter refresh consists of

resealing sump
new rocker gasket
another oil and filter change
spark plugs and air filter
fit the later 2006 style under body front bracing panels and bracing plus the rear braces
fit bc racing coilovers

fitting the under body bracing to my PFL will require brackets fabricating on the front so the brace panels can bolt on, otherwise everything else is as it should be. Will also sort out the eml light which is a high chance of being the heater circuit being dead or a lambda, this will be getting done over next few weeks will probably be getting new tyres sorted as well the likely hood is I will be getting falkens as I can get them for 180 fitted in 195 50 15 & 205 50 15, different on the front as bit cheaper and one of the few makes that can get same tyre as rear. Not keen on the toyos myself as have had them on a previous car wasn't bad but wasn't to great either other recommendations welcome.

So the saxo got sold and I got a 106 gti as a winter run around



So the mr2 not much happened over last few weeks haven't used it much being honest maybe 3 days in total since I last posted, but seeing as I had the day off I got some new oil, oil filter, sealant for the sump and some m6x1 stainless bolts for the nappies and did the below





so basically drained the oil, took the sump off, took the oil filter off got some brake and clutch cleaner sprayed that all around the front and side of the block plus around the box to get rid of the oil that had leaked and splattered all over the place. Used plenty of sealant on the sump put that back on, whilst underneath checked out the rear cross member happy to say rot free  s:) s:)

So put the nappies back on with the new m6x1 stainless bolts, dropped the car back on the deck and re-filled with oil, leaving it for 24hrs to go off fully before I start to use it. So of that list above still need to do rocker gasket, spark plugs, air filter, fit the 2006 bracing and bc racing coilovers. Haven't stuck the car on with the new fault code reader yet but I am pretty sure it is the lambda heating circuit will check then get the 15ohm resistor for the known fix to sort that.

Will sort new tyres and discs soon as well but as for future plans nothing to big just want to sort a few aesthetics out then will look into power related mods next year

[dori dori]

So after resealing the sump and doing the oil/filter change I left the car for a few days drove it Friday night then took it to work Saturday with no dramas 90 miles done leaving it for a slightly longer period of time this time around has let the sealant do its work just need to sort the rocker gasket out at some point.

Anyway coilovers finally got fitted today without much drama all in I think 2hrs max if you have the tools and ability, I didn't so got my mate to do it will need new drop links on rear as one side got bit mashed taking it off. I'll need to get a few more of those pop clips for the front plastic cover and cut out more around the strut tops so I can get to the adjusters better, only need to get the under body bracing sorted out now.







quick drive and it felt pretty good, front needs to come down by another 10-15mm will do this next Sunday when I get new drop links get fitted. Not many pics of the car still pretty dirty so will need to wash it next weekend once the aforementioned is sorted out

[dori dori]

First drive on the coilovers and I love it, still some fine tuning to do but it feels more responsive, feel everything ripple in the road lol bit more bumpy but overall better. Still need to come down on the front a bit I think, oh and wash it!

[dori dori]

haven't done to much over the last month or so just keeping eye on oil use/leakage which seems to be ok for the 700miles I put on it since the last update will need to sort rocker gasket soon as I think it is leaking from there a bit still. Going to get under the car again at some point in the next few weeks to check the sump out make sure that's all good still one thing I 100% need to do is the dipstick mod as trying to read the oil level on the oem untouched one is just plain daft.

[dori dori]

not updated after loosing the love for this a bit, thought I had serious oil use problems but after speaking to Matt and taking advice of others on here monitored the use after doing the dipstick mod safe to say I am well within the handbook recommendations. Which in all honesty is a huge sigh of relief, so with a somewhat renewed vigor the car next month will be treated to new discs and pads all round, new rear drop links plus Rainsport 3s all round to.

Few things I do need to check which are rear calipers, handbrake adjustment on current cables and replace cables if needed. Will eventually get round to fitting the 06+ underbody bracing to at some point and see if I can get a new keyfob.

[dori dori]

Well I totally lost heart with this around a month ago after the engine decided it was on it's last legs despite looking after it with more precaution taking on the advice of the forum but to no avail, got let down badly on 2 engine conversions in the mean time so missed out on 2 good oem replacements due to that.

But all is not lost she will come back stronger and better, plans are afoot for her to visit Matt and spend around a week with him getting refreshed towards the end of June so just in time for what summer we do have. Got a nice contact on Yahoo Japan now to so I can either go coilovers again in the future or go for the Sportivo setup plus braces if needed.

[1979scotte]

Matt will sort it out be like new when it comes back.

[dori dori]

I'm looking forward to it being honest never realised the handling potential of the car until I had the new tyres fitted which totally amazed me plus with all the work Matt will be doing it is something I will be using as much as I can of when it is fixed.

[Anonymous]

I see you are selling this now, have you still got the coil overs?!