My Yellow 2000 MR2 - "Dumbledore"

Started by patonator, April 13, 2016, 12:53

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patonator

So I thought it was about time I started a log of everything I've been up to with my MR2. [Photos to follow!]

It has been provisionally named Dumbledore. This was chosen by my girlfriend, and whilst I wasn't keen on it at first its beginning to grow on me. Seemingly Dumbledore is an old-English word for a Bumblebee; given the colour scheme it fits.


Purchasing Dumbledore:
June 2015, BUCS Outdoor Archery Championship, Lilleshall National Sports Centre
Having volunteered to drive the minibus for my old Uni club, I find myself perched on a deck chair sheltering from the rain in a tent. Whilst I thoroughly enjoy shooting, I'll be the first to admit it's not always the most enthralling spectator sport, so I found myself trawling through auto trader looking at various Cabriolets. I'd spotted an MR2 down in London a week previously that I thought could make an interesting project, but I found a newly listed one a mere 40 miles away, no photos as it had just come in.

I'd never sat in one before, so I thought instead of sitting in a wet field for another day I'd take a jaunt across Birmingham and have a mosey.



Having dropped off the team of archers at the shooting field the next day, myself and 2 mates (Alex & Chris) who weren't shooting set off in the minibus to track down the MR2!
It had just come in to the garage so hadn't yet been through a valet, which it was desperately in need of. The interior looked as if the roof had been left down in a barn! However outside the paintwork seemed in decent nick (a few small stone chips here and there), and underneath the body seemed in good shape (not any major rust etc), and I figured I can always use the lack luster interior to talk down the price a bit, and it wouldn't be too hard to rent a carpet devil and give it a thorough clean out.

We had an OBD reader with us and checked the codes, it was showing the O2 sensors as needing replaced, and it caused the ABS warning light to come on (I know now I need to plug it in after I start the ignition), which along with the dire state of the interior gave us some bargaining points with the salesman.

When Alex and I took the car out for a test run we stopped halfway round the test to have a good nosey away from the sales man, which was where the fun started. The key had been snapped by the previous owner, and when the salesman went to bring the car round to us he snapped it again where it had been glued. With the engine running when we started I had placed the broken part of the key on the dash and thought nothing of it. After 15 minutes of failing to start the car again in some random housing estate we thought the car was goosed, before using the OBD to track down it was the immobilizer which was stopping us, realising our noob mistake (leaving the transmitted part of the key in the ash tray) and piecing the parts of the key back together!

Returning to the garage and following some negotiations I took possession of old Dumbledore at 130k for a mere £680, at which point I had to fork out for a day's insurance for Alex so that he could drive it back up to Aberdeen for me as I followed in the Uni minibus.


Was it an impulse buy?  Definitely
Should I have waited my time to see others in better condition come up for sale?  Probably
Do I regret it a year later?  Nope!


Replacement Engine: Complete
July, 2015
Having had the car a few weeks, I discovered that the engine was more than a little oil thirsty. I think at the worst I went from full to empty oil in about 100 miles!
It was time for a new engine. I sourced one from a breaker on eBay for £375 (£405 delivered). It came out of an MR2 which had done about 50K and was involved in a frontal impact. Whilst swapping this out I also replaced the exhaust manifold with an aftermarket one from eBay without the pre-cats.




Steering Joint: Complete
July, 2015
There was quite a bit of play in the steering universal joint, so this got replaced early on as well with a refurbished one i found on eBay.




Refurbish Wheels/New Tyres: Complete (ish)
August, 2015
I decided I would have a go at refurbishing the wheels myself. I priced up the paint and tools needed and decided for about the same money as paying for them to be blasted and sprayed I could buy the tools and do it myself. I wanted to try spraying myself as I hadn't done any before, plus I would have a sandblaster by the end of it to use again.

I bought a cheap blaster and all the air hoses and regulator needed to go along with it, and built a blasting cabinet at my Dad's work, and set to stripping down the wheels:




One of my GFs family is a painter in a body shop, so he sourced the right painting materials for me, let me borrow one of his paint guns and gave me a run through of how to do it.

Acid Etch:


Primer:


Top Coat:


Time to Dry:


And finally, painting complete I got a full set of Toyo Proxes (T1-R 205/40 R17) fitted.




CB Radio: Complete
August, 2015
I went on a road trip around north of Scotland (Roughly following the aptly named North Coast 500) with a couple of friends, and we decided to get some CB radios to keep the banter topped up on the way round. We just got cheap ones online which came with a big magnetic base so no drilling of panels was required, and it can be removed at any time. I fitted the small radio box in the gap underneath the ashtray below the gearbox and I fed the cable in along side some of the cabling coming from the engine bay through to the storage compartment behind the drivers seat and then tucked it away under the handbrake console trim.

The CB radio is hard to hear what is being said if you have the music up, so you have to turn your music down every time you hear noise coming from the CB and ask them to repeat.
If/When I get round to fitting a new stereo I am going to look into whether the CB audio can be added to the radio output to the speakers, but since its only used when going on a group road trip (not very often at all) I think I can live without it.

 
Replacement Seats: Complete
February, 2016
I picked up some nice leather seats from a Celica from a local breakers yard to replace the tired looking fabric ones that came in the car. I gave them a thorough clean up and swapped the runners out with the MR2 runners from my old seats and they slotted right in nicely.






Some of you may be wincing at the mix of colours. I think they look alright, I might look at swapping them for some black or black/grey leathers in the future, but for the time being I'm going to stick with them as they are in pretty decent nick.


Spoiler: Complete
March, 2016
Whilst I was out looking for seats I spotted a beaten up looking FL MR2 up on a rack at the breakers. I got them to bring it down and along with a few spare clips I got the original TTE spoiler.


I have rubbed this down and sprayed it up in gloss black and finally got it mounted.






Suspension Upgrade: Ongoing
March, 2016
The front shocks needed replacing as the front right was leaking, and when I went over any dips in the road at any kind of speed the front was scraping its belly off the road. Following some discussions over stock vs coil-overs (http://www.mr2roc.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=57627) I have replaced the (tired) stock suspension with new KYB Shocks and Tein Springs all round.
 You can see the old bits that came out and new ones going in here:





I think the car looks neater with it sitting that little bit lower, and the ride doesn't seem too harsh even with the larger diameter rims.
I thought I would need to get the alignment redone after having everything apart, but I took it into Kwikfit to check the alignment using their Hawk-eye system (only place local) and everything was near bang on (all in the green) and needed no adjustment.


New Radio: Ongoing
April, 2016
I'm planning on replacing the stock radio with a new head unit running Android, and I want to position this on top of the dash in place of the top storage bin. I've ordered a head unit which is making its way over from China right now, and started on a rough design for a mount/enclosure. My mate has just bought a 3D printer, so the plan is to print the mount in several parts which can be fitted together to securely mount the radio and fix into the existing storage bin, replacing the original lid.

Update 25/04/2016:
The new head unit arrived today, I've plugged it in and wedged it into the existing dash just to try it out, waiting for some single core cable to arrive so I can extend the wiring harness up the back of the dash, and then set to work on some mounts!



Update 18/05/2016:
The unit which arrived had a dodgy screen (you can probably see from the photo above the colours seem very pale), so I decided to return it for a refund rather than replacement and buy a different one from another manufacturer (Joying). The second one cost a bit more but but they have more support online and publish their firmware you you can update it yourself etc.
I have finished the wiring loom and added a switch into the antenna cable so I can manually override the antenna going up. Unlike the stock radio this puts the antenna up as soon as it boots up, rather than only when you have the AM/FM radio on.
Now I have the head unit I have finished off modelling the mounting, and am hoping to start printing it out this weekend. Due to the size limitations of the printer I'm going to have to print it in sections, hence the rainbow of colours in the photo below (Each colour is a different part)



Modelling the Radio Mount by jpaton91, on Flickr
*3D Models don't look as good in 2D

Replacement Steering Wheel: Ongoing
May, 2016
I bought a cheap steering boss and second hand wheel from eBay to try out using a smaller steering wheel, to see if:
1) I liked the feel
2) It made any more leg room
I'm happy to say that on a short drive it passed on both accounts   s:D :D s:D
As it was a cheap boss (£7.95) my intention is to change this for a decent branded one which will cancel the indicator and fit better.

Just in case anyone is looking at this down the line, it takes a 3.3 Ohm resistor to "fool" the airbag checks. It took trips to 2 Maplin stores to get a 3.3 Ohm as resistors of this low a resistance are uncommon. Of course if you plan ahead and order one online before you have the airbag in your lap then you're dancing!


New Steering Wheel by jpaton91, on Flickr

Size Comparison - Old vs New by jpaton91, on Flickr

Rear Cross-member: To Do
TBA
The cross-member looks in an alright condition, but there are a few bits that have seen better days. Not being able to see inside, I need to look into giving this a thorough check and possibly replace if need be.


Front Drop links: To Do
TBA
Whilst I had the car up on the alignment ramp I had the guy have a poke around at the rest of the steering, and he thought the front drop links would likely be an advisory at the next MOT. Its not a pressing issue, but when I get round to it these will likely need replacing at some point.

exiles

#1
Small extension speakers available for CB, also old car phone ext speakers (ie nokia etc) work fine, just plug in the back. Did you tune (check the SWR) the antenna before transmitting?

1979scotte

#2
Hi
We have many discussions about tyres on here most would suggest you run a staggered tyre setup even if you have the same size wheels. It is something Toyota Porsche and Lotus do from the factory.
Personally i would dump the 17s and either go for facelift sizes or 15s all round.
Enjoy.
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 🇺🇦

shnazzle

#3
Enjoyed reading that. Looking forward to the pictures!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
...neutiquam erro.

patonator

#4
Exiles, I can't say we did, will need to have a look into that before we use them next. It's possible it came pre-tuned as the radio/antenna came as a set, but worth a check all the same  s:) :) s:)

I'll bear the tyre sizes in mind, although having not long put on new tyres I'm reluctant to pay for another new set straight away  s:P :P s:P

Cheers shnazzle, just gotta look them all out!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

exiles

#5
Pre-tuned antenna are normally OK but seen plenty of radios with blown finals because of faults, like coax or plugs not soldered properly.
Some useful info here
http://www.thunderpole.co.uk/cb-radio-guide-swr.html

patonator

#6
25/04/2016 Update:
- Finally got round to uploading the photos!
- The new head unit arrived today after a week in customs  s:bounce: :bounce: s:bounce:  I've plugged it in and wedged it into the existing dash just to try it out, waiting for some single core cable to arrive so I can extend the wiring harness up the back of the dash, and then set to work on some mounts!

StuC

#7
Just have to love a yellow.  s:-D :-D s:-D
URBAN CUSTARD COLLECTIVE FOUNDING MEMBER

tommyzoom99

#8
great looking car buddy some nice work gone into her i do love the bumble bee combination

cheers tommy
My track project
viewtopic.php?t=51237

patonator

#9
Update: 18/05/2016
Quote from: "patonator"New Radio: Ongoing

Update 18/05/2016:
The unit which arrived had a dodgy screen (you can probably see from the photo above the colours seem very pale), so I decided to return it for a refund rather than replacement and buy a different one from another manufacturer (Joying). The second one cost a bit more but but they have more support online and publish their firmware you you can update it yourself etc.
I have finished the wiring loom and added a switch into the antenna cable so I can manually override the antenna going up. Unlike the stock radio this puts the antenna up as soon as it boots up, rather than only when you have the AM/FM radio on.
Now I have the head unit I have finished off modelling the mounting, and am hoping to start printing it out this weekend. Due to the size limitations of the printer I'm going to have to print it in sections, hence the rainbow of colours in the photo below (Each colour is a different part)



Modelling the Radio Mount by jpaton91, on Flickr
*3D Models don't look as good in 2D

Quote from: "patonator"Replacement Steering Wheel: Ongoing
May, 2016
I bought a cheap steering boss and second hand wheel from eBay to try out using a smaller steering wheel, to see if:
1) I liked the feel
2) It made any more leg room
I'm happy to say that on a short drive it passed on both accounts   s:D :D s:D
As it was a cheap boss (£7.95) my intention is to change this for a decent branded one which will cancel the indicator and fit better.

Just in case anyone is looking at this down the line, it takes a 3.3 Ohm resistor to "fool" the airbag checks. It took trips to 2 Maplin stores to get a 3.3 Ohm as resistors of this low a resistance are uncommon. Of course if you plan ahead and order one online before you have the airbag in your lap then you're dancing!


New Steering Wheel by jpaton91, on Flickr

Size Comparison - Old vs New by jpaton91, on Flickr

I also got some exhaust wrap for the manifold in an attempt to reduce some of the heat under the bonnet (boot?). Looked pretty nifty before starting the engine, but then came a cloud of smoke! 10 mins later the smoking had subsided and left a nice white wrap behind, suspect there may have been some cost cutting measures in the ink department, but for £10 for a 10m roll I can't say I'm too surprised   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDAUinGMPyQ

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