zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:52:30 GMT
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Hi chaps, I have been a lurker for some time and I must say this is an ace forum for fun / talent. You all seem to achieve so much on your cars that I am amazed by such a high proportion of epic threads – and there are some fantastic skills on show! Here is my introduction and story of my 1993 Toyota MR2 GTi16, I warn you – it has turned into a long long post, but there are plenty of pictures to keep you amused! 95% of the parts I have bought for this car are second hand, and I like to get bargains, so please don’t think I am a moneybags – I really am not. I have also done 95% of the work to the car myself bar the engine conversion due to costs / knowledge / space. First, a couple of pictures of my former cars…. Car 1: 1986 Citroen Visa 11RE – purchased for £60 in 1997. Engine was supposedly duff but my old man wanted me to have my own car so it was swapped for a racing bike found in a skip (seriously) plus £60. We took the engine out only to find that a nut underneath the cam cover was lose and making a tappy noise like hell. After sorting that and installing a new fuel pump, she was away. I ended up selling it to a strange middle aged guy who came to see the car with a cheque for £650 already written!!! Apparently he drove it to the south of France and back, and all that went wrong was that a window winder broke! I will try and dig out an old photo of this bad boy…….. Car 2: 1986 Volkswagen Jetta TX 1.6 – purchased for £450 from my Mum in 1998. My first decent car – loved it loads, and took it to about 3 GTi International shows. It was a real minter. Featured in Club GTi’s Rabbit magazine in about 2000. Sold it to a couple up the road from me after I had swapped off the snazzy bits. The woman smashed it to pieces 6 weeks later Car 3: 1993 Toyota MR2 GTi16 – purchased in 2002 for £4750. Absolutely stock aside for the K&N filter (which I swapped for a standard part for insurance reasons) and Scorpion alarm. I still have this car after 9 years – story to follow. The only electronic pictures I have of it after purchase are after I added clear front indicators and a stainless exhaust….
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Last Edit: Jul 23, 2016 16:42:45 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:53:08 GMT
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Car 4: 1991 BMW 316i E30 – purchased so the MR2 could become a weekend car in 2005 for £430. This car was immense fun. It wasn’t meant to be much at all, just enough to commute in so I could build the MR2 project. Very sadly I smashed it (unluckily – not recklessly) after spending a fair amount of time doing it up, and taking it on a holiday to the Cotswolds with my then fiancée. Still feel guilty for killing it, and still miss it! Car 5: 1994 Toyota Celica SS2 – purchased to replace the BMW for £350 in 2006 off a mate at work. The paintwork was shot and it had suffered great abuse at the hands of previous owners, but the engine was sweet and I regret selling it due to the carefree attitude it offered. It looked like a dog but gave so much for so little. Sold due to the amount it was going to cost to make good again. Car 6: 1995 BMW 318iS E36 – purchased to replace the Celica in 2008 for £1100 off of ebay. Unloved when purchased, but very tidy underneath the surface dirt and smoky interior, sold very much loved and modified 2 years later. In the end it just felt too slow and I couldn’t justify the remaining cosmetic finishes. From ebay advert: After my ownership: Car 7: 2000 BMW 325Ci – purchased in 2010 for £3600 from ebay. My current daily to replace the E36. Too modern for you guys but it runs like a Rolls Royce and feels mighty plush. Lots of extras including full leather. It needs nothing and is in superb nick. I plan to keep my daily driver standard from now on! It all works and is new enough to hopefully not need too much attention for a few years.
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:53:46 GMT
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Right – onto the MR2…….. I trained as an Architect between 1998 and 2004. On my first placement year in 2001 I decided I wanted something a bit sportier than the Jetta having saved up for a year whilst living at home, and so I found the MR2 – a car I had wanted since I was 14 when my mate gave me a massive Toyota MR2 dealer poster (which is now in my shed…) It didn’t take me long to find this exceptionally clean 1993 UK car with 82K on the clock and fairly rare limited edition Zircon Blue pearlescent paintwork. The body style is described by Toyota as a ‘moon-roof’ You can take it out and store it in the ‘frunk’ (front trunk under bonnet area). Interior was navy blue – very retro, but I grew tired of it! I couldn’t help but modify it – first was the stereo that packed up, to be replaced with an Alpine unit. I installed my old Momo gear knob from my Jetta alongside a present from my mate – a polished handbrake handle. The dashboard inserts were then painted silver to liven things up a bit amongst the sea of blue! At the same time I installed an engine start button from an S2000 and chrome dial rings. I sourced a Japanese distress flare which you can see in the cubby hole. Christmas saw the purchase of a new Momo wheel to match. Next up was the orange repeaters. I much preferred the clear look, so a set went on. The above picture was at a dyno day that will be discussed later. The engine was clean but needed a spruce up. Off came the intake manifolds, heat shields etc. These were restored to silver and I added a cross brace from a T-bar model at the scrappy, that was sprayed with Hammerite bright red. The exhaust was upgraded to a de-cat Mongoose….the stock exhaust was very nondescript for a sports car. The Mongoose was subtle, but had a nice note when being worked.
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:18:51 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:54:29 GMT
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I bought a used Apex’I induction kit from a friend and put that on – one of the best filters for Japanese cars. A set of Eibach Pro-kit springs were fitted to sharpen up the handling whilst I replaced all of the suspension bushed with polyurethane items. These springs didn’t lower things as much as I had hoped……but they performed really well! Here is my home made bush removing apparatus: Also fitted was a cheap but effective ebay front strut brace and a set of gear linkage replacement bearings and cradle mounts. A 6 CD boot changer was purchased to multiply the choonz! The stock premium 8 speaker sound system is pretty impressive for the age of the car. It features 2 bass units sat behind the seats and kicks out some good quality sound! I then managed to get hold of some extremely rare alloys – made by Rays Engineering Japan. These were sold in the Toyota dealerships within Japan as optional racing extras under the brand Tom’s Racing. They are light weight 2 piece split rim wheels in staggered setup, 16x7j front and 16x8j rear. They were in shocking condition when purchased, but I saved for a year to have them refurbished. These wheels date from 1991 according to the sticker that was on them. The previous owner had been hooning them around a track for a year or so..... Alloy Magic in Poole did a fantastic job……. After refurb: Fitted:
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:21:50 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:55:35 GMT
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The Eibach springs were a bit high as pictured...... Next was a set of later revision rear lights, with de-badged black centre panel. The loom was modified to enable all 4 rear lights to run at the same time when the lights are on to give a nice wide look. Being JDM lights, they had no fog light position, so I modified the loom to have dual filament inner bulbs to go to brake light intensity when the fog switch was pressed. I tinted the orange indicators red and they still look factory now, some 6 years on……. JDM front number plate plinth and smaller plate was next…..as you can probably tell, I was starting to go down a bit of a Japanese modified route…… TRD front and rear strut braces, a TRD front uprated ARB and short shift gear lever all went on 2nd hand. The car was booked into a dyno day as I wanted to see what difference a rare Buddy Club pre-mapped ECU I had picked up would make, and at the same time, see what the car was putting out after 12 years of use. The result was surprising – after 100,000 miles and an exhaust, de-cat and air filter upgrade, it put out 161 bhp at the flywheel, and factory figures were 156 bhp from brand new - I was very happy. 30 minutes later I had swapped over to the new ECU and the car went on its second run so that a fair comparison could be made and this time it put out 171bhp. A great increase for such minimal outlay.
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:23:26 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:56:38 GMT
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Following this day I decided to change the engine appearance as the silver VHT paint and clear finish was going a bit yellow. I sourced a spare intake manifold set and got a company who had experience of working on car components to powder coat the items red and I specifically asked them to mask off all the openings. It came back looking like this, I was very pleased once the new badge went on. The excitement was short lived – after 2 minutes of the engine running after it was fitted, cylinder 3 stopped firing, and then cylinder 2. The company had not masked off the holes properly and sand blasting particles had collected in the intake runners and stripped the piston rings!!! I had checked for signs of this before fitting and it all seemed fine. This was the big turning point in my ownership. I decided that instead of chasing a relatively low powered engine around, that the dead engine would be replaced with one from a Japanese imported Turbocharged MR2 – which have loads more power. These put out 245bhp as standard and hit 60mph in 5.2 seconds and I figured this would rekindle my enthusiasm in the car for a few more years. I sourced a front damaged 1994 MR2 Turbo from a guy in Birmingham on one of the MR2 clubs. My Dad owns a Discovery and I persuaded him to let me rent a car trailer and get him to take me up to purchase it. We got there about 5pm in the evening as I had to work half the day. The engine could only be run briefly as the guy had stripped the car apart from the shell, engine, suspension and wheels – plus the fact that the accident had holed the radiator. It started fine and seemed to be ok, so I handed over the £750 asking price and we drove off. On the way home we got stuck on the motorway which was closed due to an accident. We got in at 2am with my Dad less than amused Stored at a friends farm before going to the garage: I took the car to an MR2 specialist to have the conversion done to my car – it is quite involved and I had no space or knowledge for such a big job. Once the engine was out of the white car I sold the late spec wheels for £150. The engine had cost me £600 when the usual going rate was £1k.
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:28:32 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:57:21 GMT
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:32:16 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:58:29 GMT
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The first drive was something I will never forget. My old engine was reasonable with a 0-60 of 7.2 seconds, but this was about 3 leagues higher in performance. The acceleration came on like a train and I still grin like a child every time I drive it. A fateful visit to the scrap yard with my mate saw me take a gamble on some coilovers in an MR2 being broken. I picked up these height and damper adjustable, full pillow ball mounted Gab Revo Stroke units for £150 (about a tenth of their retail price) – and they were perfectly ok bar the fact that the height adjustment rings were seized. Thankfully they were seized in a superb stance height……… Next up was a second set of aftermarket alloys. I didn’t want to kill the split rims in the winter and as I was paying insurance for modified wheels, I decided to get some more Another bargain on the MR2 Owners Club saw me collect these uber rare and stupidly light weight A-Tech Final Speed Japanese wheels with titanium Gram-Light wheel nuts for £250 with useable Bridgestone Potenza tyres. They are easy to clean and just painted – perfect for the winter. All bar one are unmarked. They are 16 inch again (best for handling on the MR2) and 7/8j staggered again, just like the split rims. By this time I had owned the car for 6 years and I was just about fed up with the blue interior. I found some rare Recaro MR2 specific seats from the correct time period for my car – again a dealer option in Japan, they were in stunning almost unused condition - for £175. I then picked up by pure chance the rare-as-hens-teeth matching door cards with the Recaro seat fabric at the garage that did my engine conversion from one of their breaker cars. The cost - £35! I bought a complete black interior from another club member for about £40 and spent one summer weekend swapping it all over……..
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:34:19 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 20:59:24 GMT
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Custom chrome painted door pulls by me in my shed……. A custom made gauge pod was purchased that fits like factory. I picked up some gauges for oil pressure, boost and oil temp to match the stock dash illumination colours, and I also modified the instrument cluster to give a brighter output by sanding the rears of the dials and installing some high output LED’s. This gave a clean look with no hot spots. The gauges look a bit blue here, but that is a trick of the camera – they are white…… Some rare JDM mats from an imported MR2 were picked up and thoroughly carpet cleaned, they were pretty wear free. An HKS Turbo Timer was bought used to help allow the engine to cool after spirited driving. People get confused when the engine turns of as I walk away from the car After 1 year the engine was behaving itself, so it was due some love. Steering clear of powder coating, I sprayed the cam cover in Ferrari red crackle finish…… …..and the intake side of the engine in Gold. The rear intake chamber was painted silver, as were the ancillary bits. A bespoke polished alloy intake tract was purchased 2nd hand and the plugs changed for cooler grade NGK’s. The cam cover gasket was changed for a new one and the cam bolts swapped for anodized gold bits. An ARC uprated intercooler with custom shroud and Spal fan went on – another used bargain.
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:36:38 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 21:00:19 GMT
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Last Edit: Jun 13, 2011 21:38:16 GMT by zircon
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 21:01:25 GMT
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My now wife (Hayley) and I got married and used the ‘2 as our wedding car which was amusing seeing her get in it about 2” from the floor….. We had been together for 6 of the 7 years of my ownership so she saw the car as a part of me The car was featured in an MR2 specialist magazine on a 4 page colour write-up – plus it was the cover car. I sourced a used Razo stick style gear knob to replace the Momo one – feels much better. Some imported Raybrig crystal front lights have been installed with 6000k HID lights…. Closest pic I have is this – but you can’t make them out!!! In the last 2 months I have fitted some Phoenix’s Power Roll Centre adjusters to correct the horizontal suspension arm geometry, which made the car skip over rough surfaces due to lack of travel. At the same time some pillow ball track rod ends went on along with some rear camber bolts. I discovered that the GAB coilovers were showing serious signs of age and so I picked up some half price 2 year old Tein Super Street pillow ball 16 stage damper adjustable and height adjustable coilovers – which Hayley is so much happier with in terms of comfort…. The geo-setup:
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 13, 2011 21:02:28 GMT
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Ian
Part of things
Posts: 977
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Jun 13, 2011 22:32:58 GMT
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I am sure I recognise this, well your registration from my days on the imoc! I was a fellow zircon blue owner back in the day! Welcome to the madhouse!
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nofrills
Posted a lot
my wings are made of Steeeeeeeel!!!
Posts: 1,243
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Jun 14, 2011 10:52:25 GMT
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Wow really good read, love this type of stuff when the car grows with you, i had the same thing 12 years ago but i was unfortunate that i had to part company with my one 6 years ago (forced sale due to house renovation and baby on the way) but your car looks stunning!
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jun 14, 2011 17:09:57 GMT
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Thanks for the feedback iand - definitely remember your car.... nofrills - yeah it really has grown with me - I just realised that I have owned it for a third of my life
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Jun 14, 2011 17:37:11 GMT
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Impressive. Really like that.
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Jan 11, 2014 12:56:07 GMT
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Holy thread resurrection.
I don't usually like MR2s, there's just something about them I can't quite put my finger one that puts me off. Usually.
This one however...
I think it's the attention to detail and how well thought out the mods are. And, of course, the colour. Good work.
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zircon
Part of things
Posts: 327
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Jan 11, 2014 18:08:40 GMT
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Thanks for the thread resurrection guys, I was a bit disappointed to get so few responses when I wrote it!
This year I will hopefully be fitting some rare ohlins coilovers and some crazy light weight wheels....update to come!
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Jan 11, 2014 18:55:43 GMT
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It is amazing how these slip under the radar.
Last year I sold my '89 Turbo, your right about the power surge making you smile. Even when mine was only boosting to .3 bar it was still enough to show most things up even had a play with a Ferrari 355 lol.
Seriously under rated cars, although I wouldn't own another I would recommend then to anyone.
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Some days you just need to take a grinder to an inanimate object, just to make your day a tiny bit better!!
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Ian
Part of things
Posts: 977
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Jan 11, 2014 21:14:24 GMT
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I want another one! The thing is, a lot of turbos get too many body kits, I think that's the problem. Saying that I would like a zircon again with a border front!
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