My 2004 Crystal Silver MR2....

[Felix_5]

I picked up my 2004 Crystal Silver MR2 yesterday from fellow forum member MikeG.

As soon as I saw the ad, I knew it was the one! The advert read like a Delia Smith recipe, all the right information with no waffle. A prompt phone call to Mike confirmed he was exactly the sort of person you want to buy a car from, a genuine and honest seller, very meticulous and caring, and above all else a true petrol head! After I grilled him (gently), and he gave all the correct answers, I agreed to mull it over, as he wasn't willing to negotiate on price (I took this as a good sign, as it showed he had a good car!) After an hour or so, I couldn't think about anything else, and knew if I didn't act quickly, it would slip through my fingers. You snooze, you lose! So, a quick message to Mike, we agreed the deal and I pinged him a deposit for the car, without seeing it, something I never normally do....

Anyway, fast forward to Sunday 31st January, I collected the car. I live just north of Peterborough, so in order to persuade (bribe) my wife and 4 year old to come with me, I agreed to take them to Colchester Zoo as it was down the road from the car.

Typically it was a wet day, so was not the ideal day to be picking up a new toy!! I contacted Mike just before we collected so he knew what time to expect us, he added that he had just been and put 3/4 tank of petrol in the car so I had enough to get me home, this has never happened before and thought it was extremely decent and generous of Mike! Of course when I arrived the car was soaking wet, so couldn't inspect it thoroughly (not that I really needed to!), I had a look over it, the best I could, handed over the money and drove away, with the roof up!   s:( s:(  

Conscious that the roads were wet and I had my (now bored) wife and son following me, I took it easy all the way home, but the car felt great, with a lovely exhaust note coming from the Remus! I've fallen in love already and can't wait for some nice dry days to go and see what this car is really all about.

We did have our first mile stone on the way home, I said goodbye to 26k miles and said hello to 27k miles as the speedo rolled over....   s:D s:D  

Needless to say the car is mint, plans are to maintain and care for it in the same vein Mike has, with maybe the odd tiny tweak here and there. Thinking about a front Zunsport grill, but not sure if silver or black would look best? Want to tidy up the exhaust heat shield and change the rusty bolts as it is letting the engine bay down a bit. Gave it a wash today as it was a bit minging after the drive home. Enough waffle, here's some pics.....

[andyroo104]

Great buy,a truly stunning example.

[lron]

Very nice, you can see it's been looked after.

[Jrichards20]

Looks lovely! Probably the best silver I have seen!

[Felix_5]

Thanks for all the kind words. It's having a mini detail tomorrow, want to get a nice coat of wax / sealent on there. It's pretty much spot on as it is, although I am consideting a black mesh zunsport front grill, and possibly the TTE banana rear spoiler....

[s12vea]

Lovely car and even better garage!

[StuC]

Looks lovely! Probably the best silver I have seen!

Scott will be having words later!  s;-) ;-) s;-)   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

[1979scotte]

Looks lovely! Probably the best silver I have seen!

Scott will be having words later!  s;-) ;-) s;-)   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Not at all.
Best example of a STOCK silver roadster on this forum.
No point me having such a low milage example i do 6k+ miles a year in mine.

[Jrichards20]

Looks lovely! Probably the best silver I have seen!

Scott will be having words later!  s;-) ;-) s;-)   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:

Not at all.
Best example of a STOCK silver roadster on this forum.
No point me having such a low milage example i do 6k+ miles a year in mine.

Hehe, no grilling for me!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

As much as Scotts is lovely, we all know he's never going to wash it!

Something about the red mohair roof that really does make this one stand out, plus I'm a sucker for the FL spats!

[CrazySX]

lovely car bud, very very clean!  

Nice garage too, are you a mechanic?  does the garage have something to do with your living or are you just blessed to live in a place where you have land to your disposal? I wish i had a garage like that (Jealous!!)  s:) s:)

[Felix_5]

Thanks for the kind comments, sadly I can't take any credit for it, but will certainly look after it!   s:) s:)  

With regards to the Garage, I'm not a mechanic, but I am in the trade. Sadly I don't have a garage at home, so my works unit will be it's new home. I'm lucky to have the space, but it does come at a premium. I do have access to a lift ramp, so perhaps I could arrange a mini, informal tech day / gathering. Can't offer any technical skills, but I do make a cracking cuppa!!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

I agree about the red roof, it does make a big difference. I haven't actually seen the car with the roof down yet!!   s:D s:D  

It's currently having a mini detail, will hopefully post up some pics later.

[Jrichards20]

I'm sure you will!  s:) s:)  

Not that I am close, but I'm sure there would be great interested in an informal tech day. There have been a few of them in the past. Get it set up in the events section  s:) s:)  

Oh yes, lets have some more pictures, have you paid a company to do it for you?

[Felix_5]

I'm sure you will!  s:) s:)  

Not that I am close, but I'm sure there would be great interested in an informal tech day. There have been a few of them in the past. Get it set up in the events section  s:) s:)  

Oh yes, lets have some more pictures, have you paid a company to do it for you?

Will do.

Yeah I've paid a company, a really good guy who I've used before and I trust. I'm not lazy, I did give it a blast off yesterday, and will keep up a good washing routine, but he's got all the right products to give it a proper decontamination and clay, polish and sealant etc. I haven't quite built up my range of cleaning products yet, so I'm cheating slightly. But will get the bits I need and do it myself, just wanted a good base to start from.

[Jrichards20]

There is a massive difference between detailing a car and washing it. Not detailing your car certainly isn't lazy, its hard work!

Without doing on a daily basis like a professional detailer would do, to do it yourself would take a good 2/3 days. Plus, its unlikely to look as good as a professional.

I gave my car a clean and decided to see how long it would take me, I managed to snow foam is, wash it off with a proper mit, making sure all the dirt was removed, dried it, and started working on the bonnet with a clay bay. Started at 10am, finished clay barring (just the bonnet) buy 3pm! Then I had to polish, wax etc. So only managed to do the bonnet in one day  s:( s:(

[Felix_5]

There is a massive difference between detailing a car and washing it. Not detailing your car certainly isn't lazy, its hard work!

Without doing on a daily basis like a professional detailer would do, to do it yourself would take a good 2/3 days. Plus, its unlikely to look as good as a professional.

I gave my car a clean and decided to see how long it would take me, I managed to snow foam is, wash it off with a proper mit, making sure all the dirt was removed, dried it, and started working on the bonnet with a clay bay. Started at 10am, finished clay barring (just the bonnet) buy 3pm! Then I had to polish, wax etc. So only managed to do the bonnet in one day  s:( s:(

Yeah it's a very long winded process, not sure how all these D.I.Y detailers do it, you need a good 2 or 3 days to do it properly. Thankfully this 2 is very clean, so it's juts a case of perfecting it, but still plenty to do!   s:) s:)

[Felix_5]

So it's having a mini detail today, first stage was to decontaminate the paintwork.......

You can see the purple runs are where there's traces of Iron, which are being removed.




Then this was rinsed, tar removed, rinsed again, then snow foamed.....



Still being worked on, so will update as it progresses.

[tommyzoom99]

does look like a fine example of a mr2, you must be pleased with it, i really like the red roof on silver body work, its a great combination

cheers tommy

[Felix_5]

does look like a fine example of a mr2, you must be pleased with it, i really like the red roof on silver body work, its a great combination

cheers tommy

Thanks Tommy, yeah really pleased with it!

[Felix_5]

After it's mini detail yesterday, here's the end result. Had the leather cleaned, came up a treat!   s:) s:)  

[Jrichards20]

Looks lovely!  s:) s:)  Those headlights need polishing it to finish it off  s:) s:)

[Felix_5]

Looks lovely!  s:) s:)  Those headlights need polishing it to finish it off  s:) s:)

Ha, well spotted! He's coming back tomorrow to do the headlights, and treat / proof the roof.   s:) s:)

[Felix_5]

Just ordered this gear knob....  m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/CHROME-6-spee ... QBMgnEfimQ m

[Jrichards20]

That's good, what is he doing with the headlights? Using a kit just to polish the outside?

[Felix_5]

That's good, what is he doing with the headlights? Using a kit just to polish the outside?

I think it will be a very light, wet sand, and machine polish back up, then he uses some form of special UV protection sealant.

[Cailsey]

Wow! Beautiful looking car!
I've trying to smarten mine up and find that its when you really give them a good clean, that's when you find all the niggly little things that you then want to fix.
It seem endless........
I guess it helps to start with such as great example such as yours.
Very nice indeed.