The Gulf...

[jvanzyl]

I'll be round to pick up my old (now to be current) front bumper off you soon! Sorry been ill..

[Oddshoes]

So with the lockdown on the Practical Claasis and Resto show at the NEC has been postponed, so I am taking the time to do a few tweeks to the car.

The leather interior has gone and I am back to the fabrics till source a set of reclining bucket seats that I like and fit in and get in the car.

I have sourced a UK 6speed box and gear shifter to the swap after lockdown. I also have UK PFL gearbox and if know one wants that I will pull the LSD out of it for my MR-S and have the best of both if I want it.

I started stripping back the brakes, started removing some of the dirt and grime up inside the arches and painting my calipers and the edge of the brake sheilds.

As the car has quite a presence both in colour and power with an interloper hanging out the back of it I have always thought it needs wider tyres Front and Rear. I am currently running 205/45/16 x7j on the front and 225/40/16 x7j on the rear, while the front was in the air when doing my calipers I checked to see if the 225 would work... clearance is good with my current suspension setup! So I think 245 profile for the rear will be coming at some stage in the future.


Dave

[Oddshoes]

This weekend saw calipers / carriers and the edges of the brake sheilds painted, centre caps of alloys removed and a bit of tyre pen action

[Oddshoes]

I have been lucky to have a feature done on my car in the new MR2 Only Magazine which is out now

[Ripley]

I've enjoyed the write up Dave, your car looks great 👍

[Oddshoes]

First problem ever with the car came about today!

So weird one today... Car started, ran moved after 15mins turned it off went to start it an hour later and dead, no lights on the dash or interior but 12v at battery.
Before I spend hours and hours which I prepared to do diagnosing and investigating anyone else had this or aware of issues

I was only moving it so I could get a friend's roadster into the workshop so we could change the exhaust system for him, it's almost like he gulf has become a jelious lover lol

[Joesson]

@Oddshoes

If not a loose earth,
Maybe a fuse, but sorry not a clue as to which, I had a similar problem in the 60's with an A 35 van and that turned out to be a faulty fuse.
On a "modern" car there is very much more to go wrong but everything electrical still goes through a fuse/ circuit breaker.

[Oddshoes]

It turned out to be a bad earthing point from where I did the battery relocation, why it choose to show up now so many months laterI don't know but at least it happened while at home be is sorted quickly

[jvanzyl]

Good to hear you got it sorted!

[105e]

Ive never heard of this magazine,  is it a real magazine you can buy from a shop, or is it a stupid facebook thing..

[Oddshoes]

Ive never heard of this magazine,  is it a real magazine you can buy from a shop, or is it a stupid facebook thing..

https://mr2onlymagazine.com/

That should help, the mag started out years ago and was staple in the community and articles where written and taken by fellow MR2 nuts

[105e]

Thank you, and ive bought one.

[Oddshoes]

I have spent some time of late improving my home workshop of late but today I treated it to a set of S2000 seats

[s12vea]

I sat in them the other day and would of snapped them up if my plans hadn't changed they fit the 2 well and look great in the gulf

[Oddshoes]

Well theres a bit of an update since September....

In late November I became a father for the first time to our son and life has definitely changed for the better for our family and the cars have taken a back seat.

Speaking of seats I sold the S2000 seats as I needed to free up some money and the car is going to be parked up for sometime now and I still had the seat that came out of it.

I have been playing around in the workshop and managed to now get mine and the wife's MR2 in there with space to get around both and theres space for racking with parts on and my toolbox with some extra storage space

I also might have access to a set of hubs from my wife's MK2 and wonder has anyone done a 5 stud conversion using these or is it possible?
Any tips or links will be handy if you know of anything


Many thanks in advance

[Carolyn]

Well theres a bit of an update since September....

In late November I became a father for the first time to our son and life has definitely changed for the better for our family and the cars have taken a back seat.

Speaking of seats I sold the S2000 seats as I needed to free up some money and the car is going to be parked up for sometime now and I still had the seat that came out of it.

I have been playing around in the workshop and managed to now get mine and the wife's MR2 in there with space to get around both and theres space for racking with parts on and my toolbox with some extra storage space

I also might have access to a set of hubs from my wife's MK2 and wonder has anyone done a 5 stud conversion using these or is it possible?
Any tips or links will be handy if you know of anything


Many thanks in advance

Congratulations on becoming parents.  I'm sure you'll both be very good at it.

[Zxrob]

Well theres a bit of an update since September....

In late November I became a father for the first time to our son and life has definitely changed for the better for our family and the cars have taken a back seat.

Speaking of seats I sold the S2000 seats as I needed to free up some money and the car is going to be parked up for sometime now and I still had the seat that came out of it.

I have been playing around in the workshop and managed to now get mine and the wife's MR2 in there with space to get around both and theres space for racking with parts on and my toolbox with some extra storage space

I also might have access to a set of hubs from my wife's MK2 and wonder has anyone done a 5 stud conversion using these or is it possible?
Any tips or links will be handy if you know of anything


Many thanks in advance

Please dont tell the wife (you may regret it) but your mk3 looks so much more modern and kindy funky compared to the mk2 2, BTW, congrats form me

Rob

[Oddshoes]

So it's been nearly a year since my last update.

The car has been parked up in the workshop most of the time, but I was lucky enough to be asked to put it on the MR2 Drivers Club stand for Practical classics and resto show earlier this month at the NEC in Birmingham.

I put the car in for an MOT and she went straight through, it was great to drive it again and got a great deal with Lancaster insurance and happy to recommend them too.

Funny things happened tho, I was lucky enough to of meet the person who imported my car back in 2004 and get more history about it, it does look highly likely it was a promo car.
I also got interview about the car by Classic. Retro. Modern. magazine which can be seen on youtube too.
I have also found post from 2009 that my car has also been owned by roughly 3 pervious members on here

[Oddshoes]

[puma2]

     you must be well pleased you got your 2 there now and to meet up with the person who imported with more history for you  

all your hard work and time to get there is paying off

well done and keep up the good work    

[Oddshoes]

So according to the dates its been about 3 years since my last update and probably just as long since I last had my 2 started up and running outside of our workshop. Life over the last 5 years has been interesting for me, as well as becoming a parent for the first time back in 2020 I also went through a difficult personal and mental shake up after becoming a stay at home dad to look after my son. The first year or 2 was quite hard to be honest but it made me a much stronger person now and also alot more happier within myself.

I started up my own business called Daves Lawn Care in 2022 and as I was at a point where all I had was 20+ years of horticultural knowledge and about £2000 to my name this drove me to making it work for mine and my familys needs. I've now completed my 3rd of trading while continuing to grow my work and client base while still managing to cover my bills and have family time more than most people would normally get.

This year my son turns 5 and goes school in September and life will change again but such is just that so this year I have chosen to try to start getting my car up and running and ready for the road again next year. As I work in Horticulture spring and summer tend to be the busiest times of the year for me being a Turf Care specialist and gardener. It's taken me 3 years to build my business to the point where I am able to have Sundays off and work only a half day on a Saturday if I want or is needed.

After taking my wife to get her MK2 MR2 Turbo MOT'd it finally got me started on mine, the race battery is toast and needs replacing and I have a split CV gator but considering the length of time it stood idle for I was quite happy on cold start once I built up the oil pressure what the car looked like after being sat in the workshop for the last 3 years



I did go upto MR2 National day and there was a red mk3 up there running a set of Black 8 spoke Lotus wheels and I was impressed with the fitment it got me looking more and more into similar spec'd wheels as the Elise and Exige are similarly spec'd to the MK3. As you do when you are scaning around on Facebook I saw J-Spec where collecting a turbo'd roadster with had a big gay wing on it which I managed to snag, a car that looks like mine I believe should really have a wing on it and yes when I bought my car back it came with a tiny wing on it which I removed quickly and now its been replaced with what ever this one is lol



BGW which I am thinking about painting to match the paint scheme



I also have managed to get hold of a set of Lotus Exige S2 8 spokes 16x5.5+31 and 17x7.5+38 wrapped in fairly new AD08-RS to which I should be getting towards the end of the month. The current Toyos on my 16in Lenso's D1R's  are old and cracked and those tyres will be going bye bye. The rims however will probably end up on our Z12 Nissan Cube as winter wheels.



Here's me aiming for being on the road in 2026 with a few other bits that need doing in that time too like my JDM box swap to UK 6 Speed,I also have one of the Mike Hall Dash 3 gauge holders where I need to still do the wiring for

[jvanzyl]

Dave! So good to see you back!
If I'd known you were ordering that stuff from j-spec we could have combined for shipping.. I'm trying to get the panels off the same car.

I'll swing by and give you a lift to our pub meet at the end up Aug if you'd like?

[puma2]

  keep up the good work your putting into your life
life has at times throw us down a road that we would never think we would take it becomes bumpy and hard at times it will take a corner at some level  out for a bit of a smother  ride at some point  

it be good to see your 2 getting out about  

[Oddshoes]

As most of my work has been burnt of by the 3rd heatwave this year already I found I had some time spare today so I nipped into Halfords and grabbed some paint aerosol cans to try something with my BGW









I might do the end caps in white to match the hard top

[Oddshoes]

I collected the and test fitted the rear Lotus S2 Alloy on Sunday... The fitment is good but its to low I need to see if I can get the coilovers freed up and raise the body about another 10/15mm





In case people want the specs 17x7.5j+18 running 225/45 yoko AD08-RS